Recording with Peavey Mixers

This forum is for talking about all types of Peavey mixers.
cyrax037
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Re: Recording with Peavey Mixers

Post by cyrax037 » Sun Sep 12, 2010 12:57 pm

Are there external Amps for the mixer? This "might" could explain the loudness of the speakers, vs the levels on the board. If the amps are turned up really high, it could have something to do with it, I dunno.
Or you can simply use the RCA recording outputs, but be advised that depending on your instrument complement, often a direct recording of the board mix is less than outstanding. Why is that? Simply because in many genre's of music the Electric Guitars, Bass guitar, and Drum Kit drive the acoustic space of the room to any where from 40 to 80% of the sound level, so often what come out of the board is lacking in those instruments. Many a soundman has been fired by a band that does not understand this.

I use to do recording via the RCA, and they came out pretty good, but then again, the music was all done on a CD backing track instead of live instruments, so all I was getting in the mix was vocals and the backing track.

That being the case, If you have time at some point Marty, I would like alittle more detail on that, as I'd like to get more into doing recording and stuff, I'd like to learn as much as I can!

riverananda
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Re: Recording with Peavey Mixers

Post by riverananda » Sun Sep 12, 2010 6:35 pm

[quote="cyrax037"]Are there external Amps for the mixer? This "might" could explain the loudness of the speakers, vs the levels on the board. If the amps are turned up really high, it could have something to do with it, I dunno.

Thanks for the feedback; this is very possible. If I recall correctly my friend has a sound system mounted on a rack, there is I believe an Amp and an equalizer as well as his DJ equipment, from there it goes to the mixer and from the mixer to the speakers and monitors. If this is the case, I guess I would be getting a weak signal from the mixer either way even when the speaker volume is turned up from the mixer...? Unfortunately I will not have access to his equipment until the day of the gig, so we'll see. I will definitely try Marty's suggestion on the 3rd Aux with independent mix levels. Worse comes to worse and if I still get a weak signal from the mixer, I think I will record from the tape RCA outputs and increase the volume of the recording afterwards using Sound Logic.

Thanks again.

cyrax037
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Re: Recording with Peavey Mixers

Post by cyrax037 » Mon Sep 13, 2010 2:21 pm

Yeah, I mean, its something that is a possibility, but I don't have too much experience with Amps to be honest. We have em at church, but I don't mess with them. I do know they have their own volume control, and ours are full way at default, and let the mixer do the rest. Something I just thought of tho, I know the 16fx have a Rec out volume knob, is it possible that his mixer has a volume control and its turned way down? I dunno, most of my recording experience has been with an old powered mixer and the RCA rec out, so I could just be shooting in the dark. If you would have access to it before hand, I'd say try it with a laptop and Wavepad program(its free and pretty neat!) just to see how the levels are, cuz with that you can control how much or little signal gets in.

blindsoul
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Re: Recording with Peavey Mixers

Post by blindsoul » Tue Jun 28, 2011 12:32 pm

hey guys...
i'm a newbie in recording and would like to ask a question...
:D :D

i just bought a 16fx mixer and i would like to ask anyone who know what is the usb b-type will do? does it carry a sound input to the computer? or i can record each 16 track with it?

i never try this yet and want to know from anyone who have use this... really appreciate for a reply... thanks...

Marty McCann
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Re: Recording with Peavey Mixers

Post by Marty McCann » Tue Jun 28, 2011 1:21 pm

blindsoul wrote:hey guys...
i'm a newbie in recording and would like to ask a question...
:D :D

i just bought a 16fx mixer and i would like to ask anyone who know what is the usb b-type will do? does it carry a sound input to the computer? or i can record each 16 track with it?

i never try this yet and want to know from anyone who have use this... really appreciate for a reply... thanks...
Sorry, it records only 2 Tracks, i.e. the Left and Right Output.

blindsoul
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Re: Recording with Peavey Mixers

Post by blindsoul » Wed Jun 29, 2011 10:25 am

thank u so much marty...

colliedogboy
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Re: Recording with Peavey Mixers

Post by colliedogboy » Sun Dec 04, 2011 12:42 am

My question seems to be really "old school analog" in nature compared to what the other posts are about, but here is my situation. At present, I record our church's services direct out of the mixer "Aux 8" output into both our CD recorder and our DVD recorder using an XLR "Y" adapter to split into two outputs. The problem I have is that by the time I get the house mix adjusted to perfection (as MY ears hear it), I have acquired perhaps 30-45 seconds of a crappy mix going to the recorders because I have lost that much time before I can PFL the Aux 8 mix.
My idea is this--Use the TRS Main outs, presently not being used, to send balanced line-level signals to a 16-channel mixer, presently not being used, which sits next to our main mixer, and run L main out INTO ch. 1 of said unused mixer and run R main out INTO ch. 2 of that mixer. I would use the L and R main outs of the 16-channel board to send to the recorders. NOW, having thus set up a "safe" mix which would guarantee that 90% of blended sounds would be captured, I would like to run signal from the Aux 8 output INTO ch. 3 of the 16-ch. board so I can mix in instruments that would otherwise be left out of the "safe mix"; e.g. the Bass guitar (only goes to Subwoofer), Kick drum (Sub only), elec. guitar (Guitarist's monitor only), you get the point.
Would I incur hum problems or some kind of signal overload by doing this?
Thanks for any advice.

Marty McCann
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Re: Recording with Peavey Mixers

Post by Marty McCann » Wed Dec 21, 2011 9:58 am

CDB,

Why not use the Media Outputs (RCA) ?

brotherdave
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Four Peavey PV20 USB Newbie Questions!

Post by brotherdave » Wed Feb 08, 2012 3:49 pm

Sorry for the long post, but I'm lumping all my questions about setting this project up together. If I get clear answers I should be good to go.

Background: I'm good with analog recording going back to 1968 (Ampex 350-2 etc) and digital work using Cool-Edit Pro/Adobe Audition & less experienced with Audacity. My band has just started recording rehearsals at our rehearsal studio using 2 large diaphragm condenser mics into the PV20, the PV20 out to desktop computer's integrated soundcard line input and recording with Audacity. It works ok but I'm wondering if USB recording would sound better. The PV20 USB mixer is separate from the PA mixer and the two are not tied in together in any fashion, except during playback I will manually connect the speaker out on the computer to the PA mixer so everyone can hear the recorded tracks. We are using an XP SP3 desktop computer with 2GB ram and a fast Pentium 4 processor that currently has Audacity loaded on it as the only DAW application. We are not looking to record for MCA or anything, just record rehearsals and eventually multi-track some demos.

First question: Will the sound quality be any better using USB instead of the computer's integrated soundcard for recording? Will I get higher fidelity, increased bandwidth, lower noise, lower distortion, etc using USB as the recording interface or is it going to sound about the same either way?

Second question: The PV20 manual isn't very thorough on the procedure to use the USB capability. There is no longer a software disc with the mixer if one came with it as the sax player has owned this mixer for several years and doesn't know where the manual, much less any included disc is at this time. (I'm pretty sure he doesn't even know what USB is and doesn't have the USB cable either.) I know I need to connect a USB cable of course, however I don't want to connect the mixer to the computer only to have it use some inferior default drivers when better ones might be available. I can't find any drivers or software on the PV20's download page, only the manual and specs. If I need to download and install audio drivers where do I download them? And further, should multiple driver choices appear when I plug in the USB cable, which one should I choose?

Third question: We intend EVENTUALLY to do multi-tracking. After reading on the Peavey Forum I'm aware this console is either 2 channels in or 2 channels out via USB and not 2 in/2 out. So the question is what is the best way to do desktop computer multi-tracking with this console? (For example if I connect the USB and use the USB for the two inputs to the recording software (Audactity/Audition/etc), can I still output via the desktop computer's integrated soundcard and send that audio to a monitor bus on the PV20 (not back to the mix bus on the 2 recording channels), or is the desktop's soundcard disabled? Based on real world user experience, how do I configure the mixer and the XP machine for this?

Fourth question: Would it be better in the long run to get a dedicated I/O USB recording interface such as the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 and use that instead of the Peavey USB since I can use that one interface for simultaneous recording and playback? We can do that, but there is no real need to if recording 2 channels while playing back 2 other channels is somehow possible on the PV20.

ctclark1
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Re: Four Peavey PV20 USB Newbie Questions!

Post by ctclark1 » Wed Feb 08, 2012 6:28 pm

I'm more of a jack of all trades between computers and audio, I wouldn't say I'm an absolute master of either, but I'll take a stab here.
brotherdave wrote:First question: Will the sound quality be any better using USB instead of the computer's integrated soundcard for recording? Will I get higher fidelity, increased bandwidth, lower noise, lower distortion, etc using USB as the recording interface or is it going to sound about the same either way?
I would guess this could get into the standard debate of analog vs. digital, really. All in all, the USB connection is a digital audio transmission of sorts. Not along the same line of AES/EBU or S/PDIF, but digital nonetheless. That said, you're much less likely to pick up noise from the computer internals (random voltage offsets, hard drive interference, etc) using the USB, however keep in mind that USB relies very very heavily on CPU cycles, so this could cause dropped samples, as it were, if other things are using it. Distortion is still possible, maybe less so from overloading the inputs of an analog sound card, but just as possible as any digital style signal.
Second question: The PV20 manual isn't very thorough on the procedure to use the USB capability. There is no longer a software disc with the mixer if one came with it as the sax player has owned this mixer for several years and doesn't know where the manual, much less any included disc is at this time. (I'm pretty sure he doesn't even know what USB is and doesn't have the USB cable either.) I know I need to connect a USB cable of course, however I don't want to connect the mixer to the computer only to have it use some inferior default drivers when better ones might be available. I can't find any drivers or software on the PV20's download page, only the manual and specs. If I need to download and install audio drivers where do I download them? And further, should multiple driver choices appear when I plug in the USB cable, which one should I choose?
Having not used the mixer specifically, I presume it will show as a generic audio device, which is just fine for what it is doing. The only reason I could see the need for specific drivers would be if you could control the mixer from the computer, which is not the case here.
Third question: We intend EVENTUALLY to do multi-tracking. After reading on the Peavey Forum I'm aware this console is either 2 channels in or 2 channels out via USB and not 2 in/2 out. So the question is what is the best way to do desktop computer multi-tracking with this console? (For example if I connect the USB and use the USB for the two inputs to the recording software (Audactity/Audition/etc), can I still output via the desktop computer's integrated soundcard and send that audio to a monitor bus on the PV20 (not back to the mix bus on the 2 recording channels), or is the desktop's soundcard disabled? Based on real world user experience, how do I configure the mixer and the XP machine for this?
Run the USB into the computer and the analog output to the Tape-In on the mixer and engage the Tape to control/HP. Now, mind you, I'm not sure on the process of preventing the tape from getting back to the main, nor how to keep the mains from going into the headphone at the same time, but I'm sure with some combination it is possible. That being said, XP is probably the easiest of the versions to do this, additionally most programs (I only have experience with Audacity, but I'd presume others do too) include the options right in the programs to route your playback to specific devices (and the options for playthrough to that specific device while recording).

I'll let someone else take the fourth question, and weigh in on my responses.
Chris - Lead Technician/Audio Specialist
Technical Services Coordinator @ Darien Lake Theme Park Resort

brotherdave
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Re: Recording with Peavey Mixers

Post by brotherdave » Wed Feb 08, 2012 11:17 pm

Thanks CTCLARK1!

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SemperFiSound
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Re: Recording with Peavey Mixers

Post by SemperFiSound » Thu Feb 09, 2012 10:15 am

CTC,
Great answers.
brotherdave wrote:Fourth question: Would it be better in the long run to get a dedicated I/O USB recording interface such as the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 and use that instead of the Peavey USB since I can use that one interface for simultaneous recording and playback? We can do that, but there is no real need to if recording 2 channels while playing back 2 other channels is somehow possible on the PV20.
It depends. If you can manipulate the PV-20 to accommodate your needs, no further expense need be incurred. If you cannot, then another tool will be required to do what you want to accomplish - this would also cover any user inconvenience caused by not having the correct tools.

Cheers,
Steve
SemperFi Sound; the website
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"The Art of War teaches us to rely, not upon the calculated likelihood of
the enemy's coming or not, but on our own readiness to receive him... no
matter what he does." Sun Tzu

Eliminator
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Re: Recording with Peavey Mixers

Post by Eliminator » Tue Mar 13, 2012 9:01 am

Chiming in with my current equipment. I am an old school guy that has had hours with tape, then tascam DA 88's and now onto PC. I use a Presonus Firestudio Project 10x10 interface. It is the magic between the mic and the PC. I built a 6 core PC with a 1 terrabyte hard drive, considering the file size of live music being converted to data. The software is pricy, using Sonar X1 producer (Cakewalk). Some softare comes packaged with the interface. It is a very complex program that requires some learning. Youtube has many tutorials and some computer knowledge is required. I have been using a Unity 2002 12ch board forever for live feeds, and have recently found it to be a simple outboard sound control for my main PA mix. The Presonus is actually a pre-amp for 8 mic/instrument inputs with 8 aux outputs and MIDI capable with 2 MIDI outputs. It is Firewire, and advertises a "0" latency, which is the amount of time your voice is processed into the pc and back out to your mains/monitors. The presonus software allows a PC based mixer, and the Sonar X1 has a mixer in it as well. I haven't found but a couple of boards that will provide digital Multi track recording capabilities to Mac or PC. Presonus has a 16 track board that acts as an interface as well. But my transition experiences tell me that without some sort of interface, you are only going to get the stereo output for recording. That limits you to adjusting anything in the recording post mixer, other than EQ. So my flow chart is as follows....
Live sound to Presonus interface, firewired to PC, Sonar X1 producer to process, PC firewired to Presonus, Presonus to Peavy mixer to mains (for playback), Presonus AUX out to control room KRK powered monitors.
I add any outboard FX's in the Sonar software, unless the guitar/bass player has personal prefferences with multiple pedals/corrus/wah wah pedals, that is between the guitar and the presonus. (Compressor, limiter, gate, reverb, delay.....) There is a ton of built in outboard equipment in the software. Another good thing about that interface, is you don't need a DI box for guitars or bass inputs, it is a direct input capable interface with phantum power as well.

I hope this helps somebody.

master-of-beasts
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Re: Recording with Peavey Mixers

Post by master-of-beasts » Tue Jun 05, 2012 10:53 am

Hello.

I am using a pv20 usb mixer.

When i record first track, there is no problem, i can hear i my headphones what i am playing, and the signal to the computer i perfect...
But when it comes to recording track nr. 2, it records the playback from the first track, creating some kind of echo. and it gets even worse if i use more tracks. So i cant use layers, which is important for me, playing all alone all instruments. Can anyone explain what i am doing wrong ?

I can choose to hear the first recorded track in my headphones, and not hear what i am playing during second take, "then it works fine" and makes no echo.... ?

renfrini
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Re: Recording with Peavey Mixers

Post by renfrini » Sun Aug 05, 2012 12:42 am

Is it possible that you are engaging the tape/usb to control room/ headphones at the same time as engaging tape/usb to mix?

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