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harmo · Posted - Tue Nov 19, 2002 6:10 am

Hey all. I'm recording live, stereo, running a board into an Mia Echo. I'm getting great results with this fairly simple setup...the problem is playback. I can't, for now, afford real monitors...so I'm using Roland micro monitors. Their problems seem compounded by the internal, playback soundcard (a "maestro"--noisy and nasty). I'm trying to work around these limitations, testing cd's on various systems from boomboxes to high-end systems...

So: would I benefit much from another soundcard, replacing the system one? Should I try to hook the Mia outs to the Rolands, which would obviously require adapters? or should I just say fuggit and deal until i can get a pair of quality monitors? So far this is all for demo/website/edification of my band purposes...

Or am I completely misunderstanding things...

thanks.

ozpeter · Location: Australia

Is there any way of plugging headphones in the Mia? Not a solution if you want group listening sessions, but (at risk of repeating myself) a $200 pair of cans should beat any $200 pair of speakers, while your budget is tight.

- Ozpeter

Syntrillium M.D. · Location: USA

Well, the short answer is...eliminate the Maestro from the signal path...definitely.

Now, connecting your micro-monitors to the MIA is unlikely to make your sound more hi-fi...but at least you won't have the noise and persistent buzzes that are usually associated with any of the ESS cards. This alone should assist you in making better mixes from the start.

---Syntrillium, M.D.

SteveG · Location: United Kingdom

Synt's quite right about the Maestro (although he's usually a little more reticent about slagging them off!). Like the inputs on the Mia, the outputs are balanced. One possibility is that you may well have some unused monitoring capability on your board - a lot of boards have an A-B check for a master recorder built into the monitoring section, which might solve your headphone and speaker monitoring problem completely. All you would need are two leads, one from each output, back to the B-check input, which would give you the chance to use just one pair of h/phones on the desk for all your monitoring. It's pretty easy to set the Mia up so that this is unambiguous as well - if you get this wrong, it can be a tad confusing sometimes.

So what board is it?

harmo · Posted - Tue Nov 19, 2002 12:37 pm

I'm embarrassed to say I don't know offhand what model it is--it's an 8-year old Mackie 8 channel that has served me well in live situations. I don't think it has the capacity you speak of, but I will check when I get home. It sounds like a decent temporary solution. What configuring of the Mia is required?

Dr. Synt--what's an ESS card? what's a decent replacement, should Steve's idea not be feasible?

clintfan · Location: USA

Hi harmo,

You asked about what ESS is. I had an "ESS AudioDrive" card in my first PC, circa 1994-5. It was mainly done by an ESS chip, embedded on an ISA audio+modem combo card. The card was not really designed for serious audio, it was just for playing Windows game sounds, speakerphone, that sort of thing. That's Synt's point: these cards are fine for their intended purpose, but for serious audio work --which is outside their intent-- a person having only ESS needs something else.

I'm not clear whether ESS still builds soundcards, but a Yahoo search for "ESS Maestro" turned up many hits. And in case you are interested in ESS the company, you can check out: http://www.esstech.com/products/products.shtm

-clintfan

Syntrillium M.D. · Location: USA

SteveG · Location: United Kingdom

Hmm... coffee usually has the opposite effect on me...

harmo · Posted - Wed Nov 20, 2002 6:07 am

thanks Steve et al.
OK, so the Mia set-up isn't complicated. BTW I am LOVING this soundcard and am grateful for the recommendation.

So...my Mackie is a 1202 w/out the A-B monitoring option. Would it be possible to use the auxiliary returns similarly? (only during mixing).

Or (as the mutiple uses of various pieces of equipment slowly dawn on me) would my Peavy floor monitors suffice? I suspect floor monitors are a completely different beast.

SteveG · Location: United Kingdom

Hmm.. doesn't your 1202 have this bit on it?

If it does (I think that the only difference between the 1202 and 1202VLZ was the mic preamps), then it is the tape input above 'assign to main mix' that is the one I was referring to. You should be able to monitor what's coming back with these controls, and play it into the monitors attached to the desk. Page four of the Mackie Hookup Guide should give you the info you need to monitor this way.

clintfan · Location: USA

Man, I love having this new "Insert Image" feature!!

-clintfan

harmo · Posted - Thu Nov 21, 2002 5:56 am

I should have said the Mackie is a "micro" 1202--it lacks those features. But your post has nudged me to go to the Mackie site myself and do the research. Thanks!