Computer Recording

ricrocks · Post by **ricrocks** » Mon Oct 14, 2002 6:03 am

I am interested in setting up to do some casual home recording direct to PC and I would like to hear about your setup/suggestions.

The selection of sound cards is particularly confusing to me. Which do you use and what are its pros and cons?

For vocals, will I need to buy a mixer/pre-amp, or is there a card that handles this function well?

For guitar, I have a Tech 21 TM60 with an XLR output which I believe I can run direct to the sound card. Is there an adapter cable for this and is an impedance matching xformer required??

Software I am leaning toward Cakewalk Guitar Tracks Pro. I'm wondering how good the built-in drum stuff works.

I look forward to your input and suggestions.

landon · Post by **landon** » Mon Oct 14, 2002 7:34 pm

For software use:
Sonic foundry "vegas audio" for recording tracks, "acid 4.0" for drum loops and anything else to be looped, and sonic foundry "soundforge" for editing and effects.... All awesome and very user friendly- made for those who are not techno-nerds.
For hardware: A good high power processor PC 350mhz or higher with big hard-drive 20-100gig, any soundcard with 16-bit sound capability or better and rec/line-in, and last a good mixer or 4-track with a good onboard mixer with line-in and outs. Then you are set to record many great sounds and Rickenbacker sounds.....

landon · Post by **landon** » Mon Oct 14, 2002 7:42 pm

Also I forgot to mention ---check out:

http://www.mp3.com/refractor

http://www.mp3.com/landmusic

..good old homemade computer recordings.

shiraz · Post by **shiraz** » Tue Oct 15, 2002 8:12 am

I use Sonic Foundry Acid Music 3.0.
It's very easy to navigate once you're set up.
I have a fairly powerful computer and use the stock (Dell) soundcard. I get my drumloops from Acid or downloads, then pile on the guitars, bass, and everything else myself. It's a very fast way to record.

corey · Post by **corey** » Wed Oct 16, 2002 4:05 am

From my personal experience, you might want to look into

Sonic Foundry Sound Forge 5.0 or 6.0
Fruity Loops 3.5 (very quick and easy to sequence many tracks)

Also keep in mind that the better the soundcard and mic setup you get, the more "buzz" you are going to get from your (I'm assuming) non-soundproofed bedroom or den. Sometimes, the older soundcards and other equipment will work for you a lot better in that environment. We can't all be Brian Eno, afterall

dashmatrix · Post by **dashmatrix** » Wed Oct 16, 2002 4:50 am

Dear David,

I hope this note finds you well. In your post you ask a couple questions that could be taken alot of different ways. I too found myself in your shoes a few months back. First off let me address the most important 2 issues you face.

1st and foremost you MUST decide on a studio application. Although some of the suggestions made already are perfectly valid, you can achieve a much greater value if you stick with a professional audio host application. Think CuBase or Logic. First thing anyone is going to tell you about logic is that they dumped windows...true and false. But that's a discussion for another post. Suffice it to say Logic 5.0 is STILL a VERY viable option and can be obtained very inexpensivly right now. It's what I got BTW.
ProTools is also an option.
Just remember to research the plug-in architecture. VST,RTAS, whatever. You will live and die by the plug-ins you find.

The next most critical choice is your sound card.
Try to steer clear of anything soundblaster. They are crud for good recording. Stick with ASIO 2.0 cards at least, and try to find something that will support your OS. 24 bit 96Khtz multi in/out cards are very inexpensive.
My audio card/interface is an ST Audio C-port. It consists of a card, and a rackmount box that takes
8 balanced ins, 8 balanced outs, 2 XLR ins, 2 outs with phantom power and built in pre amps. It also has 2 spdif in/outs, and builting 1in2out midi. The card supports ASIO2.0, GSIF, and WDM drivers. Best part it's 24bit/96Khtz which means the recording quality is almost 2 times the resolution of DAT.

ricrocks · Post by **ricrocks** » Sun Oct 20, 2002 5:46 am

Thanks for your input guys. I'm not looking to sink alot of cash, at this point. The operative word in my post is *casual*. Maybe I should have said *cheap* lol.

I will finally be replacing this old PC soon so I want to keep the initial investment in the recording stuff low. More like a trial setup just to see if I would be interested enough to get more involved and upgrade on down the road.

Looks like I have alot more research to do!

Anyone used the XLR output to record directly with the Tech 21 amps? I believe its basically a built-in Sans Amp box.

corey · Post by **corey** » Sun Oct 20, 2002 12:11 pm

Just to add, Sound Blaster Live! cards aren't that bad - and you could probably find them cheap at a computer store or get one from a buddy who's upgrading to some super card that he won't even use (playing video games doesn't count, I'm sorry).

Maybe check out creativelabs.com and look at some of those cards to compare prices and whatnot.