Sound Recorder

[misterbill]

I have been using a sound recorder with the 1/8 inch stereo input(mic)on my computer, since the only output on my home studio is a RCA output. I get good reactions from people with my vocals when I sing somewhere, when they hear my CD they don’t think that I can sing at all(at least that is my impression from their comments).

I called Guitar Center to find out about hooking up to the S/PDF output on my unit, they said I can use a M-Audio Fast Track Pro Mobile USB Audio/MIDI Interface. I was all set to buy the unit, but when he handed me the cable to hook it up I told him that those will not hook up to my unit. I need to buy a SPDIF optical/coaxial box to hook this up, if he can find one, he is supposed to call me today. The only other option is to hook up the RCA output to the USB Audio/MIDI interface, which will be going analog.

I am going to be using a laptop with a CD burner, I am probably going do download Cool Edit Pro(I am familiar with the program)and will only be able to record in stereo.

I am hoping this will improve the sound of my recordings. Any advice or comments you have will be appreciated.

 

[AlanSwenson]

why not just hook in USB straight and ignore the optical? Your dsps will be in the fast track so you'll be converting from analog to digital there and it isn't like it runs surround or increases your inputs/outputs. I just don't understand why you are making this hard on yourself.

 

[misterbill]

I just don't understand why you are making this hard on yourself.

Because……..I don’t have any idea what I am doing. Just listening to what the ‘salesman’ are trying to sell me.LOL

you'll be converting from analog to digital there.

Thanks for responding. I was trying to think of a way to ask him without making it sound like I was criticizing him why he was so quick to tell me to go analog when I told him the cable wouldn’t fit.
What is dsps?

 

[LDS]

The Fast Track Pro looks like a pretty decent unit. You should be able to connect the USB output from it directly to your computer and use it for your audio in/out needs.

For a bit less money, you could get something like the Alesis Multimix 8 USB. It connects to the computer in a similar manner, just plug in a USB cable. The analog to digital and digital to analog converters (dsps) probably aren't quite as high quality as the M-Audio product, but you'll have a little mixer with a decent set of additional features.

As a matter of fact, I'm picking one of those up today to be able to do some live recording with my laptop. We're going to try it out at rehearsal tonight, if you're interested, I can post up a mini-review tonight or tomorrow.

 

[misterbill]

if you're interested, I can post up a mini-review tonight or tomorrow.

Sure, love to hear about it. I have Alesis multimix 6, I ran up real quick to look at it-no USB port on mine. Thanks!

 

[LDS]

OK, got the Multimix, and hooked it up to my laptop and threw up a couple of room mics during rehearsal tonight. It did really well, I was surprised at the quality of the audio.

The preamps are kind of noisy at high gain settings, but no more so than anything else in the price range.

All in all, it was simple to install, easy to use, and the audio is better than decent quality.

 

[misterbill]

I decided to go to a local music store and ask their opinion of what I am trying to do. He had a presonus audio box and was in agreement that if I went to the expense($50)of converting my optical SPDIF to a coaxial SPDIF into a USB interface that I would still be converting to analog before it was converted to digital.

He also informed me that I would be crazy to use the converter to convert my home studio tracks and put them in the computer because the recordings I would get using this converter would blow my korg D8 out of the water(1997 digital home studio).

Not sure how this unit actually compares with the M-Audio Fast Track Pro, but they were talking $211 for the unit, $50 for the converter, and I would need to buy a $100+ program to put in the computer. I got this unit for around $150, and it comes with a program.

He said in a few years, with some better technology, these units will bypass anything people are using for recording equipment today.

The really cool part is when I finally made up my mind to go buy it, I came home from the store and I got called in to work and made almost as much money as I had spent!

Thank you for your help and comments- this website is a great find for me!

 

[Bristol Posse]

I hate to bring a downer on things but here I go anyway

If you are feeling that a good vocal is not coming across well on your CD then a new interface is probably not going to help you much with that. Sure converter technology has improved a good deal in the last 20+ years but that didn’t stop people from making great recording 25 years ago on converters that would probably be considered sub par today.

From My own experience of moving from an older interface to a newer one, the correct interface should make setting up recording easier for you and may have some nice features but quite honestly even in a perfect listening environment it’s unlikely you will get any audible improvement because of the converters, especially in the entry level range of interfaces.

If your good vocal performance isn’t coming over well there are a lot of things you could consider that could help:

Song Arrangement: Are the instruments in the backing track in a similar range as the vocal causing the vocal to be somewhat covered up or “masked”. If so you need to change the backing to let the vocal shine through
Mic Technique: While the vocal live may be great if it’s not mic’d correctly and the vocalist isn’t “working” the mic well all those nuances and feeling in the vocal may not be captured well
Recording environment: Too much background noise, too much reverb/echo in the recording space that get picked up by the mic etc. if this is the case can the vocal be recorded somewhere else?
Mixing: are you using a lot of plug-in effects with presets? This may make the vocal sound different but often, not better. Take the time to pick Plug-ins because they do something the vocal actually needs and then set parameters based on the recorded vocal not on some preset someone who has never heard your material or your voice came up with
Mixing space: Similar to the recording space. If it’s echoing, reflecting a lot of bass waves etc it makes it impossible to really hear what is actually coming out of the speakers so you may not be mixing well. Listen to the mix in a lot of different places (car, living room, through an Xbox or whatever) to see if it sounds about right outside of the space where you mix.

There’s a lot more to it but hopefully this’ll get you thinking

 

[Chili]

I decided to go to a local music store and ask their opinion of what I am trying to do.

Not sure how this unit actually compares with the M-Audio Fast Track Pro, but they were talking $211 for the unit, $50 for the converter, and I would need to buy a $100+ program to put in the computer. I got this unit for around $150, and it comes with a program.

Remember one thing: The salesman is only interested inmaking a sale. He will sell you what he can whether it's in your best interest or not. You might get lucky and find a salesman who knows what he's talking about and can be honest enough to send you in the right direction... but at GC?? Hmmmm...

So, you've got me confused with what you're trying to do. Going from analog to digital, back to analog and then digital again?? The fast track pro is a good unit. Lots of people use them with success. Just plug in your korg and be done with it.

You also said:

I am probably going do download Cool Edit Pro

Don't steal software. I actively hunt down software pirates on this site and ban them for sport. The Fast Track Pro and most other interfaces, come with a lite version of a popular (and more capable than CEP) DAW program, like Cubase, Sonar, Ableton, etc.

Cool. Good luck and have fun.

 

[misterbill]

I hate to bring a downer on things but here I go anyway
There’s a lot more to it but hopefully this’ll get you thinking

Nope- not a downer. I agree with everything you say, but I must mention that my cassette recordings sound better than my CD’s. Also- my vocals I did with an EV dynamic mic were horrible(sounding like I was nasal and mumbling). Everything that I have bought so far has been a great improvement.

I agree 100% with what you are saying-I heard part of a Beatles song on a talk radio station on valentines day. You should hear Paul’s vocal on ‘And I Love Her’. It is so unbelievable how he hits every note and every word so perfect.

So yes, and thank you, that is probably going to be the hardest part of trying to figure this all out.

I have to mention this, because it has to do with pursuing your dreams even if you fall on your face doing it. Through a friend of a friend type of thing- I got one of my cassettes to a producer listed THIRTY SEVEN TIMES on a Michael Jackson album. He suggested that I have vocal coaching. It was a very positive experience, he ended the conversation with-“Good Luck”. He told me to keep in touch, pretty nice of him.

My friend kept going on and on about a producer he knew pretty well. I wasn’t paying any attention to what he was saying. He finally said- “He records Michael Jackson and Mick Jagger.”

You might get lucky and find a salesman who knows what he's talking about and can be honest enough to send you in the right direction... but at GC?? Hmmmm... .

My wife says that I don’t communicate well, but I know that can’t possibly be true. LOL

The GC Salesman was trying to get me to buy a truckload of components that would have me go digital to analog and back to digital, not sure it was a rip off(it was what I told him I wanted to do[sort of]), but what I did ended up being $300 less, and will probably have better results.


The unit that I bought comes with a program-so I don’t need to download a program now-I was looking at buying Cool Edit online($39) which I would have had to buy if I bought the other unit. GC wanted $100 for a program, I wanted to buy Cool Edit because I had it on a used computer I bought years ago so I’m a little familiar with it(plus it would cost a lot less).