Best digital recorder for mixes?

Hit me up with your recommendations for best way to record mixes out of an analog mixer.

My old Mac had an audio input which I used to plug straight into from the mixer and record into Audacity.

New Mac is only USB-C so I either need a separate digital recording device or a sound card to convert analog to digital to plug into Mac.

What does everyone use? Is Evermix the thing to get?

Cheers.

What mixer do you use?

Best thing IMO is to get a nice soundcard and record directly to your computer, cut the ā€œmiddle manā€. Focusrite Scarlett or the 2 channel SSL will do fine (good preā€™s).

If you want something portable, Zoom or Tascam make good recorders, would depend on what you want to spend and what features you really need. Youā€™ll have to get a nice SD card too.

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Iā€™m not an Apple user apart from an iPad occasionally so tell me to not be so stupid if you please but is there not an audio to usb-c convertor cable you can buy?

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Itā€™s an Xone23 mixer.

Iā€™ve got a Riga A2D fono pre amp and when Iā€™ve tried that the output signal is just too strong and it seems you canā€™t adjust it on a Mac. Unless Iā€™m missing something? (highly likely)

Itā€™s a good point. Yes it seems you can get an rca to usb c cable.

For quality purposes I was thinking it had to go via a pre amp sound card thing which I tried and the signal was too loud.

Maybe a simple cable is the answer after all?

Iā€™ll check it out. Thank you!

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Iā€™ve got the Tascam DR40x which I use with my Omnitronic.

Used to use Audacity but when recording digital would make my Mac run hot so since using a Tascam, that issues gone.

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Thanks Scott Iā€™ll check it out.

The signal was loud because if you send a line signal out of your mixer to a phono preamp itā€™s gonna be way over the line. Phono is a much quieter signal than line. It will only work if you plug a turntable directly into that pre-amp but that is only good for ripping records, not so much recording sets.

RCA to USB-C is a simple way of doing it (from the ā€œrecord outā€ of the xone into the computer) as long as the computer recognizes the USB-C audio, which I donā€™t know if it will. Usually these cables are for modern cell phones with no headphone jack, so you can plug them into a soundsystem. But in that case the audio is going from the USB connection, to the RCA cables. Not sure if it works both ways.

My recommendation stands - a good soundcard like a Focusrite Scarlett is the best way of doing it if you want to record straight to your computer HD. If you donā€™t mind the hassle of transferring files from SD card to computer then the Tascams and Zooms will do the job.

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https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/irigstream/

This works too. Simple solution.

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Thanks @MGG much appreciated. That iRig looks good.

This just arrived. Works perfectly first time and quality is great for what I need. Thanks for the tip Mario @MGG

you got it! Have fun!

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I have a 2 channel mixer with a record output on the back. I normally use on those little Behringer USB things to record to my laptop.

Iā€™m doing a mates party soon and due to space and other issues, I canā€™t take my laptop to record the set.

Can those handheld Tascam/Zero devices record from the mixer via RCA cables?
My mate has one, but Iā€™m thinking it would be too noisy to place near speakers, etc.

Yes, usually they have a Line In.

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Thanks mate, iā€™ll have a crack with that.

Hi! What are you guys using for recording gigs? Are portable recorders the best solution? If so, which ones would you recommend me?

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Hello everyone! So basically I picked up a tascam dr-40 and would love to start recording mixes but canā€™t figure out how to set it up properly. Could someone please offer some help in how I set it up to get the best possible recordings out of it. Also when Iā€™m recording I pickup the room noise from the tascam mic. Sorry Iā€™m not very savvy with tech

p.s Iā€™m using an omnitronic trm-202

Interested in this too! :slight_smile:

The Manual is here in case you didnā€™t get one.
DR40 Manual

As far as a quick read goes you need to set correct source for your recording (Line) via the little switch on the side. Might be worth doing a factory reset (if possible) PO might have had some weird set-up.

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Just had a skim through the manual and donā€™t think there is a factory reset.
It sounds like you are recording a multi-track, it has the option to record ā€˜setsā€™
from the mics and an external source (be great for adding crowd noise to your live recordings :wink: )
So think you need the setting to turn off the multi-track and just record the line in.

You need to put it in STEREO mode.

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