another newbie !!! oh no ,,,,

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alex12

New member
hello
i will be brief !
59 and stupid
bedroom jammer
tele and mustang1 amp
crap computer 2gb ram vista
looking for something just to record backtracks and build songs
playing for 4yrs
small town so equipment is very limited!
looking at a tascam r-1 or a boss 864
boss looks old and confusing !! tascam r-1 seems great for me
now the questions and THANKYOU for any help !!!!!
do i need software too after i record? and to the comp?
can i record a backtrack to the unit and add guitar after?
is there a chance i can do this at all ?????
cheers
 
+1 for Reaper.

About your gear the only thing that really concerned me is your OS and the low RAM. Vista is known as not being teh best of the Windows versions. An upgrade for W7 would help a lot as well a bit more memory (extra 2GB).

Regarding to the audio interface mostly here will tell you need one. I am just a 48 stupid bedroom self producer but I can tell you that I live very well without one by plugging my stuff (guitar and mike) in the sound card line input jack. Nonetheless in this case you will need a pre-amplifier to excite the low source signal and turn it into a decent signal. I use a Behringer Mic100 preamp that works awesome for me.

When I started to record my album two years ago I opted for the preamp instead the audio interface because it meant a $250 savings for me. Lately I was thinking of going more 'pro' and buy me an audio interface but after to analyze the quality of my records (and conclude that it was very fine for me, good level, good tone, no noise, etc) I decided to keep as I am. No audio interface here.

But there is an important detail that deserves to be mentioned: I play alone and I record ONE thing at a time. So, for instances I never play and sing at same time. I will record the guitar first and the voice later, etc. If you need to record more than one track at the same time then you will HAVE to go for sure with an audio interface with two or more ports.

Good luck!
 
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Hi Alex 12.
You have something of an interface in the Mustang Mk1. Two ways..

There is a headphone/line output that could feed a computer's line in put.
Or there is a USB recording system using the "fuse" software but I have no idea how good or easy to use that is.

But you still need a mic input and although you CAN use the internal sound card they are very variable in quality. My HP i3 laptop for example compares very well with my desktops which use M-Audio 2496 PCI cards but you might not be so lucky and in any case it is often the RECORDING side of system sounds that cause quality and operational troubles.

If you bought the Steinberg UR22 for example you would get an excellent interface with two very good mic amps and Cubase software to boot.

I do agree with getting shot of Vista. This should be an easy upgrade since W7 is "next in line". Going from XP to W7 is more of a trial but can't be that bad if a PC numpty like me can do it!
W7 (home, all you need) is less ram hungry than Blista so 2G should do you fine unless you start scoring films.

There is no RIGHT way to do all this, just that most home jockeys do go down the AI route. I in fact built my son a system (he played, I paid and soldered) based on internal sound cards and a mixer but both he and I have and have used USB interfaces.

Dave.
 
Hell, yeah, Dave really has this point that I missed here when I told ya that you does NOT need an audio interface. The absence of it will depend on the quality of your sound card. In my case I was very lucky as the onboard sound cards either in my old PC as well in the new one are excellents. You have to test yours to see if you were prized with a good or a crap one.

His idea on use the headphone amp output as an exciter to amplify the guitar level is great too. Basically you already have the basic gear to at least make a couple tests before to go out and spend money on more equipment. Just plug your guitar at the amp, and the amp output into the PC sound card LINE IN. You can also try to plug the guitar directly into the PC sound card MIC to see what happens. Record a few tracks to see if you can get a good signal level and watch for noise. Use your good sense to determine if you got a good result.

:)

:p
 
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