Some basic help, please.

[maxn]

M-Audio FW 410 help, please.

I have a guitar, an amp, and a mic. I am running M-Audio's Firewire 410 into my iMac. I have Apple's Soundtrack, and a program called Sound Studio on the computer (as well as the M-Audio control panel interface).

Which software program should I use to record the highest quality sound with this set-up? Soundtrack can record "takes" but doesn't give much ability to manipulate the levels or anything. Sound Studio seems much better, but I am not sure if I should pay for the non-demo version. Is there other software out there that I should be using to control how the sound is coming in? (I probably want to work with .aiff files in Soundtrack, but also to mix my own music into mp3s).

Also, the mic input seems to be coming in as mono only. Is there a way to make it stereo?

Thanks for any help!

 

[dwillis45]

I would stick with Soundtrack for now and try to address the levels issue by working with the gain on your amp and the M-Audio 410. Try to record so that the peaks are no higher than about -2 or -4 db. Soundtrack should have some sort of visual metering window that will allow you to do this. (If not, you will have to look for different software.) Once you have recorded several tracks, the volumes can be adjusted in the mixing section or by adding a compressor. I'm not sure how Soundtrack is setup, but it should have some type of mixing board where volumes can be adjusted. (Again, if this feature is absent, I would look at some other software packages.) You should also be able to add a compression plugin to give prominence to vocal tracks, etc. I believe that Apple uses AU plugins developed by Emagic (which Apple recently bought). And these plugins should be included with the software. If you need help setting up and running a compressor, there is plenty of information on this BBS or on the net.

On the stereo v. mono issue: The inputs on the software usually allow you to setup a stereo or a mono track. Mosttypical tracks for a single instrument or vocal are set up as mono. There are some exceptions. If you have two mics, a stereo mic, a synth with two outputs, or a stereo reverb, you can set up stereo tracks or multiple tracks.

I hope this helps.