Personal computing discussed
Moderators: renee, Captain Ned
Sargent Duck wrote:The basic on-board sound of the Dell will absolutely not do.
Sargent Duck wrote:I'm not a sound guy at all, so bear with me!
We'll be receiving input from the sound board, so that will take care of the mixing. We're currently using the Dell on-board sound which I'm pretty sure is not up to the task of recording all the different frequencies.
nerdrage wrote:Unless you're an audiophile (and you've already said that you're not) or you're going to be sending these recordings to be professionally mastered onto a CD, you are not going to notice the difference. Sounds to me like you're looking for an excuse to spend someone else's money.
SlyFerret wrote:If it were me, I would be tempted to use a mixer from somebody like Alesis with a USB2 or Firewire interface into the PC. Some of them can do 8 or 16 discrete channels into the PC and then recorded in a multi-track capable software package.
derFunkenstein wrote:SlyFerret wrote:If it were me, I would be tempted to use a mixer from somebody like Alesis with a USB2 or Firewire interface into the PC. Some of them can do 8 or 16 discrete channels into the PC and then recorded in a multi-track capable software package.
that could be upwards of 10x the stated budget.
derFunkenstein wrote:The onboard audio on my PC is definitely not suitable, showing alot of noise like mtphine's. I don't do alot of recording with it and the noise is why. I agree with the assessment of getting a discrete card. I'd just try to use the mixer they have with it us all
ludi wrote:What vintage is the PC and what OS? If this is an older XP machine with at least one spare PCI slot, an Audigy 2 ZS (not the SE) would be plenty for the task. Yeah, it's a Creative product, but you can get them for about $30 off eBay and the default WindowsUpdate drivers are stable on XP.
Or there's always the entry level Asus Xonar for about $50.
derFunkenstein wrote:Basically Audacity is going to see your sound board as a single, stereo line input from your sound card, most likely. What do the output connectors look like? 1/4" headphone-looking outputs, red and white RCA-style connectors, something else? What's the purpose of the recording, to make audio CDs?
SlyFerret wrote:
How fancy is the mixer board in use, and how far away from the workstation is it? Any chance that the board could simply be replaced with one that can output directly to the PC over a digital interface as well as perform the current mixer duties as well?
-SF
ludi wrote:Windows XP Media Center, P4 ~2.8GhzWhat vintage is the PC and what OS? If this is an older XP machine with at least one spare PCI slot, an Audigy 2 ZS (not the SE) would be plenty for the task. [/url] for about $50.
nerdrage]Not trying to be argumentative but... why not at least TRY to use the on-board sound? You're assuming that it's going to be horribly inferior to a discrete card, and that is simply not true. The mixing duties have already been taken care of, so all you want to do is take a signal from the line-in and record it, correct?
Unless you're an audiophile (and you've already said that you're not) or you're going to be sending these recordings to be professionally mastered onto a CD, you are not going to notice the difference. Sounds to me like you're looking for an excuse to spend someone else's money.[/quote]
Not at all. I was under the impression that the sound mixer would be outputting serveral channels of audio (I've only ever recorded speech), so it would seem my base assumption was incorrect! From reading these responses, I've learnt that all the audio from the sound mixer outputs everything through the line-in.
[quote="just brew it! wrote:It is certainly worth at least trying the onboard sound, to see what the quality is like. The main issue you may run into is poor S/N ratio; some onboard soundcards are much better in this area than others (and some are downright nasty).
derFunkenstein wrote:I get what titan is saying, that you need to mix live for the room where the congregation is and then re-mix it through a second mixer for the recording. I think I'm learning something here. Brilliant!
titan wrote:Ideally, you'd want a direct out that takes the signal before the Gain at best, and before the Gain at worst.
The purpose is to pretty much make audio tracks so the individual members can practice at home. I currently have the two red and whit RCA-style connectors coming from the sound board and merging down into a 1/4 headphone connector, feeding into the computer's input.
Captain Ned wrote:titan wrote:Ideally, you'd want a direct out that takes the signal before the Gain at best, and before the Gain at worst.
Should the second before be an after?
dustyjamessutton wrote:When you get to the point that you want to record high-quality audio, consider the Asus Xonar Essence ST. I have one, and it has 1/4" input and output jacks, 2 or 3 1/8" jacks, can't remember, and left-right RCA jacks that I believe will do both input and output, as well as an Optical SPDIF output that will output PCM, Dolby Digital, DTS, and WMA-Pro. You will get 118 Db SNR on your line-in and 124 Db SNR ratio on your output I believe. And it doesn't get power through the motherboard, it gets it through a regular 4-pin power plug from your PSU, which will probably take care of the grounding issues and the 60Hz hum. I know this sounds like an ad, but I just wanted to lay out what you get with this card. I cant remember if it's $200 or $300. It was a christmas present. Anyway, I plan on DJing some with this card at community and church functions, as it will plug right into a Samick mixer board with no hassles. I just need to remember to keep the volume setting as low as possible, as it already has its own built-in amp. However, if you want to spend the money, you may be better off with a more professional solution that has a breakout box and lots of connections.