What are my options?

[Reggie49]

G'Day All,
I'm in the right spot here (Newbies)

I have jumped into this home recording thing without getting some solid advice and have just found this site. So I'm suspending anymore spending until I get some other options from those with far more knowledge than myself!

I've already posted a thread in the Cakewalk software section and now have a million other questions, but I'll start with just a couple so I don't wear out my welcome.

As a friend overseas has an Alto AMX-140FX mixer I thought that would be a starting point seeing I got it fairly cheaply.

However, due to lack of knowledge I'm being told that I cannot plug my electric guitar directly into the mixer as first thought and that the mixer might not be able to be connected to the two 3mm input sockets on the back of my computer to give suitable results and that an external sound card will be needed. (more dough!!!!! )

It has been suggested I get a device from Radial called a Pro DI box, but as I don't have the knowledge yet on these matters I'm after some advice

Hope you can help

Cheers

Ron

 

[gecko zzed]

G'Day All,
I'm in the right spot here (Newbies)

I have jumped into this home recording thing without getting some solid advice and have just found this site. So I'm suspending anymore spending until I get some other options from those with far more knowledge than myself!

I've already posted a thread in the Cakewalk software section and now have a million other questions, but I'll start with just a couple so I don't wear out my welcome.

As a friend overseas has an Alto AMX-140FX mixer I thought that would be a starting point seeing I got it fairly cheaply.

However, due to lack of knowledge I'm being told that I cannot plug my electric guitar directly into the mixer as first thought and that the mixer might not be able to be connected to the two 3mm input sockets on the back of my computer to give suitable results and that an external sound card will be needed. (more dough!!!!! )

It has been suggested I get a device from Radial called a Pro DI box, but as I don't have the knowledge yet on these matters I'm after some advice

Hope you can help

Cheers

Ron

Step 1: take a trip through this thread:
https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=282550

You can plug your guitar directly into your mixer through a line in on one of your channels. It may not give a decent signal, but a DI will deal with that.

If you are using an on-board soundcard, it will have a line-in socket which will take a stereo 3.5mm plug. You therefore need to connect from the main out of your mixer to this somehow: maybe a pair of 6.5mm plugs cabled to a 3.5mm stereo plug.

However, if you are using an onboard soundcard, it is likely you will not find the results pleasing. Generally these soundcards are not designed for recording. That's why an interface is a good idea. It goes between mixer and computer. But . . . a reasonable interface often has an instrument input, and you can plug your guitar straight into it, eliminating the need (for that purpose) of mixer and DI.

 

[mjbphotos]

How many tracks are you planning on recording at a time? Do you want to keep them as separate tracks on the computer? If so, the mixer may not be the thing to use.
A lot of guys insist that micing a guitar amp is the only way to get a decent sound, but many others are quite happy wiht the sound you can get from a DI interface - I love my Line 6 Guitarport and all the f/x amp combos that it comes with.

 

[Reggie49]

You must see this a lot here where newbies rush out and buy stuff they don't need to achieve their aims. (My hand's high up in the air )

I've read through the links provided by Gecko ZZed, and thanks a lot for that info, but like most tech stuff, it's now raised a lot more questions due to stuff I wasn't aware of or even considered.

Thanks also to MJBPhotos, for stating what might seem the bleeding obvious to all you other guys. No as it now appears I don't need to record 5 inputs to one track, but as I'd read info elsewhere stating a mixer is a good starting point that's the first bit of gear I bought - WRONG as it now seems.

As a beginner you need a place like this to give you direction and answer the dopie questions for the 600th time. So while your patience lasts here goes:

I've got the feeling that my on board sound card is not going to cut it, but have no idea what my options are, so far as a good entry level external sound card interface to consider. One of the things I was pretty set on though was that it would most likely be a type with a USB connection for ease of setup. However, after reading the threads supplied above, it appears that's not such a wise idea.

So is anyone going to be brave enough to suggest a sound interface to consider, while I find out if I have a spare PCI slot to be able to run a firewire card and thus expand my options?

My computer is fairly old, (pentium 4 dual core processor with 4Gb of ram and using XP SP3), so before spending any more money at this stage, is the computer going to have serious limitations?

 

[dodgeaspen]

I had a mixer from the early 80's and had it running through my computer just for our band practices and had no problems.

 

[Richard Monroe]

Your computer should be up to pretty much any kind of audio. It's video that will kill you. Before anyone can realistically answer your questions, we need to know the answer to a question asked above- How many simultaneous tracks do you need to record? Don't sell the mixing desk quite yet, as you may find that at a certain point, it may become useful to you.
Sorry that that point isn't right now. The next question is- why on Earth do you want to plug an electric guitar into a recording rig? Don't misunderstand me, there are a number of perfectly good answers to that question, such as:
1. I don't want to wake up the baby.
2. I don't own a guitar amplifier, and can't afford one.
3. I like to mix the direct sound with a recorded amp.
4. My wife says she'll divorce me the next time I turn on my Soldano VLO superlead.

For about 60 years, we have all gotten very used to the sound of an electric guitar being recorded using a microphone stuck in front of a guitar amplifier. It produces a very characteristic sound called "moving air".
In recent years, amplifier modeling technology has become popular, where a machine attempts to copy the frequency profile of an amplifier and speaker combination. Progress has been made. When it started out, it was expensive and sucked. Now, it's affordable and sometimes doesn't suck. Most, but not all of us, believe that a good mic'd up sound is better than any direct sound, but that direct recording can yield usable tracks if you know what you are doing. I fall into a very small, third group, that often uses modelers, but I plug them into clean amps and speakers, and mic them up, to make them move air. I believe that this gets me a lot closer to the sound of the amp that was modeled, but it *will* wake up the baby. I also believe that this allows me to use lower volume levels, with more sensitive microphones, and get similar recorded sound moving *less* air. So- it may wake up the baby, but it doesn't wake up *the neighbor's* baby.

Recording gear is a tool. Before any of us can suggest tools, we have to know what the job is. So how many tracks do you need to record at once, and why do you want to plug that guitar into something other than a guitar amp?-Richie

 

[Reggie49]

G'day Richie,
Thanks for your input and here's my reasons to your questions:

Why would I want to plug directly into the mixer? Simply so I can get up and running with a minimum of time and expense. I'm sure, as soon as I can get my head around how to work the software to achieve some desirable results and eradicate the inevitable bugs that are going to rear their ugly heads, I'll want to improve the quality of the recordings.

By using my amp, requires microphones and the issues of which ones to start out with. I'm also guessing they'll be a whole new black art to learn in how to place them effectively and how many mics to use to get the best effect. Or am I over exaggerating this?

As I'm just starting to come to grips with what can be done, I guess initially I would only be recording one track at a time, so in hind sight, (ahh a wonderful thing ) the mixer was a waste and the money could have been better spent on a good sound card interface.

So any recommendations on the sound card issue will be gratefully appreciated.

I'd also like to revisit using mics for the amp once I get into this, and Richie I think I could get away with recording at a level that may wake the baby, but I'm sure the cops will get involved if I start waking the neighbour's baby. I take your point though that to get the best effect for a guitar the amp should be miked. and thanks for your advice.