Sound Card Help :S

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RyanRogers

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Hey! :)

I've decided that i want to start recording at home as a side project, but to get started, i need a soundcard so that i can plug my guitar into my computer. My guitar teacher uses one when we have lessons round his house. I would appreciate any help on the subject of what soundcard to get. I dont want to be spending loads of money, so are second hand soundcards good?

Thanks

Ryan :)
 
RyanRogers said:
Hey! :)

I've decided that i want to start recording at home as a side project, but to get started, i need a soundcard so that i can plug my guitar into my computer. My guitar teacher uses one when we have lessons round his house. I would appreciate any help on the subject of what soundcard to get. I dont want to be spending loads of money, so are second hand soundcards good?

Thanks

Ryan :)
Click to expand...
There are sooooooo many options open to you. Do you only want it for guitar? Will you want to expand in the future? You could plug into your onboard soundcard with the right adaptor(6.5mm to 3.5mm). For better results, you could get the Behringer UCG102. It can scale up dramatically depeding on what you want, but those are two options just for guitar.
 
THE guide with 'you cant go wrong with any of these' suggestions:

http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards_and_audio_interfaces.htm

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While I'm here:
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My obligatory standard reply-for-newbies that I keep in Wordpad:

First off, immediately get a good beginner recording book (spend $20 before spending hundred$/thousand$) that shows you what you need to get started and how to hook everything up in your studio:
Home Recording for Musicians by Jeff Strong - $15
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/07...ce&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance
(Wish I'd had that when I started; would have saved me lots of money and time and grief)
You can also pick up this book in most any Borders or Barnes&Noble in the Music Books section!

Another good one is: Recording Guitar and Bass by Huw Price
http://www.amazon.com/Recording-Gui...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215734124&sr=1-1
(I got my copy at a place called Half-Price Books for $6!!)

Barnes&Noble or Borders are great places to start --- they have recording books and you can go get a snack or coffee and read them for FREE! Don't pass by a good recording book --- this is a VERY technical hobby and you REALLY want to start a reference library!!!

Good Newbie guides that also explains all the basics:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
http://www.computermusic.co.uk/page/computermusic?entry=free_beginner_pdfs

21 Ways To Assemble a Recording Rig:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/rigs.htm

Also Good Info:
http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/directory.htm

Other recording books:
http://musicbooksplus.com/home-recording-c-31.html

Still using a built-in soundcard?? Unfortunately, those are made with less than $1 worth of chips for beeps, boops and light gaming (not to mention cheapness for the manufacturer) not quality music production.
#1 Rule of Recording: You MUST replace the built-in soundcard.
Here's a good guide and suggestions:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards_for_the_home_studio.htm


Plenty of software around to record for FREE to start out on:

Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net (multi-track with VST support)
Wavosaur: http://www.wavosaur.com/ (a stereo audio file editor with VST support)\
Kristal: http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/
Other freebies and shareware: www.hitsquad.com

Another great option is REAPER at http://www.cockos.com/reaper/ (It's $40 but runs for free until you get guilty enough to pay for it...)
I use Reaper and highly reccomend it...

Music Notation and MIDI recording: Melody Assistant ($20) and Harmony Assistant ($80) have the power of $600 notation packages - http://myriad-online.com
Demo you can try on the website.

And you can go out to any Barnes&Noble or Borders and pick up "Computer Music" magazine - they have a full FREE studio suite in every issue's DVD, including sequencers, plugins and tons of audio samples. (November 2006 they gave away a full copy of SamplitudeV8SE worth $150, November 2007-on the racks Dec in the US- they gave away SamplitudeV9SE. It pays to watch 'em for giveaways...)
 
pandamonk said:
I agree with everything you've said, but i recommend you update your standard reply. It's $50 now, and just runs 30-days i believe.
Click to expand...

It runs for 30 days before it adds a message at start up to remind you that you can pay for it... they sum it up by saying that they will make you think about paying for it everytime you start up for about nine seconds or so until you do... other than that message, the program runs indefinitely regardless of if you buy a license or not.
 
soldierone said:
It runs for 30 days before it adds a message at start up to remind you that you can pay for it... they sum it up by saying that they will make you think about paying for it everytime you start up for about nine seconds or so until you do... other than that message, the program runs indefinitely regardless of if you buy a license or not.
Click to expand...
Ahh, ok. You see, i bought it before this happened. :p Still $50 instead of $40 though.
 
Ryan, speaking from experience, you can spend some serious $'s on sound cards, monitors, mixers, recording software, mics, .....etc., etc. Getting a good reference book on the home recording is a great idea.

After acquiring all the above equip. over the past few years, (which I still enjoy using), I recently bought an Olympus LS 10 Linear PCM Recorder (a very small portable recorder). Maybe I have just become lazy in my old age, but I can record tracks (guitar and mando) quickly at very nearly the same sound quality as with my more expensive soundcard. Although I have two different (limited edition) recording software packages, I find that Audacity (freeware that anyone can download) more than meets my editing needs on most projects.

Start small and work you way up. I wish that I would have done so when I first started out. Good luck!
 
Generally audio interfaces are a good way to get your guitar,voice , and what have you into your pc for recording along with recording software.
There are some good web sites out there for giving you free info on getting started. I have'nt browsed this site much yet but I can recommend recordingreview.com . Go to the forums and you will see what I mean.

Audio interfaces come in all price ranges and hook-ups and platforms i.e. Windows or Apple. The audio interface is an external break-out box that generally has inputs and preamps for your mics and instruments ,etc,like your guitar.

The interface will take the place of your current soundcard or onboard sound depending what you have.

This is just a brief description. The link I included above has a wizard that will prompt you through some questions about your requirements and current computer setup and reconmend a few audio interfaces for you.

Make sure you visit the forums . Much information there available for the newbie as well as the seasoned home recording enthusist.

Good Luck !!
 
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