I have a few questions (Please Help)

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Inf@mou$

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Hey guys whatsup Im new here. I just have a few questions.


First. Im looking to buy these monitors
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fostex-PM0.4-Powered-Studio-Monitors?sku=600682
I was wondering if there was any cable I had to buy to connect it to a mixer or audio interface. If so if you could please give me a link to the right ones.

Second.
I use cool edit for all my recording. I recently purchased a usb mixer this one...http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Alesis-MultiMix-8USB-Mixer-with-USB-and-DSP?sku=630166
And I was wondering, does anyone know how i can make it so anytime i use cool edit i will hear any sounds through my mixer.

In easier terms to understand...when i record i hear the beat through the mixer, but then when i go to edit the actual vocal track (like to add efects) the music comes out of my computer speaker. Is there away to make the sound come out of my headphones connected to the mixer at all times.

Third.
I know this might be a very stupid question, but can someone please explain firewire to me. What is the difference from firewire and usb. Can any computer use firewire or does the computer need a special soundcard or something?

Fourth.
I record rap...So i was wondering, I was told the shure sm58 (which I have) is excellent for vocals...And so far I have had positive results, but i was wondering if I should invest in this microphone http://www.musiciansfriend.com/prod...argeDiaphragm-Condenser-Microphone?sku=271243
and maybe get a better result.

Five...
I use these mic cables http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Musicians-Friend-Low-Z-Microphone-Cable-XLR?sku=361707
I was wondeirn if i should spend atleast 20 dollars on better ones for better quality thanks alot.

If anyone can please answer these questions i will really appreciate it. I just dont want to go out and spend money on things that i do not need. Thanks again.
 
1) Your monitors should arguably be your most thought-out and important investment. You should never skimp on monitors - They are your ONLY window to the sound you hear.

Cables aside - Buy cheap - Buy twice.

2) Read the "routing" section in the manual.

3) It's just a different protocol using a different connector. If your computer has it, you can use it. If it doesn't have it, you might be able to get a card with FW ports.

4) I'm a big fan of dynamics on agressive male vocals, but it's always nice to have a decent condenser around. The preamp is going to make a rather huge difference also.

5) $20 isn't a lot for a decent microphone cable - I'm not one to go out and spend $80 on one, but $20 for a decent one (Whirlwind or what not) isn't out of the question.

If anyone can please answer these questions i will really appreciate it. I just dont want to go out and spend money on things that i do not need. Thanks again.
Click to expand...

Always start with monitoring and room treatments (specifically, bass trapping). Then, everything else will make itself known if you listen for it.
 
As to your question about Firewire....Many PC"s have a firewire Port but if it doesn"t you can easilly buy a PCI card with Firewire Inputs ion it for quite cheao if you look on e-bay... I got mine for under $10+ shipping....

You really should have gotten the Alesis Multimix Firewire mixer and spent the extra Money..(If you still can quickly package it up and Return it and exchange for the Firewire Model)

From what I understand the USB Mixer will only send your PC a Stereo Mix of all the Channels you are recording which means after recording you can NOT adjust the levels or sound of each individual Instrument....

If you have the Firewire version it will send a seperate Track to your PC for every input you are useing on the Mixer....This can make the Differance between Poor sounding recordings and Great sounding recording as you will be able to adjust the sound of each Instrument seperately which is impossible with the USB version.....


Cheers
 
Same way you tell the sex of your new puppy or kitten. You look.

.
 
chessrock said:
Same way you tell the sex of your new puppy or kitten. You look.

.
Click to expand...
You turn the computer upside down and look between its legs? I never knew a fire wire port looked like animal genitalia. :D
 
I'll admit, I get a little frisky with the firewire port from time to time. Only after Bertha, my blowup doll, malfunctions, though.

.
 
OK and the las question what type of cable do i need to buy to connect the speakers to a mixer?
 
please someone tell me if i have to purchase any cables or if they come with tem already
 
Depending on your Monitors and Mixer you will use either ballanced XLR cables or 1/4 inch cables, Just look at the back of your Monitors and see what types of inputs it has ....


:)
 
Well it doesn"t say what types of inputs the Monitors have so there is no Real way of knowing untill they arrive or you do some additional reasearch but you should have the correct cables there anyways because it either uses an XLR (Microphone Cable) or a 1/4 TS Cable (Guitar Patch Chord) which you should have arround anyways....The mixer has 1/4in outs so you will probably need either regular 1/4 Cables or 1/4in to Male XLR.....


I still recomend that you re-think your Mixer purchase and get the Firewire version because you are going to be severely limited with the USB Mixer because it only sends a Stereo signal to your PC instead of sending a seperate signal for every input on the Mixer , which means after you record something, say Bass and Guitar and Keyboards, then you notice that say the Bass is to loud, You won"t be able to adjust the level of the bass to make it more quiet so you will have to re-record the whole song over again, but with a Firewire one you will be able to adjust the level of every input seperately....

It is better to spend the couple extra Bucks for the Firewire one than realizeing quickly that you have to buy something different to do what you want...Better to buy Right than Buy Twice....

If you don"t have a FW Port then it is easy enough to get one cheap, Hell if you Give me $20 I will Mail you a 4 Port FW Card .....


Cheers
 
thanks for your inut minion...I was thinking about buying one, but the only thing is i record on a laptop, not a desktop, and i wasant sure if you could buy a firewire port for a latop. do you know if i can .Sry about this im kinda a noob to recording at home.
 
Sorry I didn"t realize you were on a Laptop, You can still get one but it might be little more expensive adding a FW Port to a Laptop....

You should check your laptop as it may have a FW Port as many laptops come with one, even my Moms really cheapo HP Laptop had one....

If not you would probably have to get a PCMCIA Firewire port like this one For $25 which is Cheap:

http://industrialcomponent.com/firewirestuff/zun2300.html

Im sure your Laptop has a PCMCIA port as most all laptops have at least one (Maybe behind a little door on the Side or back or just a small card port, The manual should tell you were the PCMCIA is on your Laptop)

If you don"t need the portability of a Laptop for recording and don"t use a Lot of Plugins you might consider eventually investing in a cheap Desktop PC for recording just because of the expandability of Desktops which give you more options...

I got my Recording PC on e-bay for $185 Inc shipping and it was a Brand new 2.6ghz PC with a 80gb HD and 512MB DDR and a DVD Drive and a Full version of WinXP and it is fast enough to record up to 16 tracks with plugins....

Just a Thought...


Good Luck
 
Yeah I just bought my laptop like a month ago, its a good laptop, hp pavilion. I was looking into the owners manual to see if it says anything about firewire
or the PCMCIA port but doesn't say anything. However, there is a display of the computer which points to evrything to tell what everything is and theres this little square port tha thats 1394 port, i heard the firewire port is square...and it looks like it but im not positive. it also has a little symbol above it like a circle surrounded by 3 lines on each side of it sorta like a tripod. Could this be the port? I also used to use a desktop but found it very frustrationg because i do not have a enclosed area where i can keep all my stuff to record. so when I can find a place I move my laptop around much easier. Thanks for all your help. If you can maybe identify the port itll be really helpful. I took a pic of the port which i may think it is but not sure...Here it is a lil blurry but if u can identify it thanks

https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y111/xxantdaman19xx/P1010001.jpg
 
Yes that looks like a Firewire port....Firewire is actually called a "IEEE 1394" so if your PC says it has a 1394 Port then you have a Firewire port and from looking at the Blurry picture you posted it does look like a Firewire port.....

There are a couple different Types of FW Ports some are 4 pin and some are 6 pin...The 4 Pin doesn"t supply any Power so you would use an external power supply (an AC/DC Adapter usually) which is what you would Find on most Laptops and the 6 Pin Port does supply Power but is Found usually on desktops.....


Cheers
 
Minion said:
Yes that looks like a Firewire port....Firewire is actually called a "IEEE 1394" so if your PC says it has a 1394 Port then you have a Firewire port and from looking at the Blurry picture you posted it does look like a Firewire port.....
Click to expand...

Actually, that's bass-ackwards. As of 2002, the official name for an IEEE 1394 port is "FireWire".

IEEE 1394 is the name of the specification. Unless you call your parallel port an IEEE 1284 port, and your USB flash drive an IEEE P1667 drive, you shouldn't be calling FireWire by its spec number, either. :D

Sony calls it iLink, the standard industry name is FireWire, some companies still call it an IEEE 1394 port... all the same thing. But the official name is FireWire, and it has been the official name for many years.
 
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