Mixing down ferous oxides in a structural matrix

  • Thread starter Thread starter Nilbog
  • Start date Start date
Nilbog

Nilbog

hello
OKay, I want to mix down from my computer. From there...who knows? Burn CD's, MP3's, etc. Anyway, Everyone keeps telling me I can mix down onto a cheap $30 sound card (so long as it's PCI) and..well...I don't believe them. I'm recording on an MD8, and I want to mix down to something that will keep the somewhat high quality that I will be recording. My main concern is that I heard that consumer grade sound cards will add a lot of noise, sound degredation, and so forth. What's my best option. I want to spend under $200. Would it be better to find a cheap stand-alone burner to mix to, then rip the songs from that cd if I want it on my computer? Please help!
-nilbog
 
Does the MD8 have Digital out? If so, get an SB-Live or similar with SPDIF input. No degradation, satys digital all the way the CD.
 
The $30 soundcard is just the conduit. The mixdown destination that you find hard to believe is your HD. From there you can send it to a $200 CDR. Or convert to mp3 and upload it to the net. I'd suggest getting a $200 soundcard to get results that will blow Portastudio stuff out of the water and easily compete with the MD format. If the MD8 has digital outs, get a card that uses that.
 
The SB Live! Platinum is the best sound card out on the market now that you can get. It comes with a handy front panel so you can make all your connections there, which is extremely convenient for something like recording. It costs $199, and it's the best you can get. There's also the Live! MP3+ and X-Gamer. I'll let you in on a secret...they're both the same card, just different software bundles. Go with the MP3+ cause that's what you want. Then there's programs like MP3 CD Maker that'll burn a CD from MP3s without having to covert the MP3s to WAVs. Ultra convenient. Search for it at www.hotfiles.com
 
I'm not sure about the digital outs. Here's the specs on the output from Yamaha's website:
TRACK DIRECT OUT x8: Phono (-10dB); STEREO OUT (L,R): Phono (-10dB); MONITOR OUT (L,R): Phono (-10dB); AUX SENDx2: Phone jack (-10dB); PHONES OUT: Stereo phone jack (8-40 ohm)
Direct out..does that mean digital out? I've always been confused about what a digital out is. Does it look like a regular RCA cable, or is it a 1/4 jack? Could I plug a regular analog out into a digital in and make it digital or something?
-nil
 
I have an MD4S and i mixdown to my PC using the main-outs (stereo RCA) into the line-in on my PC's sound card
(a Diamond MX300). I originally used the integrated cheapie soundcard that came with my Dell. This wasn't too bad
although the MX300 is a bit quieter...
If you have a PC, try using the built-in sound card, you'll probably need a Y-cable to get from the Yamaha to the computer,
and then a WAV recording program, I use Cool Edit 96. Make sure you make your waves 16 bit/44.1KHZ (for CD quality).
You can always get better quality with a better sound card, but you might be happy with the results from your existing sound card.
Oh, and the MD8 DOES NOT have digital outs, you have to go analog out into the computer and then back to digital, not that big
a deal for homerecording stuff.
Check out my MD4S work at http://home.earthlink.net/~egordon99/seasons.html
a better MP3 (not linked to from the site) is at


Good luck!

-Evan
 
I'm doing something similar. We recorded my band on the MD8. I'm using the MD8's mixer to create a good sounding stereo mix, then I'm transferring the stereo mix to my PC for further cleanup & manipulation.

As a previous poster mentioned, the MD8 doesn't have a digital output, so when you transfer from your MD8 to your PC, it will convert from digital to analog then back to digital. I do this by connecting from the STEREO OUT of the MD8 to my soundcard's LINE input. I don't think the sound quality is significantly comprismised. Most listeners won't hear any added noise or any significant loss of quality. My soundcard is a SoundBlaster Live Value. It came with my PC - don't know the retail price.

By the way, I'm using Sound Forge XP software to perform the transfer/recording from the MD8 to the PC. I also use this software afterwards for editing (i.e. trimming off the beginning & ending blank spaces) and to add effects (reverb, compression). It's a good product for your $49.

[This message has been edited by sleepyhead (edited 03-06-2000).]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top