Vegas Audio ?

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AJay

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I have been using Acid while learning how to use my computer for recording. Im also using Fruityloops 3 for creating drums which I find very useful for intracate patterns.

I would like the flexability of recording direct or micing up (mainly guitar). I dont do any midi.
I would like to be able to mix down on my Tascam RW 700.

I have been reading reviews on Vegas Audio but Im still not sure if it is right for me; which leads me to my question:
Is Acid 3.0 & Sound Forge XP 4.5 good enough for what im trying to do? Or, should i go ahead and get Vegas?

Also, I just bought a Mackie 1402 VLZ PRO for 300 bucks.(couldn't pass it up)
Can you give me an idea or two on how i should hook it up according to what im trying to do?

Im still so new to recording, I hope that these questions are'nt too elementry for this forum. I have always been the kind of guy who just sticks his guitar chord in his Marshall and goes nuts.

If any of you like the heavy rock stuff, I have some songs on mp3.com with my old band Caustic Demise if your interested.

Thanx for all the help


peace
 
They are different beasts. SF is primarily an audio editor, Acid is primarily loop playback/stretching and vegas is primarily a multitrack audio playback program (which happens to make it ridiculously easy to edit the length/placement etc of your wav files). They each have a role, I use all three and use Sonar for midi and softsynths. You may want to download a demo of Vegas to see if you like it. Also, there are different versions including a Vegas LE, which is only 8 tracks of audio, but may be adequate for what you want. Have fun!!
 
Yeah, it depends on what kind of music youa are making AND what you are trying to do with it (the music).

I myself use all 3 (SF, Acid3.0, and Vegas Audio 2.0), plus Sonar and Fruity Loops Pro V 3.

peace...

spin
 
Hooking it up-

You will have to connect the main outs from your Mackie to the input on the back of your soundcard. If your soundcard input is a stereo mini-jack, you'll have to buy a Y adapter. Many inexpensive soundcards now have 1/4 inputs, such as the Echo Mia or similar cards.
 
Thank you all for your response.

Spin and Rjt; Do you use SF and acid simultanously with vegas? Why ? What are the benefits of useing them with vegas?

Stillawake; What about monitoring? Right now i have the out of my soundcard to a line in on Mackie; Mackie control room out to in on power amp ; power amp out to monitors. Is this the typical run?
 
Personally I don't like to monitor back through the mixer until mixdown. I use the mixer (Mackie 1202) for input into the soundcard only, that way I avoid some latency problems. What I do is run a pair of line outputs from my (Gina) soundcard to the power amp and thus to the monitor speakers, and I monitor while recording through headphones out the headphone jack on the Gina. You can do the same with only one soundcard output by spitting the signal with a Y adapter.

By the way I use Vegas, SF and Acid. I build drum tracks in ACID -much better than a drum machine. I start with a simple drum loop and record the song idea (practice track) with vocals and guitar idea with it right into ACID. I build around the loop- fills, extra snare, bass, cymbal and tom hits, other loops, which are built around the "practice track." Once the drum track is finished I mix it together (push of a button in ACID) in a single wave file (muting the practice track) and put it into a Vegas project file. Once in Vegas I multi-track to the drum track. You can edit extensively from either ACID or Vegas with Soundforge. The three work seemlessly together with the FX packages. Vegas is also nice because you can run wav., acid, mp3 and other files with different bit and sample rates in the same project.

Hope that helps
 
Well a lot of what you do depends on the type of music. Right now, I am recording a piano CD with solo cello support, then some synth stuff. Normally, I use very few loops. I record the accoustic stuff to an AW4416 then pick that up, bring it into the studio and dump it into Vegas. I edit the piano stuff in Vegas using the tools available and SF (I use 3 mics on the piano). This includes making a composite track of the 3 or so versions that I generally record. After the composite is done, I usually just drop one WAV file into sonar so I can do the midi stuff. I write the midi parts and then record them (I suppose there is a way to record them right into Vegas, at the moment I record them into Sonar, then translate them to WAV files). I then take the recorded files back to Vegas for mixing down. It seems to me that Vegas has lower latency, is less of a resource hog and is much easier to use for multi track editing than Sonar. Anyway, at any point where I want to edit the track (flip a section or make a smoother transition or something) I open it in SF and edit it. Again, I rarely use loops... when I do, I typically have the song outlined then test a bunch of loops in acid. When I have 10 or 20 I like, I mix them down to seperate tracks, but in the correct pitch and temp. Then I can drag them into vegas or (in the old days Cakewalk) to see how they sound. Sonar has a lot of "Acid" features, but I havn't used many loops on this project so I am not familiar with them as much as I am with Acid. I also use SF to edit the loops (replace a drum or effect/eq a specific hit or note or something). That's what I do.
 
I tend to be at the other end of the spectrum when it comes to using samples vs "live" music. Most of my elements are samples, or samples of live instrument players.

I normally edit my main sample into 8 - 16 pieces in SF. Then I rearrange them in Acid. I add my kicks, 808's, stab's, etc while I'm in Acid. Basically I do all of my arranging in Acid.

Then I track them over into Vegas or Sonar (from the other computer). Or if I do it all on just one computer, I'll convert my tracks into Wav. files, then open them in Vegas.

I use SF with Acid 3.0, Vegas Audio 2.0, and Sonar.
 
Yeah, I think I'll go ahead and get vegas. I mainly do live music except for the drums so I'll build my drums in fruityloops, bring them into vegas and track everything else in vegas. having acid and SF is something I'm sure will benefit me as I learn the ropes a bit more.
Thanks all.

Hey Stillawake-
when you mixdown, how do you have your mackie connected and what do you use to mixdown to?
 
Mixing down

I used to run 4 stereo line outputs from my soundcard into the Mackie inputs in order to add effects or compression or whatever. and then run the Mackie line outs to a CD burner or tape deck. You can use the RCA tape outs two. BUT - I actually don't bother with an outboard mixer during mixdown any more.

It's much more effective to just mixdown from Vegas. If you track with a good pre-amp and use your track plug in effects wisely, and for the most part, sparingly, you can get a good mix without a lot of outboard effects. Mix your final "mix" to a single wav file, then if you want do your song level effects such as EQ or some light compression or reverb (or leave that to the masteringhouse) and burn it to CD. I use DirectCD to drop the files Vegas right to the CD. You can just play the wav file send the soundcard outs to a tape deck or outboard CD-RW.
 
See my other post...

AJay,
I meant to post it on this thread, must've hit the wrong button. See my thread re Vegas for $199.

Queue
 
cool!

Awsome ! Thanks Queue:D Im glad you posted that. Saved me $60. I'll be picking it up today.

I used to live in the Rockville/Wheaton area. Did a lot of gigs at Manny's:o But it was fun.
 
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