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I'm pretty new to recording and I just picked up a vintage "transistorized stereo mike mixer" from a flea market. The guy said it worked perfectly and I could hook it up to my computer with the right cords. Here's some pictures of the thing enter image description here

enter image description here

Would a left and right audio to usb cord do the trick? I'm looking to use this with Reaper, by the way.

Thank you!

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Generally speaking mixers used for live sound are too noisy to use for recording applications. So, technically, 'yes' you could hook it up, but realistically, it wont make a very nice noise.

The sound quality would be made even worse if you tried to plug the mixer directly into a mic socket on a PC/laptop as the mic socket will try to amplify the signal (unless it is specifically a line level input - if it's got a picture of a mic, its a mic input, not a line input).

Be careful using USB sound adaptors as they tend to be 16bit rather than 24bit that most audio devices work at - this will further reduce the quality of the signal.

You're best bet would be to get a proper dedicated audio device, you can pick a new one with two mic/line inputs for around £100.

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  • Alright thank you. That's very sound advice. I just picked this thing up for $4, so it's not much of loss :P
    – YourBringerOfLight
    Jul 19, 2016 at 21:10
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Yes, you can. You'll need a stereo RCA to 1/8" adapter like this.

enter image description here

And then connect the 1/8" into the line input on your computer's sound card.

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  • Thank you, but I'm using my laptop, which only had a headphone jack. Am I just out of luck now? EDIT: Okay, it might function as both. I'll play around with it in a moment
    – YourBringerOfLight
    Jul 11, 2016 at 3:06
  • Yeah, it seems like that's not gonna work :c
    – YourBringerOfLight
    Jul 11, 2016 at 4:19
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    That's too bad. I tried to find a cheap USB sound adapter but all the ones I found only had a mic input and no line input. If you want to keep looking around you might be able to find one. But IMO, a better option would be to simply get a USB audio interface with built in mic preamps. How much did you get that mic mixer for? You might be able to return/sell the mixer you got. There are many 2 channel units in the $99 range like the Mackie Onyx Blackjack. This will give you significantly better sound quality.
    – Tekkerue
    Jul 11, 2016 at 6:05
  • @Tekkerue Just picked up an Onyx Blackjack and it's a solid interface for the price.
    – Goodbye Stack Exchange
    Jul 12, 2016 at 1:47

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