As im sick of using digital plugins, eq and effects as i feel there is not much character with them and are incredibly transparent. Plus i really want to use the on board EQ for each channel and auxilary sends to outboard gear. I really want to get used to using analog gear as i've always used digital and feel like my knowledge with analog gear is minimal and would like to get more and more used to it, as it is also a hobbie of mine. That's totally fair, the main reason i want to do this is I'm a big fan of using analog gear, I'm aware of it not being the 'cleanest' way as all analog gear adds noise to the signal.

The soundcraft mixer has 24 inputs in total, and direct outputs on 16 of the channels, as well as inserts on all channels, if that helps with figuring out how to go about doing this.

Now i own a Soundcraft mixer I would like to be recording using this, as I like their preamps and on board EQ, but i would also like to route the channels on Ableton back into the mixer so i can monitor and mix with the desk's EQ, faders and auxiliary controls, as well as the outboard gear i have connected to my mixer. How I've always recorded is directly plugging microphones into my audio interfaces as they record onto Ableton. I have in the past dualed both of these interfaces together so I could record drums with 15 mic's (a little extreme i know, but it was a bit of an experiment).

I own two audio interfaces which I think I'll need to do this, a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40, and an M-Audio Ultra8R, which are both 8 Channel interfaces. So what i want to be able to do is use 16 of my channels on my Soundcraft mixer as direct channels to Ableton, which i can track and mix with using the faders and EQ on the Mixer. (I'm sure this works fairly the same as Pro Tools, Cubase, Logic or any other DAW, I just personally prefer Ableton for It's layout and my years of experience using it).

I was just after some advice to how i would go about plugging my 24 channel Soundcraft LX7 Analogue Mixer into my Mac to multitrack record on my DAW (of preference) which is Ableton Live.

How to use audio mixer