Heh I was planning to get the UX2 actually... hmmmm.... have to see the list price of this new unit. Probably RM1200. Not a bad deal if it's less than RM1200 as I'm interested in MIDI controllers... hmmm...

What about you?

do i look like i have cash at the moment?

well i just moved in to a new house thats not furnished...so most of my $$$ flew away just like that buying furniture. furniture for a bungalow isnt cheap...

Yes, after all the session works, you do look like you're loaded.

Ermm... what about your housemates? Don't they help getting some too?? Or they too know that you're loaded?

i dont get paid THAT much ok. yea housemates help too but still all ive earned has gone bye bye

hmm UX1 list price is RM550?
k so i can get it cheaper, maybe something to mess around with.
but the UX2 seems more tempting, with VU levels, footswitch control etc.

actually for the guitar side, whats the diff between toneport and guitarport?

Hey guys .

I'm a noob here .

I would like to buy a USB interface for input from any sources .

The must have input would be RCA (those big 3 pin plug ....) , 3.5mm earohone jack , if possible include the white&red plug that mostly can be seen in the TV .....

I'm a secondary school student , so I'm extreamly on budget .

What do you guys recommand for a tight budget student like me ?

Actually just go to any computer shop in town. They should have such things for maybe about RM40. Maybe cheaper i don't know as i haven't been back in msia for quite some time already. But if prices haven't changed then it should be about RM40.

Got a question here for some of the recording pros here.

My band wants to do a recording for some of the songs we've wrote. Current equipment using is a Yamaha MG32/14FX mixer, Yamaha 31 Band EQ, Alexis Compressor/Limiter, Apogee amps and apogee speakers for the house. (FYI church equipment). Got a range of instruments and amps which are lined into the mixer.

Question i have is that is it possible and how to line out the signal from the mixer to a PC for recording.
I'm currently using Cubase 3 with Audigy 4 Platinium. Also have Audition 2 at my disposal. Tried lining out from the mixer stereo out into audigy line in but recording quality is really bad. In the perfect world, i would be recording every instruments track by track individually. Is it possible to achieve it with the current equipment above?

2nd question would be, since i have a 31band eq and compressor available, should i pump my signal through them first before sending them to my pc or should i just get a clean sound right after the mixer?


Little diagram to make things clear:
1) current setup is:

signal in --> mixer --> Eq --> Compressor/limiter --> Power amp --> Speakers

2) Planned recording setup

signal in --> mixer --> (somehow find a way) --> PC (record individual tracks simultaniously) (live recording)

Any help would really be appreciated.. THANKS!

You're using consumer-grade soundcards - it means you're never going to get all your tracks individually, and the sound will not reach its full capacity.. However, doesn't mean you can't get a decent sound. The only thing I can suggest is recording your final stereo mix - use your 2-track out or whatever line-out the mixer has and plug it line in into the soundcard. Don't know why you get a horrible sound - it should sound okay.

Don't bother the eq with the recording - you can always master the recording later. Just make sure you get a clean, undistorted signal to your mixer.

If you want to multi-track, you're going to have to get an audio interface with multiple analogue inputs (I think your mixer only has analogue outs)... and then either record by tracks or sub-mix and send the subgroups out to the audio interface.
32 tracks is a lot to record simultaneously (not to mention, 32 tracks at 16bit/44.1kHz will require quite a lot of HDD bandwidth)

I can only suggest things like the MOTU 24IO Audio Interface.. 24 analogue inputs, which costs around RM6k? Or get two 16 channel Hard disk recorders, or multiple audio interfaces... Or something similar... If this is a one time project, I don't think it's worth it.. Just live with the stereo recording / submixes..

Discussed and brought up the issue on getting a MOTU to the committee. actually planned to get it someday since we're kinda moving forward in terms of sound reinforcement and production.

As for the current recording, we want to do it as a farewell gift for our pastor.
What you said is quite true, without interface, kinda impossible to do multitrack and since the mixer is analogue, make things even harder. Guess have to stick to single track.

As for soundcard (something which i can change on my side), am trying to get my hand on a EMU. Know any shop around kl that sells it? Looked through PCzone price list and they have the most basic emu only. Would like to get something with RCA imputs.

an ESI Juli@? They have it at the midi specialist low yat. priced somewhere round the RM600 region.

looking for EMU 1820 if possible. If not, will settle for EMU 1616...

Hey..1st post on this forums..good to see ppl around to discuss about audio/music/recording here in malaysia..
for a fine recording quality but dont like to spend with big budget (remember good quality always come with budget)..i've always recommend friend to go for focusrite saffire/saffire LE or presonus firebox/firepod..it's good..with good preamp and ad/da..they could make serious work and result..
But EMU 1820 could be a good choice for PC user as well...

liveforGear

recently did some recording in a big hall without monitoring and without a computer. The mixer was some mackie analogue mixer and we recorded straight onto CDs with no compressors and no EQs. Sounded pretty decent after take 15 or something like that ... I guess with some patience it is possible to get good sound with minimum equipment. Of course micing up the drums requires a relatively complicated setup but other than that fancy equipment is not really necessary. Most important of all i guess if you enjoy doing it i think you will get good sound sooner or later.

thanks for sharing.

IMO, those old mackie VLC series is piece of crap if you ask me..the latest onyx mixer are ok..better eq and good preamp..can you post your recording in that hall to show us how good is your 'sound' with no compression and no eq at all?? what is your mic setup?? and what kind of music your recorded? i dont think you can get really pro kind of quality with direct into CD..sound like you are cheated your self that you can have good recording without proper setup?

welcome to keep on discussing..

did a live recording before and what i did was line out from stereo output of my mixer and staight into my pc. Was using audition 2 at that time. What i can say is that, without a compressor, be prepared for clips and distortion. From my experience, you need at least a compressor in between the mixer and recording device. It'll help in regulating volume and making sure it stays below the threshold.

Diagram:
Source --> Mixer --> Compressor --> Recording device (pref computer with A/D converter.)

Well..if you take care of your input signal..take care of the gain..it wont be a serious problem on clips and distortion..those noise might be came from your poor mixer or noisy mic..or the environment..or the cable that you used..

recording with a compressor is needed depend on the situation..it could be in those old day recording era..when recording engineer track down to tape machine..they want to make sure the highest headroom and signal without clipping to the tape..then they compress..

but modern digital recording..those cheap soundcard or high end audio interface manage to record in 24 bit..so it will have around 120dB SPL....so you can have plenty of headroom when you apply DSP in DAW..i agreed with you about the good AD/DA is important..

what you need to do is..just record with a really good preamp like NEVE/focusrite..and decent ad convertor like apogee..then you can always apply compressor and eq later in your DAW..
and today engineer might be used compressor as an fx to get the specific sound they want..this is the art of mixing..
That is why i said prober recording setup can really make lot of difference..

and dont forget to get a pair of good speaker..it can make your mix or recording sound so much difference like day and night..!!

cheers

liveforGear

well previous recordings without compressors have turned out to be quite ok. Too bad i dont have the samples with me. It's with a friend of mine. I will post it once i have it. Sound is good, but the musicians are crap so...bare with us a little..hahahah

However the mix was done on hall speakers so i think it will sound very different on studio monitors. i havent tried it on studio monitors yet, but sounded good on hall speakers. I think on studio monitors it will sound quite empty and dry because the hall fx are not there. As i also had a live recording without sound check...u should be able to guess how crappy that sounded...it was really crappy, but with regards to sound, i never had any problems with compressors. I guess maybe it has something to do with the dynamic mics. Maybe their insensitivity is not such a bad thing after all...

So recording aside. I need some tips on digital mixers. How different is the setup from analogue mixers? I have received a 75k budget shhhh... And i am looking now to get a 32 or 48 track digital mixer (brand dont care yet). Of course i dont have to spend all of it on the mixer.

So any suggestions/opinions/watever ?

man.. 75k? that's alot
had a chance to play with the M7CL digital mixer from Yamaha and was absolutely smitten by it. almost unlimited possibilities (limited only to the knowledge of the soundman) and pretty intuitive controls and setup. As an analog user, the transition to digital was pretty easy though it'd help if you go through the manual. Too bad only got to play with it for one day only for an event. >.< it's back to analog after that.

Most important thing i'd say to look out for in a digital mixer is the quality of the DAC chip. Have seen some really cheap digital mixers out there which sounds bad. Also look out for pc connectivity such as firewire or USB2.0.. some higher end mixer allow you to add or swap expansion cards for extra functionality.

I'd go for an upgrade for the speaker and amp with the balance available. A good digital mixer will only sound as good as the speakers and amps used.

I got mine (E-MU 1616M) from Midstream Online Sdn. Bhd.
They have a shop somewhere.. you can check it out at their website.

On the bigger recording projects which I have done/helped out with - I actually dump the idea of multitracking 32+ tracks - just a bit too much work, IMO. Depends how much quality you want in the end, I guess. But we've gotten pretty good quality stereo mixes - using S/PDIF out from the mixer into a computer.

Of course, multitracking has lots more potential.