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Forced to Jump into 5.1 mixing and have questions about hardware
Hey! I have posted before about how to edit the surround mix (where to put what) now my issue is monitoring. I won’t be able to monitor this well to say the least…Going to use my home theater system (NHT 2.5i L/R, NHT ThreeC center and bose surrounds) It’s a really good home theater system but not ideal for mixing I understand that. But I don’t have the cash to purchase a $1500+ surround monitoring system and am in a bind (it’s a personal video)
So my current system is a custom PC that has a realtek HD sound card (on the mobo) and has 3.5mm outputs for L/R/C and sub/Ls/Rs however I tried connecting these to my Onkyo Receiver using the BD/DVD RCA inputs (they have separate RCA’s for Front L/R, Surround L/R, and Center and sub). I have an Onkyo TX NR709. However it didn’t work, the audio kept crackling and couldn’t hear any actual audio.
So my question is…can I purchase an audio interface like this: https://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/ProFire610.html and connect it to my Macbook Pro and edit in Soundtrack Pro? And will it output 6 channels (5.1)?
I was thinking of using 1/4″ to 3.5mm converters from the interface then connect a 3.5mm to RCA from the 3.5mm converters to my Onkyo Receiver.
So basically ProFire610 > 1/4″ to 3.5mm > 3.5mm to RCA > Onkyo
Will this work? Sorry if this is confusing but trying to figure this out and make it as cheap as possible.
Thanks for any help you can provide!
-Matt -
5 Replies
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I’m dumb, even though I ordered all of those adapters and cables, I realize I could have just bought 1/4″ to RCA! Like these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000068O16/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER
So that’s what I’m going to do with that m audio interface. Hope it works :]
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Hello Matthew and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.
Please let us know what happens.
Regards,
Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader
Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide -
Thanks Ty!
So I bought the interface and attempted the connection between my Macbook Pro running STP and my Onkyo Receiver (TX NR709) into the BD/DVD multichannel inputs. I used 1/4″ to RCA mono cables for every connection. Unfortunately it didn’t work. It only picked up the stereo connection which made it impossible to edit.
What was cool (and as an unrelated side note) is how smart this receiver is. When put into it’s 2channel>5.1 surround mode (where it does all the conversion) it sounded like I had mixed it perfectly! All dialogue was through the center, music through the L/R and a perfect mix into the surrounds. But I digress.
So what I did was mix it by meter and not by sound (YIKES!) Made it so my dialogue peaked at about -.5db and music at around -6 to -8db and ambient effects around -13 to -15db. I then exported as AC3 out of STP and brought it over to my PC running Adobe Encore and exported as 5.1 surround (making sure it didn’t transcode my audio or else it’d be transcoded to stereo!!!)
Played on my home theater sounded great! Tested it in the theater last night and it sounded AWESOME!!! Dialogue was super clear, music could be a little louder but overall a good (and blind) mix.
My only issue right now, is my music doesn’t have enough low end. You listen to regular movie trailers and movies and their soundtrack is beefy and large. I’m using high quality songs too. Should I EQ the music to bring in more low end? Any ideas??
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Matthew,
Good for you! I love it when a plan comes together.
Inching up the music level will also fill in some of the bass.
Try that before you try any EQ.
Regards,
Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader
Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide -
I did the same as you, connecting the home theater to the computer. I had to map my outs to each thing I wanted… take a look at this and see if it helps: https://creativemac.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=205142
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