Recording To Your PC

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Thorguitarist

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I've been trying to figure this out for a long time now. How should you record intruments etc. into a computer. Currently I'm doing Mics>to Mixer>RCA-1/8">Computer>Sonar 4. Although this doesnt allow me to record each instrument seperatly which is my key goal here. Is it a digital Mixer? Audio Card? What?
 
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why would you use Sonar 4 if you are recording through the 1/8" port on your computer?? that app was a few hundred bucks back in teh day...

yes, an audio card, or interface, either USB, Firewire, or PCI.
 
i would suggest doing one of the following:

Upgrade your existing library of MP3s and other music files to DVD-Audio quality with 24-bit Crystalizer. Or turn your stereo music into amazing multi-channel surround sound with CMSS-3D. With Creative MediaSource, you can easily Super-Rip CDs into Xtreme Fidelity quality audio permanently!


but to be helpful, that card is designed for watching dvds and gaming. its not for serious recording. if you want to see some recording sound cards (interfaces are what they're more commonly called) check out sweetwater.com or musiciansfriend or whatever you prefer and find the "computer audio interface" category. theres a huge variety, and the more inputs you want at once the more you'll pay. some are pci, some are usb, some are firewire. i still like pci since i don't use laptops, but firewire is what all the companies are making nowadays.
take a few weeks to research them and try to see past the manufacturer's hype sheets before making a decision.
 
@ zed..lol I would if I had $800 smackaroos

I did buy the audio card more for gaming and music. If I wasn't such a "n00b" to recording I would have bought a really nice card/interface. I'm still just baffled on how to seperate audio tracks (guitar, bass, drums, etc.) when recording. Usually my band records all at once. I wasn't sure if this was possible with a analog mixer. I was also looking into something like the Lexicon USB interfaces.
 
It depends on how many seperate tracks you want to be able to record at the same time.

My friend has the same card you do on his Dell computer, and even with a mixer he can only record 1 track at a time because his soundcard (interface) only has one input (mic/line-in which use the same jack).

So you need an interface, whether it be PCI, USB, or FireWire, that has multiple inputs.

I use the M-Audio 2496 PCI card that has 2 inputs. That means I can't record more than 2 separate tracks at once. I could get a mixer and record 10 instruments at once, but I could still only have 2 separate tracks going. The instruments would have to be mixed on the mixer before being recorded.

So, it all depends on how many inputs/tracks you want to record at the same time.
 
Presonus Inspire could be the interface for you. 4 channels, 2 preamps, firewire, $200
 
So could I do this:

Drums - we'll say 4 mics to subgroup one on the mixer
Guitar - Subgroup 2
Bass - Subgroup 3
Vocals - Subgroup 4

then out of the mixer (Behringer 2442FX)

assigning each of the subgroups into each of the channels in the Presonus..then seperate them?

How does the computer know there are 4 seperate inputes? Is that setup in the software?
 
Thorguitarist said:
So could I do this:

Drums - we'll say 4 mics to subgroup one on the mixer
Guitar - Subgroup 2
Bass - Subgroup 3
Vocals - Subgroup 4

then out of the mixer (Behringer 2442FX)

assigning each of the subgroups into each of the channels in the Presonus..then seperate them?

How does the computer know there are 4 seperate inputes? Is that setup in the software?
Click to expand...

just plug everything into the Firepod (the one you bought from me), then assign each track in your software to one of the firepod channels, and hit record! the drivers are set up to record each channel to whatever track you rout it to, so it's pretty straightforward to record all 8 inputs at the same time on separate tracks. you don't have to do any submixing or use a Behringer mixer. :D
 
i noticed that today is your birthday. what better birthday present than the gift of music recording??? i can help you in that department! haha... ;)

happy birthday!
 
You sir are a bastard ahahah just kidding..Maybe in a week I'll let you know...My Bassist said he'd float me a 100 so...yeah
 
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