New Mixer (Page 1 of 2)

No, you don't need Cube to use the mixer.  It should be visible to the computer as an audio device.  You're on a PC, right?   Have you set the computer to use the new USB device through the control panel?  Once that is working for you whatever audio programs you use will take their configuration from that.

If you aren't seeing the lights on the panel flicker when you're talking into the mic, that is actually a good thing.  If those lights pop on, it means you're clipping.  Anyway, just to make sure you're getting signal, do the following.

Plug in your MXL-990 into channel strip 1. 
Turn the gain on that channel strip all the way down (to the left)
Plug in a set of headphones to the phones jack on the mixer.
Turn the phones volume all the way up.
Turn on phantom power.    The phantom power light should come on.
Start to talk into the mic, and slowly turn the gain up  on the channel 1 strip.   

If your mics are working correctly, you should hear yourself in the headphones at some point.  If you do, turn the headphones volume down and then turn the gain up until the red light comes on.  Roll back on the gain a bit and that should be about where your levels need to be set.  This also means that the mixer is working correctly and the problem is somewhere in the communication with the PC. That could be configuration on the PC, as above, or something as simple as a broken USB cord.

If you don't hear yourself in your headphones, then something is broken in your signal chain and that is where you should start to look.

OK, Jerome.  I did as you told me. As I turned the gain up, I heard my voice in the headphones.  More than I had before.  However, when I talk, the recording LEDs do not light up.  And on my Webcam software, for sound, it reads 3-USB Audio Codec, which the manual says to make sure you have it on USB Audio Codec.  Still no sound after recording.  I will try my old USB cabkle and give it a shot.

I see you are online Jerome.

Thanks Jerome.  I'll give it another try.  I'm so excited I can't contain myself, but am getting quite frustrated.  I'll let you know.

If you're getting a lot of noise, turn the gain down and the channel volume up.   You'll use the channel volume knobs to control your mix along with the "Main" volume pot.  Channel volumes will control only that channel strip, and the "Main" volume is your master output that controls the volume going to the computer.   It's OK to leave a lot of headroom on the gain knob.  It lets you hit the track later with more effects without clipping.

Anyway, you are about to get into the wonderful world of "routing."    It is easier to understand if you imagine each part of your mixer as a separate bit of hardware.   So your mixer might have the channel strips in one part, the effects processor in another, the main outputs in another, and the monitor outputs in another.   For each box there are two cables.  One cable sends audio to it, and the other receives audio from it.  You can switch the cabling around to various parts of the mixer before they end up at the mains and monitors.

So for example the simplest configuration has the mixing channels connected to the main outputs.   You have another box called the "effects" box that you can send audio to directly from individual channel strips and have the sent audio (called the "wet" signal) merged back into the unprocessed audio (the "dry" signal) before it hits the mains and your ears.

So lets do this the same way.

On your mixer, select the effect you want to use.
Turn the FX Return Level all the way up.
On the channels you want to use effects on, turn the FX Post Send dial all the way down.
Press the "Main to Monitor" button.
Make some noise for your microphone and slowly turn the FX Post Send dial up. 

You should hear the signal become more and more changed as you "send" more audio to the effects processor.

So in this case, the FX Post Send knob controls how much signal will go to the FX processor, and the "FX Return Level" controls how much comes back.  You can dial them up or down to taste.   The "Main to Monitor" button just connects the mains to your monitoring headphones, which are separately routed. 

This allows you to use the effects on multiple tracks.  For example if you wanted a lot of reverb on the guitar and just a touch on your vocals, you could do that by "sending" a lot of the guitar track and a little of the vocal track.

When you hear people talking about "send effects,"  this is what they mean.  You are "sending" some of the audio to somewhere else, and merging that return signal back into the mix.

I also just realized that when I am talking about clipping signals, I mean the red light on the channel strip itself.  That is the one that shouldn't come on.  The signal meter lights on the right side of the mixer should be showing activity.  That is the signal going to the mains.  My bad for not catching that. 

Pete, you may remember i got the same mixer you now have, got the same MXL set you have, because i really liked the sound of your recordings. Hooked everything up and yep, did not and still does not work. I was so disappointed that i just quit, closed the door and said I'm done. Did not play for a few days but would lurk here and other places for answers.

Now after reading your post and Jeromes answer i may try again in a couple days, like you, something like this drives me nuts and, i really wanted to put up some videos.      b.    Wish i had a Jerome in my area.

I'm going to get back at it later in the day.  Thanks again jerome for the help.  I need to gather a little nerve and find some time, but I will get it working.
Bob, don't give up.  We'll work this out together.  First, a couple of things I learned on my own.  If you go to control panel and sounds, you have to have both playback and recording set to USB audio codec.  This means that you have to go back to playback and cahnge it back to speakers when you are not recording to hear your regular stuff on the computer.  A minor issue, but important.  The next thing is, on your mixer you have to have the Main to Monitor button pushed in and also the 2TRKS/USB to Main button pushed in for this thing to work.  If you follow all of Jeromes info and add these things, you should be up and running.  Now it's just a matter of finding the right settings for regular recording and special effects, which is what I will be working on later in the day hopefully.  Good luck Bob and stay tuned. We won't give up.

Thanks to both Pete and Jerome I understand a little more about the mixer and the recording process however, not enough, because after following all instructions it just does not work. I tried both not using Audacity and using Audacity. When not using the DAW I just recorded to the sound recorder and saved to windows media player, and then tried playback. i feel that my computer is not getting the sound, i will work it out somehow. I hope, thanks a bunch guys any other Ideas let me know please.      b

Jerome my computer has Windows Vista.     b

Go to "Control Panel->Sound" and then make sure USB codec is selected for both recording and playback.

Keep at it Pete!  It will all come together....

And you're not the first (or even the second) person do do it.  In fact, you're not even the only person on this list that may end up doing that two or three times.   Trust me on that. 

Anyway, you want to dial your master volume up when you record, as that is going to be the level that gets written to disk.   One of the black arts of mixing like this is getting your levels set correctly, as there seems to be a way to adjust volume at every step of the audio chain.  You can adjust a tracks volume with the sliders (or pots, in your case) on the channel strip. You can adjust it again if you route it through effects.  You get another chance at the master sliders, and if you're using a DAW, you get even more opportunities then.  So there's lots of opportunity to fine tune, but also to... aahhhh.... not-so-fine-tune?

Oddly enough, the volume controls for your monitors or headphones *don't* effect the master track.  That means what you hear may be (and in fact probably is) at a different volume to what the mains are at.    So it possible to turn the master track down low but your headphones up high, and the recording comes out dim.  So do the opposite. Turn the master up high (don't let it clip, though) and your headphones down low.  Then adjust the headphone volume.  That should give you a signal level you can use.

So the recording is happening (you can hear it through regular speakers), but you aren't getting any playback through the Alesis?

Is that a correct summation?  If so, that is actually a pretty good problem to have, as it means *most* of your stuff is working right.