Some q's

[espman87]

I have a dio 24/48 sound card and a j-station. Ive been using the J for a while but now im starting to feel like i want a different sound than it has. I want to use my effects and stuff, so i figgured i would just go ahead and mic my amp. Well here comes the tough part, with 500 iwas thinkin bout gettin a shure mic and a preamp. Is this all i need for recording (i have the software and stuff) and does the preamp go directly into the soundcard? If so is there a preamp that has an Spdif output seeing as thats all my soundcard will take? Thanks for any info.

 

[tdukex]

Are you sure your DIO 24/48 doesn't have 2 channels of analog input (RCA jacks). it sounds strange to me that it would only have SPDIF.

From the M-audio website (DIO 24/96):

Features
• 2-in, 4-out 24 bit/96kHz full-duplex audio interface on a half-size PCI card.
• S/PDIF inputs and outputs on Coaxial (RCA) and Optical (TOSlink) jacks.
• High-quality stereo analog output on RCA jacks, configurable as +4dB or -10dB.

If you do have analog ins, then an SM57 ($80), a Studio Projects B1 ($80), and an M-audio DMP-3 ($200) will get you there for $360. The DMP-3 has two channels, your card has two channels, and you'll have two good mics (the 57 next to the speaker grill, and the B1 back a few feet). You should get excellent results with this setup.

Also, the DMP-3 has a DI.

 

[espman87]

The sound card I have only has an SPDIF Coaxial input and an SPDIF Optical input. It has analog outs but thats the only analog. So now what should i do, i dont want to have to buy another soundcard, so is there a preamp that would help me? Also, why would you have two mics?

 

[Seanmorse79]

Using the soundcard you have now, you'd need an A/D converter or a digital mixer. Digital mixers are expensive, I'm not sure about and A/D converter - there are many different shapes & flavors. If your J-Station is the only digital source you're recording and you don't want to use it, you might just be better off getting another card unless you can find an excellent converter for cheap.

As far as having 2 mics, I always use 2 when micing a guitar or amp - it gives you much more mixing flexibility. I like to use a close mic on the cone, and another mic further back to pick up some of the room.