multiple tracks?

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BlackHawk2029

BlackHawk2029

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So i've been using ACID 4.0/FL pro/cakewalk with my shitty sound card and cant figure this out for the life of me. How do i record more than one track at once? i'd like to know so i can get my drum tracks all recorded so that i can then tweak my levels in my software. Will i need to get something like a USB/firewire interface? are these even compatible with any of the software i have?
 
BlackHawk2029 said:
Will i need to get something like a USB/firewire interface?
Click to expand...
Yes.

are these even compatible with any of the software i have?
Click to expand...
Yes.


You have picked a strange selection of software for recording acoustic drums. If that's what you're talking about here you probably want to consider not only a new interface --- if your current soundcard is really shitty you need that for sure --- but also some different software.

Don't know what I'd recommend for you and I don't even know if I'm reading your post correctly.
 
alright well right now im running all my mics into a 24 channel EV mixer, which then runs to the mic input on my pc. aaaaand of course since it is the mic input on my pc it sounds like utter trash. Of course this all goes to a single track. I typically record with ACID and then send the wav files over to fruity loops for EQ and whatnot. I would like, however, to be able to record the drums to multiple tracks (at least 2 for stereo but more if possible) so i can do more tinkering with them on the PC. The software was all i could get at the time (a friend of mine gave me his) I was looking at a tascam USB interface with 2 channels, each having XLR and line inputs. would this work for me?
 
I would go with something like this . It has 2 line ins so you don't have to change much, will work with Acid and you will get a BIG jump in the quality of your recordings.

It's big brother interface --- LINK --- is called The Firepod and has eight microphone preamps and eight tracks assignable out of it. This is what I was talking about in my last post because Acid is focused much more on real-time loop manipulation and as such is not a standard digital audio workstation.

If you do decide to go the Firepod route and dispense with the EV mixer, I would recommend you consider Tracktion as the software. It is specifically made for multiple-in sound cards and costs $150.
 
The Firepod also comes with Cubase LE, which is not bad at all. If you decide to upgrade to Cubase SX, you can save $100 by having LE.
 
Only the latest version of ACID can record more than one track at a time......
 
yeah i have one of the cakewalk programs as well but im not sure which one it is.
 
BlackHawk2029 said:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Tascam-US122-USB-AudioMIDI-Interface?sku=240868 i was looking at this. would it be suitable?
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That will give you 2 channels at one time, which doesn't allow for much tweaking. I understand a lot of people use 8 or more channels for drums. Haven't tried it myself. On the other hand. a lot of people do it with just the overheads. Just pointing out the limitation.

It won't cost you too much money and it comes with Cubase LE, which will serve quite nicely.

Do you have decent microphones?
 
At the moment im waiting on an AKG D11, i have 2 behringer SDC's which i will most likely be replacing with MXL 603's or those nifty lil' MSH-1's since im cheap. I have an audix dynamic mic and an EV cobalt c04 (sm57 clone) and an MXL 990. i've been using the cobalt on snare, audix on kick, and the behringer as overheads, and of course it sounds like trash. As long as i can get a stereo field in my recordings ill be fine. i was planning on running my mixer's left and right outputs into the interface to do this, and then pan the results left and right. will this work?
 
I would suggest maybe something like a Delta 1010 PCI Card , Then you can take the Direct Outs/Inserts from your Mixer into the Delta and be able to record each individual Mic input on the Mixer as a seperate track on your PC which would give you much greater controll over your sound and allow you much more versitility as opposed to mixing all of the Tracks on the Mixer into a stereo Channel into your PC which will not let you adjust the levels after recording.....

Buying the Delta 1010LT would also probably also be about the same price as a 2 input Firewire or USB Interface and give you many more inputs.....


Just a Thought!!!

:D
 
Thanks for the input minion. What's the difference between USB and firewire anyways? i never really thought about it.
 
Would the delta 44 be suitable? and if i were to buy two of them is it possible to use both at once?
 
Yes the Delta 44 is a Good Card (It is what I use) and you can use 2 or more of them on the same Machine at the same time if you have the PCI Slots available but for the Price of 2 Detlta 44"s you can get one Delta 1010LT which would give you just as many inputs and Outputs Pluss S/Pdif and Midi and give you 2 Mic pre amps and be Cheaper than 2 Delta 44"s, so I suggest that you go that way....

So if your Mixer has say 8 channels with Direct Outs/Inserts you can Plug these from the Mixer into each Input on the Delta 1010 and record 8 seperate tracks at the same time so you can record a whole drum kit and Instruments at the same time and be able to adjust the levels of every single Track.....


Cheers
 
see i like the fact that the delta 44 is expandable. I believe i have 4 free slots, so i have alot of room for expansion. Does it support windows xp or would i have to downgrade to 95 or 98? this wouldnt be a problem although i do like xp quite a lot.
 
What do you mean By expandable?? If you mean you can use more than one at the same time then Yes, all Delta Cards are like that......

I just figured that 2 Delta Cards would cost you more than One Delta 1010LT and the Delta 44 doesn"t have any pre amps were the Delta 1010LT does and it also has Midi and S/Pdif which the Delta doesn"t and you can use Multiple Delta 1010 Cards at once also....

Cheers
 
i see. will mic preamps do me any better than what is in my mixer? i plan to still use my mixer and run my inserts into the card's inputs, and then use the outs of the card into the last 2 channels of the mixer for monitoring purposes. This would be difficult with the other card wouldnt it?
 
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