Recording suggestions Acoustic/Vocal/Electric

Slaanesh

Hey,

Had a trawl through this forum and found some great threads regards recording. I would like to know what are my options for my current setup.

I have a PC with onboard sound and find it a pain in the arse to get anything done through the mic input, it's your bog standard AC97 type card I think.

Here is a list of gear that I have to work with,

Mic: Shure SM58
Acoustic Guitar (No Pickup),
Electric Guitar (Kramer Baretta),
Marshall AVT100.
I also have a small pre-amp for the mic.

I was thinking of investing in maybe one of these http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=312207&view=detailed
and then maybe using various bits of software for post-production.

Would I be better getting some sort of hardware mixer ?

Thanks for any replies.

saibhne

Hi there,
Personally don't think much of that card for recording purposes - I don't think it will give you much advantage over the card you already have and seems to be focussed on playback as opposed to recording. . If you are willing to spend that money why not go a little further and get an Mbox or similar?http://www.digidesign.com/products/mbox/

The external sound card connects via USB and has two controllable mic/line inputs - also allows you to use XLR and jack inputs - important with your set up.
The best bit is that you get pro-tools with it, industry standard recording software that needs a little attention to learn your way around but is well worth it. I think it also ships with a few other programs including samplers and drum sequencers (Ableton live)

If that's too much of a leap right now there are other less expensive/technical options in the same mould. But I would reccommmend having an external card with mic and line XLR/jack inputs - save your self a lot of fiddling in the long run.

But before doing anything make sure your PC is up to spec to process audio..

Hope this helps,

Cheers!

S.

Slaanesh

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately I didn't think anyone was interested and went ahead and bought that other card. Feck feck feck.

The problem with the card I have is that it is just isn't working properly. Putting the pre-amped mic into the line-in gives me nothing, only if I shout into the mix it picks up something.

saibhne

Not sure what way you are set up for the mic but..

A microphone sends signal at mic level and will need to go into the mic input on your card -mic level and line level are different with mic being a weaker signal. The line input on your card caters for a signal at the stronger line level hence the very low sound when you put your microphone in.

If line in is the only input on the card then you need to put your mic through a mixer which will take in mic level and output line level.

Although, it's just occurred to me - you are going into an instrument input on your preamp, using a 1/4 inch jack as opposed to an XLR? this might be where the mic/line levels are getting mixed up.

Let me know how you get on!

Cheers,

S.

sturgo

Save yourself hours of pain and frustration and send that card back to Komplett. I used a similar Sound Blaster Audigy NX in conjunction with Cuebase, Reason and Sound Forge and it brought me nothing but problems. I also made the fatal mistake of DJing with that setup. Put it this way... I won't be playing in that venue for a long time!

Believe me, the minute you solve one problem you'll come accross another one pretty soon. Despite what it says on the box, Creative Labs hardware simply isn't designed for recording, sequencing or sampling. They're great for playing Dolby 7.1 DVDs and MP3s. That's about it.

I now use a mac with a Miglia Harmony Audio (Sound Module) and it all works perfectly. I suggest you might have a look at some of the M-Audio hardware.

As for the software there's tonns of stuff to choose from. I suggest you pick up a copy of Computer Music. That always has some free editing software. I'm more into dance Music though, so I use a lot of softsynths. Take a look at Reason 3. I can't say enough good things about it! http://www.propellerheads.se


Good luck.
S.

Beecher

Also check out the Lexicon Omega. Real nice, sound quality wise it would be on par with an M-box, but the software bundle sucks, but you get MIDI (afaik the original MBox didnt and the new one is twice the price).

sei046

Terratec Phase 88. Just buy it