recording electric drums

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lethargic
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Lethargic

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I just got an electric set a few weeks ago and have been trying to record with them. I use my computer to record and I am going out of the Alesis DM5 into my line-in jack on the computer. When I listen to the drums through the headphones or computer speakers they sound fine, but when I listen back to what was recorded, they sound muffled. Anybody have any ideas on why they would sound one way but record a different way? The snare, while playing is a big high crack, after it's recorded it's nothing but a dull cardboard box thud. Nothing else I use to record has this problem.
 
Lethargic-
I too have a DM5 and just looking at the front of it, I see it says "18bit drum module". Maybe you're losing 2 sampling bits of audio resloution IF you're recording in 16bit which is *maybe* why it sounds off. I've noticed the same in mine when I try to record stuff from it. I think the quality loss is happeneing internally after it's recorded to hdd or somewhere between the sampling rates being offset. I would think 18bits out of the gate is going to give you a little more resolution than playback from 16bit. I don't think it's the quality the machine is outputting from the analog outs nor is it in my inputs. Everything kinda dulls only AFTER recording onto hdd.

Anyone else care to take a technical stab at this? Would an 18 bit drum machine lose a little resolution or clarity if you're recording and playing back in 16bit? Maybe the sampling rate is truncating the sound just enough to blah it out?

Have you tried or are capable of recording in 24bits and seeing if that maybe helps. I don't have 24bit capability here or I'd give you a better theory or offer a better solution. If you can do 24bit, try it out and report back. I'd like to solve this problem too.
 
It could just be the convertors on your soundcard. If it's just a normal soundcard, chances are that it does not have high quality convertors...

If any of your friends have a card with 24-bit ability, or even true 16-bit ability... try those.
 
I have a Sound Blaster Live card, I have no idea what bits it is and no idea how to find out.
 
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