Need advice regarding Audio Mixer

[claytons]

Thanks so much in advance for reading this and giving any advice!

We are doing several live events that we're broadcasting over Livestream. Here's what I'd like to do set up wise at the very minimum

IN

2 wireless mics in - XLR
1 non wireless, desktop mic in - XLR (likely, have to buy this)
computer audio in (from a skype chat) so 1/8 " audio jack

OUT

1/8" computer audio to feed the machine that will be doing the encoding before sending to livestream

1/8" computer audio out to feed back into the machine that's handling the skype chat (this way..the audio out from Skype is in the mixer, and the presenter can talk back and his voice will be sent back to skype for live on air phone calls)

XLR out to one of our DVX's (this would be used in the event of audio sync issues, possibly, but would likely not be used)

I purchased the M-audio Fast Track ultra and it seems like a piece of garbage. First of all, 8 x out of 10, the device simply isn't recognized...and when it is, I can't get any decent sound out of it at all...into the computer. I'm using 1/4" to 1/8" converters. It's possible I'm doing something wrong, there are no real good instructions. If I simply plug in my xlr mic into the ultra, and take one of the out puts (1/4") and convert to 1/8 and make that a line input on my MAC...the sound is awful..all garbled and just bad....so, certainly could be me!

any advice at all on what I should get, and/or how to fix the darn m-audio would be most welcome!

Thanks!

 

[saneproductions]

I think that you need so much gear to make this happen that it is worth just hiring a sound person with their own gear for the day to make it happen. If you can't do that you may want to go to an audio rental house and discuss with them and have them put the package together for you.

At a basic level, you need a mixing console with say 6-8 inputs. I would convert all signals coming into the board tha are not already balanced 1/4" or xlr to a balanced signal using external boxes that change unbalanced RCA to balanced xlr (they should have adjustments too). I would focus on getting all of your inputs into the board clean, get all of the levels balanced out and any hum removed, THEN focus on output. For output I would take the main out and hit a DA, then convert the xlr feed to the computer audio with another external xlr to RCA balanced to unbalanced converter box. And send xlr wherever else it needs to go (your camera, deck etc).

Please note that it would be better if all of your computers had pro audio cards that could take balanced 1/4" or xlr signals (and that may cost around the same as the external converter boxes I mentioned (we use one made by aphex when we need to take a feed from a laptop computer for a software demo that needs sound.

Also the converters don' go both directions, you need one for unbalanced to balanced and a different type for the other way around

 

[Steve House]

Thanks so much in advance for reading this and giving any advice!

We are doing several live events that we're broadcasting over Livestream. Here's what I'd like to do set up wise at the very minimum

IN

2 wireless mics in - XLR
1 non wireless, desktop mic in - XLR (likely, have to buy this)
computer audio in (from a skype chat) so 1/8 " audio jack

OUT

1/8" computer audio to feed the machine that will be doing the encoding before sending to livestream

1/8" computer audio out to feed back into the machine that's handling the skype chat (this way..the audio out from Skype is in the mixer, and the presenter can talk back and his voice will be sent back to skype for live on air phone calls)

XLR out to one of our DVX's (this would be used in the event of audio sync issues, possibly, but would likely not be used)

I purchased the M-audio Fast Track ultra and it seems like a piece of garbage. First of all, 8 x out of 10, the device simply isn't recognized...and when it is, I can't get any decent sound out of it at all...into the computer. I'm using 1/4" to 1/8" converters. It's possible I'm doing something wrong, there are no real good instructions. If I simply plug in my xlr mic into the ultra, and take one of the out puts (1/4") and convert to 1/8 and make that a line input on my MAC...the sound is awful..all garbled and just bad....so, certainly could be me!

any advice at all on what I should get, and/or how to fix the darn m-audio would be most welcome!

Thanks!

Those 1/4" adapters worry me, not knowing for sure what you actually have there. The 1/4" output on the interface is going to be mono, balanced. The 1/8" line input on the Mac is most likely a stereo input. That means with a simple TRS adapter you're sending the mono signal to both right and left channels in the computer but with the phase inverted with respect to each other, leading to all sorts of wierdness, especially if the two stereo channels get mixed down again to mono at some point. To feed the 1/8 input properly requires a Y cable with a 1/8" stereo plug on one end and 2 mono 1/4" TS plugs on the other, plugged into two of the M-Audio's outputs, one for the left channel and the other for the right. One of the 1/4 plugs should be wired tip to 1/8 tip (left channel), the other wired tip to 1/8 ring (right channel) and both of their sleeves go to the 1/8 sleeve. (Using a TS 1/4" plug instead of a TRS give you unbalanced connection appropriate to the Mac's soundcard.)

I'm wondering why you're using the computers' internal soundcards at all, at least for the one that is doing the encoding for transmission. The USB interface IS a soundcard, designed to be used instead of the built-in card. Connect the M-Audio via its USB interface to the encoding computer with the software on it set to recognize the M-Audio as the audio device via USB and routing all its I/O through it. Forget that the internal soundcard even exists on that computer, routing all audio instead through the M-Audio USB device. Use two of the Y cables described above to connect an output pair on the M-Audio to the line in on the other computer to run Skype. Connect the Skype computer's line out to a pair of line-ins on the M-Audio usin g a second Y cable.