USB recording VS line-in

  • Thread starter Thread starter airnewzealand15
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airnewzealand15

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Hi everyone.

I am just getting into recording. I had a friend who helped me record a song on his gear (just acoustic guitar and vocals) and it came out really good. You can hear it here - h t t ps:// w w w.youtube.com/watch?v=7AGFS06uve8. He used a mixing console going into line in on his macbook pro and logic pro. There was a DI between the guitar and the console and just a SM58 going straight into the console.

I wanted to do my own recording so I bought a iTrack Solo h t t p://us.focusrite.com/ipad-audio-interfaces-usb-audio-interfaces/itrack-solo iTrack Solo | Focusrite[/url] which I connect into my macbook pro using garageband 11. I connect my maton acoustic straight into the iTrack solo and my RODE M1 mic straight into the iTrack as well.

It doesn't sounds anywhere near as good as what my friend was able to product using his setup.

The guitar sounds OK, but the vocal is weak and nowhere near as nice and clean as the other track we did.

I have my levels up as loud as they can go with going into the red on the iTrack. Then my track levels are also as loud as they can go in garage band without going into red.

Am I experiencing the difference between recording through USB VS the old line-in system?

Any tips would be fantastic. Thanks heaps.
 
Maybe an SM58 just suits your voice better than the Rode mic.

You don't need your levels to be too close to the top. Your average levels should be around -18dBFS with the peaks well below 0dBFS, anywhere from -12dBFS to -6dBFS or so. Maybe your problem is running the levels too high in the iTrack. Garageband may not have numbers on the meters so keep your peaks somewhere in the middle rather than almost peaking.
 
It also may be that you didn't notice everything your friend was doing. The rode and an sm57 do not sound anything alike.
For the most part, your use interface is going to be a better way if getting sound into the computer. built in sound is generally terrible. (unless it was a desk top and he installed a recording standard)
 
Maybe your friend really didn't use the line-in, either, and the 'mixing console' you reference actually had firewire or USB connectivity.
 
hey guys,

I have confirmed that my friend did indeed use line in on his macbook pro. I have since done a lot of research into line in vs usb interface and the obvious choice is the digital usb interface over crusty old line in lol

I am going to give recording through the iTrack solo another go soon and report back. I will try having the levels on the itrack down a bit and boosting the levels in garage band. Also I am going to try going through my Marshall AS100D for the mic and then going out of the line out to the itrack solo.
 
The converters and chips of ANY onboard soundcard (yes even Apples) should be avoided for recording. Period.
 
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