Mixer for individual signal monitoring?

R

rustinpeace91

Member
I have a Fractal FM3. I tend to record "cabless" which means I disable the cab block, record the direct preamp signal, then use an IR holder in my DAW to tweak stuff. It's the best of both worlds imo. Much easier than re-amping but gives me just enough tweakability to get the guitars to "sit" in the mix later on. What I'd love to be able to do is take advantage of the 2 outputs on the FM3, and use one output with a cab and one without, send the one without into my DAW, then monitor the one WITH the cab against my daw playback, without monitoring any of the tracks in my DAW itself. This would give me an almost zero latency recording setup. The issue is my audio interface doesn't allow individual track monitoring and I actually cannot find an affordable interface that does. I do have a pair of studio monitors so I can do it that way, but I'd much rather be able to listen to both signals into headphones. It just makes things easier since I live in an apartment.

So what I'm thinking is if I get a cheap mixer like this one: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Mix5--mackie-mix5-5-channel-compact-mixer

would I be able to make that work? All I'd need to be able to do is send the outoput of my DAW and an output from my FM3 into the mixer and use it for monitoring

I've actually never used a physical mixer before so I don't really know what I'm doing, but I feel like this would work.
 
GlennO said:
I gather you're using only analog output of your FM3? Normally, one would use usb output. That makes it a lot simpler because you'll only need to send the monitor output from the FM3 to the audio interface. See the recording guide for details.

https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/axe-fx-for-the-recording-musician.177592/
Click to expand...
You mean use the FM3 as an audio interface? I tried doing that and ran into latency compensation issues. These issues might have since been fixed but honestly I’d rather use a dedicated audio interface that I know works and just use the FM3 for what it’s good at.

Also not sure it would solve my issue. I want to send one output into the DAW without monitoring it, then monitor another output directly without recording it. Chances are is still need a mixer for that unless there’s a feature im missing.
 
Here's a HOW TO for the idea of using a small 4-channel mixer. I do this sometimes when I need to work on a project at 44k, for example.

1. Connect FM3 OUT 2 to the inputs of your interface for calbless recording.
Use a config like the one shown below. Record with input monitoring disabled.
2. Connect the outputs of your interface to Mixer 1+2.
3. Connect FM3 OUT 1to the mixer for monitoring or for playing when the computer is off.
4. Connect the mixer outputs to your speakers.

1715607537199.png
 
rustinpeace91 said:
You mean use the FM3 as an audio interface? I tried doing that and ran into latency compensation issues. These issues might have since been fixed but honestly I’d rather use a dedicated audio interface that I know works and just use the FM3 for what it’s good at.

Also not sure it would solve my issue. I want to send one output into the DAW without monitoring it, then monitor another output directly without recording it. Chances are is still need a mixer for that unless there’s a feature im missing.
Click to expand...

That would solve your issue since it would allow you to monitor only one of your two outputs, and might be simpler than adding additional gear to your rig. Just put your Out1 block before your cab block and the Out2 block after. Record Out1 and monitor Out2. See the recording guide for details about latency compensation, incorporating a mixer into your rig, and other relevant info.
 
Admin M@ said:
Here's a HOW TO for the idea of using a small 4-channel mixer. I do this sometimes when I need to work on a project at 44k, for example.

1. Connect FM3 OUT 2 to the inputs of your interface for calbless recording.
Use a config like the one shown below. Record with input monitoring disabled.
2. Connect the outputs of your interface to Mixer 1+2.
3. Connect FM3 OUT 1to the mixer for monitoring or for playing when the computer is off.
4. Connect the mixer outputs to your speakers.

View attachment 140241
Click to expand...
This is what I'm going to do. I just haven't had any luck using the FM3 as an audio interface. Creates more problems than it solves (weird latency adjustment issues, playback sounds very different from what I'm hearing in the headphones) much rather keep using my Interface. I'm going to have other uses for a small 5 channel mixer anyway. Could use it to listen to podcasts while gaming without having to alt tab, putting multiple mic/line inputs into a single input in my audio interface without having to buy a new one. Seems like a useful and relatively inexpensive piece of kit to have.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom