New need help

[billygoatmersh]

Thank you for whoever is taking their time to read this. I am new to recording, I have read every sentence on this site but i still need help. I am going to purchase a 424 MKIII in a couple months. How would i transfer the songs onto the computer. Do i hook something up to the sound card. I have no idea. Thank you.

 

[bennychico11]

http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--TAS424MKIII/

if you look at the pics/specs there are RCA Line outs/monitor outs/and tape outs for the unit. so you'd need to get RCA cables to plug into your soundcard. what soundcard do you have and what connections does it have?

 

[manning1]

if you use a multiple input sound card and (ive forgotten !) the 424 has rca outs for each of the 4 tracks...you could record all 4 tracks at one time on your computer. if you transfer tracks singly one at a time, its sometimes a hassle because some tape machines there are slight variances in tape speed.
thus difficult to line up tracks.
if your looking for a cheap 4 input sound card tracertek.com have the maya mk 2 for 100 bucks i believe. but i dont know how good it is. so IF you get it i would suggest you get it on the basis if it does not work well with your pc environment you can return it. if you want recording software suggestions ,
just ask. i use a program that will take out tape hiss that could be usefull to you, also mains hum and other editing features.
also list your pc confign would be helpfull. peace.

 

[billygoatmersh]

Thanks guys i really appreciate it. I'm not much of a computer person but here i go. It's a Dell from about 2000, pentium 3. I bought a cd burner for it last year and installed that. 12.7 gig. I don't know how to look up any of the other information. I have a wireless card for cable internet on it i don't think that would affect anything. So would i have to get another sound card? then could i bounce tracks on the computer, phil spector wall of sound style? What software for editing would i use?

 

[manning1]

ideally you need a newer computer.
heres some free tutorials to get you thinking on digital audio and midi.
look in the support section of pgmusic.com. then ask any Q's.

 

[billygoatmersh]

I looked over the site, and i looked at how much money I have, or lack there of, and although preferable I don't think that is an opition right now. With the 424 MkIII will I be able to bounce tracks and have them all in stereo? Will there be a painfully obvious difference between the stereo and the mono ones? and could i ever get the songs on a cd when I record them to cassettes?

 

[manning1]

do you have lots of space on your computer hard drive ?
how many songs do you want to transfer ?
you COULD record the stereo out of the 424 to the computer .
you have a stereo sound card currently ?

 

[billygoatmersh]

I have about 8 gig open on my computer. I would transfer and work on only 1 or 3 songs at a time most likely. I have no idea how to check any information about the soundcard. Although, I can tell you it is the card that came standard with the Dell Computer Pentium 3 in 2000.

 

[manning1]

its a shame you cant get a multi input sound card.
it would make it easier. and you could clean up each individual track and mix in the pc. have you any objection to just cleaning up the stereo mix
you record to the pc instead of the individual tracks ?

 

[billygoatmersh]

Do you mean bypassing the 4 track recorder all together? What i was thinking was I can skip the computer until I feel the need to upgrade years down the line. I can use the 4 track recorder (424 MkIII) but will i be able to bounce many tracks without bad tape hiss? Or can I ever put the music from the cassettes onto a cd?

 

[manning1]

if you cant afford a multi input sound card on your pc you could mix the 4 tracks of cassette to the pc as a stereo recording, then edit the stereo master and press a cd. i think frankly your missing a big opportunity in not using a pc. i would suggest you do a couple of things before making a decision. firstly get some grounding in pc digital recording info.
read the free tutorials in the support section at pgmusic.com.
they are very informative. also at the same site there is a video showing what can be done with powertracks that i use. this will give you ideas for the future. for example i can do 48 track recording on a pc.
far more flexible than a 4 track. one other option if you dont wish to use a pc is get a second 4 track and mix from one to the other ie,,,4 tracks to 2 then add 2 more tracks. etc ideally you need a pc with 512 ram minimum
and 7200 rpm drives.

 

[billygoatmersh]

Well i pulled a few strings and I gained acess to one of the new Black Dell Pentium 4 computers. The person just got it 2 months ago. The trick is I can only use it in the afternoon. However, I can put whatever software I want on it and use as much memory as I want. I do not know it's specs but it is brand new. Would it make any sense in recording on the four track recorder and then the next day sending those tracks to the computer? Would i need a new soundcard? Also I have another question entirely about 4 track recorders, on the effects out on the 424 MkIII, when I am mastering the tracks, could I take a stomp box and use it to give reverb or whatever effect I need? Thanks by the way for taking your time to do this, it has been a lot of help

 

[manning1]

heres how to record on that pentium 4(MAKE SURE IT HAS 512 ram memory.) . plug a mic into the 424 mic input then take line out to line in of soundcard. this will get your feet wet. and start recording.
you can use the demo of powertracks to learn with while saving up the 49 bucks for it.. it just wont save. you can do 48 tracks.
all the effects are built in like echo and reverb etc. read the help carefully
upon installation.

alternatively ,,,if you dont want to multitrack on the pc. record on the 4 track and send the stereo mix out to the pc sound card stereo line input
and record that way.
either way you can make a cd asuming the p4 has a cd burner built in.
get back to me and tell me if the p4 has 512 ram.

 

[Bulls Hit]

Unless you're planning on opening a museum, I would suggest you forget about the 424 and invest instead in a good multi-input soundcard.

Decide how many tracks you need to record a once. An M-Audio Delta 44 will record 4 tracks at once for around $150. An audiophile 2496 will record 2 tracks at once for around $90.

For software, first of all have a look at a couple of the free multitracking/sequencing programs out there, like Audcaity and Tracktion

 

[billygoatmersh]

I have the specs on the computer, I'm not sure what is helpful so I will list all I could find. Pentium 4 Processor at 2.8 GHz, 1 MB cache. 512MB DDR SDRAM at 400 MHz. 80 GB 7200 RPM Ultra ATA Hard Drive. CD burner. I do not know the sound card though, it is the standard card in the Dell Dimension 4600 Series. Would it make sense to record 4 tracks on the 4 track recoder. The next day take it to the computer and "dump" the tracks onto the editing software. Could this be done multiple times to get more tracks. How would I get it to a tape so I could monitor the sound as I'm adding more tracks? Any suggestions would be really appreciated. Preferably I would not like to directly record to the computer for convience purposes. Preferably record to a device than take it to the computer for mixing, mastering, and burning. What I am afraid is that this will not work if I want to do more than 4 tracks since I will not have a way to monitor it.