hey all,
I'm getting to the point where I want to be able to record music and not be held back by my hardware. I have lots of room to improve on my playing (and then some), but my USB Logitech microphone sounds horrible.
I want a good setup for recording. Some of my friends are really getting into guitar and bass and I was wondering about something like a mixer that would eventually let us all record playing together.
My question is, would a mixer be good for this situation? If so, would going through the Line out of my amp into the Input on the mixer be good, or would it be better to Mic the amp w/ a Shure SM57 or something? I realize I could just get a Line6 Toneport or something - but I would like to plan for later to record multiple people and vocals.
Also, what would you plug the mixer into to connect to the pc?
I've looked at two options: Behringer Eurorack - which would require some kind of usb/firewire interface
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Behringer-EURORACK-UB1202-Mixer-631236-i1153479.gc
or the Alesis which would go straight to USB
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MultiMix8USB/
Suggestions?
Thanks!
The UB1202 mixer is an older generation of Behringer analog mixers, has been substituted by the Xenyx 1202 mixer.
The UB serie is not bad ( i have an UB802 myself) but the Xenyx series has better mic preamps.
You can connect the line output from the mixer to the line input of the PC(or Mac).
I have been using my mixer that way and works very good.
Or you can buy the Xenyx 1204 mixer that is sold in a package with an USB 2 sound interface and ASIO sound drivers.
If you wan to use the PC/Mac´s internal soundcard ( what soundcard do you have ?) you need a recording SW and an ASIO sound drivers.
A "free" (downloadable) SW combination that works with simple soundcards(even cheap soundblaster types) are "Kristal Audio Engine" and "Asio4All".
/Kalle
Tanglewood TW28STE (Shadow P7 EQ) acoustic
Yamaha RGX 320FZ electric guitar/Egnater Tweaker 15 amp.
Yamaha RBX 270 bass/Laney DB 150 amp.
http://www.soundclick.com/kalleinsweden
the usb behringer 1204 that you mentioned looks great. I'm currently running integrated sound from my motherboard. I wouldn't have a problem with getting a new sound card later - although I'll see how usb runs first. My motherboard's integrated sound is actually very good - although I doubt it can compare with sound cards created for video editing.
Thanks!
I'm currently running integrated sound from my motherboard.
My motherboard's integrated sound is actually very good - although I doubt it can compare with sound cards created for video editing.
Thanks!
Sometimes an integrated "soundcard" on the motherboard can be quit good, especially compared to many Soundblaster soundcard. One big advantage with the "integrated sound unit" is that it´s clock is synchronised with the CPU clock on the motherbord, wich reduces timing and latency problems.
I myself have been using the "integrated sound unit" on my PC´s Nvidia motherboard for many recordings with very little problems. It was even delivered with Nvidia ASIO sound drivers, wich took me a while to find out.
The only limitation is that it has only 16 bits resolution in recording compared to 24 and higher in more advanced soundcard.
But 16 bit / 44.1 kHz sampling frequency ( CD quality) is good enough for most home recordings).
The major difference between a standard PC soundcard and a dedicated recording soundcard is the mic input amplifiers and the Analouge to Digital converters dynamic range. But as long as you avoid to use mic inputs of a standard PC soundcard and let the line input work with highest possible levels (with clipping), the sound quality can be quit good.
/Kalle
Tanglewood TW28STE (Shadow P7 EQ) acoustic
Yamaha RGX 320FZ electric guitar/Egnater Tweaker 15 amp.
Yamaha RBX 270 bass/Laney DB 150 amp.
http://www.soundclick.com/kalleinsweden
well, i've ordered the xenyx 1204. Thanks for the input. I've gone through the manual and looked at reviews online. This might be a little bit overkill right now - but will definitely be great when my friends continue to get better at guitar and bass.
I'm going to try going through the Line IN on my integrated sound and see how that works. I have the NForce 430 chipset on my Athlon 64x2 - so it has the HD Audio sound.
Also ordered a Shure SM57 mic. This will be great for recording instruments or vocals....since i may end up singing for my group :-O
As for recording the amp, it depends on the amp. Most digital amps have a more then decent line-out with frequency correction but not all. Just try it and if it sounds overly hrash, brittle and fuzzy use the mic. :D Even better, use both and mix them on your mixer. There's never an excuse not to play with new toys!
hmm... I'll have to try that. Thanks for the suggestion!
