PC Recording With out A Break Out Box?

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test212test

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I want to record acoustic guitar and I want to overdub on the PC with cakewalk. Pretty simple, eh? Well, I have a two channel preamp and two condensor mics. Sooo, I would need a mixer and a soundcard to get the signal into my PC, right? So let's say I get a cheap 100 dollar audiophile card. How do I monitor the tracks? And low latency overdub monitoring? Does the out of the soundcard plug into the mixer and then I monitor from the mixer? I hope the makes sense and I appreciate any help...

Ted
 
No, you don't need a mixer. As long as you have a reasonable spec PC, for what you are planning latency won't be an issue if you just plug your preamp into the ins and your monitors / amp into the outs of the soundcard. For the same money the E-MU 0404 is a better quality card than the audiophile, but check that it works well with Cakewalk as its drivers outside ASIO 2 (don't know if Cakewalk can use those) have been reported as not good.
 
the best bet is to get the output from your mics, mixer or preamp direct to the input on your soundcard. this may take a $3 adapter from Radio Shack if the plugs don't match. (I use a USB box from M-Audio that has both 1/4" and XLR inputs--no adapters needed!). the most important thing about about overdubbing is to monitor what's coming through your recording software...not your hardware. This is because latency of the hardware can throw off your sync. If things arent sync-ing in your software, you probably need to tweak your latency settings. just check your software's helpfiles on the specifics of how to do this. good luck
 
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