Beginner setup ?

TheBazman

Hi folks

I am looking to set my pc up to be able to record vocals and acoustic /semi - acoustic guitar ( I know this has been covered to death previously but I cant seem to get something definitive)

All I want is something basic (as its going to be very amateur). I have had a look at some free downloads eg Audacity but I'm struggling.

Basicly I would like some advice on

Should I just go to a music shop and ask?
Do I need to get some form of a new sound card (mine is just basic Creative one) - if so what type of one
Do I need to buy software to stand anychance of doing this
What should I use for input? Obviously the basic pc mic's are crap. Do I need to buy a decent input mic that possibly plugs into an external sound card?
What would this cost

Apologies for all the questions but as you can guess my knowledge is basic and I wouldnt mind some guidance

Cheers

eddyc

Hey man, you are gonna have to buy an external soundcard cos those creative ones are pretty crap for recording purposes, I'd recommend this http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MobilePreUSB-main.html

I have an m-audio soundcard meself their top notch and mine is still goin strong after a few years , that one the mobilepre has had some shining reviews and its pretty cheap as quality soundcards go. Ya get a stripped down version of ableton live which is a savage piece of software for recording try http://www.ableton.com, you can also use it for adding in drum machine parts and the like and I think you get a special deal to upgrade to the full version.

You can also pick up some cheap mics around second hand , try maybe a shure or a beyer ,I'm not too savvy on the mic front but I think these are good makes.

TheBazman

Cheers Eddyc - thats just the info I am looking for

squibs

Disagree.

Start with what you have. The creative card and audacity will get you going, and then you can decide whether you want to invest more. I've got a mate with €1500 of largely unused audio equipment sitting in a room for 2 years cos he doesn't have the time/inclination to learn it. Budget equipment will help you appreciate the extra quality you get when you finally move to semi-pro stuff.

Download free demos of everything - cubase, sonar, fruity loops, reason, ableton. see what floats your boat.

The mic is the one thing you will have to drop a bit of cash on to even get started (if you are using your creative cards - prosumer and semi-pro cards may have mic pre-amps). Your sound card should have two inputs - mic and line in. The mic circuitry was conceived for text-to-speech and voice over ip type applications. Quality will not be acceptable for audio recording purposes. It will be too noisy. The line-in should be of far higher quality (less hiss). Unfortunately you won't be able to plug the mic into the line in socket as you won't get enough gain (volume) due to the different impedances of a mic and a line-level instrument (which the line in is designed for). You will need a preamp of some sort to connect the mic to the line in. The other alternative is something like the samson audio usb mic (google it). It's cheap and cheerful and is a mic/audio interface all in one, and it will remain useful even if you end up with a pro rig.

TheBazman

Cheers Squibs - I'll do a bit more research

I downloaded audacity last night but even when I record some crappy test vocals I cant seem to do anything with them ie edit them. I read some decent reviews of it (as a cheap option to get started) but maybe I didnt spend enough time familiarising myself with it