Burn a CD? What do you analog guys/gals use?

gerard

gerard

Member
I'm all analog but need I'll need to burn a mix to a CD sooner or latter. What do you use? I still have Cubasis VST on a Windows 98 'puter with the soundcard I tried to use moons ago, has all sorts of "mastering" plugs but I never got the hang of it. So again, what can a old analog caveman use? :cool:

Note: Not sure if this belongs in the Analog forum, if not sorry in advance.
 
If you have a decent sound-card, one which generates no noise and records a clean signal, then all you need is this (attached). That's all I use and I have integrated audio on my old abit card. I then use a simple program to record to wav format. Sounds fine. :)
 

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I've used a stand alone sony cd recorder for the last 5-10 (?) years (got it for around $300 close to when they first came out).

They are really intuitive and I imagine can be had for cheaper these days. They function so much like a tape deck...just set the levels and press record...that's pretty much it. Only drawback is if you don't like the track there's no going back...unless you use CD RWs which are more pricey but less wasteful.
 
The way is was thinking was that gerard only had an old windows 98 machine that he did not get the hang of, and that he wanted to stay analog as long as possible in the signal chain. So mix down to an analog 2 track and when the mix was right, transfer via a CD recorder to digital (CD master).

Is that what is wanted?

Alan.
 
gerard said:
Burn a CD? What do you analog guys/gals use?
Click to expand...

We all use various methods. A good soundcard can do the trick. I use a professional stand-alone CD burner, Fostex CR300, which is the same (except for color) as the HHB CDR-850. They are both made by Pioneer, based on the PDR-555RW.

I used to recommend the Pioneer PDR-555RW as a low-cost alternative to the pro decks, but lately I’ve seen the Fostex and HHB units go for little more than the Pioneer model on the used market. There are newer models out there of course, but my CR300 has been so dependable and sounds so good I still recommend it (and the HHB version).

:)

fostexcr300_1.gif
 
Thanks guys! Yep, need to keep it simple and would like to try not using a computer. I have a Otari MX-50 2 track for mixdown and I'll try the stand alone CD burner. The VST software has alot of "plugs" that I'm sure would make the mix sound more "mastered"(?) and I may play around with it down the road again. Thanks again!

Jerry
 
gerard said:
Thanks guys! Yep, need to keep it simple and would like to try not using a computer. I have a Otari MX-50 2 track for mixdown and I'll try the stand alone CD burner. The VST software has alot of "plugs" that I'm sure would make the mix sound more "mastered"(?) and I may play around with it down the road again. Thanks again!

Jerry
Click to expand...


Hey, I have a MX50. Very nice machine.

I wish you could talk to my computer guru friend that was sure that CD's could be acurately burned directly on his PC. He uses Protools. But he couldn't figure out why his CD's always sounded like crap. I use and suggested that he get a dedicated Tascam CD-RW 700. He finally did and problem was solved. There are some things that work better the old way.
 
pianodano said:
I use and suggested that he get a dedicated Tascam CD-RW 700. He finally did and problem was solved. There are some things that work better the old way.
Click to expand...

Didn't realize that a stand alone CD recorder was considered the "old way".. :D:D
 
I too was using

protools and I didn't like the way my cd's sounded. 2 weeks ago I also bought the stand alone cd burner and everything sounded great. Soooo much better.
I can mix to my MX50 and then burn CD's from the analog production master!!:D
 
I...

I've been using the 1/8"-to-RCA stereo Y-cable from my analog stereo mixdown buss to the ol'puter thru the Line-In on the soundcard.

Did this on 3 different 'puters (95/98) that each had their own analog sensitivity and limits (powered soundcards vs. unpowered), therefore it would take a little fiddling with levels on each platform to optimize the dub to Wav files. Then I'll lay out songlists and burn CDs with Adaptec Easy CD Creator (3.5c). Old hardware/old software & I've been generally happy that my mixdown dubs sound decent. Also has something to do with how I mix on a regular audio system to optimize the mix before plugging to the 'puter. I'll typically never mix on small monitors or lil'puter speakers, tho' depending on how it sounds over the latter, I might make a few tweaks that I generally check again on the big system. Never mind that.

A couple of the latest mixes I did to my 95 ol'puter picked up a high pitched whine in the background, which I determined to be a high voltage squeal from the video monitor that carried thru the electronics to the audio line section. I've dealt with little issues like that, but this one's intermittent. My other soundcard has a hard clip limit of about 95% of what I think "maximum" should be, which is strange. My 3rd recording computer has a way higher sensitivity, so I'm obliged to bring down the Master fader on the analog side to about 40-50% of what I had as optimal during the mixdown phase. Little things like that bug me sometimes, but heck,... it's a hobby!

Lately, I've been thinking of a way to record from analog/stereo directly to the DP02cf's Master track from the A/B inputs, therefore bypassing the step of recording to the tracking section, (1-8). It's just an idea I've yet to try or verify, but I believe I could get a better stereo master track to digital thru my DP02cf, vs. the relatively crappy soundcards I've been dealing with.

Late.:eek:;)
 
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A Reel Person said:
I've been using the 1/8"-to-RCA stereo Y-cable from my analog stereo mixdown buss to the ol'puter thru the Line-In on the soundcard. Did this on 3 different 'puters that each had their own analog sensitivity and limits, therefore would take a little fiddling with levels on each platform to optimize the dub to Wav files,... then lay out songlists and burn CDs with Adaptec Easy CD Creator. Old hardware/old software & I've been generally happy that my mixes or dubs sound decent.

Lately, I've been thinking of a way to record from analog/stere directly to the DP02cf's Master track from the A/B inputs, therefore bypassing the step of recording to the tracking section, (1-8). It's just an idea I've yet to try or verify, but I believe I could get a better stereo master track to digital thru my DP02cf, vs. the relatively crappy soundcards I've been dealing with.

Late.:eek:;)
Click to expand...

You mentioned that in the other forum and now I might try that this weekend since I (hopefully) will have some free time to mess around with my portastudios.

I broke down and bought a M-Audio Delta 1010LT card for the 'puter. I run my M-2516:D into the Delta card (via the 8 busses to the 8 analog inputs on the card) and it sounds great. I've got a SBLive (yeah, it's old but still works) card that I've used as well and had good results with it.
 
I bought an Alesis io26, used, from a friend of mine, for a good price. I hook this up to the mix outs on my mixer and use Audacity to record.

This is how I make mp3s. I haven't made an audio CD yet. I imagine that the rest can be done in Roxio's "Toast" program.
 
jjones1700 said:
You mentioned that in the other forum and now I might try that this weekend since I (hopefully) will have some free time to mess around with my portastudios.
Click to expand...
Check your PM's!

jjones1700 said:
I broke down and bought a M-Audio Delta 1010LT card for the 'puter. I run my M-2516:D into the Delta card (via the 8 busses to the 8 analog inputs on the card) and it sounds great. I've got a SBLive (yeah, it's old but still works) card that I've used as well and had good results with it.
Click to expand...
I've considered the Delta 1010lt card before, but haven't settled on it. It's ol'tech now, though.

Last year, I bought a Fire-One, which for me seemed like an optimal high quality stereo-in solution, as well as being a niftly little DAW controller, but I ran into only one problem:... No firewire port on the 'puter! I've been meaning to pop for a FW adapter card, but haven't bitten off on that one yet, either. Will do, future/TBD.:eek:;)
 
Audacity is limited, but nice and runs on both Linux and Windows. I actually mix to DAT, and then I have some software that reads the DAT audio and writes to wav files. (dat2wav -- freeware now.)

Then use Audacity to tweak a little bit if necessary and Cakewalk Pyro to normalize and burn. this is probably way more complicated than necessary, but I believe hte marketing associated with the Sony DAT decks I use, so use that A/D instead of hte sound card!
 
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