Would there be any issues with combining both a mixer (PV14AT) and an audio interface?

Question

I am currently looking to setup a home studio to record music with drums, bass, guitar, and vocals.The goal is to have up to 12 different microphones connected and ready for recording.

At the moment I have a PV14AT mixer and I am looking for an audio interface to possibly work in tandem. My idea is to use the audio interface for approximately 6-8 mic preamps with the mixer providing the remaining mic connections. One thing to note, the Mixer is able to provide individual line outs from all 8 mic preamps from the mixer. So the sound won't be summed into one output

My question is whether there would be any issues with connecting mixer outputs in combination with audio interface inputs in terms of latency or connections?

This is my first attempt at large scale recording and would like to minimize any potential issues

Answer 1

As long as the audio interface has enough inputs to accommodate all the microphones and the mixer outputs, connecting them should not result in significant latency issues. Make sure that the mixer and audio interface have compatible levels to prevent too low a signal, clipping, or distortion.

Answer 2

The manual of the PV 14AT says:

This impedance-balanced TRS output signal is taken after the mic preamp, hi pass filter, and compressor, but before the EQ stage.

Additionally, the block diagram shows that the signal coming into the mixer remains analog on the entire signal path to the Direct Out ports, so you won't have any noticeable latency from analog-to-digital or digital-to-analog conversions. The audio interface will handle all analog-to-digital conversion internally, so you won't have separate clocks that would need to be synchronized. You should expect this to work as you propose.

If you intend to connect the mixer to your computer directly via USB rather than with analog cables to your audio interface, you might have issues. The manual does not list Windows 10 or 11 as compatible, suggesting any drivers they developed for the unit are already several years old. Latency will depend on the quality and compatibility of the driver. But if you only need the preamp function of the mixer, you should connect via analog connections.

Depending on the age, capability, and quality of your audio interface, you may wish to set up direct monitoring so you can listen back without noticeable latency. But such latency won't be the result of using the mixer.