Drums into DP via Mackie 1604?

[tommypenngotti]

I have 8/9 channels of drums I need to get into a mackie 1604 then to the Motu MK2 ....I only have 6 XLR inputs on the mackie ...any bright ideas? Do I have to use adapters or are those XLR to 1/4" cables ok? ... thanks!

[ryguydrum]

hey man,
As a drummer who likes to record, I feel your pain.
The XLR to 1/4 inch cables are ok. Personally, I would just try to get more pre's (even though that may not be an option). Or, if you have another mixer laying around, submix your toms into a stereo mix, and feed that into your mackie (thus only taking two channels instead of 3-5, depending on how many toms you have, or hell, even take a mono mix out so you only have to use one channel, then you can dissect and pull them apart in DP or logic or whatever you use). The downside to this method of course it that you cannot eq each tom individually after they have been recorded (unless you copy each tom hit and put it on a different track in your DAW) you just have a stereo mix of toms. Anyway, hope this helped.

[draudio2u]

You can't do it with the old 1604 because it only comes with 6 mic pres. The rest are line inputs that may not give you the gain you need and have no 48phantom. You may try the xlr->1/4 and then ramp up the gain. You may be getting a higher floor noise though. Thn you should be able to either - mix them to your mains for a two track recording into DP, or do all of this in channels 1 thru 8 on the mackie and then use the direct outs to go 8 channels to the DP.