Recording question

[chadfo]

Hi everybody.New to this fourm.Just getting into some home recording.I recently purchased the apex usb condenser mic for recording some vocals and acoustic guitar.Now what i noticed is that when i sing into the mic it sounds wonderfull coming through my computer speakers,but i tried recording a song using the audacity program and i put it on a cd and it came out flat.sounds awfull.Anybody know why this may be?I'm only using the realtek onboard sound on my computer.Is this the problem??Any help greatly appreciated.Thanks

 

[Kingofpain678]

Hi everybody.New to this fourm.Just getting into some home recording.I recently purchased the apex usb condenser mic for recording some vocals and acoustic guitar.Now what i noticed is that when i sing into the mic it sounds wonderfull coming through my computer speakers,but i tried recording a song using the audacity program and i put it on a cd and it came out flat.sounds awfull.Anybody know why this may be?I'm only using the realtek onboard sound on my computer.Is this the problem??Any help greatly appreciated.Thanks

First off it will help you to know what an A/D converter is. An A/D converter is an Analog to Digital converter. what this does is it converts analog audio (voice, guitars, drums) into digital audio (ones and zeros) so that your computer will be able to store the audio. The importance of an A/D converter is it decides the quality of your digital recording along with bit depth and sample rate (but I'll save explaining those for another time).

The A/D converters in realtek/soundblaster/integrated type sound card aren't exactly the best. They will be ok for beginners but you might want to upgrade to something a little better later on.
Ok, here we go, Your condenser mic is an interface and a phantom power supply all on it's own and while usb mics aren't the best out there they will do the job just fine for you. So the problem wouldn't be with the A/D converters on incoming audio.
Once the audio is stored on your computer (in what I'm guessing is 16 bit, 44.1KHz) it should sound the exact same as if you were just monitoring the incoming audio from your mic.

The next thing we are going to need to know is does it sound dead and lifeless while being played back on the computer or only on the CD?
If it only sounds lifeless on the CD try checking what quality your burning CD's on.

Also, Here is a free DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) that is much much better than audacity. It's called Reaper and it's a free unlimited trial with the only downside being (Now don't quote me on this as I'm not 110% sure) that it takes a bit longer to load up unless you pay the 60$.

 

[Massive Master]

it sounds wonderfull coming through my computer speakers

That's your problem. That's almost everyone's problem who has a similar problem.

Two rules in audio:

1) No matter how good your hearing is and how refined your listening skills are, you will only ever hear as accurately and consistently as your monitoring chain allows you to hear.

2) Your monitoring chain will only ever be as accurate and consistent as the room they're in allows them to be.

Computer speakers are generally not an acceptable substitute for a quality monitoring chain. Everything sounds great through computer speakers (and to a lesser extent, headphones - which is why headphones are pretty worthless for the task also).

 

[Kingofpain678]

oh yeah! monitors completely slipped my mind.

I'm such a dweeb


Chadfo, Listen to massive. He knows his stuff.

 

[Dani Pace]

Beyond your monitoring consider your CD burner, slowest burning speed yeilds the best quality CDs unless you have a better burner than what comes stock in most computers.

 

[chadfo]

O.k.thanks for your input folks.To answer your question kingofpain678 it sounds o.k coming through the computer i guess mainly because realtek has some different sound environments i use,but when transferred to cd and played in any cd player sounds real flat....and thanks for pointing me to the reaper program.To adress what massive master said i could not agree more.I have a quality set of headphones here which make my recordings sound like gold.If I could get that sound on cd I'de be more than happy.lol.So what would be the best way to monitor my recordings??And should I upgrade my sound card?I hear some of the m-audio cards are good.Thanks again.

 

[Massive Master]

Beyond your monitoring consider your CD burner, slowest burning speed yeilds the best quality CDs unless you have a better burner than what comes stock in most computers.

20 years ago, that was true. More recently, (long story short) you're generally in the best shape by burning at 20-25% of a drive's rated speed for the "cleanest" burn with the lowest BLER.

 

[adamvelvetu]

Hi everybody.New to this fourm.Just getting into some home recording.I recently purchased the apex usb condenser mic for recording some vocals and acoustic guitar.Now what i noticed is that when i sing into the mic it sounds wonderfull coming through my computer speakers,but i tried recording a song using the audacity program and i put it on a cd and it came out flat.sounds awfull.Anybody know why this may be?I'm only using the realtek onboard sound on my computer.Is this the problem??Any help greatly appreciated.Thanks

Yup, massive i think had the best comment here which is that you probably want to invest in some monitors and you will probably get some more trustworthy mixes.

 

[TimOBrien]

Computer speakers lie.

On-board soundcards lie.

USB mics are really made for podcasters.


..... the first steps are always the most frustrating....

 

[Jeff_D]

Computer speakers lie.

On-board soundcards lie.

USB mics are really made for podcasters.


..... the first steps are always the most frustrating....

Agreed Tim.

O.k.thanks for your input folks.To answer your question kingofpain678 it sounds o.k coming through the computer i guess mainly because realtek has some different sound environments i use,but when transferred to cd and played in any cd player sounds real flat....and thanks for pointing me to the reaper program.To adress what massive master said i could not agree more.I have a quality set of headphones here which make my recordings sound like gold.If I could get that sound on cd I'de be more than happy.lol.So what would be the best way to monitor my recordings??And should I upgrade my sound card?I hear some of the m-audio cards are good.Thanks again.

If you upgrade your soundcard, you're first real step will be to abandon that usb mic. Right now, your soundcard is doing almost nothing in your recording scheme. All its doing is converting digital back to analog to be played back through your computer speakers. It really has no direct affect on the sound your are capturing and putting to CD (other than, of course, its what you are listening to when you are making your mix decisions). IMO the biggest benefit to upgrading your soundcard would be so you can ditch the usb mic, get a decent mic (I'd suggest a good budget condenser) and get a proper mic preamp. There are "interfaces" out there that combine the function of a soundcard and a preamp into one device that connects via firewire or usb. Either way (soundcard or external interface), MAudio is fine, as is Presonus, MOTU, Zoom and a host of others. You'll have to shop around for the features you want and need.Equally important would be that you address your monitoring chain (including your room acoustics). To do this "right" is gonna cost some dough, but everyone starts somewhere. Its up to you how far you want to take it (and how good of results you want).

 

[chadfo]

Thanks so much everybody for the info.I've learned quite a bit here already.Looks like I'll be spending a few days getting set up properly first.