Hookup Help

From what little I can glean from the Mackie website for the Mix5, you are very limited with what you can do as far as sending out a separate mix to your singer.  It appears that you cannot create a separate mix at all and there seems to be only one single output as far as a mix is concerned (both Main outs and headphones sharing the same mix).  The only workaround I can see is if you were to use a stereo DI splitter for the mic (or stereo preamp) and pan the balance to a preferred volume to one side.  Then take the output of the DI with the lower volume into the Mix5's mic input (you can compensate for the lower volume with the mixer's gain pot) and the louder output (with an appropriate RCA adapters for the) into the Tape input for the headphones.  This is something I would have done back in the day with limited resources.  This isn't ideal, but it might be good enough to satisfy your singer.  Sorry but that's the best I can think of.
 
Kind regards,
 
tecknot

>Didn't you ask the same exact question 5 weeks ago ?
Yes I did, but I didn't get anywhere and I put it aside (for 5 weeks).
Now that I'm sitting down to the task again, I'm not getting anywhere again. I can't get past the fact that the main outs carry all the sounds that went in. The vocal track would include the music the singer is listening to.
Sure, you can put in different sources and control the the mix between them all, but you can't get JUST the vocal out. I think I just bought another doorstop.

I'm assuming your MOTU has more than just a stereo out here, but the way to do it is:
 
MOTU Output 1 & 2 (Main outputs) -> your monitors
MOTU Output 3 & 4 -> your Mix5 mixer (with your singer's headphones plugged into it)
 
Create a separate bus within Sonar, and set it's output to MOTU Outputs 3 & 4.
 
You can then send anything you want to that bus, whilst adjusting the level of each instrument (i.e. louder vocals) without affecting the main mix.
 
If you've not got separate outs on the MOTU, then that's what you need.
 
M.

If you've got more outputs, you could send the vocals on an additional MOTU output, and connect that to the Mix5 as well - that way your singer can adjust the levels themselves directly on the Mix5.
 
M.

Hey there. Interesting idea, giving the singer control over their own relative to the mix. :-)
 
You can send the stereo pair of outputs from your Motu to the mixer.
Send the vocals direct out to another input on the mixer.
 
The singer can listen to headphones plugged into the mixer and raise and lower faders to get the mix she likes best.
 
I don't see why this wouldn't work just fine.
 
I'm tempted to say more, but I'm going to stop here.

@Chuck >> No disrespect. You nailed it in your post.
 

I've got one of these things, a now-discontinued product but I found one on eBay.

It has two inputs, one for your mic and one for the cue mix. The output contains only the mic signal. It has enough gain to blast the mic signal as loud as you want it.

I wrote to Mackie last night and they responded this morning. Support told me that what I'm trying to do is not possible with the Mix 5 (as it stands) because it doesn't have an Aux Send. The Mix 8 does, that's the one I should have bought.
I was pressed for time in Guitar Center when I bought it but the sales guy assured me it would work and I thought so too. The promise of stardom and the alluring smile of the Mix 5 was too much. 'Hang the expense,' I said, as I took the $18 plunge. I wish I'd spent $20 now!

Before all this began, I contacted MOTU and they said sure, no problem and sent me instructions on how to configure the CueMix software. It's possible I didn't understand it but I remember following it word for word and I still didn't get what I was looking for. I also remember being nervous about ruining the entire config. 
 
Have you ever pressed the wrong button on the TV remote and spent the next half hour trying to get the picture back? :) I once screwed up a Kontakt installation which affected ALL my projects. I had to open each one in Safe Mode and get rid of Kontakt before adding a corrected one. In some cases, I couldn't remember which drum kit was originally loaded, or the settings, it was a disaster. So I was very wary when playing with routing and busses, etc.
 
Then I thought a physical thing with knobs on it would be much more intuitive or at least you can see where the signal is going. Two horrible little devices later (admittedly the wrong devices) and I'm going back to MOTU and the CueMix software - only this time I think I'll have someone help me live on the phone.
Once I get it right, I can make detailed notes.
 
rev

> (i) Freezing all your tracks; or
I don't understand that one, I've never frozen a track or plug in 12 years. 
 
>(ii) Bounce everything down to a stereo guide 
I often bounce down and put the result in a new project because I anticipate at least 10 tracks of vocals and with all the other tracks and plugs, it's often too much for my box. It doesn't reduce latency but it does make the project a lot easier for my machine. (Asus P6T, Intel 3.33 i975 quad core, 12 RAM)
 
I could try increasing the latency offset but I think I'm already at the max 5000
 
>just get CuteMix to route the vocals to both your DAW and one of the MOTU outputs ...
That sounds good! That would act like the Aux Send I don't have.
 
My problem now is the singer is due any minute!