pre amp or new soundcard...or both?

  • Thread starter Thread starter jay1232
  • Start date Start date
J

jay1232

New member
im trying to convert from my tasam 4track to computer recording but im confused as to wether i need a new soundcard (my current one came stock with the computer) or a mic pre amp. i suppose if i get the soundcard i can just plug my guitar or mic straight into the computer with no additional pre amp, but would it be worth it to get a pre amp because of maybe a better sound? or will i then need a new sound card anyways because my stock card is not good enough. as you can see im full of questions. i only have between 100-200 bucks to spend total but i want to kepp it low as possible so i can by a new mic as welll...it would work in a perfect world! :p
can i get away with buying any old "radio shack" type pre amp just to boost my signal, and keep my stock sound card, and then by a nice mic? any answers to any of this questions would be helpful.
are there any good websites that may help me with these problems as well?
thanks!!!
 
For $200, you can get a Yamaha MG10/2 mixer, c/w 4 preamps and one of
m-Audio audiophile or
m-Audio delta 410 or
E-Mu 0404
sound cards

That would get you started
 
but can i get way with getting just the mixer w/preamp, or just the soundcard, or do i need both. i mean, if i get just the audiophile sound card then can't i plug my mic/guitar straight in with no preamp mixer needed?....or do i have that wrong?
:confused:
 
you can plug you guitar into there, but it will sound like CRAP. You need a good soundcard becasue you need good Analog to Digital converters. This turns the signal you plug into your soundcard into usable digital audio that you can use on the computer.

and yes, you need preamps. Bulls Hit's set up would be ideal for you.
 
okay, so i need both. but...which one first? i suppose if i buy the pre amp first i could use my current sub-par soundcard at least...and then upgrade that. $200 is not too much to spend but i cant put it down all at once. i know im going real punk rock with this but i just need something to get buy for now. does this make sense?
 
if you're tascam has a mixer on it, then go with a sound card first - because at the end of the day, this is where the signal is going to be converted from analog to digital and decent quality here will go a long ways. if you have around $400, my choice would be the M-Audio FW410
http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--MDOFW410

if not, an M-audio 24/96 card is around $100 and will make all the difference in the world plus it has MIDI. A preamp is a very personal decision - many folks like the Mackie or Beringher mixer preamps, I have an Omnistudio (Delta 44) and the preamps are OK for my purposes.

definitely the soundcard first.
 
Sound Card...

It will be the best investment you can make in the long run. After recording with a Sound Blaster Live! Value for 2 years, and then upgrading, I can tell you that it is a 1000% improvment. Go for the card....
 
Alot of you guys i seen so far on here recommend yamaha mixers yes there good mixers but there pre's are shit. a m audio mobile pre would suite you or an audiophile they both have built on pre's which are better the a damn mixer. and they are audio interfces........
 
if I only had 200 bucks to spend, and I wanted to record BADLY and make it good quality, I would get a Soundblaster Audigy for $60 (24-bit audio, noise floor of 100db), save up another $200 and get a good condenser mic or spend the other 140 bucks on a Sure SM58 (on sale) and the appropriate converters. (XLR to 1/4 inch and 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch). Unless you are planning on mastering audio for a major label, you won't notice a difference in sound quality as long as all of the components are correct.

with an audigy, your signal will be nice and hot, you'll have midi and it's CHEAP and RELIABLE ... I would never try and boost the signal going into the soundcard (you could blow it). If anything, record low and boost later.
 
RedStone said:
If anything, record low and boost later.
Click to expand...

That's a recipe for noisy recordings. Any boost you apply later will also boost all recorded noise at the same time
 
you it would be noisy because with out the preamp to boost the signal my original recording will be very low, which is what happened when i first tried recording. so it sounds like i need the preamp first, but i dont want to get one that will blow my sound card. i also dont want to get one that sounds like crap, like from a yamaha mixer. so maybe an audio buddy type pre amp would be a good way to go. then i get a decent sounding preamp, (im just guessing at how they sound because i have no experience with it), and then go from there into my soundcard. the audio buddy has only one in/out, unlike a small 4 or 6 channel mixer, but its worth it because of the sound i get from it. then i can get a cheap small mixer if i need any more inputs later on, but ill be with my audio buddy (or something similar) pre amp. how does this sound to you guys? and....if i get this "audio buddy"/"good sounding preamp" perhaps i can still use my stock soundcard for the time being while i mess around with computer recording and figure out what the heck im doing. this way i might not have that great a sound to start out with but i may have some decent sound in the future. but my current stock soundcard still need to have a/d converters, right? for it to work at all...i take it? plus, what kind of risk is there that an audio buddy will blow my card, or one that i get in the future. and even that much of an inprovement from a mixer?
the more i learn the more questions i get! :p

thanks for all your help everyone and i hope others in my situation trying to break into computer recording will learn something too. :rolleyes:
 
Inertia said:
Alot of you guys i seen so far on here recommend yamaha mixers yes there good mixers but there pre's are shit. a m audio mobile pre would suite you or an audiophile they both have built on pre's which are better the a damn mixer. and they are audio interfces........
Click to expand...

I find the pres on my MG mixer to be very quiet and neutral sounding. I haven't seen or heard anything else to touch them for the price. And the audiophile does not come with its own pres
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top