Just starting....

[v-man]

I just recently bought a Lexicon Core 2 with The effects daughterboard(4 inputs and 8 outs). I have a Tascam 4 track a slew of Sure sm-57 mics and have access to a mackie powered mixer. My computer has a SB Live Sound card and An Altec Lansing component speaker system. Am also using Cakewalk for software. My questions are:
How do I Use the Lexicon card to put music into cakewalk?
Do i need to use the tascam to input music or can i just use the lex card?
Do I have to use a mixer, if so can I use the powered one or do I need one that is just the mixer and no power?
How does the mp-100 Daughter board come into play with the sound input/output of the music?
Can someone show some type of schematic for wiring all these things together by any chance as Lexicon does not supply much for info?

These are my questions for now. Any and all responses will be read and I thank you for for your time and suggestions. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.
thanks...

 

[Stratamatic]

Don't!!

Don't know much about the Lexicon but I can tell you this. DO NOT RUN A POWERED SIGNAL INTO YOUR SOUND CARD!!!! By that I mean do not run a signal from your powered mixer into your sound card, you'll blow it. Unless it has a tape or some type of aux out that is NOT powered, that would be o.k. Never run a powered signal into something that is expecting a mic or line level signal.

 

[bball jones]

I concur with stratamatic - do nut run the spkr line out of a powered mixer to the line in on your soundcard. For most recording applications a non-powered mixer will suffice. When using any soundcard with cakewalk, CW will recognize it once it is installed (properly). You could bring a signal to a track in CW by selecting the respective input in your track view.

 

[AlChuck]

Good safety warnings there from Stratamatic and bball jones.

That said, let me take a crack at some of your questions:

How do I Use the Lexicon card to put music into cakewalk?

In Cakewalk, you select the audio devices that you want to use from a list of all that are available. With your setup, assuming the two cards (Core2 and Live) are living in harmony, you should see a list including something like

SB Live WAV In Left
SB Live WAV In Right
SB Live WAV In Stereo
Core2 Wav In ...

etc. (don't know how many inputs the Core2 offers; they are usually in pairs, and you can usually use the L and R as mono tracks or pipe both together as a single stereo track).

If these are selected, then you can choose which one to record from on a track-by-track basis in the Track properties dialog box.

Do i need to use the tascam to input music or can i just use the lex card?

Depends on what the music is. The Tascam, I'm assuming, is a cassette multitracker, a 4-track? Only reason you would need it is to record stuff you might already have on the 4-track to the computer. Does the Core2 have any mic preamps? -- probably not, and at it's price, if it does they probably blow. You can plug line-level signals -- signals from a mixer, a stereo, an effects box, a mic preamp... you say you have a Mackie, so the Tascam is irrelevany except for aforementioned cassette work you might be wanting to transfer.

Do I have to use a mixer, if so can I use the powered one or do I need one that is just the mixer and no power?

You can use the powered one, just beware as those other guys pointed out not to connect the speaker outputs to anything but the speakers. A non-powered speaker would likely be better, less noise since there's no big amplifier sitting in the box with all the signal path circuitry... but try it, it might be perfectly serviceable.

How does the mp-100 Daughter board come into play with the sound input/output of the music?

?
Uhhh... I'm not sure. Is that the Reverb board? I suspect that the Core2 has some sort of mixer application that allows you to run all or part of the signal through the reverb either on its way in to Cakewalk to be recorded, or on its way out of Cakewalk before streaming to the hard drive and out the digital-to-analog converters...

Well, I hope that helps a bit!

-AlChuck