How would I, in my case, port the monitoring output of a mic interface into a dac (the one im getting is the topping e30)? What mic interface would you recommend for something like that? Ideally, the dac would do the audio decoding, but I would be able to turn monitoring on and off on the mic interface, and monitor myself through my headphone amp that is connected to the e30.
My budget for the mic setup would be 250-350 including mic and interface.
I would also like to have my monitoring be without lag, so I don’t hear myself on delay.
So this is a bit more involved, you would want to take the output of the interface, and the output of the dac, throw it into a mixer, and then take a line output of the mixer into your headphone amp
What are you recording/what purpose are you going for? I think I have an idea that should be pretty quality but won’t cost a ton of money as well
Eventually, it would be used to both record music (vocals and potentially string instruments), + voice chat for discord/gaming (so a mute button would be great) and voice overs for recording (potentially video or vocal work). Not like super professional, but if the equipment is capable for professional use, I wouldn’t complain.
So a simple and easy way to do this would be grabbing a yamaha ag06, this is both a microphone interface with a preamp and adc, along with a mixer. You would plug in the dac to the cd input, the mic into the mic in, and then your headphone amp into the line out of the unit. You can also do more with it later on, but it would get the job done
On the mic side of things, do you have a treated room to record?
I do not. I would be getting this a few months down the line, but I’m thinking about it now to plan out how exactly I would do it. What mixer would you rec, since I would need one?
At that time, I would also probably be doing some DIY big acoustic panels, to help with room treatment and save money, cause dropping 500+ on room treatment probably isnt possible, but DIY for 150-200 sounds like a fun project.
The ag06 is a combination mixer and audio interface, so you already have that covered
Regarding the mic, I would say go dynamic at this point then, I like the akg d5 if you want a dynamic that sounds kinda like a cleaner condenser, or go for like a shure sm48lc for something smoother with more body
For instrument, it can vary on what instrument you want to mic. I would grab one mic for vocals, and one for instrument
I see, thank you! So, because its a mixer, I would actually plug the rca outputs of my e30 into the ag06, and then plug the outs of the ag06 into the headphone amp (the a50)?
I see on the mic, I was considering condenser because it will be used at a desk probably exclusively, are there huge differences between condenser and dynamic?
So the mg06x has no digital audio interface, so then it would be added cost on top of that for a focusrite scarlett or something, going with the ag06 will just make things easier
The ones I mentioned above are pretty solid. Also the se electronics v7 is nice as well. I would encourage you to look up mic tests online, as this is one of the examples where you can actually hear what you are getting to some extent
So you are always going to affect the quality of the signal as the chain gets larger, it shouldn’t affect quality too much IF you set the gain right and don’t introduce clipping or other noise
Mainly you would set it by ear, you want to make sure you have no audible distortion nor do you hear hiss or issues with noise floor. This is something you can mess with and really will be a set and forget thing for the topping at least. For setting the gain and volume of your mic, that will depend on other things.
The only potential issue with this setup is the potential for a ground loop. Both the mixer and the e30 will be connected via usb, and there is a chance you can get a ground loop from that, which can kinda be a pain. It isn’t easily fixed but there is just a chance it might happen. You might be able to fix it by using separate power supplies for both the dac and the mixer, or if worst comes to worst some usb isolators. Not saying it will happen but it can
Got you, I might eventually be able to move the e30 to optical, cause I’m gonna use DC power anyway like I do with my amp, and maybe DC for the mixer, but I’ll keep that in mind.
