recording bass guitar

[acidtest]

any tips on how to get more volume without clipping when laying in bass tracks? can i use the bass amp's fx send out and plug to the mixer to utilize the preamp? any suggestion is welcome. thanks!

[acidtest]

i figured it out.

[KitC]

ahhhh... self discovery....

would you mind sharing how?

[acidtest]

since i don't have a 'complete' set of recording equipment, i just use whats available to me. i recently acquired an audiophile 2496 card and was struggling with the settings on how to get the best signal to noise ratio. (or just to make it work during the first hour of installation) the rig is quad core / intel mobo system on xp pro sp3, cubase sx3, (still trying to work with studio 4 too) an old 12 channel mixer, dbx limiter eq, and - active bass guitar.  back when im still using the on-board sound card, i can use modest settings in the mixer, but after installing the new card, i need to push things higher. the signal stays so-so when the settings are in 0 db on mixer's channel, gain and main out. so i sent the signal to one of the auxes - dbx eq/limiter got more gain plus noise reduction then sent it back to one of the channels. this way i got a pretty decent signal without clipping. (mixer bars are just below clipping but the signal strength in cubase is somewhere half of that ) i added a little compression and limiting on the input channel and the signal goes into an acceptable level.
the catch is every now and then i hear a weird cycling/buzzing sound on the recorded track. this actually boost the signal but its not a workable sound. im still in the process of isolating the cause of this issue. (by the way, i acquired the 2496 second hand) any ideas/suggestions are welcome. 

[BAMF]

Hmmm...

When you install the drivers for the 2496...okay I'm assuming its akin to the 1010. A small icon for m-audio should appear on the right hand task bar. Click that and out comes the software mixer. If you click on the "input" tab you should be able to control how "hot" the signal going into the card is, using both the software "slider" and the check boxes which let you select -10dbFS, 0dBFS and +4 dBFS maximum signal input. If you set it to -10 dbfs, you can get away with weaker signal in, at the expense of the possibility of clipping your input. If you set it at +4dbfs, you can run a louder signal in with less chance of clipping. I think your 2496 is set to +4dBFS, which is actually "pro" setting.

Oh yeah it has it, just checked http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr01/articles/soundcard.asp

By the way, I think I have to ask, are you plugging your bass guitar directly into the mixer ? Depending on your mixer but it's generally a bad idea as you will get a massive impedance mismatch. I hope you're using a DI box or something of the sort to connect your mixer to your bass guitar.

since i don't have a 'complete' set of recording equipment, i just use whats available to me. i recently acquired an audiophile 2496 card and was struggling with the settings on how to get the best signal to noise ratio. (or just to make it work during the first hour of installation) the rig is quad core / intel mobo system on xp pro sp3, cubase sx3, (still trying to work with studio 4 too) an old 12 channel mixer, dbx limiter eq, and - active bass guitar.  back when im still using the on-board sound card, i can use modest settings in the mixer, but after installing the new card, i need to push things higher. the signal stays so-so when the settings are in 0 db on mixer's channel, gain and main out. so i sent the signal to one of the auxes - dbx eq/limiter got more gain plus noise reduction then sent it back to one of the channels. this way i got a pretty decent signal without clipping. (mixer bars are just below clipping but the signal strength in cubase is somewhere half of that ) i added a little compression and limiting on the input channel and the signal goes into an acceptable level.
the catch is every now and then i hear a weird cycling/buzzing sound on the recorded track. this actually boost the signal but its not a workable sound. im still in the process of isolating the cause of this issue. (by the way, i acquired the 2496 second hand) any ideas/suggestions are welcome. 

[jamming_papu]

... this actually boost the signal but its not a workable sound. im still in the process of isolating the cause of this issue. (by the way, i acquired the 2496 second hand) any ideas/suggestions are welcome. 

i sense some excessive gain somewhere in the signal chain. or some loose connections probably. max out the soundcard level. 

[acidtest]

(the original post and reply was created before i obtained the maudio card)

the thing is, the buzzing sound appears to be a part of a weird cycle. something like a sine wave that spans a minute or so. also i'm trying get the signal up (on the maudio's end) since its not even close to 0 db/ i can only get it to -8 or -6 db. i think i got these numbers wrong. i'll double check when i get home from work.

to jamming papu:
im looking into the excessive signal thing and the leds on the mixer are all on the safe levels - a dot or two below red. the eq/limiter is even way lower than that. no channel clipping too. sound card sliders are already maxed but i'll double check if i missed anything. already tripled check connections - appears to be ok. i'll acquire new cables later just in case.

to bamf:
yes i'm plugging direct to a mixer. no DI box yet. planning to get the behringer mic200 preamp later. (maybe a couple of paydays more, bills to pay, mouths to feed...) the mixer has a built in recording out - RCA types. so i'm using it instead of the main out that would cause impedence problems for the card. cant do anything about the bass being direct to the mixer for now. how about using the my bass amp's line out? would that help? will it convert the signal to line level? that way i'll also have a tone shapping and bass monitor while laying in tracks. i havent figured out how to get track monitoring on the card's outs yet. (on this card at least) the mixer is connected to a keyboard amp which is the closest thing i have to a flat response, full range speaker. its just to loud when powered on if i use the mixer's recording levels i mentioned above - even if the the amp's volume is at lowest setting. 
the maudio icon on the task bar is present. i'll go check out that input tab. thanks for the link!

another thing, when i use my piezo acoustic guitar, i get stronger signals and so far no buzzing. havent tried it for longer periods yet due to some guests arriving at my place and it required my undivided attention yesterday. i'll try again once i get back from work.
my sig contains a link of my work prior to getting the maudio card - using built in mobo on an older pc.(just one, the other is welcome to the jungle in strings) i have a small collection of those and im hoping to get better results for the others with this card.

slightly OT, i have my sights on a behringer ms20 monitors. (budget limitations) any words of wisdom?

to all: thanks for taking the time to reply. i'm still learning the ropes of this whole thing and your inputs are very much appreciated. please keep it coming!