newbie home recording. advice appreciated

D

di0nysus

New member
Dear musicians.



I´m trying to record guitar, vox and midi.



Current setup



Guitar - Efx - amp - mic (creative voice lousy mic) - mic in - SB live! card (i find if i go via ´line in´, it doesn´t matter much)



Creative blasterkey mp3 (kb) - SB live! card (via joystick port)



Software: CW pro audio 8 (yes, I bought it when it was new, many years ago. And I din really use it much)

Comp: P4 2.6c, 50G, 512.



Now i´m trying to get more serious into this. The sound from the mic in sux. esp from the creative mic. Only listening audio is if I use distorted guitar, then it´ll sound ok.



Am divided if I shld get a new sound card with more I/O etc. Or get a mixer. Budget is $500. Inclucing mics, considering SM57 and 58.

Mixer considerations are alesis 8FX or yamaha MG10/2. Sound card-wise, I"ve no clue, M-Audio?



Advice appreciated

Thanks!

Jon
 
Hi di0nysus



You should consider something like -



http://www.soft.com.sg/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=Forums&file=viewtopic&topic=373&forum=10



and also get a 58
icon_wink.gif
 
Thanks soft and mike for replying.



I´ve just gotten a Yamaha MG10/2 and Sm57/58.

I output the ´out´ of the mixer to the ´line in´ of the soundcard.



But the recording levels are very soft. It´s only acceptable when I push the gain of mic channel to its max.



I´m still reading the manual and experimenting with the controls. It seems that one of the ´out´ is -10db, other is +4db. I´m not sure what is the level for the ´line in´ of my sb soundcard. They shld prolly match, else it won´t work right?



mike: thanks for offering, I shld have check soft.com.sg b4 going to Simlim to buy the stuff..heh....
 
Dion,



U bought at Huang Bros. Hope they never "chop" u off like carrot head.



Basically the sound card that u are using (i assume normal SB ones) have relative low threshold level. Initial signal into the 3.5mm jack seems to record at low volume, and when u tend to pump up the gain/incoming signal, it records with digital distortion.



Rather u should get a soundcard (like the Audiophile 2496) that is intended to do recording to take a hotter signal. Or just get a Tascam US-122...since it provides preamp, softwares, midi interface and a usb coonnection. No more messy wire. But think u should invest in a good card cos u have already bought your equipment.
 
Dump the sb live. The inputs do recording at lower bit rates than most pro cards. 16bits. Raise the gain and it´ll clip like hell. 24 bits is sort of standard nowadays. You actually got a yamaha mixer and a 57 & 58 for under 5? That´s quite good. But should´ve considered something like behringer mixers for cost.



My mixer is at -10db with sm57 mic gains close to max. Usually it´s low shelved on it´s way into the card. It works fine. Soft is relative. The mic is a dynamic mic, the instruments on the other hand have their own amplification stage.



You can still use the us 122 if you want to record an instrument and for portability, or go for something like the creative audigy 2 zs PCI/breakout box combo. The us 122 is cheaper though. The hi Z input on the 122 should be quite useful if you´re doing direct input from the guitar, but if you´re miking up with the 57, then no point. It´s better for nite time playing though.
 
Thanks guys for responding.



vegan: what do you mean by low-shelved? Yes I got all those and some cabling/connectors under 500, I thought hungbros is reasonably price and svc is good? u´ve heard of cases of pple being chopped?heh. I did think of behringer at first. As my friend has lobang for cheap deals. But reviews have them as unreliable.



Audigy 1 card (alone) cost <$100

Audigy 2 card (alone) cost <$150



I dun see the need to get the ZS or platinum or live drive etc, as I have the mixer already and can plug it right into the back of the sound card. UNless there´s some cheap deal with the platinum drive. : )



My other concern now is that my hifi is acting as monitors, and the amplifier left channel is spoilt. : (

Its some old Kenwood minicombo, but I liked its 70Wrms/channel power. NOw I either have to buy new hifi set or... i´ve no idea, power amp, speakers, + CD player? Duno what budget to set!



Any advice on this?

Waiting for the angpow toto....
 
An sblive has a noise floor of about 92-96db. Audigy 2 plat ex has 102-106. Don´t go for the audigy 1s. Plus if you´re using soft synths, the audigy 2s are the only ones which support ASIO. Plus sb live has i think 16bit recording, audigy 2 plat ex 24bits. Its not about mixing the music, but about recording quality.

Speakers kaput? Get a pair of active speakers. Amps are built in and have magnetic shielding. Monitor preference is another can of worms.... I prefer the m1 actives, but others hate them.

Behringer products can suck ass, but so far my ub1832fx pro is working out to be quite good value for money. Plus they´re cheap, so you can use the extra cash to fully kit out the rest of the project studio.
 
<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>

On 2004-02-04 04:58, veganbleu wrote:

An sblive has a noise floor of about 92-96db. Audigy 2 plat ex has 102-106. Don´t go for the audigy 1s. Plus if you´re using soft synths, the audigy 2s are the only ones which support ASIO. Plus sb live has i think 16bit recording, audigy 2 plat ex 24bits. Its not about mixing the music, but about recording quality.

</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>



Not true. All Audigys have ASIO drivers according to Creative´s website. But they are "crippled" - ASIO drivers work only at 16bit 48 khz. Unless you get the top of line Audigy 2 Platinum EX. By then, you would be better off with the M-audio Audiophile.



Bottomline: avoid for serious music recording. Buy them to play games.





http://www.soundblaster.com/products/audigy/compare.asp





<font size=1>[ This message was edited by: lowjk on 04-02-2004 11:26 ]</font>

<font size=1>[ This message was edited by: lowjk on 04-02-2004 11:33 ]</font>
 
Oops yeah ... sb live, et al series don´t have asio cept for audigy´s. Top of the lines are no longer audigy 2 plat exs but instead the pro Zs, which are like a slightly revamped audigy 2 plat ex. If a standalone card costs less than 150 then it´s a good buy because the m-audio 2496 audiophile are like 300+.
 
I think my piority now is either get a new hifi or amp+speakers or powered-speakers. Any body else have more suggestions? Am thinking Yamaha Pianocraft for hifi.



2nd piority is to polish up playing skills. else no matter how good my gear is, it´s useless with poor skills



3rd then I´ll think of getting another sound card. I´m not sure how much better 24bit will sound as compared to 16bits. Hoping some shop will demo it for me etc.



What are soft syns? and whats ASIO drivers? To what I know, ASIO is just drivers for the audigy cards...?



How much is M1 actives, any shops with good deals? Sinamex seems to have most of the top notch stuff. BUt their price aint exactly the best yeah?
 
<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>

3rd then I´ll think of getting another sound card. I´m not sure how much better 24bit will sound as compared to 16bits. Hoping some shop will demo it for me etc.



What are soft syns? and whats ASIO drivers? To what I know, ASIO is just drivers for the audigy cards...?



How much is M1 actives, any shops with good deals? Sinamex seems to have most of the top notch stuff. BUt their price aint exactly the best yeah?

</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>



If you are just experiementing, you should just get a 2nd sound card that is 20 bit. They should be quite cheap now. Eg the older range of Echo soundcards.



Softsyns are synthesizers that exist in software form. Quite a number of them are available as freeware (not pirated!) and are quite functional.



ASIO is a low level driver developed by Steinberg that allows the soundcard and sequencer program to address each other in a more direct manner, resulting in a quick response time. It is used to control softsyn as well as software effects in real time.
 
<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>

On 2004-02-05 09:49, lowjk wrote:



If you are just experiementing, you should just get a 2nd sound card that is 20 bit. They should be quite cheap now. Eg the older range of Echo soundcards.



Softsyns are synthesizers that exist in software form. Quite a number of them are available as freeware (not pirated!) and are quite functional.



ASIO is a low level driver developed by Steinberg that allows the soundcard and sequencer program to address each other in a more direct manner, resulting in a quick response time. It is used to control softsyn as well as software effects in real time.





</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks for replying. What are the softsyns that are recommended? How exactly does soft syn work? isit like midi, where i can choose the bank/patch, then i control it via my midi controller?
 
I don´t know if your cakewalk supports vst/vsti. It might not. I could be wrong there since i´m not exactly using that sequencer. most of the freeware synths out there are vst based ( mad using synth edit) . There are vst adaptors that convert those into directx based plugins but they aren´t free.



Try out the cheese machine, groksm02. google them or search thru kvr-vst.com. Though not pro synths, there´s a certain charm to them.
 
Hi,

You can consider Audiotrak MAYA44 MKII, 4in/4out 24bit/96kHz, support E-WDM driver ( ASIO, MME, WDM, GSIF), Mic preamp, headphone preamp, direct monitoring (zero latency). You can get from Build Tech : +603-7955 3699

AT_maya44mk2_01.jpg
 
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