Really Really new to this and having problems

Austin R · Post by **Austin R** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 2:02 am

John:

Good advice on keeping a mixer in the system.

We have always included a mixer in the chain. Usually the PC inputs are directed to submaster or main mix outputs, but this time I tried using the direct outs available on our Mackie 1642. Using the direct outs, one can still quickly and smoothly silence wayward channels as I had to do during an early rehearsal when I fired a sound cue instead of a light cue. It seemed intuitive to just reach out and sweep the channel faders to zero when I realized what I had done. We also create a CD of the audio tracks to use in case of PC meltdown. A separate CD player is fed into the mixer for this purpose. Having the additional flexibility of the mixer is a great safety net.

Austin

jkowtko · Post by **jkowtko** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 6:52 am

I used the CD for a while, but it was such a pain to cut the CD and having to "re-architect" the sound cues to deal with overlays, etc, that I bought a second PC as soon as I could.

Out here in silicon valley you can get a decent P4 CPU with 512 to 1mb of RAM for just over $100 ... $150 if you include monitor and keyboard.