Allen & Heath Mixer through Pro Tools

[wheelzthatkillz]

I am having trouble getting a decent drum sound through my mixer, here are the details of what i have:

- drum kit
- ashton dmp100 drum mic pack
- allen & heath zed 16 fx mixer
- mac os x version 10.7.5, core i5, 4gb memory
- pro tools version 10
- mbox 3

i have the 7 mics going through the mixer and the mixer is going from a mono out plug to the first input on the mbox 3. In pro tools the mixer comes up on one track.

I would like to have each of the 7 inputs on the mixer come up in pro tools on 7 different tracks if possible, therefore i can put effects on each track to achieve a better sound.
Overall just wondering if i can get a mixer to come up on seperate tracks instead of one combined track.

[bonzerboy]

You need 7 inputs. If you are going to use the mixer you need an interface that will allow the inputs you need and then you will go direct out form each channel of the mixer.

[wheelzthatkillz]

so all i need is an interface of some sort, recommend any good ones? and a price?

[CME]

I'm a big fan of metric halo gear. Their 2882 would be great for what you want to do. They're about $1800 new but I've seen them for $800-1000 used if you're patient.

However there are lots and lots of interfaces out there. What is your budget and what Mac are you using?

[wheelzthatkillz]

I wouldn't spend more than $1000 on an interface and the mac i'm using is an iMac 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 4gb memory 1333 MHz DDR3. 21.5" monitor. Thats about all I know about it.

[b mcgibney]

Depending on you mixer you may be able to tAKE INDIVIDUAL channels out of the mixer. If your mixer utilizes TRS inserts you can take the send part of the TRS (usually the tip) and insert those into the inputs of you PT interface.

My choice would be to get a FF800 and another four channels of quality pres and get you seven inputs in that way.

B

[dr_daw]

I'm happy with my Focusrite Saffire Pro 40, been getting great drum sounds. Only downside is that there is only pads on 2 channels. The pre's sound great, but I came from a Behringer mixer with a m-audio Delta 1010lt, so anything would sound better :P They run about $500, but give the expansion of Optical I/O and S/Pdif.

You wouldn't "really" need your mixer for that type of setup unless you need pads. If you want to use your mixer; to elaborate on this..

Depending on you mixer you may be able to tAKE INDIVIDUAL channels out of the mixer. If your mixer utilizes TRS inserts you can take the send part of the TRS (usually the tip) and insert those into the inputs of you PT interface.

You will need to know if your mixer uses TIP to send, or RING(found in the manual) on the INSERTS. With my old setup, I used a Tip/Sleeve (TS) 8ch snake and needed to "1/2 jack" them to get the signal to my interface. What I mean by that, is that you only insert the 1/4" jack to the first detent. I'm not sure of your experience, so hopefully you understand what I am are saying.

Regardless, there is no way to get your Mbox to record 7 tracks individually. I would at least record the drums on two inputs on that interface. Either a "stereo" mix, or Kick (In 1), rest of drums (In 2)