Potential Cubase SE buyer...Have a couple questions.

Apex702

New member
I see a lot of members disapprove of downloading programs for free, I on the other hand find it a very useful tool in deciding what program works best with the equipment you have, I do, however, agree these programs are always missing something, or are limited.

I want to buy Cubase SE, but attemtped to DL it first to see its as easy as I've been told. Well without any luck trying it out for free(I've DL many "versions" and none have worked) so I looked for a message board just like this, and I'm asking if its a good program to record in(Vocals) and how easy is it.

To give you an Idea of what I record in, I currently use Acid 3.0 with a Samson CO1 Condenser mic, I get decent quality, but its only 16 bit/44,100Hz
My sound card is 24 bit, so I'm thinking Acid is holding back on the quality of the vocals, is this true?

I do have Sony Sound Forge and "edit" to the best of my ability(I'm no proffesional, just self taught with trial and error over 6 yrs) but its still no where near the quality I heard through Cubase.

Well help is appreciated, thanks.
 
Apex702 said:
I do have Sony Sound Forge and "edit" to the best of my ability but its still no where near the quality I heard through Cubase.
Well then it isn't the s/w that's responsible for the "quality"...

Sound Forge is an excellent piece of s/w designed for 2-track editing, not for multitrack recording. Sonically, it's excellent.

Cubase, OTOH, is designed as multitrack recording s/w - geared to emulating a multitrack recorder in terms of functionality. It also sounds excellent.

If you're having sonic issues with whatever editing you're doing with Sound Forge though, the issue isn't likely to be the software. I'm guessing the issue is more likely poor recording technique combined with a mediocre front-end signal chain. Before looking at s/w upgrades as a solution to sonic problems, maybe look at your signal chain and how you're capturing your sound sources.
 
Thanks

Thanks for the input.

I read your article also. Informative. The thing I want to know is, is my MIC the problem? Wiring? Soundcard? Preamp? I could go through this stuff myself for days without knowing what to look for.
 
What the rest?

Apex702 said:
To give you an Idea of what I record in, I currently use Acid 3.0 with a Samson CO1 Condenser mic, I get decent quality, but its only 16 bit/44,100Hz
My sound card is 24 bit, so I'm thinking Acid is holding back on the quality of the vocals, is this true?

The Bear speaks the truth - sound forge and cubase should sound the same. I have found with Acid, however, it can make vocals sound really bad as it automatically "chops" everything up as it comes in.

You should be getting a decent sound from the samson C01 - What's the rest of your setup? Sound card? Pre-amp/mixer?
 
process of elimination

Hello,

first, you might want to move this request to the 'recording techniques' or even the 'newbie' sections of the forums, since you're more likely to get a full response there. Blue Bear's right - this is very unlikely to be an issue of one software sounding better than the other. It's all audio signal, and all significantly better than your local FM radio quality, so if you're detecting a serious difference in audio quality it's likely either settings or hardware.

in the meantime, the best thing to do is go through a process of elimination. Start with the mic - see if you can borrow a mic from a friend or even use a really cheap mic (like a computer mic), or failing all else a different sound source such as an instrument amp's line out or output from a stereo. If those sound good while your mic sounds bad, it's your mic.

if not, take the preamp out of the mix and just use stereo output or an amp's line out without the preamp and do the same comparison. If not, try replacing the wires without putting the mic or the preamp back in the chain. if not any of those things, then it's likely somewhere in your computer.

at that point you can try switching out soundcards if you have another or know someone who can sacrifice a soundcard for your purposes.

also make sure to doublecheck all the settings in the program, and try to diagnose your system's performance and make sure you're not maxing your cpu, ram, or disk space. if you suspect the computer is the problem, maybe even try this step first.

An alternate way of doing things, especially if you know someone who's already got a setup, is do it in reverse. Take your stuff over to your buddy's place and try plugging everything in over there, then take one piece out at a time until you've isolated the problem piece.

At least, that's how I do it with computers... hope this makes sense.

-The Burden-
 
Thanks for the replies, I'm using a SB Extigy external soundcard(I have a laptop) and an A.R.T. tube pre...The quality is significantly better switching from a $20 Sony mic to the Samson I have now...I'd like to point out I'm not recording in Sound Forge, I'm recording in Acid 3.0 DJ, and then using Sound Forge as an editing tool. I think I'm going to have to do the trial an error thing if the software isnt the issue...thanks for all the replies...
 
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