WHAT DO I NEED TO BUY TO FiNISH THIS?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Steve351
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Steve351

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ok right now i have a farely good system for normal pc audio applications sound blaster live in one computer and an audigy on the other computer both with platinum 5.1 dd surround, and both with creative live drive IR midi interfaces... the midi interface has a midi input and output it also has a 1/4 inch input 1/4 inch out spdif in and out and optical in and out and rca ( right and left channel) and the computers have digital recording software on them is there somthing i can get like a breakout box or something that i can plug my mics and guitars into so that i can record using my computer....ive seen like packages with sound cards and midi interfaces that have some sort of thing that plugs into them which has XLR and 1/4 inch inputs, what is this thing and can i buy one that plugs into my midi interface i already have? although it may sound like i have a lot of money because of the things i already have on these computers i dont really its just stuff ive aquired in different ways (no theft if thats what your thinking) otherwise i would just buy a digital recording package but i dont have like 600 bux i have a band account setup that i put all of my cut into from each gig and i only have like 500 and i need that for various things like transportation (i get a bigger % because i pay for that stuff) anyway so i just want to know if theres some sort of magical box i can get that will plug into my live drive midi interface to be able to digitally record us for mostly personal use but slightly professional use also thanks
 
The breakout boxes you see usually come with a soundcard e.g. M-Audio Delta 44. i.e. they're a package/unit: soundcard and accompanying break out box. I don't know what the specs are re: midi etc. on the Delta. It's about $250 I think. Better featured cards usually cost more. Have a rifle through some current recording magazines and look at the ads for an idea of all the different soundcards and their features. I don't know of a magic box like the one you're talking about but that doesn't mean there isn't one.
 
some soundcards do come with pre-amps (your magical box) and some of these have xlr inputs on a breakout box, which is what we are talking about, i think....depending on the number of tracks you want to record at one time, you could get a pre-amp pretty cheap, or get a mixer (which typically has several preamps for mics and line level inputs). if you just get a pre-amp you can run it into the creative card, same with the mixer.
 
You can plug a guitar or mic into the LiveDrive. It's not got the best preamp in the world, but it works. I don't believe it has a phantom power source for condenser mics, though.

... and you can't connect a preamp to your computer via the MIDI interface. A MIDI interface can only send and receive MIDI messages, not audio data.
 
AlChuck said:
You can plug a guitar or mic into the LiveDrive. It's not got the best preamp in the world, but it works. I don't believe it has a phantom power source for condenser mics, though.
Click to expand...

This might be the best place to start, though it doesn't have xlr inputs or phantom power...I've got a LiveDrive but I've only used it for midi. I'd plug a mic in to see how it sounds, but I got rid of all my xlr to 1/4' unbalanced converter cables when i ditched my four track cassette.
 
right but connecting it like that i only get one channel and for some strange reason it comes with recording software that is multichannel so i guess my question should probably be is there any input i listed above that can receive multi channels and then separate it once it gets into the computer or somethin like that i know the optical imputs on like my tv and dvd have multiple uses (from my dvd to reciver it sends DTS which is 5 channel sound and the video signal so are there any optical boards out there?
AlChuck said:
You can plug a guitar or mic into the LiveDrive. It's not got the best preamp in the world, but it works. I don't believe it has a phantom power source for condenser mics, though.

... and you can't connect a preamp to your computer via the MIDI interface. A MIDI interface can only send and receive MIDI messages, not audio data.
Click to expand...
 
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