Hi there,

I recently decided id like to give some home recording a go with a friend of mine and try putting together a few half decent songs between us. So i decided to invest in a small amount of gear to help out. I should point out I'm almost a 100% newbie when it comes to recording music. I have a small knowledge!

I did a bit of research and found that the Alesis multimix mixers were a good option so eventually i invested in an Alesis multimix 6fx. Now my first mistake i found here was that the fx version didnt have usb which i completely missed. I did eventually work out though that I can get it to record using A 1/4" "Main mix out" option using a 1/4" to 3.5mm plug to plug it into the mic socket on my sound card. This appears to record in Audacity but I am however struggling to get any sound through Cubase 5. Any ideas why that might be? Just to show exactly what ive got running at the moment incase I'm missing something important, the way its connected so far is:

- Guitar/mic etc to Line in(s) on mixer

- CTRL Room Out to Amp Via a 1/4" Cable (I was hoping I could just use my NAD integrated amp and speakers for now instead of investing immediately in Monitors but this doesnt seem to work? Can Hifi speakers not be used via a Mixer?

- Main Mix Out to Computer Onboard soundcard. (I understand this may not be enough. I was hoping to just get it set up using it though and then either invest in a Sound card or USB Interface of some sort. Do I need both or will either do the job? If either, which are generally better?

I really have tried to keep this setup as cheap as possible simply just because I'm a complete begginer and I have no idea if this is even something ill keep at!

My questions I guess are:

Why will Cubase not record but Audacity will?

Do I need a better soundcard/interface? If so which one and any advice on a decent budget one?

Ive also noticed my mixer is causing a slight hiss/hum noise. Ive put the guitars through the amp direct to work out if its the amp/guitar making the hum and neither did. So i simply put it down to the mixer, therefore I'm probably going to send it back. Any advice on whether I should just replace it with the same again or are there any better mixers in the £100 range?

This is my mixer just to give you an idea of whats on it http://www.chemical…"]Chemical Ltd - Alesis Multimix 6 FX Mixer[/]="http://www.chemical…"]Chemical Ltd - Alesis Multimix 6 FX Mixer[/].

All helpy is much appreciated.

Cheers!