I have 3 samplers, a few synths and bunch of guitars and effects pedals. I sample a lot… Use different sorts and combination of gears and pedals… is okay to use a mixer? To input my gear and pedals with fx sends? Rather then connecting my instrument directly into the back of the samplers… just saves time, convenience and wear and tear of having to dig out the cables and pull out the samples, unplug this and plug that in? A patch bay isn’t an option now…
Just curious if anyone else uses a mixer this way? and should I worry about signal loss?
Absolutely! I use an Allen & Heath Qu16, and there’s a whole thread on the smaller QuPac (same but without faders). You can route a whole load of outputs to various effects or hardware, and have control over how much of each instrument etc. you send to them. Then return them back into the mixer, before routing out to your samplers, or just straight into the samplers if you prefer. This also gives you full EQ, panning, gating etc. over every single channel. Sounds like it’d totally transform your work flow.
Loads of mixers out there are capable - maybe write yourself a wish list of ins / outs and see what you can find to suit!
I have a small 12 channel Mackie mixer currently. I think it will for now, it has a few fx sends on it, so it works greats… was just curious if anyone else did this method - and about signal loss :). I really like the mic preamps on this little mixer, and how I can I can distort them slightly for added effect on stringed instruments. Thanks for the positive reply
When getting into hardware most people dont buy a ton of gear & need a mixer right away. Once you start acumilating gear & using different signal chains (or maybe your intensions as you buy gear are to use everything at the same time) you start to feel the need for a mixer. Of course there are also experienced producers that dont use mixers, depends on your gear, how much you have & how you want to use it.
My first love was scratching, so when I first got into producing I had a turntable & dj mixer (with 4 channels & efx send) so I used the dj mixer to route my hardware. But the hardware continued to pile up & it got difficult to route my gear the way I wanted. I also noticed I wouldnt use certain pieces of gear or I wouldnt experiment with different signal chains because I didnt feel like rerouting everything.
I began to think of a mixer as an “instrument” in a way… yea its purpose is just to route & mix audio, but a mixer allows you to combine hardware / audio in so many ways… allowing an entire set up to become 1. Allowing you to shape & combine sounds from different instruments, so everything sits well in the mix… as if all the sounds came from 1 machine… melting it together.
It took me awhile to buy a mixer (bigger mixer). There was always a sampler or synth or effects box or instrument that caught my attention more. Even so, I researched mixers a lot, always having it in the back of my mind. Buying a mixer became more of a focus as I learned all it could do for me & I started getting excited thinking of all the possibilities it would bring.
Getting a mixer was a big “aha moment” that took me to the next level. I was able to use ALL my gear, together & use it any way I wanted without having to unplug anything. Start by sampling bass guitar thru different efffect boxes into my 404sx, press a button & now Im sampling op-1 into an mpc. Then sp404sx into MPC, into an effects box into Maschine Mk3. Routing all my gear any way I wanted with a press of a button or 2.
I used all my gear more, I experimented more, my overall sound improved & my workflow became faster… more efficient. If I could go back, I would buy a mixer sooner than I did.
