USB interface for basic Cakewalk recording...

  • Thread starter Thread starter toad
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toad

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All -

I'm using Cakewalk Guitar Tracks Pro 3 and am having some issues that, as I understand, are pretty common.

I'm using my laptop's out-of-the-box soundcard and plugging my guitar or mic directly in using a 1/4 to headphone adapter. My laptop's a middle-line Compaq/HP with 512MB of RAM (running Windows 2000 Pro).

My issues are as follows:
- Latency when monitoring the current "hot" track.
- Electric guitar, even with recording level turned WAY down, records heavily distorted.
- On multiple-track songs, I lose playback 20-30 seconds into the song (the timer keeps progressing, I just can't hear anything).

A friend of mine has mentioned I may need an upgraded audio interface/soundcard. I'm looking at a few budget models here...any reviews:

  • M-Audio Fast Track USB Computer Recording Interface (24-bit/48kHz sound): ~$100
  • Line 6 TonePort UX1 USB Recording/Modeling Interface (44.1/48KHz 16-/24-bit recording, 96kHz mode with built-in sample rate conversion): ~$150
  • M-Audio JamLab Personal Guitar System (24-bit, 44.1/48kHz audio quality): ~$60
  • M-Audio Audiophile USB Computer Recording Interface (24-bit/96kHz audio fidelity): ~$150

Key points are getting rid of (or minimizing) the latency so I can monitor the track I'm recording and being able to directly record "clean" guitar sounds.
 
studiomaster said:
Why USB...?
Click to expand...

From some initial looking/pricing I did it seemed to be the best combination of ease-of-use and price....but I'm open to anything!
 
I would agree that firewire would be your best bet. If you need a cheap firewire interface you might check out the Behringer FCA-202. It's only $80 and very simple. Not sure if it works with Windows 2000 though, as it only mentions XP on the website.

Here's a link to it: http://www.behringer.com/FCA202/index.cfm?lang=ENG

I have one that I've used for soft synth and playback stuff and it worked and sounded fine. Search for it on here as well, there are some other people that use it for more than I have, and seem to be pleased with it.
 
studiomaster said:
Firewire is the best choice....
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info - I have a firewire card on my computer already so that's not a problem.
 
I record on a craptastic 1.4 Ghz, 256MB RAM (I know, I know...) WinXP desktop with it's built-in 49 cent AC97 sound card and the results I get, while far from stellar, are certainly listenable.

Have you tried the asio4all driver? I get perfectly acceptable latencies with it, even on my extremely low-end system.

As far as your distorted guitar issue, are you sure you're not plugged into the mic input instead of the line-in?
 
toad said:
Thanks for the info - I have a firewire card on my computer already so that's not a problem.
Click to expand...

You're good to go.....
 
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