Hi Timothy,
> i have a question about monitoring - i'm trying to record a microphone
> plugged into input 1 and i'd like to monitor it through headphones which are
> connected via 'y' adapter into outputs 1 and 2. is there anyway i can get
> output 2 to monitor input 1 so i can hear it in both ears?
Well, unfortunately, if I understand what you're asking, you can't split up
the stereo pairs like that. You also have no control over the panning of a
monitored signal. So, the thing you might want to do is buy another 'y'
adapter for the inputs as well. That's what I've been stuck doing. Maybe
the guys at Echo could do something to make monitoring more flexible since
it's all handled by the DSP.
> while i'm on the subject of microphones... do i absolutely need a pre-amp to
> get a decent mike signal or is it ok to just plug the thing (using
> xlr-->1/4" adapter) directly into gina? anyone have a favorite technique for
> decent vocal miking?
When I first started out (which wasn't that long ago), I thought I'd be able
to get a good signal to noise ratio without a pre-amp. Unfortunately I was
never able to. A good condenser microphone just doesn't output a high enough
signal level without boosting. About the best deal I've seen so far is the
MidiMan AudioBuddy (my friend bought one). It's a dual preamp, and is quite
inexpensive... I think it's around $150 Canadian dollars, $100US?
I personally bought an ART Tube MP, which is a single channel Tube preamp.
It is also quite inexpensive... you could probably find a used one for under
$100 now, if people want to let them go. I wouldn't sell mine for that.
Put the preamp to about 75% of its maximum output, click the autotrim button
on the Gina console, and sing some vocals at whatever distance you microphone
is best at, and then click off the autotrim and start recording.
Another good buy is to find yourself a little Mackie mixer, and use its
preamps. You could probably do some of your monitoring through the mackie as
well, and it has headphone amplifiers too. I personally try to avoid analog
stages in my music... just analog in to the gina, and the rest of the mix
I do inside the computer.
Cheers.
-Neal
