Connecting analogue mixer console to FL studio

Question

I am to help edit audio in a live performance in which 10 microphones will be used but my audio interface only supports 2 microphones. I have an analogue mixer console that supports more than 10 microphones, but it has limited equalizers and other effects. How will i connect this mixer console to a DAW, specifically FL studio, so I would be able to use more effects, for this live performance?

Answer 1

With an analogue mixer and a 2 input computer audio interface there's no way of processing each of the independent mixer's channels in the DAW.

The issue is not that the mixer is analogue (most of the entry level mixers with embedded audio interface are analogues mixers), but that you don't have any way of feeding each of the 10 channels independently to the DAW (i.e. separately so that they are captured in different tracks in the DAW).

For that, you would need either

• a mixer with an embedded audio interface that supported the 10 channels over USB (or other computer connectivity way),
• or a separate 10 channels audio interface and feed the effects send of each channel in the mixer to a different input channel in the interface.

With your equipment you have the possibility of feeding 2 independent channels into the DAW. So, as I said, you're not going to be able to process each live channel in a completely independent way, but there may be still a few things you can do, depending on the features of your mixer.

If your mixer has a couple of submix buses or effects send channels, try to define a strategy for how you're going to use the two channels you have, and then send each mixer input channel to each of the two effects channels with the level you wish (by setting the channel's submix or effects send pot appropriately).

For example use one effects channel for delay/reverb and the other for compression, or one for subtle reverb+compression and other for more heavy processing. Or if you can do delay and compression in the mixer (I can't see in the picture, but it has quite a few knobs, so maybe you can) then do that in the mixer and use the DAW for special effects.

This way, even though you can't control the processing of the 10 channels in a completely independent way, you can still define 2 different processing chains and affect each channel by each of the two chains in different degrees.