# Setting up a Daw



## Donald Six (May 17, 2012)

I am trying to set up some kind of DAW to record my own music and there so much out there don't know were to start i have been playing with Garage Band on my Mac but its not what i want i have a Behringer 1202fx 6 channel board but i can't hook it to mac cause its not USB any suggestions and i use a MXL990 mic


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## elbradamontes (Jun 7, 2012)

That's a mixer not an interface. Two things: if you have some cash get a fast track or something. If not, buy a dual mono 1/4" to stereo 1/4" adapter from RadioShack. Then buy a 1/4" to 1/8" adapter and plug that into your line in on your Mac. Run two cables from your mister to your adapter and viola! Two track recording. If you go to guitar center you may be able to get a dual 1/4" male to 1/4 " female cable and then you have less stuff. Nay, you can get them there. That's where I got mine. 

By the way, are you running guitars through this or just mic? Cause putting your guitar cable into this won't sound right. Wrong impedance.


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## elbradamontes (Jun 7, 2012)

Oh, my other suggestion is stick with GarageBand till you outgrow it. It's plenty powerful. No I don't use garage band but I did for years.


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## Donald Six (May 17, 2012)

thank you and yes i was going to run a accoustic guitar through a mic and through the board after i find a good interface that has a DAW and will let me use my 1202fx board and maybe ad external speakers as well but using that mxl990 mic picks up my neighbors talk need to figure that out to or switch to a sure sm58


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## elbradamontes (Jun 7, 2012)

Ok well mics will work fine with your mixer. Guitars direct in will not. The DAWs that come with interfaces aren't going to be any better than garageband. Not with cheap interfaces anyway. People may flame me for saying that but that's the truth. And, you don't need an interface, just some cables. Sure, you only get two tracks of recording but that's enough to start. 
If you get an interface you will NOT be using your 1202fx. So, you could always toss that bad boy on ebay and get a cheap interface instead. If you're worried about quality, ditch the 1202. That mixer is intended for live sound. Problem is, to get a noticeably better sound...500 for the interface? I take that back. The focusrite saffire 6 usb. That will sound better. 199 on sweetwater.com. How much better? Eh, I'm only willing to say better. It will also be WAY more user friendly. I have recently replaced my Apogee Duet with the saffire pro 40. Comparable sound. 100 times easier to use. Well I didn't replace it really. I have both. But I like using the Saffire more. Your current mic will be fine. Make sure you have it set to a cardioid pattern and not omni and point it away from your neighbor. Turn the gain down and play your guitar loud with the mic right up on it. Hang a thick comforter on your wall behind you as you record. That will do what a 58 will do. Besides you should probably get an sm57 instead for your guitar.


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## Donald Six (May 17, 2012)

thanks elbradamontes but i was going to hook the board through the interface to have the access of the fx it has this was shone to me by a guy a guitar center do you think it will work cause got to have it for the phantom power for my mxl 990


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## elbradamontes (Jun 7, 2012)

Whatever interface you get will have phantom power. Also, if you want the effects, use the cables I listed and forget about the interface. But! You'll have much greater control using your DAW's effects. I can't believe that the reverb in the behringer is better than what's in GarageBand. 

Plus, if you use your mixers effects, they're forever on the track no changing your mind. I would strongly suggest against that. Your mixer into an interface doesn't make sense. It won't work well if at all and I can't think of a single reason to do it. Use an interface only... or the mixer only with the cables I listed.


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## Donald Six (May 17, 2012)

I mostly use it for vocals settings and the 1202 has 100 different effects and what wires i like to hook it up ti the fire wire so i don't lose the headphone jack due to get feed back from computer speakers some things on a mac just are not good but some are


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## elbradamontes (Jun 7, 2012)

No the headphone jack and line in are two different things. And you definitely don't want speakers on when the mic is plugged in. Tell you what...figure out what your budget is and I'll give you the best options within that budget. Then you can decide. I will say this again though. Your 2012fx into a USB interface into your computer = Rediculous. The effects are just reverb and eq. 100 different reverb settings. Maybe chorus and flange. All those effects are in logic GarageBand protools cubase cakewalk and audacity. And audacity is free. Trust me. Get rid of the mixer. How do i know? I have all the gear you do and all the gear you say you want! Im not guessing here. Unless you can't afford it. If you don't have the money, see my first post. Nothing wrong with making due till you raise some funds. But there is something wrong with plugging your mixer into an interface. It's dumb on a level I cant express. That guitar center employee needs to be slapped.


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## Donald Six (May 17, 2012)

i use an acoustic guitar


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## Donald Six (May 17, 2012)

elbradamontes my budget is very low due to being disabled now and on disability so you suggest that an interface would be my best bet for hooking it up to my macbook pro came it only has a mindisplay port two usb audio port witch can be configured for input or output ethernet port and firewire port so would it be better to use an interface connected to firewire port so to be able to use the audio port for headphones


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## Donald Six (May 17, 2012)

i can work out some kind of budget and it is about 200 dollars thats about it and i do than you for all your input on this and sugestions you have been very help full


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## Donald Six (May 17, 2012)

on my mac book pro the headphone jack is the input and output depends on how you set it up


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## planetnine (Mar 3, 2009)

If this thread is still live, Donald, I'd go with what was suggested with the adapters until you can afford a FW or USB interface. I think your mixer may be surplus if you were to acquire one, esp if it had direct monitoring facilities. There's nothing inherently _wrong_ in using a mixer with an interface, but I don't think you'd better the sound with yours if you had, say, a Saffire interface with its mic preamps. 

Do I understand correctly that there is only one minijack in your Mac and you set it to be either line in or line/headphone out? 


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## anniedog (Nov 15, 2012)

Hi Donald if you are still looking to set up a DAW ,may I suggest for @ $200 Tascam DR40 make a portable all in one 4 track recorder which uses SD cards and has stereo mics on it. own one but the reviews on it look good. The trouble with out and out DAW recording is you need a computer that is capable of handling the multiple tracks without too much latency when you are overdubbing. Also I have only ever tried a USB mic once but as I remember It had a lot of delay making it impossible to do overdubs with. If you still want to use your Mac Book Pro as a platform for your DAW the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 , USB2 interface has 2 preamps for microphones and 2 lines out plus some software plug ins. I saw it on for $149 . This would,however require you to get a separate mic. I would suggest you pick up a used shure sm57 for around $50. These mics are the work horses of the studio industry. They are very well built and have the ability to handle high sound pressure levels. their frequency response is good for vocals and guitar and they have a built in isolation so they can be hand held ! There is nothing out there under 300 or 400 bucks that will sound as good and have as many uses. I have seen them used in pro studios on snare drum, guitar amps, acoustic guitars and in fact I think the late great Micheal Jackson used one on his vocals on some songs on the thriller album. Not sure but I heard this somewhere. The new price of these mics is @ $99 .you could also make your own pop filter from some nylons and a wire coat hanger. I have not used the focusrite but they also make some very high end stuff too and have a good reputation. I own a number of sm57s and use them in my own professional studio along with many other types of mics but you really can't go wrong with this mic as a one and only mic. If you went this way you would get it all for $200. don't forget to shop around for the best price.i would not worry a bit about a used sm57 because they are so sturdy it is hard to break them. As for the interface I would try to buy knew as older equipment might not work with your operating system and interfaces are easier to to damage overtime.Also they seem to get better and cheaper by the month as technology improves.you can also nfinf some pretty good free ware daw software if you look around the net Hope this helps.
 Cheers


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## ArnoldNL (Jan 9, 2013)

Have a try with the Focusrite Scarlett-series or the Avid Fast Track. There's a lot to choose from for lot's of different prices. Firewire interfaces are still pretty expensive...


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