8 track simultaneous LIVE recording.
How do you VERY QUICKLY, setup N-Track 4.0, including wiring hookup, in BEGINNERS LANGUAGE, to record 8 tracks simultaneously LIVE, with a Presonus Firepod and Notebook Computer, Pentium 4 - 2.6Ghz with 1Gig RAM and 60 Gig hard drive. I have an 8 channel Peavey Powered Mixer, using 2 mono microphones (XLR Balanced) and guitar, drum machine and synth, all running in stereo and unbalanced (all 8 channels used). I do not have anyone to stop and start the recording for each song, though I can monitor the overload LED on each channel of the Firepod, so I will have to record the whole nights performance in ONE HIT, and then edit the songs after. Can the settings for the recording in N-Track be saved, for future quick recall. Any suggestions and recommendations are welcome, and will be greatly appreciated. H-E-L-P.
First off, does the mixer have any aux busses with FX sends? You can route an individual channel to an aux and use the aux out or send to get a signal to the firepod.
Individual FX sends from each channel can be used but it is usually much harder to set up when you are using the main mix as they usually break the signal path before the point where the channel is routed to the main mix. Tapping a send/return loop can be tricky, if you dont want to mess up the signal.
IMO the biggest problem is just getting your signals into the firepod. I think it really depends on the particular mixer you are using and your understanding of how the mixer works. Sadly, most powered mixers I have seen do not have loads of bussing and I/O options available.
Peace,
TrackGrrrl
Sorry for the delay in getting back. The Powered Mixer I use is a Peavey XRD680S+. Its in the BRICK format, no inserts and not even a trim control on the inputs. If I plug all my inputs into the Firepod, and then run the outputs from the Firepod into my powered mixer, I will be able to use the trim controls with the overload light on the Firepod inputs, and record my show unprocessed, to be later remixed in N-Track. Does that sound logical, and if so, what effect will that have on my LIVE sound, as everyone RAVES about the VERY CLEAN Mic Preamps on the Firepod. And also, the settings in N-Track for the 8 track simultaneous recording. Any suggestions will be Greatly Appreciated. If you need any further information, I will gladly provide, and THANK YOU for your help.
What you say sounds good but I see a couple of potential problems. You need to ask someone who knows the firepod to be sure but I see a danger in that any problem that affects the firepod and/or the computer has the potential to corrupt or totally kill your sound. Not something I would try live without lots of testing beforehand. I am guessing that the firepod probably has a zero/low latency monitioring option - if not that could cause another major problem.
Today, lots of artists depend on computers to produce and/or process their sound but there are no gaurantees that any given setup is going to work without doing a bunch of testing. Look at the varied results that people on this board get with n-track with different computer hardware and audio hardware, different OS versions and drivers.
Remember Murphy’s Law!
Peace,
TrackGrrrl
I don’t have my Firepod in front of me, but I’m pretty sure that the zero latency monitoring is stereo only. I don’t think you can route the inputs directly to the 8 outputs.
One solution would be to use 6 direct boxes and 2 XLR splitters to split the signals - one to the Firepod and the other to the Peavey.