how do you get data from an analog multitrack to pc

S

stifflilgomez

New member
hey y'all i need to clean up and master my tracks with sound forge xp. what kind of interface works best for this? i use an xr-5 right now but will soon have a cherry tascam 388. also will sound forge flatten or digitize my living anolog sound too much? i truly thank anyone who can help.
 
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There are actually two ways of going about this. The easy way is to have a soundcard/audio interface in the PC having as many analog inputs as the analog multitrack machine has outputs, and having enough good cables (preferably balanced) around to be able to connect the two.

The circumventional way - in case you only have a two-input (i.e. stereo) soundcard - is this .

In any case you will want to have some kind of test tape prepared for matching levels etc.

regards, Nils
 
thanks nils

thanx man. i'm actually wondering if i can just play directly into the mic input of my soundblaster card with my guitar. maybe into n tracks or some other software that has amp modeling and can be played on my 600 cpu pc.
 
stifflilgomez said:
thanx man. i'm actually wondering if i can just play directly into the mic input of my soundblaster card with my guitar. maybe into n tracks or some other software that has amp modeling and can be played on my 600 cpu pc.
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my experience with a sound blaster card is that it sucks big time. It is extremely noisey and all the analog nuance you have will be lost as you attempt to rid the recording of the hisses (2). You have the tape hiss and then the noise from the card itself. It simply was not designed for the job. That is why I upgraded to digital with a good preamp.

Hope this helps, Steve
 
The only thing that plugs into the mic input of a Soundblaster card (or any other sound card having a mic input, for that matter) is a computer microphone like the one that might have come with your card, put on a stick and a stand, or built into a pair of headphones for gaming etc. It has the plug configured in an odd way; ground is ground, and tip is signal, but the ring expects 5 V DC from the Soundblaster. The mic amp thrown into the Soundblaster is also of very poor quality. Thus, if you plug a standard stereo mic into this input it will pick up sound from one channel and feed the other with 5 V DC. Plugging in a mic with a mono plug will give noisy recordings and maybe short-circuit the 5 V DC in the Soundblaster as well.

Now repeat after me: The mic input in a Soundblaster sound card is not to be used for recording.

regards, Nils
 
Now repeat after me: The mic input in a Soundblaster sound card is not to be used for recording.
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I thought that was the secret to give vocals that overdriven sound? Someone said that it was an overdrive box or processor they sing into but I always thought it was the mic input in a soundblaster card. Hmmm
 
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