so i just bought a brand new out of the box Alesis Multimix 8 usb power mixer and some brand new sure sm57 and 52beta mics (for recording drums). all in all i spent close to $900 on brand new equipment and when I plugin the 4 mics to the 4 mixer mic preamps and power it up and even switch on the phantom power, i get no responce or pickup indicators on the mixer. the led lights dont show any levels when i turn gain or volumes up at all. i have tried messing arround with all the settings but i cant get any sign that the mixer is picking up the mics input at all. Im kind of new to recording setup, but it seems to be a pretty basic rig. AM i doing something wrong?
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Start at the beginning of the chain and work your way down. Som
Start at the beginning of the chain and work your way down.
Some of this is going to sound elementary, but don't get offended...weird things get by us sometimes...especially when we connect up more than one new thing.
Do the mics have on/off switches? If so, check them. If not, good.
I will assume your cables are good.
I assume the mixer is powered up?
Input faders down at this point.
All the EQ knobs are set flat to start?
The channel faders are set to unity, or "0"?
The main level knobs are set to unity, or "0"?
To start with, nothing is plugged into any "AUX" jacks? Keep it as simple as possible to start off.
Now, turn the input faders up while speaking into the mic.
I believe to get any LED activity on the level meters, everything has to pass all the way to the main output bus.
Have you connected the thing to your computer, and tried to record something into Cubase?
Instead of using mics, turn your input trims down to "0", and plug in a CD player or iPod, or something. (Leave all the other settings as before). Start something playing, then slowly turn up the input trim. See if anything goes through then. This also provides you with a constant source signal so you don't have to continually bore yourself saying "Check one, two". (I assume you can plug a 1/4" jack into those channels?)
Just be careful not to get too much input trim gain if you have one plugged in. You should start hearing it after turning the input up just a little. And, if changing a source, always turn the input trim all the way down, and then gradually back up.
If it has headphone out, use it to see if it is getting at least that far.
Lastly. Read the manual again. Then, read the relevant sections again. If there's something in the manual that confuses you, then ask about that. (Manuals are generally poorly written these days.)
Find out what it AIN'T, then you might find out what it is.
Kapt.Krunch
Alesis has tech support. I'd suggest you contact them.
Alesis has tech support. I'd suggest you contact them.