Some general questions from a beginner

[RiktorsAshen]

Hi, I have been trying to get into recording lately, but find that it is really hard to find the answers to ALL the questions I have. So here goes -

Some of these questions may seem obvious, but I am afraid to experiment because everyone says "Don't blow out your soundcard!"

1) My combo amplifier (Tech 21 trademark 60) features ALL ANALOG signal. It is known for its preamp, the sansamp, which has good direct recording capability. Now question - Because the signal is all analog, how does that effect the digital recording phase, if at all?
2) I am not interested in making mixes right now. Or even making tracks that sound professional (only looking for decent). Keeping that in mind, I have successfully recorded by mic'ing my amp with the crappy mic that came with my computer. It sounds beyond terrible. I need it to sound atleast decent. If I had a regular microphone and mic'ed my amp with it, I would then have to plug it into my soundcard's MIC input (someone somewhere said you can also plug it into the line out jack. Whats the difference?). Now question - What kind of adapter is necessary to fit the microphone cord and the small input for my microphone?
3)Next question - I have heard "watch out you don't blow out your sound card" a million times. IS it possible to blow out your soundcard from recording either direct OR mic'ed? If so, then what is the best way for me to record so I don't have to worry about this?
4)Next question - Is it possible to get your electric guitar and plug directly into your mic hole WITHOUT using a preamp?
5)Next- What purpose do monitors serve?
6)Next- Because the signal from the preamp in my combo amp is all analog, would this in anyway inhibit the way I can edit the tracks using a program such as cooleditpro?

Thanks everyone for your time

 

[AlChuck]

Now question - Because the signal is all analog, how does that effect the digital recording phase, if at all?

Pretty much anything you record is analog to begin with.

Next question - I have heard "watch out you don't blow out your sound card" a million times. IS it possible to blow out your soundcard from recording either direct OR mic'ed? If so, then what is the best way for me to record so I don't have to worry about this?

It is possible, if you put a signal into it that has waaaay too much current and/or voltage for the circuit to handle, just like any electronic device. As long as you put a line level signal in the Line In, and a mic level signal in the Mic In, you'll have no problems except sonically when you have a too-hot signal. Sometimes people plug the speaker output of a guitar amp into a line in jack, and that could indeed fry the input circuit...

rest of the questions.. sorry, dinner's ready, gotta go...

 

[Jeff_D]

Riktors- Ill do my best to answere all of your questions- making some aasumptions- your card is either on the motherboard (integrated) or of the soundblaster variety

1) Analog is fine- you card probably doesnt accept a digital signal anyway- does your amp have a "line out" jack on the back- probably a 1/4" phone jack- if so plug it into the "line in" on your sound card- which is gonna be a 1/8" trs (like a small headphone) get an apapter from radio shack or somethin- you can make that work- it doesnt affect the digital record phase since the card is there to translate or encode analog signal into digital for use within your computer

2) do NOT use the mic jac in your card for anything- it is totally worthless in the realm of home recording- use the "line in" always- if you want to record the signal from a microphone you will need a seperate mic pre amp (do a search on this site- see button top right for more info there) essentially the pre amp turns an inhearently weak mic signal into a line level signal- the "line out" is an output- connect that to your speaker for listening- for connections see number 1 above

3) about the only way a can see you blowing up a sound card is by feednig it the wrong type of signal- such as from the speaker output on an amp, that may be carrying alot of wattage- dont do that- always line out to line in, mic to pre- line out to line in, etc.- the easiest way for you do get decent results is if your guitar amp has a line out- then you dont have to mess with mics or pres that you may or may not have- im assuming your doing this for writing / arranging purposes and not a final presentable mix at this point, since you dont seam to be interesting in recording anything else at the moment-

4) no.

5) monitors are speakers designed to have a flat frequency responce- purpose is accurate listening- this is really the only way to record / mix something and have it translate to other systems, i.e. home stereo, car radio, boom box- your computer speakers and home stereo speaker are not even close to producing accurate true sound- as i said in number 3 though, if your not planning on distributing your recording you can probably use what you got for now- keep in mind that your speakers will not give you accurate representation of what you are recording, and dont forget it- if you are gonna get serious they are a MUST have

6) No. See number 1

Hope that helps-

-Jeff

 

[RiktorsAshen]

Thank you both for very insightful and useful information.

But now I have one more question.

Why can I record with the crappy mic that came with my computer directly into the mic input, but if I were to use a normal recording mic, I would have to use a mic preamp? What happens when you don't use a preamp? It just doesn't work?

Thanks again

 

[jrosenstein]

Your soundcard does have a mic preamp built into it. But it's poop. It is really only meant to drive those cheap high-impedance computer mics.

There would be little point to getting a real mic only to plug it into your soundcard's 50-cent preamp.