How do I record without losing quality?

[DVZON]

I have a compaq presario with SB Live 64, yamaha DJX-I, XG works sequencer, Cool edit pro. (I have other stuff, but these are the things I used when I record).

The way I record is the following: I have an stereo cable that goes from the 'Line out' of my synth to the 'line in' of my computer, and in real time, I record the song on Cool edit pro that I made with my synth with the sequencer.

It is not MIDI. Because I record it from the line's I can use every single instrument from my synth. I don't use polyphony.

The thing is, A little bit of quality is lost, and also, the bass and kick don't sound as strong as they sound on the keyboard. To put it in other words, it sounds much better coming out from the synth speakers, than from my computer headphones. Yes, I use headphones to record, but that's not the problem. In cool edit pro, as there is in every software in the world, there is a volume level. I can't seem to make the kick or my bass strong enough without it getting distorted. I compare it to songs from pro's and it just doesn't sound strong enough.

My question is: Is there some type of cable, or hardware that I can use to keep the 'synth quality' when it is recorded onto the computer. It's not too much difference, but "I" can tell, and people complain about the bass and drum not been kicking enough or strong enough.

One more thing..I don't record multitracks. I do the whole thing at once, but I've tryed the multitrack thing and still. The drum can only go so high as well as the bass..so wtf do I do? PLEASE HELP!

 

[brandon.w]

get a better soundcard, like an audiophile 2496 or something.

 

[DVZON]

get a better soundcard, like an audiophile 2496 or something.

So Sound Blaster is not good??? I thought lots of people used it..what good soundcards are outhere???

 

[FullSailer]

I second that.....get a good sound card.

 

[FullSailer]

How good of a soundcard you can get depends on how much your looking to spend

 

[DVZON]

How good of a soundcard you can get depends on how much your looking to spend

Im willing to spend whatever it takes so I don't lose quality and my bass and kick (dance music) can actually "KICK"!

I see that audiophile seems to be the rage. I heard about a "Roland" soundcard..people say is expensive though. Is audiophile available practically anywhere?

 

[Toki987]

are you sure the headphones and the synth speakers your using aren`t artificially making the kick and bass "seem" punchy enough in your mix as its recorded? Have your tried live monitoring your mix thru an amp and good speakers before its recorded and see if perhaps you need to up the levels of the bass and kick before it leaves the synth? Once the kick and the bass is summed with everything else in the outputs of your synth, you just about can`t get to them unless your have a really good parametric EQ that you can dial in the correct frequencies to correct them, and you have to be pretty sharp as well in finding the just correct frequencies. I`d check the mix in the synth first, then work my way to the soundcard. The new soundcard option is good but I`d correct anything else that could be a contributor first , before I spent the cash.

 

[DVZON]

from the synth speakers and from the line out when I use headphones to hear from the synth, the beat and bass sound fine at the voloume they at, but when I record them to the comp they get distorted a little bit. I believe is the soundcard...

but what do you exactly mean by 'artificially'?

 

[drstawl]

I've been doing this same procedure with many soundcards since way back when and if you are using the converters on the sound card (which you ARE if you are feeding it an analog signal from your synth) then the converter quality is the critical component in that signal chain. Sure- a decent cable can't hurt- but if you aren't hearing obvious breaking up from poor contacts on either end of the cable I'd say: get a better soundcard. The M-Audio Audiophile gets good marks around these parts, although I haven't heard it in action personally.

>Im willing to spend whatever it takes so I don't lose quality and my bass and kick (dance music) can actually "KICK"!

Well- then maybe you should look into outboard converters like the Apogee stuff and a digital only soundcard.

But you can get some "kickin'" sounds for a whole lot less.

Look at the GINA 24 from Event or the Lynx One. Both are really nice cards for two track digitization.

> but when I record them to the comp they get distorted a little bit. I believe is the soundcard...

Be sure to play around with your input levels, because the distortion you're hearing might also be a matter of matching the output signal strength to the recording input. You will need to get this right no matter how fancy your soundcard is, so you might as well be sure you have it right before plopping down the dough on a new card.

 

[Toki987]

from the synth speakers and from the line out when I use headphones to hear from the synth, the beat and bass sound fine at the voloume they at, but when I record them to the comp they get distorted a little bit. I believe is the soundcard...

but what do you exactly mean by 'artificially'?

some headphones and speakers enhance the lower frequencies to make them sound bigger and richer in content than the original signal thats fed into them, so you can get a false impression of what your actually listening to.

But as drstawl and others have reflected before, the soundblasters simply were not designed to do analog to digital conversions such as we demand from them in seeking clarity and faithful reproduction in recorded audio. They were built primarily to provide decent sound for games and audio effect playback on computers, not as a workhorse for recording. They are fine for playing back midi. I use a soundblaster myself, yet I am aware of the limitations in quality audio reproduction. That will be remedied on the next purchase I make. Most likely what is most recommended for the money, the Audiophile 24/96 or perhaps a Yamaha sw1000.
Cards like these are built with the specific purpose of precise recording of audio.

 

[Teacher]

if u wanna record w/o losing quality u have to go 2" no A/D conversion where quality is lost when recording digitally, or u gonna have to buy some expensive digital converters, Radar 24, Cranesong HEDD, Mytek, Lucid, Apogee...

 

[DVZON]

Thank you for all your replys. I never heard of this audiophile soundcard before if not I would of bought it. I will buy it sure enough and get speakers instead of using headphones.

Thanx a lot!