n-track help

[Slackmaster2K]

Umm...that depends...kind of opening a whole nother can o worms here.

Mic preamps on affordable mixers aren't always great...and mixers themselves will add noise to your signal.

You should ask this question in the Newbie form or something similar since we're getting into hardware.

ART makes an affordable line of high quality tube preamps that sell for $110 for a single channel and $240 for a dual channel. Many of us use these preamps.

Ask yourself how many sources you need to record at once, and how you need to control them.

Slackmaster 2000

[money]

I'm new to the computer music world and I heard n-tracks is a good way to get started. I have a great pc but the generic sound card that came with the pc might not be good enough for this program. It is a "Meastro" card and I don't know much about it besides the fact that it can record and play back and it is 32 bits. Is this good enough for basic recording? Does any one out there use this card, or know about it? I would like to record Audio (gutiar, keyboards, vocals). Do I need an external mixer for n-track like I would for a program like Cu-base? any general info is greatly appreciated! THanks!

[Slackmaster2K]

A "generic" 32 bit soundcard???? Heh, this is common misconception.

It is probably a 32 VOICE soundcard...e.g. the number of Wave voices (samples) the card can access. Meaningless.

Or, some manufacturers list their cards as being 32bit because they have a 32bit interface...but that is also meaningless.

The bestest soundcards in the whole wide world are "only" 24bit.

What you want to look for is the bit depth and sampling rate of your soundcard. Average cards will be 16bit 44.1khz which is fine for getting started on.....sometimes.

See there are other things to consider such as A/D converters and a whole world of technical mumbo-jumbo. Bottom line: if it sounds like crap it is crap. You'll know pretty quickly.

As far as getting a signal into your soundcard to record. You need one or more microphones and a preamp of some sort. A mixer is necessary if you're going to run more than two sources into the card at once. (with a stereo soundcard you can record two tracks at once with a little tom foolery) Direct boxes like the Line6 POD can also be used for your guitar if you're not into mic'ing your amp.

Basically the rule is....your guitars and microphones produce very little output. You need some sort of preamplifier to boost the signal. You then run that signal into the LINE IN port on the soundcard. It gets a lot more complicated real fast...but the best way to learn is to play. Download n-Track and see what you can do.

Slackmaster 2000

[money]

Thanks for all the help. I'm overwelmed by all this so thanks for bearing with me. So basically i can't do anything with out a mic-preamp? Right? So I should probobly get a mixer anyway and use the mic preamps on that to record to n-tracks. And then start to record and see how the card handles. Mabye?

[money]

Thanks again, this is really helpfull. I will post all my system components and questions on the Newbie forum

[Treeline]

I've got the same thing going on. Here's an idea.

There's a thread in this BBS concerning the Tascam TM-D1000 digital mixer, posted mostly by those of us who bought one; I quickly learned how little I really know about all this stuff.

High points: Digital 16 ch. mixer, 4 XLR mic ins w/ preamps, digital and analog out; no noise; pro quality; full of effects, bells, whistles, and programmable settings; $500.00 at Musician's Friend and other catalog places.

Low points: You need to know a lot to make it work.

Want to learn about digital audio? Drop five bills on this baby and you'll have a great incentive! I keep telling myself: "Digital Signal Path! Digital Signal Path!" whenever I get frustrated with it. But I think it will really shine once I get up to speed.

Good luck! It's a great ride. . .