Audio capture

[sluthy]

Hey, piecing together the new PC, and I'm interested in recording music with it and wondering what the best way to go is. Mostly just my guitar and vocals, but would like the opportunity to plug a mixer perhaps in or something.

Does the Audigy have anything to do with recording, or is it all about the playback? What should I look at getting?

 

[sluthy]

Bump. 21 views, and no responses, and now it's nearly on the sixth page. Isn't there anything?

 

[jotosuds]

your audigy will be fine. i use an sblive with fairly decent results.

what you do need is a pre-amp for the microphone. you'll plug this straight into the audigy's line in. if you're just starting out i'd get a used m-audio Audio Buddy off of Ebay for like ~$40. you'll need an adapter for the cable from the 1/4" out on the audio buddy to the i'm assuming 1/8" on audigy. radio shack has em for like $2.00

then you need a mic. i'd say get a cheap condensor off of ebay or zzounds or musiciansfriend. when i say cheap i mean like under $100. i have an MXL 1006, and it sounds good for vocals and acousitc guitar. the audio buddy has phantom power, but you need to use XLR cables, not a XLR-->1/4" cable.

hope this helped. getting into recording is pretyt complicated for sure...

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

First of all, you'll want something with balanced inputs, using 1/4" and/or RCA jacks via breakout cables. For audio recording you want to avoid the standard 1/8"-supporting crap.

Next, you'll want to have a good signal/noise ratio on input. The output s/n ratio is meaningless.

And of course, you'll want to get something from a trusted manufacturer. Echo and m-audio are both solid companies.

This one ($164 shipped) looks decent, although I admit I've never used it, personally. Something like this ($199 shipped) will perform better, but may not be absolutely necessary for the kind of work you'll do. If you can't afford either, you could try something like this ($95 shipped), but I strongly suggest avoiding any card without breakout cables.

EDIT: Ordinary sound cards (such as the SoundBlaster Audigy series) will record music, and should provide decent frequency response, but they will almost certainly add a rather loud noise floor. The added noise is easily amplified when you apply such effects as compression or equalization. Since, as a rock band, you will be using those effects quite often, you'll definitely crave something better than an Audigy.

 

[jotosuds]

^^^ true enough. however you'll want decent monitors along with that setup, like m-audio bx8's or truths or yorkvilles. and cables for that stuff, maybe some acoustic treatment... basically a lot of money. and let's not get into mics.

if you want to try it, get an audiobuddy. if you want to go with a semi-pro setup, get something like a an audiophile 24/96, w/ monitors, cables for everything, and an sm-57 and a condensor. you'd also want to upgrade your pre-amp to like a DMP3, or even an RNP. that chain should yield some nice recordings with the right engineering. but honestly, i've gotten my recordings sold on compilation cd's with my "crap" sblive and radio shack mics, so realize it's alot in how you use your equipment.