Beginner Question for Basic Setup

  • Thread starter Thread starter the1bullet
  • Start date Start date
T

the1bullet

New member
Hey Everyone:

I decided to put together a digital home studio after reading a few articles about how to do it with very little money. But I'm stalled at about the most basic part.

I have a 3.0 meg Dell 4600 with 1 gig of RAM and the best sound card Dell offers... I think it was the SoundBlaster Audigy Pro (obviously not a pro sound card, but I thought I could get by with it). I've got a firewire port and several USB ports available to me. I also installed a second hard drive for the audio files.

Now I'm stuck, because I don't understand how I'm supposed to connect the microphone (Shure SM57) to the computer. I just want to record my solo stuff, so I only need to record one track at a time. It would be nice to be able to record two tracks at once (guitar & vocals), but it's not mandatory if that's really expensive.

What do I need to do that? The guy at the store suggested the m-audio duo, but that's a couple hundred dollars, and the articles about budget studios led me to believe I wouldn't have to spend that much. And quite frankly, I don't understand what it does. A friend suggested the m-audio midiman, but when I checked their website, it didn't look like it had an XLR input.

So, do I need a piece of hardware, or should I just get a different sound card that has more inputs? If it matters, I'm going to either use shareware software or start with the bottom-end of cakewalk or sonic foundry or something like that.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Bob
 
You can do it the easy and less quality route, with a mic adapter from Radio Shack. Might cost you $20.00

Or, you can get a small mixer with a Mic-pre and connect it to the soundcard. www.musiciansfriend.com has Berhinger mixers starting at $49.99.

Or, you can get a Pro-sumer sound card like a Terratec or Echo Mia in the $100- $200 range.

All depends on how much quality you are willing to sacrifice.
 
Wait, wait wait.....

You want to connect your Shure SM57 to your Soundblaster Audigy...if I remember right, Audigy's have a 3.5mm in for the mic...so why don't you just buy a Male XLR-3.5mm cable?

Certainly won't cost you $20.00, and there's NO need to buy a shitty Behringer mixer.

Thats all you need, you dont need another sound interface, or mixer at all, just a diff cable, or adapter if that suits you better.
 
AllOrNothinEnt said:
Wait, wait wait.....

You want to connect your Shure SM57 to your Soundblaster Audigy...if I remember right, Audigy's have a 3.5mm in for the mic...so why don't you just buy a Male XLR-3.5mm cable?

Certainly won't cost you $20.00, and there's NO need to buy a shitty Behringer mixer.

Thats all you need, you dont need another sound interface, or mixer at all, just a diff cable, or adapter if that suits you better.
Click to expand...

Problem with that approach is you're missing a mic preamp. It's quite possible to record without a preamp, as long as you shout very very loudly.

I would recommend the Yamaha MG10/2 mixer with (4 I think) inbuilt preamps , which you can get for under $100
 
last i checked, radioshack didn't carry an xlr-1/8" adapter... but they may now. Either way, this is NOT the way to go.

I'll back the other suggestions of getting a small mixer. The Behringers are dirt cheap, but for a few dollars more, go with the Yamaha mixers. i like them a bit more. This way, all you have to do is go from the line-out or something from the mixer into the LINE IN (*not* the mic in if at all possible), and you'll have your preamp from the mixer, and you'll have a good level coming into your machine.
 
Thanks.

Hey Guys:

Thanks for your help. I didn't realize a simple mixer would do the trick for me. I've been considering buying a yamaha mixer for band practice anyway, so that sounds like the way to go.

I think I may be understanding things a bit more now. So what exactly would the m-audio duo do for me that this setup wouldn't? Does the m-audio act as an outboard sound card?

Again, I appreciate your patience for the newbies.

Thanks,

Bob
 
Re: Thanks.

the1bullet said:
Hey Guys:

Thanks for your help. I didn't realize a simple mixer would do the trick for me. I've been considering buying a yamaha mixer for band practice anyway, so that sounds like the way to go.

I think I may be understanding things a bit more now. So what exactly would the m-audio duo do for me that this setup wouldn't? Does the m-audio act as an outboard sound card?

Again, I appreciate your patience for the newbies.

Thanks,

Bob
Click to expand...

The M-Audio Duo will give you a ton of headaches. Do a search on old posts and you will see people don't think very highly of it.

You are using a desktop - there is no reason to consider a USB or Firewire device because a PCI will outperform the other two and be cheaper.
 
wait... but... what if?

Hey Guys (to be read as a unisex label):

I thought the mixer idea answered my question quite nicely... but then I realized it brings up a very similar question. How exactly do I connect the mixer to my computer then?

I believe there's a 1/8" line in on my sound card (remember, it's a stock card... the SoundBlaster Audigy 2). I don't know what kind of output interfaces there are on the MG mixer series. Can I just get a cable that goes straight from the mixer to the 1/8" line in, or is that a poor man's interface that's just going to kill sound quality (not that I'm not a poor man). Or is there something inexpensive I can get that goes from the mixer to a USB or firewire port? Or am I back to the drawing board of needing to purchase a prosumer (notice my use of insider jargon) sound card with more input options?

I patiently await your advice and willingly accept any rebuke for not knowing this... or for not seeking this information in some other more appropriate way that I'm unaware of. You guys have been very helpful so far.

Thanks,

Bob
 
Bob, this isn't the best method of recording as you know...lol... but this cable will do what you need.

To connect the mixer to your "Line In" slot on your soundcard:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7...03311611/g=rec/search/detail/base_pid/333053/

To connect your speaker out, to the "Tape In" RCA connect on the mixer:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7...03311611/g=rec/search/detail/base_pid/333055/

If you go with a Yamaha mixer, you can use a 1/4" to 1/4" cable and buy a 1/4" to 1/8" adapter to plug it in.

-Brian
 
Also... just an FYI.

The more connections you have to make in line of succession, the more quality you lose. So, if you have to use adapters for connections, you may notice some "White Noise".
 
Bulls Hit, I used a Shure SM57 for recording vocals on an M-Audio Audiophile card, with no pre-amp, and never had a problem with the volume of the vocals.

Alot of soundcards have 12volt pre's built in, which is enough to my knowledge to give your vocals a boost on a dynamic.
 
I use my Yahama 4 track with stereo out to PC soundcard

Channels 1 & 2 have pre-amp for mic
Channels 3 to 6 are line

All 6 have pan, high and low tone adjusters

*****************

for the line out of the PC, it is hooked into an old Radio Scrap DJ mixer, where I use the headphone out for quiet monitoring.
It has stereo out and tape out ( to 4 track )

This gives me flexibilty to record to 4 track or PC

*****************

Also note, sometimes, you need to "mute" the line in on the PC, to prevent feedback, depending on where you're recording to, and if the audio is sent from RS mixer to Yamaha.

*********************

I don't have any multitrack PC software, I use the Creative recorder and midi editor Jazz++
 
the soundblaster audigy does have a preamp in the mic input, as most soundcards do, even the crappy ones, although they are usually designed for computer mics, but I have heard the one in the audigy is clean and does a decent job- maybe not professional, but decent.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top