Confused about recording

[stolen_away]

Hey everyone,
I looked around a bit, but couldn't find any sort of answer to my questions. I just got a soundcard, its a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy Extigy, and I would really love to try recording some stuff. There're a whole bunch of ins and stuff on the card- and I have a mic, though not with any sort of cable that would fit any of the ins.... The mic is a Shure Beta 58A. I have the card hooked up to my laptop, which is Compaq Presario R3310CA. I'd really love to play around with some stuff.. I have a keyboard with midi ins and outs, and I play guitar. Any help at all, cable suggestions or any other equipment I need, or software, would be so appreciated.
Thanks,
stolen_away

 

[Tifstorey]

Hi Mate,

Ive just tried looking around on the net for a picture of the soundcard you have, and i cant see one anywhere?! If you can send me a link to a picture of one then i could tell you what cables you need to hook your mic up to it.

Whatever the connection is on your soundcard you will be needing a microphone connection (XLR) to ?????? Whatever it is..

You say any suggestions on hardware, software etc. it all depends on what you want to do? What style of music are you going to be playing? Is it going to be mainly MIDI or audio tracks? Obviously your main contender is Cubase and if you havent heard of it already, then this programme is one of the best, and you can record MIDI and Audio. If you hook your Keyboard up to it (Using 2x MIDI cables) then you will be able to play around with that for a while.

If you can let me know a link to a picture for the soundcard connectors, then i will try my best to help you out.


Peace

 

[SPINSTERWUN]

Here's a link...

http://www.soundblaster.com/products/extigy/

I am looking for a pic of the INS/OUTS.

 

[SPINSTERWUN]

It seems as if the inputs are 35mm (1/8").

So you'll need to get adapters for the mic.

It doesn't seem to have midi INS/OUTS.

So you will need to get a midi interface.

 

[SPINSTERWUN]

I will add more info soon.

 

[stolen_away]

Hey guys,
Thanks so much for the advice! The soundcard has two midi plug ins.

Tifstorey, the kind of music I would be doing is a lot of vocal, some guitar, and a little keyboard likely. One of my friends mentioned a mixing board.. is that neccessary as well?

And where might I find a mic adaptor?
Thanks so much-

stolen_away

 

[Tifstorey]

A Mixing desk isnt essential, they basically take the work out of setting/adjusting volume controls, Equalising the track etc. They are good to have, but if you are only doing a little bit of recording, i wouldnt say its essential.

Regarding a Mic Adapter, follow this

link:http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=23783&item=3777953471&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

They are quite hard to find, and if you cant find one, you might want to buy a Cable with XLR > Jack 1/4" then purchase a 1/4" to 1/8" connector.

Hope all thats not confusing, basically a 1/4" is a large jack plug, and a 1/8" is a small jack plug like the inputs on your sound card.

Hope that helps

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

A Mixing desk isnt essential, they basically take the work out of setting/adjusting volume controls, Equalising the track etc. They are good to have, but if you are only doing a little bit of recording, i wouldnt say its essential.

Not necessarily.... it all depends on your workflow... if someone is tracking/mixing in-the-box, then no - a mixer isn't as essential.... out-of-the-box, though - it's crucial.............

 

[Ritual]

For not much more than the price of the adapters I bought a cheap mixer ($50) with mic pre's and went into the line-in on my sound card. That's actually why I bought the mixer... the adapters got up to 70% of the price of the mixer and I said fuggit.

 

[manning1]

stolenaway.
although i'm not a big fan of sb cards, like you have there are a number of folks using them on the user forums at pgmusic,.com. and there are a surprising number of tips you can pick up on that forum from folks who have used the audigies extensively and are very experienced with it. some with results that quite surprised me.
there are also some tutorials you might find usefull.
rather than a mic adaptor - do yourself a favor and get a little yamaha mg mixer. mics NEED PREAMPS. no getting round that fact.