bedroom DJ recording onto laptop

[davidbergin]

Hi Folks, Newbie here...

I am a bedroom DJ, with a set of decks, a cheap mixing unit, which I run into my stereo to hear and record onto tape. This has worked fine up to now, and I have been happily producing tapes for friends etc.. With good sound quality and levels.

I have a laptop now also, with CD burner. What I would like to do is to record directly onto the hard drive, from the stereo, or mixer if I have to. Then burn the mix onto CD.

I would be grateful if someone else who has been in the same situation could give me advice on what I need to allow this, and any pitfalls-

I gather I need a decent sound card (recommendations?), I need software to convert the sound into mp3 from wav... (recommendations), and then I can burn.

I'll send a free cdisc to whoever can sort me out!
regards, and thanks in advance
David

[THE BIG PIECE]

What are the specs of your laptop? Processor speed, memory, and operating system? USB or Firewire and whatnot? There are a lot of options. Depending on how deep you want to go and what's in your budget, we can narrow it down.

Peace.

[Change of POETS]

Originally posted by THE BIG PIECE
What are the specs of your laptop? Processor speed, memory, and operating system? USB or Firewire and whatnot? There are a lot of options. Depending on how deep you want to go and what's in your budget, we can narrow it down.

Peace.

What he said. Also, there's no need to convert from .wav to .mp3 files. It will just lose quality.

[SPINSTERWUN]

You don't have to buy a new soundcard.

Simply connect the OUTPUT of your MIXER to the LINE IN (not MIC IN) of your laptop.

You can use any editing program for the purpose of recording, converting, and semi-mastering your recorded mix.

The audio editor I use is Sound Forge 6.0 by Sonic Foundry.
Here is a link to their website. You can download a demo from the site.

http://www.sonicfoundry.com

http://www.sonicfoundry.com/download/step2.asp?DID=257

spin

p.s. There are a TON of other programs that you can use (I'm sure the other members of this site will suggest the other programs).

[SPINSTERWUN]

Here is a link to a freeware/shareware site.....

You should be able to find what you need at this link.

http://www.hitsquad.com/smm

Peace...

spin

[SPINSTERWUN]

I'm sure that this will be one of the suggestions....

N-Track

http://www.fasoft.com/

[bknot1]

spin hit it right on the nail for u...

[DEADLY]

I definately recommend MP3 Surgeon for splitting your mix into seperate tracks so that you dont have one 60 minute track on your cd. Theres a demo on www.hitsquad.com/smm and it is very cheap as well. I use musicmatch jukebox to convert files and as spin said you do not need a new sound card, just connect your mixer rec out to the line in on your laptop.

[SPINSTERWUN]

I agree with DEADLY's suggestion.......

Or..............................

If you have the money, definitely get CD Architect, by Sonic Foundry.

It is a GREAT modifying program.

spin

[bigballsworth]

You don't have to buy a new soundcard.
^spin
(i dunno how to "quote")

but uhhh...my experiences with laptops and recording is that you DO need a "pro" soundcard or you get backround noise out the anus. Dealing with very nice (expensive anyways) dells and compaqs, recording a track from a roland-vs (or anything) was not very quality...still might be better than tape but your sound-to-noise ratio is obviosly ametur without a good card. to bad laptop soundcards cost so much =(