Newbie recording in Home Studio 8

R

rondallowens

New member
Hi all,
I'm a Tascam 424 mkII guy trying to make the switch to PC recording. About a year ago I bought HS8 from Musicians Friend (closeout deal), and am just now trying to record with it. It didn't come with any manuals or help, just the registration card and CD.
I am using a Dell with a P3 processor, using a Creative Sound Blaster AudioPCI 64V sound card that came with the PC.

Questions:
1. Can I use this sound card, or do I need to buy another one (how do I check for this "half duplex" setting).
2. If I can use this sound card there is a line in and a mic input (1/8"), which do I use and how do I get HS8 to use it as the input source?
3. What would be the best way to transfer my 4 track recordings to HS8?

I basically don't have a clue on how to use this software (but it's supposed to be the easiest way to record songs on a PC...)

Help...!

Thanking all of you in advance...

Ron

:confused:
 
Okay...

1. This soundcard should work fine. It's a 16 bit card, but it great for a starter card (CD's are 16 bit, don't panic).

2. As for which input to use, you'll usually want to use the line in. If you've got a mixer or a mic preamp (you could probably use your TASCAM if nothing else), you'll always want to use it. The mic inputs on most sound cards are junk, and if you can send a line-level signal, the better off you'll be.

Double click the little speaker icon in your system tray (lower rite corner of your screen), click options, properties, recording. Then select "line in". Test it in PA8 to make sure you've got a signal, and that your level is good (make sure your not too loud! - recording too loud digitally (called cliping) sounds like bird-poop.)

3. You can transfer your tracks from the TASCAM to PA8, but it can be tricky. Using a 2 channel card (like the one you have), you'll have to record 2 mono tracks at a time (on your tascam, pan hard left and hard rite for the first 2 tracks), then go back and record the other 2 into new tracks (same way). Sounds easy enough, but chances are ...they're not gonna line up perfectly. After maybe a minute of audio, you'll notice the timing of the first 2 and the last 2 tracks starts to drift off a bit. This can be fixed by editing the tracks, and giving them a "nudge" here and there. It's not an exact science unless you can sync the machine into PA8 (which I've never had any luck doing, but I'm sure others here have).
 
HS8 - Thanks...

Hey Sean,
Thanks, that seems to have done the trick!

Yeah, I think I'll just run my stereo mixdown from the 424 into HS8, just so I can preserve what I've already done. Can HS8 talk to my Iomega USB CD-RW?

From Detroit, eh? I'm living in Ferndale now, not too far from you. Are you in a band?

Is there any way to access the aux 1 and 2 in HS8 with my outboard gear, or should I just use the onboard effects?

Once again, thanks...

Ron

p.s. Any advice for MIDI newbies (once again, I know nothing...)? I have a general MIDI capable keyboard and a DR-550 mk II, can they "talk" to one another? Can I make them and HS8 "talk" to each other?
 
Sean,
Burned my first CD today. Everything sounds great, but...

I seem to be running into this "not enough volume on my CD" problem I've seen elsewhere in this forum. Trouble is, they all seem to have different answers. I am wondering if you (or anyone who is reading this) have a few concise, quick checks I can do to see if I can bring these levels up.

This HS8 is pretty cool. I think I will be upgrading to something else (HS2002 or SONAR), as the four allowed tracks of digital audio is very limiting. In the meantime, can I bounce tracks like I do on my four track? If yes, will that possibly free up digital audio tracks I can record over? That would be cool...

Once again, thanks in advance...

Ron
 
Hi Ron,

(glad to see some active Detroit area peeps on the board! I'm actually in Inkster)

I haven't been on since my last post, so I'm assuming you've gotten your CDRW working well (with exception to the volume thing).

Okay. First, I don't know of a way to make the AUX ports in CW work with your outboard gear dynamically. If there's an effect you really like, you can always solo it out into your gear and record it back in (I've been known to do that from time to time).

Second, as far as the levels on your CD goes, here's what I'd do:
Make sure your master volume is up, and the master meters are as close to the red as you can get them. Then, I'd mixdown to a .wav file. From there, you can take a look at the .wav in any .wav editor, and make sure the spikes are fairly close to the top. If they are, you're home free ...just burn it & go. If they're not, there's something askew in Cakewalk. Try bringing the masters up more, or the individual levels up more.

Third, yes ...your MIDI keyboard, drum machine and PC can all talk to each other. I'm sure you've got a MIDI interface on your (using the game port of your sound card). You just need to buy the cable(s). There are a million things you can do with MIDI, the least of which is to use CW as a sequencer.

Fourth, yes ...you can bounce tracks down. Once you make the move to a larger scale copy of CW (or sonar or whatever), you probably won't need to. To bounce, just solo or mute your mix as you want it to be bounced, then Mixdown audio. If there's a click button to add .wav to your mix, then click it. If not, just import the .wav back in.

Fifth, yes I'm in a band. Mostly covers, but we're doing a couple of originals. Fighting the good fight with mic'ing drums, and recording with CW9. We gig once or twice a month (the closest to you would be McVees in Southfield). Here's our cheesie website if you're interested. http://www.geocities.com/littlevillains

Best o' luck to ya
(and my apologies to anyone else reading this for cluttering up the posting area with personal junk)
 
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