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Mixers (buying my own equipment)
Hello everybody
every place that I worked at always had a 6-track or 8-track mixer. Now since almost all we captured was digital, there was no need for a mixer to adjust levels when capturing. Also, since there is an input plug for microphones, we never had any use for the XLR plugs of the mixer. Sound quality was totally fine.
Which begs the question, now that I am buying my own equipment: do I need a mixer? If yes, what for, since most of the levels can be edited in the timeline… Thanks a lot. -
6 Replies
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Well, a proper FCP system includes external audio and video monitors.
A mixer comes in handy adjusting the feed going to your external audio monitors, as well as giving you an option to connect your Mac’s audio out through the mixer to your nice audio monitors.
debe
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Subscribe to all the previous!
And if you’d ever like to add a narrator or any recorded audio, you’ll regret not having one.
It’s really usefull to be able to adjust levels and audio quality _before_ you record. Same goes for ausio as video:
S___ in equals S____ out…Cheers
Gunleik
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NTZ,
You’re correct that the switch over to digital inputs drastically reduced the need for those large multichannel mixers (Mackie 1604) that were standard on every AVID I ever used.
When we switched to FCP over two years ago, we recognized that we’d no longer need such an elaborate mixer. Instead we bough very inexpensive Behringer’s (10ch) and made it clear to our editors that these are NOT mixers… they’re VOLUME CONTROL KNOBS! To answer your question, that’s basically all they do! Actual level changes now are all done in the time line, and outputs are all digiatl as well, but it’s nice to be able to easily select to monitor the CPU or a deck without having to click all over the place. Besides, these tiny mixers are less than $200 bucks. So , go ahead and splurge, you’ll be glad you did.Mark
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I agree with Mark totaly. All I use my little Behringer for is volume controll. Especially with acitve monitors where there is no volume control on the monitors. I also have my CPU audio out conected to the mixer so its easy to listen to either of the audio sources I use in my set up.
Scott Davis
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You could run your firewire through a Focus Enhancements video mixer on it’s way into the NLE. You can then monitor and adjust the levels before recording them to hard drive.
When someone advises you to record it right in the first place, they are simply living in a perfect world where everything goes as planned and there are no glitches or problems. Ignore them completely. They are not on the same planet as we are.
My biggest beef with firewire is that there is so little support for it. But, after all, it was designed for consumer use only and it was dragged, kicking and screaming into the professional world.
Steve Wargo
Tempe, ArizonaIt’s a dry heat!
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It all depends of what your workflow is going to be, but having at least a control surface like the Behringers talked of by other will save you a lot of time mixing your audio you would do with your mouse one track at a time.
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