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Hi! I have a Mackie 32 8 BUS with a PreSonus Firepod! I see that you can mix with the Mackie faders via your computer and I wonder how to do that by recording with my firepod. I just got the mixer and I really don't know how to record with it well, I have my firepod connected on Cubase and I want to introduce the Mackie 32 8 bus into this, please help me!

Thanks a lot!

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Boswell Mon, 03/09/2009 - 04:14

You don't really make it clear what it is that you want to do. There are at least two possible scenarios here:

(1) You have more than 8 channels of live source that you want to record (or track) at a time and you need to mix these down to 8 or fewer in order to match the Firepod. The Submaster Tape Outputs of the Mackie are the ones to use in this case. Connect these to the line inputs of the Firepod, and make live sub-mixes (e.g. L-R drums).

(2) You have 8 or fewer sound sources at any one time. Use the channel Direct Outs of the Mackie into the line inputs of the Firepod. The direct outs on the 32-8 are post fader, post-EQ, so I would record with flat EQ and not touch the channel faders during recording. In this way, all manipulation can be applied at mixdown.

A lot of this is covered in the Mackie [[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.mackie.c…"]FAQ[/]="http://www.mackie.c…"]FAQ[/]

The is onother interpretation of your post, and that is that you would like to use the mixer as a control surface for Cubase. If this is the case, you're out of luck, as the "Mackie Analog 32 8 Bus" mixer if your topic title is not a digital mixer, and does not have digital position information to send to a computer.

anonymous Mon, 03/09/2009 - 11:55

Thanks

Thank you for your answer. I've seen some people interacting between a computer and a mackie analog and I want to know what they are doing..

Plus how can I mix my tunes with the mackie faders once they are recording. I just got the mixer and I want to know how it can help me in my projects.

Sorry for the newb questions but I think you guys are here for that type of questions.

Thanks again!

TheJackAttack Mon, 03/09/2009 - 17:59

I think you have to decide what your end goal is.

The Firepod (in conjunction with the Mackie 32-8) will get audio into the computer 8 tracks at a time but you won't be able to mix recorded tracks OTB (out of the box).

A control surface will integrate with whatever DAW you are using for mixing purposes but won't get audio into the DAW.

Which do you need?

RemyRAD Mon, 03/09/2009 - 19:05

With that analog mixer & your computer audio interface, you can work as we used to work in analog. The only difference is that your recorder is a computer instead of a dedicated recorder.

To control software, like the other posters have indicated, you need a computer audio digital mixer or control surface. Those can be both or, separate. That is to say, a digital mixer can always be a mixer & control surface depending upon software compatibility. A control surface is not always functional as a standalone mixer.

I use an analog console with a digital multitrack recorder. Sometimes I mix down through the analog console. Sometimes I just mix within the computer. I combine my analog console with my digital multitrack recorder & my computer with an external audio interface. You can work the same way with an analog console. You can actually take multitrack outputs from your computer audio interface, up to I believe 8? And then back into your analog console for mixing. You can then feed 2 inputs i.e. left & right from your console mix output back into 2 inputs of your 8 inputs on your computer audio interface to record onto 2 additional tracks in software. So the other poster is not exactly accurate indicating your inability to do that. Your computer audio interface is designed to playback while also recording. Because you can exceed most rational track counts beyond 24, in software, this should not be a problem. You then export those two tracks as a single stereo pair for burning to CD or for online posting.

See? Wasn't that simple?
Ms. Remy Ann David