SLMC

Pocket · Joined: 21 Nov 2007 Posts: 20 Location: Ireland

I'm not 'technically' minded when it comes to sound hardware etc....but I've gone and got a small, in fact, tiny mixer.

So this is my equipment so far...

Leem Micro Mixer
SM 58
iPod (with mp3 backing tracks)
Headphones.

Where exactly should everything go? Embarassed

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I just can't get my head around this at all.. It would also help if you could word your responses as if you're talking to a 5-year old who wants to do a live gig in SL..lol

Thanks in advance Smile

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Zak Claxton · Joined: 16 Oct 2007 Posts: 2008 Location: Podul/33/243/154/

You need to find a way to get the audio into your computer before we can talk about anything else. First, are you on a Mac or PC?
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Pocket · Joined: 21 Nov 2007 Posts: 20 Location: Ireland

Hiya Zak,

I'm on a PC....

I'm presuming that the 'output' on the mixer needs to go into the 'line in' on my computer...what has me confused is how would I hear the track etc if it's all going into my computer?... forgive my ingnorance.. Embarassed

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Zak Claxton · Joined: 16 Oct 2007 Posts: 2008 Location: Podul/33/243/154/

Pocket, stop apologizing. You have nothing to be sorry for, and you're in no worse shape than anyone in SL when we were starting out.

Does your micro mixer have a headphone or other line output?

I'd rather a PC person coach you more (hello, I'm a Mac). But here's the basic idea: you'll run your SM58 and your iPod into your little mixer, monitor both in your phones, and send the outputs of the mixer into your computer.

Is that a good first step? Let me know if you got it so far. Smile

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Pocket · Joined: 21 Nov 2007 Posts: 20 Location: Ireland

Well, the teeny tiny mixer has 4 channels and just one output, so I presume that this means that I can't connect headphones to it... but I'm with you so far Zak.... Smile

I thought I could plug the headphones into one of those channels...but I now get that it has to be an 'output' that the headphones go into. If I got a 'double adaptor' thingie...(for want of a better word..lol) plug both the headphones and the cable to connect it to my computer, do you think that would work? Or do I have to get a mixer with two outputs?

I really appreciate your help with this.....
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Never B Sharp - Never B Flat - Always B Natural

Zak Claxton · Joined: 16 Oct 2007 Posts: 2008 Location: Podul/33/243/154/

BabbleGrabble · Joined: 21 Nov 2007 Posts: 589 Location: San Francisco

I believe that mixer uses standard 1/4" jacks on its inputs and outputs, so you will likely need a couple of cables with a standard jack on one end and a mini jack on the other (usually you need to get a converter attachment to make this happen so make sure it's a stereo converter). [Note: "mini jack" might be the wrong name - there is a really small one that isn't right; it's the type you use for headphones on the iPod (possibly 1/8").] So with two sets of cable/converter combos, use one for the iPod (mini output) connected to one of the inputs on the mixer. Use the other to connect the mixer output to the line in on your sound card (mini input). The microphone will need a cable that ends in a 1/4" jack, unless there's another option for it on the mixer - plug that into another mixer input. For the headphones, you need a mini jack for the sound card (might need another stereo converter for this); plug the headphones into the speaker output of your sound card.

There will likely be some software tweaking from this point forward, but let's get the connections working first.

With some other mixers, you have a lot more options and might not even need to mess with converters and the sound card at all, but this one should work just fine. It's a bit of a frustrating process for everyone getting the gear set up right, but it will work with a bit of persistence and patience. Smile

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Pocket · Joined: 21 Nov 2007 Posts: 20 Location: Ireland

Thanks Babble & Zak..

I'm going to try to set it all up a bit later....and just go from there. But I can tell you one thing I've learned .... the next time my RL sound engineer asks me to help carry the gear...I'll say yes.... Very Happy

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Never B Sharp - Never B Flat - Always B Natural

Nad · Joined: 05 Sep 2007 Posts: 415 Location: at my puter.

Great tagline, Pocket Smile

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casemunro · Joined: 09 Sep 2007 Posts: 140 Location: Pompano Beach, FL

FWIW, here's the signal chain to my Windoze box-

Guitar and bass, 2 vocal mics, and playback device for my drum tracks all go to individual channels on my mixing board, which connects to the line in on my sound card via stereo 1/8" jack (Babble is right, you want the 1/8" jack to go into the computer). I use something similar to this-

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102974

but instead of RCA jacks it has 1/4" jacks on the cable (the same size used for say a guitar cord). Headphones plug into the headphone jack on my computer for monitoring. I could monitor off the mixer, but I want to hear the audio after it goes through the soundcard to more accurately gauge what's hitting the stream (it seems to be slightly hotter right off the mixer).

The biggest thing to watch for is to make sure in the sound properties you select "line in" for the recording source. In my old Win2k computer I could select "what you hear" as a source, and this would pick up anything from the line in as well as any sound generated by software. This doesn't work in my Vista machine, so I had to run all the audio externally through the mixer.
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