What do I need (to know)?

[Capokid]

I have been looking into Cool Edit Pro and would like to know a little "insider" info from those that know.

Do I need a mixing board to record to a PC? I presently know nothing about recording to PC. I have used a Tascam Porta7 and a Roland VS-840 (both portable studios) in the past.

I currently have a PC with an Abit KT7A raid MoBo, AMD Athlon 1GHz processor, 256mb memory and a Creative Labs Soundblaster Live Platinum 5.1 soundcard. I am having trouble making the machine work due to conflicts of hardware between the SB Live card and the MoBo. Can you use a SB card with CEP? I will probably design a dedicated machine to work with only CEP and get some new hardware.

Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Remember to be basic as I have absolutely no experience with PC recording.

P.S. If anyone has any recordings (Music) that you have done with CEP, and they are avaliable on the internet, please leave link. And also maybe a little description of what kind of PC you are using and how you recorded said song.

Thanks in advance

CK

[Meshuggah]

First of all with SB Live Platinum. DON'T!! install Live Ware. That's a big pile of SHIT that will clog up your system. Go for ONLY the drivers.

You don't need a mixer to record to PC. But you need preamps for your microphones. Do a search in "The Rack" forum for tips on mic-preamps.

I run CEP under Win ME. pIII 800E, 256mb, SB Live Platinum, Abit BE6-II. It runs like a charm.

Posting songs made in CEP wouldn't help you much, since CEP doesn't alter the sound. That's whats YOU'RE there for...

Anyway.. This song is made in CEP.
http://members.tripod.co.uk/edicius/lord_of_terror.mp3

[Capokid]

Meshuggah,

I know what you mean about the SB Live Platinum. Have already had my share of problems with it. I read a little in "The Rack" forum about preamps and as always have some more questions:

Specific question:

What does a preamp do that a mixer does not?

General question:

How come in the world of recording, I can never figure out what these things (preamps, DI Boxes, etc.) are actually used for? I have spent time reading and asking questions but none of these things are yet clear to me.

Maybe some of it is because I am used to recording with the porta studios.

CK

[Meshuggah]

a mic-preamp doesn't have anything a mixer dont. Mixers have mic-preamps for every channel (in general). Then they have aux-sends and eq and a fader and such.. These also come in standalone units called channel-strips. On those there's a mic-pre, EQ, and sometimes compressors and stuff...

My point is that if you have a SB Live card, you won't be able to record more than 2 channels at once anyway, so you get more bang for the buck buying a single (or dual, or two) mic-pres.

If you'll record live drums, you might need a mixer so you can use more mics and send it to your comp through the stereobus.

Hope this clears thing up.. you'll probably more confused than ever due to my poor skills in explaining shit like this....

[Capokid]

I think that cleared it up a little. Nice and to the point. I think my best bet would be to get a mixer. I will be recording live drums, using at least 4 mics. Unfortunately that is about the best sound I can get where we record (basement with low ceiling, concrete floor, and cinder block walls).

Musicians Friend has some mixers in the $200 to $300 range that I think I should be able to use for a while (should be able to find them cheaper someplace else).

Thanks for all the help.

[PapillonIrl]

Here is a link to a song recorded entirely with CEP and a behringer mixer. The sound card is considerably worse than yours, and only has one input working !

http://142.59.127.47:8080/downloads/.../daydreams.mp3

Despite this, I think it sounds pretty good. You can hear some of Cool Edits reverb pretty well in this too. If you are not changing your soundcard, you will definately need a mixer to record your drums.

This is the mixer I use...

http://www.behringer.com/eng/product...ck/mx2004a.htm

I am pretty happy with it. When I upgrade my soundcard I reckon I will want better preamps then the one in this mixer but for the moment I can't fault it.


pAp.

[Horace]

I'm new to home recording and am running CEP. I used it to convert and old studion tape of a session I did a long time ago. The results were really good.I added 6 more songs (some original) and called it an CD am sellign it to acquantances and will peddle enough over the band stand to Break even. I'm using and Electrovoice Cobalt 5 Microphone with pop filter, programed drums and playing the rest myself. It's a po-boy operation but, I'm having a ball.
If anyone has any suggestions, I wide open.

Horace