I emailed Musician Outlet and they gave me a best
price of 550 RM.

But in the link, it says 499 RM. I guess the price has
increased a bit.

- yap

anyone know where i can get VSTs for traditional instruments(esp traditional chinese instruments)?

I got a Dizi flute and Erhu soundfont from below:

http://www.musicmall-asia.com/store_Ffreebies.html

They also have some Malay instruments like seruling.
Not VST but they work in my software.

- yap

Apologies for breaking the thread but i need some guidance. i'm doing speech recordings on a Dell laptop for my Buddhist center. The Dell doesn't have line-in, only mic-in. Our pre-amp is a local brand, Amperes MX-2122, it has a REC OUT, unbalanced output(phono jack) and a BGM balanced output (phono jack) 3/4in. Output level is 1.25v, 600 Ohms +4db.

My current setup - Std PC mic going into the mic input. this captures all ambient sounds as well as the speaker's voicve from the PA.

Can I use a direct cable connection from one of the outputs into the mic-in? I understand basically, that the pre-amp's output is stronger than what a std PC mike's output. Something called impedence but not sure how to customise the cable so that I don't burn out the laptop.

Hope someone can help me.

Regards,
kevinlw

if i'm not mistaken, those onboard PC soundcards have preamps in their mic jacks. So if u use another preamp ur going to get distortion.

My suggestion would be to get another one of those cheap desktop mics for recording. So you have 1 mic for live and 1 mic for recording. The quality is not that bad considering it's only speech. Simple as it may sound, i think this is the easiest way to do it.

Ok I finally tried recording yesterday, needless to say, it doesnt sound good. How much is the price range for a decent sounding soundcard? Any recommendations? Not that I can afford it, but who knows.

Easiest solution? Line6 UX1 or the new TonePort GX....... both are an all in one recording unit with an amazing effects moddeler.... the brilliant GearBox.

I have the UX2, and It's REALLY amazing.

The UX1 should be around the RM500 Price range...... about the same amount you'd pay for a decent soundcard

unfortunately, adding more hardware is not an option for me. i've got to run with what we have....the laptop has audacity 1.2.2 (i think) as the recording software. the std pc mike works o.k. but i'd like to have a "cleaner" recording. Some speakers tend to walk about with the regular mike; as i mentioned earlier, my pc mike is actually recording the ambient sounds i.e. speaker et all including coughs, sniffles, kids running n falling upstairs not to mention the occasional release of bodily gases.

Is there any way i can mod n use a cable to connect the preamp to the laptop? Read a posting from
India where the chap was doing similar recordings had a 100K ohm resistor soldered across one line & ground of the cable.

With the rather unlimited expertise out there (totalled), I hope someone can verify this and perhaps instruct me on how to get it done. I do appreciate the advise so far but as budget is practically nil, I'm sponsoring this 'upgrade'. needless to say, my own budget's very tight as well so things got to be as cheap n simple as they can get.

i've been to st. Xavier's in Jalan gasing, PJ n they have jury-rigged several overhead mikes to capture the accompanying choir where they sit; this gave me a idea to set up a similar op but need to check on availablility of mikes n connections.

Thanks in advance for the assist.

regards

First of all i personally don't see much point in amplifying a signal and then cutting it down only to amplify it up again. So i find the preamp-resistor-soundcard kind of a weird solution. Unless someone can tell me why it's done that way.

The next thing would be what are you trying to record. I thought you only wanted the speakers voice, so a PC mic should be insensitive enough to block out other background noises. However i have to agree that some PC mics are pretty sensitive. Hanging overhead ambient mics would just capture more of your coughs, sniffles and bodily gases. And sorry if i misunderstood, but from your previous post i got the impression that you didnt want that.

What you could try is using foam to block certain noises you dont want. It worked for me to a certain extent when i tried micing drums trying to block the snare mic from the hihat mic and vice versa. It doesnt look good, and it will not cut out 100% of background noise but it helps a little i guess. Maybe our sifu hoongern can verify this if he's out there somewhere?

Erm.. I'm not a sifu... =)

But anyway.. I'm not sure I understand correctly.

You already have a PA system setup with your amperes? And it has a unbalanced out? What I would try doing is just make sure your 20dB boost is disabled on your mic input.. and just plug it in and see what it sounds like. At the worst.. it'll be distorted. (I just tested - just using a standard line-level unbalanced cable run to the mic input, 20dB boost off, and make sure your signal from your PA system is turned very low, and it should be fine)

Example how "bad" it can be:

http://www.graceabundant.com/other/micinput.mp3

That's headphone output of one laptop playing music, connected to the mic input of my Dell Inspiron 600m, headphone output about 10% volume, 20dB boost off. No resistor =)

---

Anyway, if you are unable to do that and only have the PC mic, you have 2 options, I'd say

1) Put it right in front of the PA speaker. You'll get pretty bad sound quality, but it should have the speaker isolated
2) Put it as near to the speaker (the person) as possible. The further away it is, the more room sound you're going to pick up.

If the speaker is already using a mic connected to the PA system.. then just directly connect the PA system to your laptop as mentioned above. But please don't blame me if your laptop blows.. =\ Hasn't blown for me yet..

Yes, the PA is hooked up to the preamp. I can get the standard line-level cable from SS2 PJ electronics or do I have to go to Jalan Pasar? Thanks for the headsup on the PA's signal level...I'll have to find the controls B4 I connect the two up.

The pc mike works fine but it sounds like I'm recording in a cave or something....BTW, can I use a rheostat or variable resistor to control the signal level prior to the mic input (if the PA doesn't have a control for the unbalanced output? I understand rheostats control electrical current and the PA system's output is a form of electrical currrent, isn't it? That is if I can find a rheostat within the next couple of days.. Another possibility is the balanced output.?

Thanks for the inputs. Will try to remember to update all with my results...maybe in a couple of weeks time after I've had time to search for the control n parts...

regards

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anyone knows what a processor does? lol.. we're upgrading our sound system in church, and all of the sudden, there's a processor sitting between the compressor and amp now. @.@

According to the guy who set it up for us, it's lined like this

mixer -> effects -> eq -> compressor -> processor -> amp

New sets of Apogee speakers coming in... hope can test it out by monday.. Now have to fight for either digital mixer or 24 channel AD converter..

I can't seem to plug in my guitar --> my Dell laptop .. Into the Mic socket.

There doesn't seem to be any sound!


Unlike my old Desktop .. It's possible if i plug my guitar --> Effects pedal --> Microphone socket .

But my laptop's not possible... How come?

Can anybody help?

Most appreciated..

muted perhaps?

Not muted la..

Everything's fine, checked everything just like I would set on my old desktop.. But it's not working on my laptop..

Weird.

have you tried installing asio drivers?

This post has been edited by SweetTooth: Oct 19 2007, 05:23 AM

what processor is it?

have to find out about it.. i can't remember as i've just only glanced through the rack. Will update about this.

you can try use ASIO4ALL driver...



Steinberg的高级产品经理Arnd Kaiser介绍说：Cubase 4为专业工作者提供的工具开创了创作的新路。新特性如SoundFrame将原来的普通任务，如文件浏览转换成为作曲过程的一部分，这一点在以前的音乐软件中是不可能的。

新特性如下：

* SoundFrame通用声音管理器能帮用户组织，预览以及找回音频、视频和工程文件，软硬件合成器的音色，音轨和乐器的预置等等，包括强大的媒体湾浏览器和媒体文件管理系统。
* 控制室*无缝集成进Cubase 4中，使用达到四路的监听设备混音、外部音频输入集成、音箱选择和对讲系统等等的模拟监听环境。
* 崭新的VST3插件包，带有多达30种的新插件，其中包括StudioEQ*，Cloner，ModMachine，AmpSimulator以及吉他调音器和一个新的多段压缩器等等。
* 3个新增的VST乐器有Prologue, Spector*和Mystic*，此外还有带有上百种来自Yamaha Motif波形的新乐器的HALion单采样播放器。
* 全新设计的用户界面增强了导航能力，可以配置通道面板和音轨查看器，还有一系列的调音台功能。
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* 该特性只有Cubase 4才有



与Cubase Studio 4的区别
Cubase Studio 4是采用了和Cubase 4大量相同技术的版本，专门为作曲家，音乐人和学生，教师使用，它也提供了高质量的专业工具，但是价格要比Cubase 4低得多

This post has been edited by denhock: Oct 26 2007, 11:46 PM