analog or digital

[maxpayne]

im gonna buy a new soundcard for recording vocals and i thought i would buy a interface instead,if u buy a analog interface will the vocals still clip if it goes too high?

 

[MadAudio]

For all intents and purposes, soundcard = interface. There is no way to do analog recording on a computer.

For this first time ever, I must say that is one hell of a stupid question.

How are you enjoying that Star Fleet Project CD I sent you, Ed?

 

[maxpayne]

actaully i said that because i saw a interface that said analog 16 bit/48 khz

 

[studiomaster]

What do you mean by 'analog interface'? If you're talking about analog inputs and outputs, then most interfaces got that. Mind clarifying?

 

[maxpayne]

actually it was analog inputs,so thATS STILL DIGITAL THEN?

 

[studiomaster]

Umm...like duh..the interface is digital. as MadAudio said, you cannot do analog recording on computers. thus, analog input signals get converted into digital as it gets recorded to the DAW. it's the converter that performs the analog to digital<-> tasks.

 

[Massive Master]

Either way - Yes, you can clip the analog circuitry in a digital rig. You can clip the preamp (many people come awfully close all the time, as it seems like there's some sort of weird epidemic running around where people don't understand how to set their levels*) and you can clip the converters.

*If you find yourself clipping anything - even coming close, you're probably recording around 20dB too hot. That's not how the gear is designed to run.

 

[RideTheCrash]

What you read just meant it was an analog input, meaning the connection. Like my soundcard is male RCA to female RCA, which is an analog connection...but it goes through a digital conversion, because it's going into the computer, so it's still digital.

Recording purely analog would be recording to tape machines. No computers.

What exactly would your setup be anyway? I'd listen to Massive about levels, gain staging is really important in a setup.

 

[Bulls Hit]

What you read just meant it was an analog input, meaning the connection. Like my soundcard is male RCA to female RCA, which is an analog connection...but it goes through a digital conversion, because it's going into the computer, so it's still digital.

Recording purely analog would be recording to tape machines. No computers.

What exactly would your setup be anyway? I'd listen to Massive about levels, gain staging is really important in a setup.

Hey man are you the RideTheCrash from Tabcrawler? Do you still go there?