new recording stuff, same problem

[crimsonsteel]

Originally posted by crimsonsteel
well, when i record directly in, i get the guitar sound, sounds good enough, but everytime i record with a mic, it has the guitar sound, sounds less than good, then the guitar goes into this wooooshoowww and stays on the ooowww for the rest of the time. kinda like if you put a seashell on your ear, with guitar tone in the mix. I know i need a mixer before I plug into the computer, but would a new mic help this too?Also, the mic im using is one of those crappy mics from target, the computer mics.

this was from a previous thread i made, a few months ago. Now i have a new mic, and a mixer, but still i have the same problem. Chris g said it could be the soundcard. The only time i don't have this problem is when i go from headphone out on my Rp100 into the laptop. When ever i mic, or plug the guitar into the mixer, i get this problem. would it be better to get an 8-track recorder? or a soundcard?

[Moo]

Sorry what's your setup?
The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is that you might have the levels too high on your mixer and it's zonking out your soundcard.

[crimsonsteel]

all that stuff in my sig, mic the amp, mic-->mixer-->laptop

everything on the mixer is in the middle, gain, level, lo and hi. gain is needed cause i turned off the mic gain on the computer, the laptop only has a mic input

[chris g]

Here's what you should do. Don't even worry about a new sound card. Get yourself an M-Audio mobile pre or any one of their USB interface boxes. Try to get one that lets you record 2 channels simultaneously. You can take the direct out's from your mixer, into the line inputs on your new M-Audio box, and you'll be set. Depending on the mixer you have, the pre-amps in the M-Audio might actually be better, so if you wanted, you could probably take that mixer out of the equation, unless you want to record a bunch of inputs at once. If this is the case, you would only be able to record them to a stereo track at best (because of the 2 input of the M-Audio box). Most cheap mixers are crap. The pre's are crap and the eq's are crap and they do more harm than good. This is just my 2 cents, but at least get yourself one of these USB boxes and you'll have relatively clean sound going in.

[crimsonsteel]

Originally posted by chris g
Here's what you should do. Don't even worry about a new sound card. Get yourself an M-Audio mobile pre or any one of their USB interface boxes. Try to get one that lets you record 2 channels simultaneously. You can take the direct out's from your mixer, into the line inputs on your new M-Audio box, and you'll be set. Depending on the mixer you have, the pre-amps in the M-Audio might actually be better, so if you wanted, you could probably take that mixer out of the equation, unless you want to record a bunch of inputs at once. If this is the case, you would only be able to record them to a stereo track at best (because of the 2 input of the M-Audio box). Most cheap mixers are crap. The pre's are crap and the eq's are crap and they do more harm than good. This is just my 2 cents, but at least get yourself one of these USB boxes and you'll have relatively clean sound going in. wow, before you posted this i was just looking at the USB boxes, and planning to make that my next purchase, thanks for the help dude:)

the only concern i had about the USB boxes was if i bought one off ebay, and it didn't come with the software for recording with it, would it work with audacity(the free program i've been using) or would i have to buy one? because i dont see a USB option for recording on audacity. i apologize for all the questions, i just want to be prepared:)

[chris g]

Originally posted by crimsonsteel
wow, before you posted this i was just looking at the USB boxes, and planning to make that my next purchase, thanks for the help dude:)

the only concern i had about the USB boxes was if i bought one off ebay, and it didn't come with the software for recording with it, would it work with audacity(the free program i've been using) or would i have to buy one? because i dont see a USB option for recording on audacity. i apologize for all the questions, i just want to be prepared:)

I haven't used Audacity, but as far as I know, once you plug the usb box in, it will automatically detect it, and then it will be an input option in Audacity somewhere. You won't need to use any specific recording software for the box. It may come with installation software, but probably nothing else.

[Moo]

yeah audacity will work with it