Audio mixer issues

[marsdrums]

Hi everyone. First time posting here.

I just bought a TASCAM Model 24 and I'm having some issues with getting all of the ports down to 2.

I'm using a Dell XPS tower with an i7 CPU, 32gb of RAM along with 2 monitors. It's currently running ArxoLinux with the Cinnamon Desktop.

So, my issue is, I can only hear (and see) the first 2 ports on the mixer. The rest are not visible or audible in any form. I can hear everything direct through the mixer fine. It's just the rest of the ports are not making it to the computer.

Yesterday, I was able to get all of the ports I'm using to be seen with Ardour. I could see the meters moving for each port I had assigned to a drum when I hit each drum which is good. But when I tried sending that to OBS, it couldn't see the mixer at all.

What I read last night is I need to be using jack exclusively. This version of Linux I'm running came with pulseaudio and it's probably causing the issue. Jack and pipewire are installed as well but I think pulseaudio is causing pipewire and Jack to sort of take a back seat here. I'm not 100% sure on that though.

If anyone has any ideas on what I can do to fix this, I'm willing to do just about anything. I'll even install a better distro if that's what it takes. However, I've been using Arch now for the past 4 years. Before that, I was running Linux Mint. So, I'd like to stay with either Arch based or Debian/Ubuntu based.

I did try Ubuntu Studio but I felt limited in what I could install. I use pcmanfm as my file manager because it's very easy to use and I can unhide hidden directories with it. I couldn't do that with the default Ubuntu Studio file manager for some reason.

But if anyone can help me with my current setup, I'd greatly appreciate it!

Thanks!

EDIT: So, I think I figured it out. I knew I needed to figure out how to get 2 ports (L&R) out to the computer. After watching a couple more videos this morning, I found one that compares the LR Control Room connects with the Main Output. So, in this video, the guy briefly mentioned the Sub Output. He said that Sub Output usually goes to the sound card on the computer. THAT'S WHAT I NEEDED TO HEAR! So, I think I have this figured out. I'll do a test on it later this evening. My wife is taking a nap so I'm going to watch some TV for a little bit. But yeah, I'm hoping that works.

 

[JasKinasis]

I think you just need to use the main L-R output from Ardour as an audio source in OBS.

Your mixer is plugged-in to your PC.
You’re routing the inputs into Ardour. So the output of Ardour should go to OBS….. I think?!! I could be mistaken.

I’ve got a Behringer U-PHORIA UMC1820 USB card for miking up my drum-kit. I can get all of the individual inputs into Ardour.

But I’ve only recorded and mixed drums in Ardour. I haven’t tried sending the output to anything like OBS.

I’ve used OBS for various things in the past - recording videos and doing some live-streams with my band (just chatting and mucking about on camera, not streaming a performance)
So I’ve never tried live streaming my drum performances.

If I get a chance I’ll rig up my card and will see if I can get the output from Ardour to OBS.

Again, I could be wrong, but I don’t think you need to use the mixer as the source for OBS. I think you can just use the output from Ardour.

 

[marsdrums]

I also have that same Uphoria 1820. I was able to send all of the mics to OBS easily. I saw all 8 ports using qtlgraph (I think that's what it was) so I could route each port individually to the R & L channels of OBS.

I'd LOVE to be able to do that with this Model 24. But there are only 2 ports for my mixer in qtlgraph. And that's BEFORE I use Ardour. As soon as I open Ardour, that Model 24 connection in qtlgraph goes away and I have no way to link the 2 ports from the Model 24 to OBS. Also, there is no other link in OBS going to the Model 24. So OBS can't even see it for some reason. So, I don't know if it's pulseaudio stepping all over JACK or what. Something isn't playing nice inside the computer.

As far as the mixer goes, I can hear everything perfectly in the mixer. I can hear every drum clearly and I actually have each one EQ'd (set that up yesterday when I was taking a break from the computer end of things). I know I can do all of that in Ardour but i figured, since I was hearing everything at the mixer level, I could go ahead and set the EQ and compression for each mic/drum. It sounds great coming through the mixer! But getting it to the PC is proving to be a real headache. I know I need to go from all 8 ports down to 2 ports. I just don't know if I need to use a different aux cable or whatever to get all of the ports down to 2 on the computer. I tried the RCA connection down to the sound card but that didn't work at all.

Do I need to run a Monitor Output directly to the Sound Card? I don't know. It's one of the things I have not tried yet but willing to try anything.

 

[JasKinasis]

I’m not sure, I don’t own a USB mixer, so I’ve never tried connecting one to any of my Linux rigs. A decent sized mixer with USB connectivity is next on my shopping list.

As I said, so far I’ve only used my Behringer to record drums in Ardour.
And even then, I haven’t had a chance to do much with it yet. I upgraded from using a 2 input Digidesign M-box2, to the Behringer about a year ago. Previously, I just used a pair of overhead condenser mics with the Mbox, to pick up the whole kit. It was only for recording rough demos at band practice, so it did it’s job.

I’d use the condensers to record drums, then plug in an sm57 and a condenser for recording guitar with a close mic and a single room mic and get the guitarist to double track. And then DI the bass into the MBox before getting the vocalist to plug in their microphone, to record their parts.

But now I can record the whole kit as individual tracks and can experiment with recording guitar and bass with more elaborate microphone setups. I’m only a drummer though, not a sound engineer.
I’m still picking this stuff up! I’m also a long time user of Linux. Currently running Debian (installed via the minimal net installer) with suckless dwm as my WM.
So I’m fairly used to troubleshooting audio related issues on Linux. It’s certainly not easy sometimes!

Going back to the desk - some USB desks can be used as control surfaces for Ardour. So you can actually control Ardours mixer and various other features via the physical controls on the mixing desk. But I don’t know which brands/models support this feature. I haven’t started researching desks just yet.

But I do know that some desks with USB connectivity make all inputs and outputs available via USB. Others only send the main L-R outputs. I don’t know what that Tascam does.

If you’re only seeing two outputs for the mixer, I assume that would be the main L and R outputs from the mixer, rather than microphone inputs?

 

[marsdrums]

I’m not sure, I don’t own a USB mixer, so I’ve never tried connecting one to any of my Linux rigs. A decent sized mixer with USB connectivity is next on my shopping list.

As I said, so far I’ve only used my Behringer to record drums in Ardour.
And even then, I haven’t had a chance to do much with it yet. I upgraded from using a 2 input Digidesign M-box2, to the Behringer about a year ago. Previously, I just used a pair of overhead condenser mics with the Mbox, to pick up the whole kit. It was only for recording rough demos at band practice, so it did it’s job.

I’d use the condensers to record drums, then plug in an sm57 and a condenser for recording guitar with a close mic and a single room mic and get the guitarist to double track. And then DI the bass into the MBox before getting the vocalist to plug in their microphone, to record their parts.

But now I can record the whole kit as individual tracks and can experiment with recording guitar and bass with more elaborate microphone setups. I’m only a drummer though, not a sound engineer.
I’m still picking this stuff up! I’m also a long time user of Linux. Currently running Debian (installed via the minimal net installer) with suckless dwm as my WM.
So I’m fairly used to troubleshooting audio related issues on Linux. It’s certainly not easy sometimes!

Going back to the desk - some USB desks can be used as control surfaces for Ardour. So you can actually control Ardours mixer and various other features via the physical controls on the mixing desk. But I don’t know which brands/models support this feature. I haven’t started researching desks just yet.

But I do know that some desks with USB connectivity make all inputs and outputs available via USB. Others only send the main L-R outputs. I don’t know what that Tascam does.

If you’re only seeing two outputs for the mixer, I assume that would be the main L and R outputs from the mixer, rather than microphone inputs?

Well, I was watching some videos today and in one of the videos I was watching, the person briefly mentioned the Sub Output connectors as being only used to send audio to the sound card. I believe this is what I needed. Then he rerouted from the sound card line out back to one of the stereo input sections on the mixer (19 & 20 I believe). I did try this. I had to do some Jerry-rigging here. All I had was a Y cable with 2 1/4" mono connectors on one end and an XLR male on the other end. I took a female XLR to 1/4" stereo converter and a 1/4" to 1/8" converter on that. I don't like that setup though. The cable end is like 6" long and sticks off the back of the computer. I've ordered a regular cable with the 1/2" male connectors on the Y end and the 1/8" male connector on the other end. I ordered 2 of them but I may not go back to the mixer... IDK... I might try it. But that should do the trick.

 

[marsdrums]

If you’re only seeing two outputs for the mixer, I assume that would be the main L and R outputs from the mixer, rather than microphone inputs?

So, I found out today that if I go into the menu on the Model 24 and switch the USB Audio from 'Multi Input' to 'Stereo Mix' was all I needed to do. I haven't had a chance to test this yet. Today is a bad day to play drums at home as my wife is tutoring pretty much all day until 8PM. Tomorrow I'll have a chance to test this out. Hopefully it'll work for what I want to do with it.

 

[JasKinasis]

So, I found out today that if I go into the menu on the Model 24 and switch the USB Audio from 'Multi Input' to 'Stereo Mix' was all I needed to do. I haven't had a chance to test this yet. Today is a bad day to play drums at home as my wife is tutoring pretty much all day until 8PM. Tomorrow I'll have a chance to test this out. Hopefully it'll work for what I want to do with it.

Ah, yes. It definitely sounds like that will do the trick.

So I guess when using the mixer to record into Ardour, you want the desk set to multi input mode? And when streaming with OBS, you need to switch over to the stereo mix option to capture the main output from the mixer?

 

[marsdrums]

Ah, yes. It definitely sounds like that will do the trick.

So I guess when using the mixer to record into Ardour, you want the desk set to multi input mode? And when streaming with OBS, you need to switch over to the stereo mix option to capture the main output from the mixer?

That's what I understand will happen exactly. It's for the purpose of going direct to OBS through USB without using any extra cables.