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First off, my gear:

Drum Kit: Odery Fluence (with very old heads)

Mics: SM57 (snare), MB/Dk4 Drum Pack Audio Technica (toms), CAD KBM412 (kick drum)

Mixer:Behringer Eurorack UB2442FX-PRO

Audio Interface: Roland Octa-Capture

Recording Software: Sonar LE

Input/Output

All mics are connected to the mixer using fairly new cables (all XLR connection). I use the main left output of the mixer into the channel 2 of the Octa-Capture. I then record the audio using Sonar LE.

Issue

The mix sounds absolutely amazing on the mixer's headphone output, but awful on the recording software. It seems like the audio loses all the punch when going through the audio interface, but I cannot seem to figure out what's going on. I've changed the XLR cable from the mixer to the audio interface, to no avail. I've modified some configs on the Octa-Capture (44.1 kHz to 96 kHz sample rate), adjusted autosenses settings, main out volume...

My questions are:

  • Is there a difference between output volume, gain and effects between mixer's headphone output and main output?
  • How can I test if it is the audio interface or recording software (or maybe both) ruining my mix?
  • Can this be a faulty cable? Or maybe a bad input on the audio interface?

Below are some images of my setup:

Main Left Output Of mixer Kick Drum Floor Toms Mics High Tom and Snare Mics Mixer

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4
  • It looks like you're running a line out to a mic in, but tbh, this is one of those things you could fix in 10 minutes, hands on, yet spend two days guessing in text. Why not just run the mics straight to the Roland?
    – Tetsujin
    Aug 8 at 6:19
  • 1
    Yeah, I don't like that Main out => Mic connection. That's not what those inputs are intended for. But other than that, you've definitely set up the drivers correctly to bypass any os interaction and get a proper mono/.dual mono recording? Can you monitor before the Sonar software? Can you monitor on the octa-capture?
    – n00dles ♦
    Aug 8 at 13:40
  • I used to connect all mics right into the audio interface, but I didn't like the process of mixing using it (mainly volume, compression, etc...). So, before sending the audio to the recording software I wanted to EQ the signal using the mixer, which is a much better gear for this purpose. @n00dles maybe that is the issue (Main out => Mic). I will try to monitor the audio before recording, through octa-capture headphone output.
    – Lincon Ribeiro
    Aug 10 at 18:44
  • Are you running mono to the interface? Making a stereo recording of drums instead of mono would make a big difference. Also is the mixer in the same room as the drum kit? If you’re listening on the mixer while the drums are being played then there’s going to be some live sound that gets to your ears and will make the live mix sound very different from the recording.
    – Todd Wilcox
    Aug 11 at 11:36

1 Answer 1

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2

Do not use an XLR cable from mixer to audio interface. Use a balanced TRS cable at least on the mixer side, and XLR or TRS on the mixer. This is the connection you are complaining about and you don't show or properly describe it.

I see an angled plug in the left TRS main out. Those are almost exclusively unbalanced TS cables. Where does this lead to?

But frankly, if you have enough recording channels, it would be normal use the direct recording outputs of the channels. That's what they are for, and you get to do the mix as you want it on the DAW without previous interference of "digital effect processors" that have their own sampling frequencies and artifacts.

However, Behringer borked this by making the "direct recording outputs" unbalanced and post-fader. Also the subgroup outputs are unbalanced. The manual does not mention whether the AUX sends are balanced or unbalanced.

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1
  • The main reason for not connecting the mics right into the audio interface is that I wanted to mix the audio using the mixer, cause it's a better gear to do that. Besides, I'm not looking to mix all the drum parts using the recording software, I'm looking for just a track with them all (for simplicity and efficiency). The other outputs of the mixer are connected to a power amplifier, which then goes to a PA cabinet. I will test that change from XLR to TRS and post the results here. Tks for the input.
    – Lincon Ribeiro
    Aug 10 at 19:21

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