I need some technical help

W

Walter Tore

New member
Hi everyone: I am realitivly new to home recording and recently started reccording on a tascam da 30 dat recorder. Prior to this I have been going to a mini disc. On both I record everything live from a small yamaha mixing board, and a behringer virtualizer pro. Then I load them on my computer via cool edit 2000. I only add a bit of compression to the songs. Someone told me the dat would have a richer quality than the mini disc. Here are my questions. Could someone tell me which should sound better and why? Would recording direct to my computer, a cd recorder, or one of these mixers/burners, give me noticabily better quality than the dat and md are producing? Here is a link to a song clip done on the dat and the mini disc. I can't tell which sounds better, which leads me to believe the md is the way to go for its simplicity, lower cost of discs, etc... Thanks in advance! Walter

DAT vs MD link

http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=3118&alid=934
 
DAT and CD should be obviously superior formats to MD but with any recorder you are limited by your Analog to Digital Convertors. The quality on those can vary greatly depending on the quality of the recorder. The preamps on the Yami and the behringer can also influence the quality. You may have to low quality of a front end to really take advantage of any differences between MD and DAT.

Once you shoehorn both formats into MP3 the differences may be lost even more. CD burns of both formats should show more sonic differences but it all just depends on the quality you put in in the first place.
 
Mini disc recorders use ATRAC audio compression for storage which throws away a lot of data vs. DAT/CD/computer/HD/etc type of recording. That alone will be a big difference in quality. The A/D/A converters play an equily large part as mentioned.
 
Thanks for the quick and informative replies! I pretty much understand what you all are saying except this:

TexRoadkill said:
You may have to low quality of a front end to really take advantage of any differences between MD and DAT.
Click to expand...


I did burn both samples to cd and the difference I heard is not really noticable. Thanks again! Walter
 
The DA30 has decent ADA's, no problem there.
Why don't you record directly to Cool Edit?

There should be a significantly hearable difference between a DA30 and Minidisc. Lots more dynamics, width and deepness in the stereo image.
 
Han: Thanks for your reply. Bear with me. I am a beginner. How would I record direct to cool edit 2000? Does this mean don't use the dat and run my mixing board direct to cool edit? Do I need special stuff on my computer to do this? Thanks for helping a newbie! Walter
 
Ok. Now do I run my mixing board through this sound card, or does it take it's place. My condensor mics need phantom power. Do you all have any reccomendations? Does this sound card take up a lot of hard drive on my computer? I am assuming I will get better quality than I am now getting with this set-correct? Thanks for helping me so much! Walter

ps: I record everything live, making up my words and music as I go along, and never overdub. I use 4 mics that need phantom power: an AT3035, MXL V57, and core sounds binaural mic(2 inputs)
 
The soundcard takes up no room on the hard drive but the .wav files you record do (but this is already taking place with your present method). How much room they take up depends on the bit depth and sampling rate you're recording at. Your soundcard dictates the maximum you can record at. Most consumer cards are limited to 16/44.1. A 16 bit/44.1khz recording won't take up as much room as a 24 bit/96khz recording.
 
Track Rat: Thanks. Do you have any reccomendations for a decent sound card that will meet my needs? I record everything live, making up my words and music as I go along, and never overdub. I use 4 mics that need phantom power: an AT3035, MXL V57, and core sounds binaural mic(2 inputs)

Do I still need my mixing board for phantom power? Thanks Walter
 
Yup. If your board has the mic preamps and the source for phantom power, you need it very much. I use (for the most part) stand alone mic preamps.
 
None that I have hands on experience with. What I use is a bit over the top for your needs (an Alesis HD24 into a MOTU 2408 mkII clocked with a Lucid GenX6).
 
I am a tape slut and analog diehard, but I also have a PC with Nuendo, Cubase SX, Cool Edit Pro, Wavelab, Logic Audio, Sonar and a couple more.

This PC has a Terratec DMX 6 fire 24/96 card that has analog and digital in and out.

You connect the outputs of your mixing desk to the analog in of the soundcard and record in 24/96.

If you don't like the convertors of the card, you can use the analog in of the DA30 and connect it's digital out to the digital input of the card and there you go.

This Terratec card is rather inexpensive and decent sounding.

Cheers, Han
 
thanks guys! I am going to have to read up on all this stuff you gave me and let it sink in. As for now, I am packing up my bass drum, high hat, 1940 national steel guitar, harps, my dog Mocha, and heading downtown to play my 1 man band on the street! Thanks so much for all of your time and patience. Walter
 
Walter Tore said:
I have a Yamaha MG 10/2 mixing board with phantom power. I run a behringer visualizer pro for reverb. Any reccomendations for a sound card? Thanks Walter
Click to expand...

Walter if you want to record each mic to a seperate track, the M-Audio Delta-44 is worth a look. It's got 4 analog inputs, 4 outputs. You could use your mixer mains out for 2 tracks, and inserts for the other 2
 
Bulls Hit: I just got back from 2 hours of playing on the street. That clears my head. All this techno stuff makes me dizzy! I am the primative man in this arena. Thanks for the suggestion. Here is what I found on it.
MAudio Delta 44 Digital Audio Sound Card
The Delta 44 offers the same features and high performance as the Delta 66, but is designed for the person who does not require S/PDIF digital I/O. The Delta 44 features the same 24-bit 96kHz converter section that makes the Delta 66 the envy of the audio card community. And like the Delta 66, the Delta 44's breakout box handles 4 balanced or unbalanced, +4dB or -10dB signal level analog inputs and outputs. Also included is the Delta control panel software, which configures the card and controls digital mixing and routing. Learn More...

Once this is hooked up to my computer, would cool edit 2000 then be my wave converter/final mixer, and would the sound be noticably better than what I am getting now on the mini disc or DAT recorder? I didn't realize I could put each mic on seperate track with my mixer(thanks!). That would be great. Then I could record dry and go back and mess with each track, which is something I have never done. Thanks so much! Walter

PS: What is S/PDIF digital I/0 that I don't need?

sound samples of my stuff: the best are the most recent on the Tascam DA 30 DAT Recorder Album

http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/discography.php?aid=3118
 
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