Members fuleiragem Posted September 19, 2009 Members Share Posted September 19, 2009 take it back. 24 bit is A LOT better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rockapede Posted September 19, 2009 Members Share Posted September 19, 2009 Okay, cool. At first I bought a presonus audio box. It was like my firewire interface except USB. I took it back in 2 hours and got an m-audio. It didn't work well with my 64 bit vista and I kept hearing cracking going on. The m-audio is much more attractive and worked right out of the box. I installed nothing. It just installed the driver it's self and worked. But I'm thinking I might need to install the asio drivers for it and try them. But right now I'm just using asio4all. If it works, . Don't overthink recording. Make music with what you have and when budget allows and creativity demands get better stuff. In the mean time worry about good mic technique and EQ, as they'll make much more difference than pretty much anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jlc1587 Posted September 19, 2009 Author Members Share Posted September 19, 2009 If it works, . Don't overthink recording. Make music with what you have and when budget allows and creativity demands get better stuff. In the mean time worry about good mic technique and EQ, as they'll make much more difference than pretty much anything else. I need to learn more with the mic.Do you know how I could do what I asked in my last post? About it being louder before normalizing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rockapede Posted September 19, 2009 Members Share Posted September 19, 2009 take it back. 24 bit is A LOT better. Really? In budget home recording? Really? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rockapede Posted September 19, 2009 Members Share Posted September 19, 2009 I need to learn more with the mic.Do you know how I could do what I asked in my last post? About it being louder before normalizing? That depends on a lot of things. How loud is your source? What recording software are you using? Make sure to fiddle with EVERYTHING and I'm fairly confident you'll get desired results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jlc1587 Posted September 19, 2009 Author Members Share Posted September 19, 2009 That depends on a lot of things. How loud is your source? What recording software are you using? Make sure to fiddle with EVERYTHING and I'm fairly confident you'll get desired results. Sonar 8. Somehow in the past I've had it loud enough to hear and for some reason I can't get it like that anymore. Even after normalizing it I have to turn it up some. I don't let the clip light come on any though. Is it good to let it clip a little bit maybe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fuleiragem Posted September 19, 2009 Members Share Posted September 19, 2009 Really? In budget home recording? Really? really Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rockapede Posted September 19, 2009 Members Share Posted September 19, 2009 Sonar 8. Somehow in the past I've had it loud enough to hear and for some reason I can't get it like that anymore. Even after normalizing it I have to turn it up some.I don't let the clip light come on any though. Is it good to let it clip a little bit maybe? Digital stuff is touchy about clipping, usually it's pretty harsh. IME it's usually okay for it to light up occasionally though. Record a clip that way, and if it sounds fine don't worry about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jlc1587 Posted September 19, 2009 Author Members Share Posted September 19, 2009 Digital stuff is touchy about clipping, usually it's pretty harsh. IME it's usually okay for it to light up occasionally though. Record a clip that way, and if it sounds fine don't worry about it.It just seems like it could be a lot louder before normalizing it. Used to it was louder and when I normalized it, it was REALLY loud. But I have no idea what I was doing back then. If I run it through the pre amp on guitarport it's loud enough. But not with the m-audio. But if I bypass with guitarport it isn't. Only if I load up the tube preamp setting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fuleiragem Posted September 19, 2009 Members Share Posted September 19, 2009 you're losing a lot of dynamics just by going from 24 to 16 bit. now you'll probably compress the {censored} out of your recordings just to make it louder. you're killing your acoustic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jlc1587 Posted September 19, 2009 Author Members Share Posted September 19, 2009 The RODE sounds really good for the vocals. But I actually am messing with my old samson condenser mic. It's like a 99 dollar condenser mic that looks like a live mic. It seems like it mic's the acoustic guitar better. But vocals are not as good. I think it does sound better using the phantom power adapter rather than the one on the m-audio but it's hard to tell. I could tell better if I had two final mixes but these are just rough tracks. Man that rode makes my vocals sound beautiful. This is my second one but I haven't used it in a very long time due to moving and just not recording vocals for a while. And I had someone borrowing it so I used the samson for most of the vocals on my acoustic album. I forgot just how good it is until I got a new one. I like singing soft so the rode works perfect. With some other mic's I've tried I had to sing loud and that makes me go out of key. I could literally whisper in this thing. It's so quiet too. No noise at all. I don't record in a booth or anything like that. No need to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jlc1587 Posted September 19, 2009 Author Members Share Posted September 19, 2009 you're losing a lot of dynamics just by going from 24 to 16 bit. now you'll probably compress the {censored} out of your recordings just to make it louder. you're killing your acoustic. I don't compress it a lot. But I probably will be doing it more than usual to make it louder because it seems a lot quieter with this m-audio. What's the best compressor I can get for free? Theres some other ones that have been posted in another thread of mine I am going to be downloading today also. Feel free to mention limiters or any other programs too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ckreon Posted September 19, 2009 Members Share Posted September 19, 2009 you're losing a lot of dynamics just by going from 24 to 16 bit. now you'll probably compress the {censored} out of your recordings just to make it louder. you're killing your acoustic. clearly someone who has never applied theory to practice... You do lose some dynamic range - you won't notice it though. If you need to sound louder, turn everything else down, and turn the speakers/headphones/whatever up. If you can't do that (out of laziness, or some really strange reason), you can put a compressor on the track, with a fairly tight setting, and use the makeup gain to get as loud as you need. And FYI - some of the best records of the 90's were recorded in 16 bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fuleiragem Posted September 19, 2009 Members Share Posted September 19, 2009 try to make it work without the extra compression. if you still think you're not loud enough then I suggest you to return the m-audio. what's the point in upgrading your recording setup if you end up using tools that are detrimental to your sound? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jlc1587 Posted September 19, 2009 Author Members Share Posted September 19, 2009 try to make it work without the extra compression. if you still think you're not loud enough then I suggest you to return the m-audio. what's the point in upgrading your recording setup if you end up using tools that are detrimental to your sound? My ONLY point to upgrade was to get mic inputs since my new computer don't have firewire I can't use my firewire interface anymore. My guitarports quality was fine. I was more than happy with it but I wanted mic pre amps on the interface. I basically had to rig it all up with a bunch of messy cables and I had no physical pre amp for the mic's. We're just talking an acoustic guitar, me singing and ez drummer. Just good enough recordings to have a really warm sound and crisp vocals and guitar. Are you saying don't compress? I have to compress though in order to get the levels of each note right, right? Some will be too high and some too low. I don't have much experience with limiting and making it louder though I am learning a lot of that for the first time today. I've never tried using a compressor before the track. Can I do that with sonar? The only way I know how to do it is record the track and then select the compressor. Well, then again I might know how to do it. I do know how to add reverb and stuff before the track but I never do it. I always record dry and then add what I want to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fuleiragem Posted September 19, 2009 Members Share Posted September 19, 2009 clearly someone who has never applied theory to practice...You do lose some dynamic range - you won't notice it though.If you need to sound louder, turn everything else down, and turn the speakers/headphones/whatever up.If you can't do that (out of laziness, or some really strange reason), you can put a compressor on the track, with a fairly tight setting, and use the makeup gain to get as loud as you need.And FYI - some of the best records of the 90's were recorded in 16 bit. you know me really well, don't you? I'm sorry if you have bad ears and can't notice something like that, but really, this is not helping the guy. he's not using 16 bit pro gear and tight compressor with tons of makeup gain is exactly what he should avoid doing with his acoustics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jlc1587 Posted September 19, 2009 Author Members Share Posted September 19, 2009 you know me really well, don't you? I'm sorry if you have bad ears and can't notice something like that, but really, this is not helping the guy. he's not using 16 bit pro gear and tight compressor with tons of makeup gain is exactly what he should avoid doing with his acoustics. WHat do I need to do? If I record a track and normalize it and it isn't loud enough what do I do? Also what do I do if I sing a note that's way louder than the other notes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jlc1587 Posted September 19, 2009 Author Members Share Posted September 19, 2009 Is there an advantage to running a mic through a compressor (hardware) instead of using software? Or do you mostly just do that for live applications? Using a compressor is hard to do! I'm guessing you just barely add it to do it right? When I do it, it seems to over do it. I'm not really wanting to change the sound so much just compress volume levels. Walk me through your process of using a compressor/limiter. Also I know to limit the entire mix. But some of you are saying to use a compressor on each track? Is it going to matter if I compress the whole thing or each track? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fuleiragem Posted September 19, 2009 Members Share Posted September 19, 2009 WHat do I need to do? If I record a track and normalize it and it isn't loud enough what do I do? Also what do I do if I sing a note that's way louder than the other notes? it is ok to compress to bring things closer, just don't overdo it. if you feel the need to go heavy on the compressor, I suggest you not to use a tight one with tons of gain. try chaining 3 or 4 with moderate settings. if it's still not loud enough just try a toneport ux2. you're already familiar with L6 gear and you'll have mic inputs with phantom power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jlc1587 Posted September 19, 2009 Author Members Share Posted September 19, 2009 it is ok to compress to bring things closer, just don't overdo it. if you feel the need to go heavy on the compressor, I suggest you not to use a tight one with tons of gain. try chaining 3 or 4 with moderate settings. if it's still not loud enough just try a toneport ux2. you're already familiar with L6 gear and you'll have mic inputs with phantom power. Well, I'm not great with the compressor yet. IT seems to over do it. Adding way too much gain even when barely doing it. I got to figure it out better. But should I figure out how to add it before the track or after I record it? I'm going to bed now but I'll check when I wake up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members HKSblade1 Posted September 19, 2009 Members Share Posted September 19, 2009 WHat do I need to do? If I record a track and normalize it and it isn't loud enough what do I do? Also what do I do if I sing a note that's way louder than the other notes? mic control would help. second would be track automation. I don't like normalizing any track unless I copy it and do a A/B test in the mix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ckreon Posted September 19, 2009 Members Share Posted September 19, 2009 you know me really well, don't you? I'm sorry if you have bad ears and can't notice something like that, but really, this is not helping the guy. he's not using 16 bit pro gear and tight compressor with tons of makeup gain is exactly what he should avoid doing with his acoustics. i do this for a living hombre. adding a compressor is not going to ruin anything - its not even a permanent effect. all it is used for is to give him more gain while he's recording for monitoring purposes. when he's done tracking, he takes the plugin out of the channel and, like magic, his beautiful 16 bit audio is just how it was recorded. look JLC - i'm not leading you astray here - you'll be fine with that equipment, and the phantom power on the unit will also be fine. you can use the separate adapter if you'd like, but you can do it either way. i've tracked parts onto a god damn cassette - and had the song get major airplay. the whole song wasn't done to cassette, but a few of the key components were, and it was so good and emotional, we just kept it and worked with it. the song and the performance matter most. the more you worry about gear, the less music you make. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fuleiragem Posted September 19, 2009 Members Share Posted September 19, 2009 Well, I'm not great with the compressor yet. IT seems to over do it. Adding way too much gain even when barely doing it. I got to figure it out better. But should I figure out how to add it before the track or after I record it?I'm going to bed now but I'll check when I wake up. your compressor plugin will probably show you how many dB you "lost" in the process, so be carefull not to add more gain than you lost. until you get used to it, just use it after recording. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members satannica Posted September 19, 2009 Members Share Posted September 19, 2009 FWIW, I record at 24bit, 48k. Plenty headroom. I dither down to 16bit, 44,100 for the final master. I use a Mackie 400f. They're awesome bits of kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fuleiragem Posted September 19, 2009 Members Share Posted September 19, 2009 Is there an advantage to running a mic through a compressor (hardware) instead of using software? he's not looking for a monitoring boost. he's comparing his tracks to pro recordings. he wants a fix and if he goes with hardware then the magic is gone. don't you think we should give him better advice? if he is familiar and happy with L6 gear, why should we complicate things and give him a crash course on compressors just to fix something he's not happy with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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