recording with a sound card and mixer

  • Thread starter Thread starter nopoetic
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nopoetic

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hi, i have some questions about recording through my computer.

i plan on useing a good sound card, a 10 channel mixer, the sonar program and some good mics to record in my basement. im getting tips on the actual recording with sound isolation etc. but one main question i need answered is about the sound card to use to record a good amount of channels simulteniously (at least 10, but more if i need it) that i can plug a mixer into with mics going into the mixer and if i need preamps etc. hear are the products in question...

Behringer Eurorack MXB1002 10-Channel Mixer
Soundblaster Audigy 2 Sound Card
(mainly) Shure SM57 Mics

does anyone know the compatibility of these things? and if anyone can suggest something better for around the same price, that would be helpful.
 
I believe the Audigy 2 can only record up to 6 multitrack...
ANd that is using all kinds of input... mic 1 & 2, Line In 1, sp/dif and that good stuff... I have that same mixer... you aren't gonna be able to to 10 channel sends on it... there's only 2 inserts... and tape out L & R. If you want 10 inputs at the same time... I'd get a Delta 1010 or some other card that has 10 input channels...
 
thanks for that info, i'd glad i asked, and i found a sound card that will work for what i need, now i just need to know if i need any mic preamps to record through these mics. the sound card is the Terratec EWS88D Digital Audio Soundcard. it has 10 inputs and 10 outputs. does anyone know anything about this product?
 
Doesn't that card pretty much only have optical inputs?
You'd probably be better off using something with TRS inputs.
And yes you'll likely need pre-amps unless you are using a good mixer that has pre amps and enough sends.

Just out of curiosity...
What are you recording that you will need that many simultaneous inputs???
 
im planning on recording a whole band at the same time, so drums, about 4 amps and a PA to mic, so im gonna need roughly 3 mics for the drums and 5 mics for the amps/pa and as i get more mics for seperate drums i'll need room to add more.

i dont know much about that sound card, but i need something i can either plug a 10 input mixer into and get 10 simulatinous channels into the computer useing Sonar to record. or something that will let me plug 10 mics direction into the sound card to record the simulatinous channels. and preamps are needed either way i guess, so im hopeing to get a good mixer with preamps and a way to put it into the soundcard to record. i've been looking at midi too. im really not sure what i need yet besides the types of mics and stuff.
 
Did you check out the M-Audio Delta 1010?

What is your budget?

And how big of an area are you going to be recording in?
Unless it is really big...
10 mics will be very difficult to get to not have phase cancellation.
 
yes, i downloaded the PDF manual and i've been reading through it and it looks like it could serve that purpose. its a little expensive though. i guess i just need to get the money to do it.
 
my budget is kinda low. and im going to slowly build up my mic collection, but the recording stuff is going to have to come first. im going to start off with the 1 mic i have to do the whole drumset, which although not really good enough, is a start, then i can use Shure SM57s to mic all the amps, so about $360 for 4 of those.

but before i start buying mics i need a sound card and a mixer with preamps, or just a preamp rack that i can put together with the soundcard.
 
the area is pretty small, and im working around setting up mics and stuff to get rid of those problems, for starting out, its only 1 mic for the drums, and 1 for each amp, so like 5 or 6 mics for the whole setup right off, but thats after i get the equipment to record (mixer, soundcard, preamps etc)

im not looking for great quality, but something decent for my band's demos without having to go into a studio, something for home use and then slowly be able to make decent demos as i get more/better equipment.
 
The last recording I did was with one condensor mic on a whole live band. Not great but it served my purpose...
 
thats the mic i have, is a Sony condensor mic and it serves it's purpose for now, but im looking to record in seperate channels so i can lower the volume on certain instruments (ie. drums). and i dont want to use a 4 track or anything but digital because i cant edit it easy enough. so even if i was only useing 1 mic per instrument it would serve a better purpose than the 1 mic for a whole band.
 
THis is very true... this is what I have right now...

That Behringer Mixer you have...
An M-Audio Delta 44

Audio Technica Drum mics (4)
Audio Technica Dynamic mics.
Aforementioned Condensor...

Now I am Multi-tracking everything... recording a live scratch track
then, using that for timing and such to go back and redo it all...
 
yeah, i dont have the mixer yet, i was looking into getting one though, or something with preamps that will work with that sound card, cause i havent found better than the Delta you suggested and im gonna end up doing my own "solo" stuff since i play each instrument. but what i need mainly is for my band to play all at once so more channels is needed, even if i have to mic 2 amps with one channel/one mic until i can get enough mics, its still an improvement from just 1 mic for the whole room. but until i can afford to buy the equipment, it will have to do. i just have to save some money.
 
Yeah. I really do suggest you try doing a live scratch track and see if you guys might be able to then go back and re-record the parts... then you get full control over each instrument without other instruments bleeding in.

What do you have?
Anything for recording purposes?
Other than the one mic?
 
You could go really ghetto style and use a splitter and use 2 mics.
Then again the sound really sucks when you do that...
 
do you mean like record the whole thing, then go back and re-record each instrument seperately into different tracks and mix it togethor? i actually thought about something like that, only problem is the program i can use can only mix 2 tracks together, i could keep re-tracking, but its difficult and time consumeing. and i cant use sonar until i get a good sound card, my sound card is so bad its not compatible. so i just have to wait till i get a good one, im gonna save for that Delta. it all comes back to my computer sucking right now.
 
Yep, that's what I mean.

"only problem is the program i can use can only mix 2 tracks together"

What program?
 
right now, the best program i know that i can use is the Steinberg Wavelab, it lets me record something from one mic in stereo, so i can then re-record another track and copy and paste it into one side of the first track, so its now 2 seperate tracks in mono. then save the file, and it records the whole thing back into stereo with both sides the same again.....its a little confuseing but i figured out how to do it, it just takes some adjusting with the timeing on the recordings etc and back and forth saving and re-recording. basicly its a pain in the ass to do but it can be done with some patience. but i'd rather just wait until i get a decent sound card and be able to use Sonar.
 
Definitely would be easier with a multi track program...
You already have Sonar?
 
yeah, i got Sonar for about $50 from a friend of mine who didnt know how to use the program and found no use for it but it didnt work with my computer so i just have to wait until i get a new sound card.
 
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