Live soundboard recording options

Chipotle · #1 07-29-2019, 07:51 PM

I'm probably be going to be putting together a small live PA set up soon, mostly solo (guitar & vox) but occasionally with another instrument or vocalist sitting in. While I'm about it, the idea of being able to easily record off the board would be a nice feature.

The PA setup will likely be a small mixer to powered speakers of some sort. A mixer designed to facilitate recording could help, and of course some kind of recording device. Getting individual tracks from each channel is a high want. Some options I've considered; any thoughts/suggestions/practical experience?

Analog mono/stereo out of mix to a recorder of some sort (even a phone)
Analog mixer with USB out to recording device (some mixers do multi-track, e.g. A&H ZEDi or Soundcraft NotepadFX)
Digital mixer to recording device or even internal memory (Zoom R16?)
For outboard recording device: Zoom/Tascam/other dedicated recorder?
Mixer to standalone audio interface to laptop or tablet with DAW
Digital out mixer straight into laptop/tablet with DAW

Monsum · #2 07-30-2019, 03:02 AM

I use a Zoom Livetrak L-12 which takes care of both live mixing and recording individual channels. It's also reasonably priced. So I recommend it.

KevWind · #3 07-30-2019, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Monsum

I use a Zoom Livetrak L-12 which takes care of both live mixing and recording individual channels. It's also reasonably priced. So I recommend it.

Interesting piece of gear . Does it have internal digital file storage, or do you have to USB it to something like a laptop with a DAW ?

Monsum · #4 07-30-2019, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevWind

Interesting piece of gear . Does it have internal digital file storage, or do you have to USB it to something like a laptop with a DAW ?

It records onto a SD memory card but also it serves as a multichannel audio interface through a USB connected to a computer. It's quite versatile.

Chipotle · #5 07-30-2019, 09:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Monsum

I use a Zoom Livetrak L-12 which takes care of both live mixing and recording individual channels. It's also reasonably priced. So I recommend it.

Looks like this is the successor to the R series. The thought of not having to bring a separate recording device is appealing. What does your live sound setup with the LiveTrak look like?

The QSC Touchmix can record multitrack to a USB drive. Does anyone who has one use it for that? Is a flash drive sufficient, or would you need a small portable SSD?

Monsum · #6 07-30-2019, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chipotle

Looks like this is the successor to the R series. The thought of not having to bring a separate recording device is appealing. What does your live sound setup with the LiveTrak look like?

The QSC Touchmix can record multitrack to a USB drive. Does anyone who has one use it for that? Is a flash drive sufficient, or would you need a small portable SSD?

The Zoom R16 in a way could do more than the new L-12 e.g it was capable of working as DAW control surface etc. The L-12 is just a simple live mixer like many others of that size but with built-in multichannel recording (unlike others). Also Zoom much improved their preamps since the R series.
The QSC Touchmix has a great reputation but it costs $1000 compared to the Zoom's $600. And also as a former user of the Behringer X18 Air I realized I'm not a fan of touch screen mixing. But that's just me.

I don't gig regularly but for a 3 or 4 piece band I used 15inch Behringer active speakers for the house, one or two smaller active speakers as monitors, various mics and an acoustic usually would go through a Fishman Platinum Stage preamp phantom powered by the Zoom mixer. Once it's set up properly, everyone says the sound is amazing.

Doug Young · #7 07-30-2019, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chipotle

Looks like this is the successor to the R series. The thought of not having to bring a separate recording device is appealing. What does your live sound setup with the LiveTrak look like?

The QSC Touchmix can record multitrack to a USB drive. Does anyone who has one use it for that? Is a flash drive sufficient, or would you need a small portable SSD?

I use the touchmix and have used a thumbdrive for small channel counts. For more than a few channels, I suspect you're better off with an SSD - I think that's what they recommend - and the few times I've recorded 8+ channels, I just used an SSD USB drive. Better safe than sorry, tho I keep meaning to do a stress test with the thumb drive.

I just used a Behringer X32 to record 16 tracks last night, and used a 90 Mb/s SD card and that worked fine.

YamahaGuy · #8 07-31-2019, 05:43 AM

I own and regularly record with USB capable mixers. I have the Yamaha MG10XU and use it at school (my work) all the time for recording and there is zero latency -- even with a crappy laptop. At home I use and MG16XU with a nice tower desktop. They work flawlessly and do not require a proprietary DAW to be used like some interfaces do. I am using Audacity, which I like because it is free and you can create mp3 or wav files without purchasing an licenser and spending hundreds of dollars on a premium DAW. If you're starting from scratch with a mixer, I highly recommend getting one that is USB capable and forgo the interface route. Why have more connections than necessary and have to fuss with a proprietary DAW? My 2c. Good luck.