recording w/ imacs? only mono?

[dave k]

I need general help for home recording:

Hardware that I'm using:
1. imac w/512mgs
2. Sun powered mixing board (150 watt) with 1/4" output (I'm using an adapter to a 1/8" mono input)
Software that I'm using:
1. Sound Edit 16 (old Macromedia multitrack studio)
2. Itunes for burning
Stuff I'm doing:
Guitar, Bass, Samples, drum loops, lots of effects, "noise music" in the truest sense.

My problem:
What software/hardware would you guys suggest I get to achieve a richer, stereo sound? There is considerable noise when I record this way. It's ok for recording ideas...I can set up multiple tracks, cut and paste, use effects, etc. But the sound is so bad- very tinny and I get considerable distortion when I increase the input gain in SoundEdit. It's been ok so far..I don't mind the recording noise...I can use it for the type of music I'm doing. But any instrument recorded into the iMac thru the power amp sounds weak. Help!

Any Ideas?

 

[Brad]

I would suggest taking that Sun mixer out of the equation (sounds like a PA mixer...?) and looking into the M-Audio Quattro USB interface and maybe some entry level software like Cubasis or Pro Tools Free.

I suggested the Quattro because of it's ease of installation. I tried adding a sound card to an Imac once. That experience damaged me so thoroughly, I still can't bring myself to talk about it... (Imac's are a pain to open up, fiddle with, etc.)


Brad

 

[M.Brane]

I agree about the mixer. Lose that sucker.

You may want to try ProToolsFree as well. Even though you are limited to 16/44.1 by SoundManager, you can still do your sessions in 24bit for better quality when processing.

Lot's of people use the Griffin iMic, though it can be a bit noisey. Some people have had success with the Roland/Edirol USB devices as well. Any input device that can work with SoundManager will work with PTF.

I've got a cheap little Behringer MX802A mixer ($90) and it works OK for what it is. As long as you stay out of the yellow lights, and maintain proper gain structure I don't think you can beat it for the money.

One other thing about recording on an iMac:

When recording on any computer it's a bad idea to record audio to the same drive that contains your operating system. You need a second hard drive.

The only option you really have for an iMac is Firewire. USB is too slow for hard drives in general, especially recording.

 

[JWM34]

I also use an iMac w/512 mb of ram... I would suggest some Edirol stuff, also--if you do indeed want to run USB... I have a UA 700 that works great...

The only problem with recording via USB, I've found, is the fact that you can only really record two tracks at once--You can submix a number of tracks into an audio capture, but the only real recording you can do via USB is a stereo track at a time. It ends up sounding pretty good, but boy is it time consuming.

Rock.