Line-in or audio interface USB/Firewire

Hey i record a lot of video for my church, and now im getting to the point where i want to record audio digitally via soundtrack on my macbook pro for special occasions like concerts. I did it last week of a wedding and it came out ok, I had it set up like this. (LR) 1/4in cables for main audio mixer to a small 6 ch mixer then out 1/4 cable (LR) into a 1/4 to 3.5mm adapter into line in to the mac. Is that a good set up or would getting a interface usb/firewire like the (M-Audio FireWire 410 4-In / 10-Out) make a big difference as far as sound quality and liveliness is concerned. I don't want to wast money but i love quality, and also would that 2nd small mixer be a wast? Got a feeling that to much preamp to begin with? Give me your thoughts please.

Hi,
Normally I would use a separate interface, like you mention. In general, the Analog to Digital Converters are going to be a bit better in a dedicated audio device, so that should make for better quality recordings. And you have the possibility of using balanced cables, which reduces the interference risk.
About the 2nd mixer, normally the signal that's coming out of the main mixer is going to be line level. So, you wouldn't need the mic preamps from the 2nd mixer; is there a reason why you used it besides that? You might not have control of the main mixer, and need some kind of control over the gain going in. Is that the case? In general, it's a good idea to keep your signal chain as short as possible. The more cables and connectors, the more that can go wrong. So unless you need the control or the gain, the 2nd mixer seems unnecessary.
Hope this helps!
Matt

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