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OK - I have way more equipment than I need and have made mistake after mistake in purchasing and getting in over my head with stuff I probably don't need. Can you help or make suggestions?

Here's what I want to do: In my home, I play acoustic guitar and sing. Occasionally I have a buddy come over and want to play/sing too. I want to get the cleanest recording possible - usually just one track - me and my guitar live. But sometimes adding tracks and/or other live instruments/vocals.

I've got the Tascam 2488, a PreSonus Firebox 6x8, and a MacBook Pro with GarageBand. I can't seem to be able to plugin more than one mic/instrument into the Firebox and be able to hear both of them in the Mac. I can plugin one and hear it, but not two. Am I doing something wrong? So - because of that, I go into the 2488 with both inputs, then output to the Firebox, then output to the Mac firewire connection and recording in GarageBand.

The issue with this set-up, is that I have to max the levels on the Tascam, the Firebox, and the Mac/Garage to get any decent type of volume in recording. This can't be right. Am I missing a pre-amp somewhere? Remember, I'm SUPER AMATEUR and just don't get this stuff.

Should I be able to plugin two things to the Firebox and have them both out put simultaneously to the Mac? That way bypassing the stupid 2488?

Is there any combination of what I already own that can give me my goal of clean and easy recording?

BTW - I don't like using the 2488 for recording directly. It was too confusing, too many options, and I hated the process of getting it off that machine and into something I could listen to in the car or computer.

Thank you in advance for any advice!

Morgan

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Comments

ToddP Wed, 06/30/2010 - 15:38

What microphones are you using? You should be able to use two microphones with the Firebox. If they are condenser mics, make sure you are using the 48v phantom power. You should not need more gain than what comes with the Firebox. Is it during playback or monitoring that you only hear one channel?

There is a software mixer that comes with the Firebox as well. It is intended for monitoring. Have you been using it? If I were you I would study the manual and check the support online in order to get a handle on how that works.