Sony MDM-X4 to computer.

[joeinthebox1980]

sorry if this is a trite question...

but what is the easiest way to take mixed down tracks from a Sony MDM-X4 and put it on the computer?

thanks!

[A Reel Person]

is to use an 1/8"-to-RCA stereo Y-cable adaptor,... a common and inexpensive "radio shack"-type item.

You'd plug from your Sony's L/R-Stereo OUT [RCA] connectors to the [1/8"-stereo] LINE IN of your standard computer sound card, and record to PC WAV files at 16-bit/44.1kHz/Stereo format, using some stereo PC recording software. THEN, you'd lay those WAV files out into songlists and burn CDr's of your stuff with common and widely available CD burning software.

Lots of people do this, including myself, and it's easy & cheap, but offers a high quality CDr mixdown format.

Thanx.

PS: that's making some assumptions about the SONY, that it has RCA LINE OUTS, but forgive me, 'cause I'm not familiar enough with the Sony to be absolutely sure. The description leads me to believe the Sony is an MD format 4-tracker, and my comments are based on that assumption.

G'day!

[junplugged]

I did that once, before I got a DAW w/ USB. Normal cheap sound cards in PC's can have weak jacks on them. There are better ones and cards made for recording that are stronger but cost more. One good thing about the mdmx4 is that it has 4 outputs so you can take the analog audio out and have it converted to back to digital w/ one of the sound cards that has the ability to input 4 tracks simultaneously.

The reason I didn't go that route was because of the fact that if I was recording on PC w/ all that hardware and software, why have the DAW anyway? And the reason for me to have a stand alone recorder was to stay away from having to use the PC for it....

[A Reel Person]

I don't use DAW, I'm not into that, & so I'm typically don't recommend DAW, in general. Besides, getting a newer, fancier soundcard and DAW software doesn't really answer the question. The original question was what was the easiest way to move mixed down tracks from a 4-tracker to computer.

For the record, I never had any problem with the simple Y-cable into the simple sound card. It works fine, and I've never had a faulty soundcard jack.

If you want to get more complex solutions, there's DAW & all that,... the sky's the limit.

Thanx for the input on your preferred method, though. It's relevant info to know.

[joeinthebox1980]

Originally Posted by A Reel Person

is to use an 1/8"-to-RCA stereo Y-cable adaptor,... a common and inexpensive "radio shack"-type item.

got one.

You'd plug from your Sony's L/R-Stereo OUT [RCA] connectors to the [1/8"-stereo] LINE IN of your standard computer sound card, and record to PC WAV files at 16-bit/44.1kHz/Stereo format, using some stereo PC recording software. THEN, you'd lay those WAV files out into songlists and burn CDr's of your stuff with common and widely available CD burning software.

so now the question is... what is a cheap/free simple program i can use to record it to a WAV file?

PS: that's making some assumptions about the SONY, that it has RCA LINE OUTS, but forgive me, 'cause I'm not familiar enough with the Sony to be absolutely sure. The description leads me to believe the Sony is an MD format 4-tracker, and my comments are based on that assumption.
G'day!

your assumptions are correct!!

[junplugged]

I hear a lot here about N-tracks for $40 and therre is someone saying something about a free program somewhere. I don't remember where or what it was, maybe it was either in the Fostex forum or N-tracks. I'll tell ya if I find it cause i may want that free one too.

[hubcapbrian]

Audacity is available free.

I use it on the Mac, but there is a Windows version as well.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/