hulika

Author Topic: Setting up your PC for Recording  (Read 296835 times)

Offline wannabeguitarist

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Re: Setting up your PC for Recording
« Reply #225 on: January 24, 2008, 02:01:28 AM »
Quote
Most computers today have what you need to start recording; internal soundcard with line inputs and outputs, all you have to add is a mixer to be able to accept multiple inputs. Bear in mind that the onboard soundcard will have compromised sound quality so don't expect to release pro sounding recordings with that. You don't need a mixer if you already have equipment with suitable line outputs. Examples are keyboards and some digital guitar multifx, but if you want to record vocals, you will need a mic preamp and a mic of course. Behringer mixers are inexpensive enough for beginners and come with several mic preamps - some models even have built-in fx.

Thanks!

Offline dorothegreat

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Re: Setting up your PC for Recording
« Reply #226 on: January 27, 2008, 01:55:00 PM »
sir kit, magandang araw po, ok lang po ba na gumamit ng USB soundcard ng cdr-king para sa input (guitar) at the same time ay may soundcard? salamat po.

Offline KitC

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Re: Setting up your PC for Recording
« Reply #227 on: January 27, 2008, 04:25:47 PM »
sir kit, magandang araw po, ok lang po ba na gumamit ng USB soundcard ng cdr-king para sa input (guitar) at the same time ay may soundcard? salamat po.

Pwede, pero it depends on which drivers your DAW is using. Asio, for example, accesses only one device at a time so you cannot use your usb guitar input at the same time as the pci or onboard soundcard. You can access multiple soundcards using wdm, but your latency can be much higher overall plus the lack of clock sync between the 2 devices.

Monitoring is often a problem when using 2 soundcards simultaneously unless you have a mixer for combining both soundcard's outputs. In my experience, asio often gives better latency performance, but I suggest experimenting with your setup to find out which is more efficient.
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Offline KitC

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Re: Setting up your PC for Recording
« Reply #228 on: January 27, 2008, 04:26:05 PM »
sir kit, magandang araw po, ok lang po ba na gumamit ng USB soundcard ng cdr-king para sa input (guitar) at the same time ay may soundcard? salamat po.

Pwede, pero it depends on which drivers your DAW is using. Asio, for example, accesses only one device at a time so you cannot use your usb guitar input at the same time as the pci or onboard soundcard. You can access multiple soundcards using wdm, but your latency can be much higher overall plus the lack of clock sync between the 2 devices.

Monitoring is often a problem when using 2 soundcards simultaneously unless you have a mixer for combining both soundcard's outputs. In my experience, asio often gives better latency performance, but I suggest experimenting with your setup to find out which is more efficient.
Sonar 4.04PE/5.2PE/7.02PE/8.31 PE, Project 5 v2.5.1, EmulatorX 1.5, Cubase SL2, Ableton Live 7.14,  Intel Q6600 MSI P43 Neo 4Gb Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR2-800, Emu 1820m, Yamaha DSP Factory, Terratec DMX 6fire

Offline dorothegreat

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Re: Setting up your PC for Recording
« Reply #229 on: January 27, 2008, 05:58:00 PM »
sir kit, Guitar Tracks Pro 3 at SONAR 6 Producer Edition po meron ako, may asio4all din naka-install, ung soundcard ko po e CMI8738/c3dx, pangrecord lang po ng mga demo ang balak ko.live guitar track tapos PC DRUMMER PRO ang source ng drum tracks, di po kaya ako magkaproblema sa mixing ng 2 tracks + bass tracks? salamat po.

nga pala, advise n din po kung dapat po e guitar straight to pc (tapos use plug-ins na lang) or mag-fx na po ako between guitar and pc? :-D



inot1227

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Re: Setting up your PC for Recording
« Reply #230 on: February 05, 2008, 02:41:33 PM »
Hi Kit,

im planning to start some intial guitar recording on my laptop,
is the E-MU 1616 enough?
i can do complete,album quality recording with it?
To do complete music recording with it,
i can get/produce all the drums, bass & vocals just from using it?

thanks,
in0t

Offline KitC

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Re: Setting up your PC for Recording
« Reply #231 on: February 05, 2008, 05:06:06 PM »
nga pala, advise n din po kung dapat po e guitar straight to pc (tapos use plug-ins na lang) or mag-fx na po ako between guitar and pc? :-D

For some strange reason, your post did not get marked as 'unread', sorry if I just answered today.

Your should have no problem multitracking with either GT Pro or Sonar. Your chosen soundcard is not the best, though. It might be wise to replace it with something better.

As for recording guitar straight to pc, we do it a lot at PIMP and use plugins, but we route guitars through a DI before going into the soundcard. This is to prevent tonesuck; you can also use a preamp like the ART Tube MP or Behri Mic200 which has DI capabilities.
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Offline KitC

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Re: Setting up your PC for Recording
« Reply #232 on: February 05, 2008, 05:12:24 PM »
im planning to start some intial guitar recording on my laptop,
is the E-MU 1616 enough?
i can do complete,album quality recording with it?

While the 1616 is a very good interface, remember that you can only access 6 analog inputs in it's most basic configuration; you will have to expand it with an 8-channel preamp with ADAT outputs to be able to increase it's I/O capability.

As is, the Emu converters are quite good but I heard you can make them sound even better by using a very good external clock such as Apogee's Big Ben or Lucid's Master Clock. I've been considering Black Lion Audio's clock for my 1820m.
Sonar 4.04PE/5.2PE/7.02PE/8.31 PE, Project 5 v2.5.1, EmulatorX 1.5, Cubase SL2, Ableton Live 7.14,  Intel Q6600 MSI P43 Neo 4Gb Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR2-800, Emu 1820m, Yamaha DSP Factory, Terratec DMX 6fire

Offline wannabeguitarist

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Re: Setting up your PC for Recording
« Reply #233 on: February 06, 2008, 03:33:57 AM »
Hi sir kit,

I'm currently recording using my zoom G7, cubase and laptop..questions po...
1. How can I convert the recorded music to audio?
2. Can I use zoom G7 to record the vocals

Hope you can help me...

Thanks!

Offline KitC

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Re: Setting up your PC for Recording
« Reply #234 on: February 06, 2008, 03:51:25 AM »
I'm currently recording using my zoom G7, cubase and laptop..questions po...
1. How can I convert the recorded music to audio?

Once the audio is in Cubase, just export the track/s to wav. Set the left and right markers and highlight the tracks you want to export; mute the tracks you don't want. Of course, perform any mixing and editing prior to exporting. Once you have a wav mixdown, you can convert it to mp3 or burn to cd accordingly.

2. Can I use zoom G7 to record the vocals?

No, although in theory, you can use an unbalanced mic through your G7 if you want to risk it. I don't recommend going that route if you want and need clean sounding vocals. You will need a separate audio interface, preamp and mic to record vocals... or do what I used to do: record a guide track, go to a studio with a great mic, record all vox and dubs there then bring home the tracks (raw) and perform final mixdown at home.
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Offline wannabeguitarist

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Re: Setting up your PC for Recording
« Reply #235 on: February 06, 2008, 04:00:11 AM »
I see... Thanks!!!

Offline dorothegreat

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Re: Setting up your PC for Recording
« Reply #236 on: February 06, 2008, 12:35:12 PM »
ok lang po sir kit.

maraming salamat po sa reply :-D

Offline titser_marco

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Re: Setting up your PC for Recording
« Reply #237 on: February 24, 2008, 05:43:59 PM »
Chief,

I have a Delta 44 coming in and I was wondering if it could sync with another Delta 44. I've googled the thing up and I've been getting confusing answers because some say it's fine while some say it's not possible because of the lack of an SPDIF out and in. Please advise. Thanks!
I'd rather be sharp than flat.

Offline KitC

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Re: Setting up your PC for Recording
« Reply #238 on: February 26, 2008, 01:29:28 PM »
I have a Delta 44 coming in and I was wondering if it could sync with another Delta 44. I've googled the thing up and I've been getting confusing answers because some say it's fine while some say it's not possible because of the lack of an SPDIF out and in. Please advise. Thanks!

From what I know about Maudio, the 44's will sync via their drivers. Unfortunately, the configuration will most likely be 8 simultaneous inputs but only 4 outs accessible via a single card/breakout box. For some strange reason, not all 8 outputs are simultaneously available. Can someone pls. confirm?
Sonar 4.04PE/5.2PE/7.02PE/8.31 PE, Project 5 v2.5.1, EmulatorX 1.5, Cubase SL2, Ableton Live 7.14,  Intel Q6600 MSI P43 Neo 4Gb Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR2-800, Emu 1820m, Yamaha DSP Factory, Terratec DMX 6fire

Offline audionoob

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Re: Setting up your PC for Recording
« Reply #239 on: February 27, 2008, 06:00:14 AM »
Usually may preamp na ang mixer. Usually the number of XLR inputs equals the number of available preamps. Make sure that the number of preamps are what you need. Most mixers under 16 channels only have 2 to 6 preamps, which may be insufficient for your needs. If you decide on a 12-channel mixer with only 4 preamps, for ex., you can supplant those with external preamps connected to the line inputs such as the MIC200 or TubeMP.

hello po. sorry for quoting an old post. My boss recently setup a small studio for recording solo vocals (as a hobby), the problem now was that, i was thrust into taking care of it without any knowledge of audio recording using hardware such as mixers, condenser mics, etc. (except maybe connecting headphone-outs of cassette players to line-ins of sound cards for transferring audio-tapes to CDs) so i have a few questions:

1. my boss already have a mixer (MEKSE MR2012), a condenser mic (Samson C01), and a PC. The technician who set the connections told us that the mixer doesn't have the ability to provide phantom power to the mic so we can't use it. If we are to use a mic-preamp and attached that to the mixer, will it work? the cheapest mic-preamp we can find is the M-Audio Buddy Mic Preamp, is this ok for voice+music recordings to PC?

basic setup would be?

condenser mic --> mic-preamp --> mixer --> PC (onboard sound) --> software
                                                         \
                                                          +--> amplifier --> speaker (monitor)





2. another question, how can i record the vocals separate from the music on the PC? is it okay to pan the vocals to the right and the music to the left so i can get separate tracks on my recording? that way i can easily edit the vocals without affecting the music and vice versa? is this possible? or what's the best method without requiring any additional hardware? i'm using Audacity BTW as my recording software.

3. Any methods of controlling the volume going to the PC? Should I max the volume sliders and trim the volume in mixer?

a bit off-topic...

4. Any thread for posting sample recordings and get some inputs on what needs to be enhanced, removed, added, etc.?

sorry, but i really have no idea about studio recordings and equipment :(
but would really like to learn.

Thanks for any help.
« Last Edit: February 27, 2008, 11:01:29 AM by audionoob »

Offline luin_theblue

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Re: Setting up your PC for Recording
« Reply #240 on: March 04, 2008, 09:53:32 AM »
Butting in... Hehe.

For those who have tube preamps, I highly suggest you replace the stock tubes with branded ones because it's a big, big steal and improves sound quality a gazillion times more. I changed the tubes of my ART Tube Preamp (Chinese 12ax7 stock) and Behringer MIC100 (Behringer 12ax7 hand-selected stock) to Tung-Sols from MF and they are very round, quiet, and warm. I feel like when I record vocals, the singer's/speaker's voice gets sucked into the mic, through the preamps, and into the system. Hehe.

Just my two cents.  :mrgreen:

Now I have a question, my motherboard has HD audio which is incompatible with my Alesis firewire mixer (12-channels). Should I get a soundcard OR turn my mixer into the soundcard (software is Sonar 6 Home Studio)

Offline KitC

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Re: Setting up your PC for Recording
« Reply #241 on: March 04, 2008, 11:26:41 AM »
Now I have a question, my motherboard has HD audio which is incompatible with my Alesis firewire mixer (12-channels). Should I get a soundcard OR turn my mixer into the soundcard (software is Sonar 6 Home Studio)

Disable onboard sound if you're not using it. HD audio normally is 5.1 and the rear panel inputs only offer limited I/O. You get more inputs when using the Alesis directly; the mixer becomes the soundcard. Just make sure about the firewire chipset on your mobo - Via firewire has proven to be problematic for some people in the past, with TI firewire chipsets often recommended.
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Offline luin_theblue

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Re: Setting up your PC for Recording
« Reply #242 on: March 04, 2008, 11:30:16 AM »
Firewire is a PCI card no prob.

 :mrgreen:

Offline KitC

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Re: Setting up your PC for Recording
« Reply #243 on: March 04, 2008, 01:34:54 PM »
Firewire is a PCI card no prob.

That may still be a problem is the chipset on the card is Via, Agere or sometimes, Ricoh. Like I said, the FW chipset has to be TI. Even then, you have to make sure that the FW card isn't a combi 1394a/1394b card (FW400/800) - even TI chips have proven to be problematic with these 'combi' cards. Better to use solo FW400 TI chip cards. Certain high end mobos offer TI FW onboard, among them Gigabyte , Asus and Abit.
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Offline luin_theblue

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Re: Setting up your PC for Recording
« Reply #244 on: March 04, 2008, 01:40:02 PM »
That may still be a problem is the chipset on the card is Via, Agere or sometimes, Ricoh. Like I said, the FW chipset has to be TI. Even then, you have to make sure that the FW card isn't a combi 1394a/1394b card (FW400/800) - even TI chips have proven to be problematic with these 'combi' cards. Better to use solo FW400 TI chip cards. Certain high end mobos offer TI FW onboard, among them Gigabyte , Asus and Abit.

Mine's an Inno3d firewire card (2 external,1 internal firewire ports). I bought it before only thinking video editing in my head. Would you know if this would cause problems?

Offline KitC

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Re: Setting up your PC for Recording
« Reply #245 on: March 04, 2008, 01:49:42 PM »
Mine's an Inno3d firewire card (2 external,1 internal firewire ports). I bought it before only thinking video editing in my head. Would you know if this would cause problems?

I doubt you will find TI on inexpensive FW cards. The only way to find out if the Inno3D will give you problems is to try it out with the Alesis (I'm sure Inno uses Via). First thing to do is to put the FW card in a slot that does not share an IRQ with anything! That alone will solve a lot of problems but will not solve a bad chipset problem.
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Offline in_the_tent

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Re: Setting up your PC for Recording
« Reply #246 on: March 11, 2008, 12:26:32 AM »
simple question.. kapag ang gagamitin for recording ay webcam mic, kelangan pa ba ng software para marecord?
"The Lord is my Song.."

Offline KitC

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Re: Setting up your PC for Recording
« Reply #247 on: March 11, 2008, 01:10:12 AM »
simple question.. kapag ang gagamitin for recording ay webcam mic, kelangan pa ba ng software para marecord?

If you're recording to video (pron, maybe?), then the video capture software normally records audio with the video. But if you only want to capture audio, you will need some form of audio recording software - even simple Sound Recorder will do. Remember that this mic will most likely only have directsound/wdm drivers and latency might be a problem.
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Offline KitC

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Re: Setting up your PC for Recording
« Reply #248 on: March 11, 2008, 01:10:21 AM »
simple question.. kapag ang gagamitin for recording ay webcam mic, kelangan pa ba ng software para marecord?

If you're recording to video (pron, maybe?), then the video capture software normally records audio with the video. But if you only want to capture audio, you will need some form of audio recording software - even simple Sound Recorder will do. Remember that this mic will most likely only have directsound/wdm drivers and latency might be a problem.
Sonar 4.04PE/5.2PE/7.02PE/8.31 PE, Project 5 v2.5.1, EmulatorX 1.5, Cubase SL2, Ableton Live 7.14,  Intel Q6600 MSI P43 Neo 4Gb Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR2-800, Emu 1820m, Yamaha DSP Factory, Terratec DMX 6fire

Offline in_the_tent

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Re: Setting up your PC for Recording
« Reply #249 on: March 11, 2008, 11:02:04 AM »
If you're recording to video (pron, maybe?), then the video capture software normally records audio with the video. But if you only want to capture audio, you will need some form of audio recording software - even simple Sound Recorder will do. Remember that this mic will most likely only have directsound/wdm drivers and latency might be a problem.
ano po yung pron?

so i still need to buy a video capture software? o kasama na yun nung uninstall ang A4TECH webcam ko sa pc?

Is "SOUND RECORDER" a name of a software? san binibili ito? mga how much? o downloadable ba ito? how about yung KRISTAL? Me nadownload ako eh. free daw. legal naman ho yun right? di ko lang alam gamitin pa.:)

noted po ung sa latancy.

thanks sir kit for your kind reply.:)
"The Lord is my Song.."