Tuesday, January 27, 2015

The Most Mystifying Mackie Mixer Mystery

The mixer is a Mackie ProFX12 and the USB connection from it has been a continuing devilment.

The problem to solve is getting the correct audio mix recorded on the computer and that's a generally simple thing but the complexities of it can have you barking.

And so it's been since around midnight.

The problem is now answered if not necessarily solved and the result will be a cleaner sound but it has been a giant infuriation getting to this point.  It doesn't seem like this should be so but ensuring the computer is recording or transmitting the same thing you are hearing is not such an easy thing.

If you use a Mackie mixer and are having trouble with USB levels, there are some extremely important things to remember:
  1. The USB level knob controls input only.  It has nothing to do with the volume of audio going out over USB.
  2. The Gain knobs above each channel thus their levels have everything to do with the output level.  Pay particular attention to the clipping light next to the Gain knob.
  3. The sliders for the Mains do nothing to change the level going out over USB.
  4. Ensure USB THRU is disabled or your audio will be echoed back to the mixer from the computer.
If you're having problems with your levels going into the computer, it's almost certainly due to one of those things being set incorrectly.

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