Digital Multitracker/SoundCard

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specs

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I have read now, thousands of articles on home-recording studios. I am still far from competant but I think I have the hand of it all now. My question is: Is it correct to purchase a Digital Multitrack recording machine without a new soundcard, or do you have to use both for clarity? As far as I understand it is important to make sure your signal changes from a/d d/a only twice if you can and once if your rich!! My factory soundcard has an anolog input which converts to digital inside the comp. (I believe this is correct). If I purchase a digital multitracker won't the signal change three times (instrument(analog)-mixer(analog)-multitrack(digital)-soundcard(analog)-soundcard(digital). I also read somewhere that you should keep analog signals from inside your comp because it picks up unwanted noise. In the above configuration wouldn't the unwanted noise get in? If I purchase a new soundcard with s/pdif(I think) then I assume I can run a digital direct line to the soundcard from the multitracker which would cut out one of the conversions. Is this correct or am I out to lunch? Well I'm out to lunch but is it correct?
Thanks
Specs
 
Is it correct to purchase a Digital Multitrack recording machine without a new soundcard, or do you have to use both for clarity?
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Not really sure of the meaning of your question. If you have a digital multitrack recorder, you do not necessarily need a sound card. A sound card lets you get sound into and out of a PC. No sense getting a new one to go with a digital multitrack recorder unless you want to transfer audio to the computer and your old one is inadequate for your purposes. If you just want to make MP3s, probably any consumer card will be OK, just send a stereo mix out of the digital multitrack recorder and record a stereo file on the PC. If you want to make CDs on the computer, you might want something with better specs than any old generic soundcard. Better yet, if your digital multitrack recorder has digital outs like S/PDIF, you can get a soundcard with a S/PDIF input and transfer the data without having to pass through a conversion from digital to analog and back again.

My factory soundcard has an anolog input which converts to digital inside the comp. (I believe this is correct).
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Yes, that's true.

If I purchase a digital multitracker won't the signal change three times (instrument(analog)-mixer(analog)-multitrack(digital)-soundcard(analog)-soundcard(digital).
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Anything you run the signal through will degrade the sound to a degree, even through cables and jacks. You go from the signal from the instrument to the mixer, and through the mixer's circuitry, which affects the signal, adding noise. From the mixer to the recorded data involves an analog signal being converted to a digital signal -- more change. Each stage of cabling can also introduce noise from radio-frequency interference, particularly if the cables and jacks are unbalanced.

I also read somewhere that you should keep analog signals from inside your comp because it picks up unwanted noise. In the above configuration wouldn't the unwanted noise get in?
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Perhaps; certainly a little, but it might be inaudible compared to other sources of noise.

I have a Delta66 which has converters on the card inside the computer, and it's as quiet as I could ever want. The hum from the guitar is way louder.

If I purchase a new soundcard with s/pdif(I think) then I assume I can run a digital direct line to the soundcard from the multitracker which would cut out one of the conversions. Is this correct or am I out to lunch?
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Correct, as long as your multitracker has an S/PDIF output.
 
Thanks guys for responding, you have clarified a lot for me. My next question is; I read an article from MR. DRAGON pertaining to the clarity of sound. There is a unit which you can hook up to the multitracker to send clear sound to the soundcard. So if I purchased one of these units and an analog multitracker the signal would only change inside of the comp. Will my old card be ok for this since the sound is clean?
Thanks
Specs
 
I haven't the foggiest idea what you are talking about... perhaps you can identify which article and I can look at it and see if it clicks then...
 
Oh. That's an analog noise reduction unit. Basically it reduces the noise you typically get from a typical electric guitar signal, especially noticeable with single-coil pickups and under certain conditions. Some amps and pedals also introduce a lot of noise. I'm not sure how the Hush works but part of what it does is dynamically gate off the signal, so that when it drops below a certain threshold, it doesn't pass the signal. It likely also has some other circuitry that works something like dbx or Dolby does in reducing hiss...

This for recording to a 4-track where noise is a particular problem, an donce it's tracked, there's nothing you can do with it. In a digital recording system, you can do stuff like the Hush does to the track after the fact, particularly the gating part,so you get silence when the guitar isn't actually playing any notes instead of the wash of hiss that would be there normally.

It's not something you need, in other words. You might find it useful if you have a very noisy guitar signal, just to keep the signal as clean as possible up fron tnad minimize dealing with noise after the fact. People use 'em live, too, to keep this kind of noise under control.
 
Thanks, but now can you explain how the digital machine would get rid of this noise after the fact. I have a second rate guitar right now and i've recorded to my computer and if I don't play a note I hear this noise. It is annoying. I am not running digital yet, just my guitar to my effects pedal to my mixer to the comp soundcard, oh I have my stereo Cd hooked to the mixer so I can play over some instrumentals. So if I purchase a digital machine, how do I remove this noise?
 
...can you explain how the digital machine would get rid of this noise after the fact
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If you are using just a digital multitracker, it depends on its editing capabilities. If you can edit the waveforms manually to insert silence, or if it has digital effects and you can activate a noise gate, then you can deal with it to some degree.

If you can dump your tracks to a PC there are all kinds of things you can do to try to improve the sound using software like CoolEdit or Sound Forge.

Minimizing the noise upfront is best, of course. But you cannot really eliminate it (except during passages when the source is not playing notes, where you can edit it out).

There are also many other things that could be introducing noise to your signal chain. Bad cabling, ground loops, "dirty" electricity, giant radio/television broadcast towers a hundred yards away, cheap dimmer switches, the refrigerator... many of these can be fixed or eliminated. There are a lot of articles around on minimizing noise in recording setups.
 
So it would seem to be a wise investment to either upgrade my computer or build a new one. Since there is so much you can do with them without spending 1,000 of dollars. Cleaning the noise up is an advantage it seems on the the PC. Next question is what is the minimum speed I would have to go with in a PC and Ram. The hard drive I know already. The cdr I have. All the programs I have now. So it's just the comp. And later a new guitar, amp and mixer.
Specs
 
The software you have should have published minimum system specifications. I would be sure to go a fair bit above this.
 
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