Trying to decide if MixPad is right for my needs

MHJ

I am a newly retired senior citizen who is an aspiring multitrack recording enthusiast that wants to get a better quality sound to create professional quality music productions. I am looking to create large music projects (about 50 separate instrument voice tracks and 50 separate vocal tracks) using a Yamaha PSR-E583 keyboard which has over 800 voices for the instruments and a Shure SM58 dynamic microphone for the vocals.

I'll be doing all the performing, arranging and mixing of my original compositions, and I need to know if MixPad can handle the workload. I tried using Audacity with a lesser quality keyboard (Yamaha PSR-E473) and microphone (Fifine K670) and I didn't think the sound quality and capabilities of the software and instrumentation reached the level of professional work that I want to produce. I also found that there was a serious latency problem that couldn't be adjusted with Audacity. I had to settle for creating crude mix tracks that I had to monitor at a much lower level while trying to record new tracks because previously recorded tracks "bled" into newly recorded tracks, and I found myself doing way too many mixdowns to get the number of tracks I wanted.

Needless to say the result was not what I'm looking to achieve.

I would like to know from anyone on the forum if MixPad solves the problem of latency when recording large numbers of voices from a USB connected keyboard like the PSR-E583 so I can monitor my previously recorded tracks at the levels I want while simultaneously recording new tracks without the aforementioned "bleeding". I don't have the money to pay for high end keyboards and software, so I'm looking for the best and most affordable solution I can find.

I would appreciate any comments from anyone on the forum.

Thanks.

borate

AI offers some suggestions that may prove helpful but aren't guaranteed 100% accurate. Test Mixpad for a free trial period to see if it fits your needs.

"Short answer: MixPad can help with track-sync/recording offset issues, but it will not magically remove monitoring latency or “bleeding” when you’re listening to previously recorded tracks while recording new ones. NCH says MixPad supports ASIO and Windows Core Audio for the lowest latency, and that latency problems should not affect you when using an ASIO-capable device with ASIO selected for both playback and recording; it also has an “Offset recordings for latency” option, but that is only available with MME recorder mode.

What this means in practice

If your problem is timing alignment of newly recorded tracks versus existing tracks, MixPad has a built-in compensation option for hardware latency, but only in MME mode.
If your problem is hearing yourself delayed while overdubbing, the real fix is usually low-latency hardware/driver setup, especially ASIO or Core Audio, not the DAW alone. NCH specifically recommends ASIO or Windows Core Audio for best performance and lowest possible latency.
If you mean audio “bleeding” from tracks playing too loud into a live mic/input, software alone won’t solve that; you usually need lower monitor volume, closed-back headphones, better routing, or direct monitoring through the interface. The forum-style advice around overdubbing latency generally points to monitoring the direct feed rather than the computer return.

Best affordable route

For a low-cost setup, the most practical path is:

Use MixPad with ASIO or Windows Core Audio if your device supports it.
If your keyboard/interface only works well through MME, try MixPad’s latency offset setting.
Use headphones and keep the playback mix low enough to avoid bleed.
If your Yamaha PSR-E583 is just a MIDI keyboard/controller over USB, remember that MixPad is still dependent on the audio device and driver path for latency, not just the keyboard connection.

Bottom line

If you want the cheapest workable solution, MixPad is reasonable to try, but your success will depend more on driver choice and audio interface quality than on MixPad itself. If you tell me exactly how the PSR-E583 is connected and whether you’re recording audio or MIDI, I can suggest the cheapest setup that is most likely to work well.

MHJ

Thanks a lot for the quick and helpful answer to my post. I have not purchased any of the equipment I mentioned in the first post yet, and it will probably be four months from now before I am able to afford the keyboard, microphone and software because I'm living solely on my SSA retirement benefit and have to save up to buy everything I need to make my projects a reality. It's been a dream of mine since I was a teenager to create professional quality productions of my songs - and school, worklife and a lack of spare time and affordable equipment kept me from a serious pursuit of that dream.

Now that I have the time available to me I would like to work on my music.

My intention is to connect the PSR-E583 keyboard to my computer (Lenovo ThinkPad E15, 12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1240P, 16GB native RAM with 350GB virtual memory, 1 TB SSD hard drive, running Windows 11 Pro version 25H2) via USB connection using the Yamaha Steinberg USB ASIO Driver version 2.1.9, and I want to connect the Shure SM58 microphone via USB connection using an XLR to USB converter cable (risky, I know - if anyone knows a better option please let me know). I would then make the appropriate settings in MixPad to get the software to recognize the keyboard and microphone correctly. I'd appreciate any help you could give me that would help with that.

For now I don't have any plans to use MIDI in my projects, but if you could include some background on how it can be used and combined with other available technologies in MixPad I wouldn't mind learning about it if it can help me get the best sound out of my music productions.

As a side note I have to say that I consider myself to be an amateur, untrained musician who has listened to professionally recorded and mixed music with a better than average "ear", and I'm good at listening to the details of a professional studio mix. With that in mind, can anyone in the forum tell me how does the MixPad software's results compare in quality to that of a professional recording studio? The price would suggest that there are some limitations and I don't realistically expect MixPad to be in the same class as Pro Tools, but I'd appreciate an honest opinion from someone in the forum about how it measures up - both pros and cons.

Thanks again.

borate

Suggest that you query various AI implementations, such as this one, repeating the info that you have provided here.

While their advice may not be dead on, it should help you gather a wealth of information.

Knowledgeable MixPad users are urged to contribute here. You might also want to get involved with music discussion groups...

Use a browser search engine for "forums that discuss home music production." Good luck!

MHJ

Thanks! I'll do that.

I had to get on the forum again to say thanks to the moderator borate for the great advice. I checked out perplexity.AI and a few of the music production forums and the advice/information I got was very helpful. In addition to getting MixPad and the other equipment I'll have to also get a Scarlett 2i2 audio interface to achieve the zero latency I need for simultaneously monitoring & recording my tracks. That will be an extra $224.00, but well worth the investment for a more professional sound.

Thanks again for the help.