Recording with PA system, audio interface, and laptop

[Roibeard]

Hi Folks,

We have a trio with vocals, acoustic bass, and acoustic guitar. We have a simple, six-channel PA system and would like to make some recordings.

It seems we can do this by running RCA cables or a ¼" cable from the PA through an audio interface and into a laptop (Mac PowerBook or—down the line—a MacBook Pro). Because we could use the PA to get a reasonable mix, we would need only the simplest interface (some are as cheap as $30).

Or would we? Do the cheap ones work? Or do we need to go to an Apogee Duet or something like it?

Going the other direction, is it even worth getting an interface? Would it by just as good to record from the mixer straight into a digital recorder?

Advice?

[Mybbor]

I have not used digital recorders but from shopping around I would imagine the least expensive route would be to do as you said. Running your mix from the PA to a computer. The down side to this is that you will have to fine tune your mix before you record and you will never be able to change the individual levels. This is going to degrade the quality of your recording substantially but it will still get the job done.

[Fran Guidry]

Originally Posted by Roibeard

Hi Folks,

We have a trio with vocals, acoustic bass, and acoustic guitar. We have a simple, six-channel PA system and would like to make some recordings.

It seems we can do this by running RCA cables or a ¼" cable from the PA through an audio interface and into a laptop (Mac PowerBook or—down the line—a MacBook Pro). Because we could use the PA to get a reasonable mix, we would need only the simplest interface (some are as cheap as $30).

Or would we? Do the cheap ones work? Or do we need to go to an Apogee Duet or something like it?

Going the other direction, is it even worth getting an interface? Would it by just as good to record from the mixer straight into a digital recorder?

Advice?

There's probably already an audio interface built-in to the computer. Look for a Line In connection, or a way to switch the mic input to a stereo line in. For a cheap first try, just use the mic input and pad down the mixer output somehow.

Or alternatively, get a digital recorder that also functions as an interface. I'm only hands-on familiar with the Zoom stuff, but several of their recorders go both ways.

Fran

[sdelsolray]

Originally Posted by Roibeard

Hi Folks,

We have a trio with vocals, acoustic bass, and acoustic guitar. We have a simple, six-channel PA system and would like to make some recordings.

It seems we can do this by running RCA cables or a ¼" cable from the PA through an audio interface and into a laptop (Mac PowerBook or—down the line—a MacBook Pro). Because we could use the PA to get a reasonable mix, we would need only the simplest interface (some are as cheap as $30).

Or would we? Do the cheap ones work? Or do we need to go to an Apogee Duet or something like it?

Going the other direction, is it even worth getting an interface? Would it by just as good to record from the mixer straight into a digital recorder?

Advice?

Does your PA mixer have either (i) individual channel outputs or (ii) individual channel inserts? If so you can record each track separately into an computer interface and your computer. This way you can tweak and mix the channels together later.