Tips on buying a mixer for home recording

Previously, I am recording without a mixer at home and it is just awful. It is because it does not have enough amplification of signals. The signals that were recorded into Adobe audition is very weak and noisy.

But successfully I still managed to do it right, listen to one sample song below:

"Always thinking of you" by Jeanine Maningo



The problem that I am always facing is the difficulty of the recording process. To change instruments, I have to go at the back of the computer and unplug my cable. It is just to risky sometimes I get electrocuted.

For year 2008, I have a new year resolution to buy a simple mixer at home. I surf the net and i found Behringer xenyx 502. I say it is the best mixer for home at the lowest budget while achieving the best quality of sound recording.

I am so contented of my purchase, that I made this tips:

1. Buy the smallest mixer as you can depending on your budget but check the brand. Always go for branded ones, those that already made some reputation in sound engineering industry. When we go to local store we see a lot of mixer, cheap ones but not branded. The sound quality is awful. Just be careful you would not buy a pirated/imitation one.

2. Buy in the city's best recording shop for gears. I buy my behringer xenyx 502 in the city's biggest mall and also sells some branded speakers/monitors like Bose and other stuff.

3. Quality is more important the price itself but not too much. I mean if you can afford and you get the quality you want, then go for it. Just do not exceed on buying the most expensive ones but the quality level is just the same.

4. Check for the number of inputs, Xenyx 502 got 5 inputs (mono), and it is enough for me. The higher the number of inputs the better, but buy only something you need. If you buy many inputs but you use only one most your time. It is wasted.

5. Check for warranty.Make sure your product is protected by warranty in case of early damage.

6. Check for wide applicability. This means, at the same I can use my mixer to:
a. Record sound
b. Record sound while I can monitor (by headphone maybe)
c. Can shift to headphone or to the loud monitor (there is a switch)
d. Has clip detector
e. Has trim function ( gain, very important in recording if you are not using a direct box)
f. Stereo output

7. This means, you should fully understand the manual first before buying anything., to measure it's applicability.

On my next post, I will concentrate on digital audio recording process. Cheers.

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