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Original message:439 days 23 hours 35 minutes ago
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Member: Jotun
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Hello...I just record for fun jamming along with songs/making a few tracks, and have always done it by mic, but recently i decided to go amp speaker output directly into my sound card. First off my sound card is a Creative SB XFI Xtreme Gamer...and I am going from my amp (Crate GX-15) speaker output (not headphone) into my mic channel on my soundcard. Is this wrong and could I damage anything? And secondly are there any programs I should be using, like ones specifically for doing this type of thing? I have an excellent single track recorder, but the only multi track one i have is Kristal and I really dont like it.

When I try to record multi tracks using my mic, the backround sounds tend to build up and it will become really unclear (the only program I've used to do this was kristal). But I'm also having a problem with the line in, it tends to be kind of muffled...but I think thats due to my crappy old amp (its 10+ years old, but it still has the best tone ever :) ) and i think my battery for my EMG pickups is also close to dying.

Should I just invest in a good mic and record that way? I would prefer to record with my line in as it a lot easier trying to record something coming from my computer and my guitar at the same time....it will also let me record with lower noises (i can do it when other people are asleep :) ) and it wont record any backround sounds.

I play an Ibanez SZ520 with EMG 81/60 pickups, and I only use a Crate GX-15 practice amp at home...any help is appreciated, thanks.

and here are some examples of stuff I've recorded before using my $10 mic.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZQo2W-lPFZk
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QRh-uHoMvlk (ignore the bass muffling on this one, I forgot to turn my subwoofer down when recording)
Reply:439 days 23 hours 28 minutes ago
Member: shanejohnson2002
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Here's what I would suggest:

A good low-latency recording system usually involves firewire or a direct PCI card in your computer. You can get some cheap firewire units that'll do the trick, but for my purposes, PCI is where it's at. M-Audio makes a Delta1010 system that's insanely amazing.

As far as making your amp sound good...good luck. It's not known for being an awesome amp, live or recording. You'd be suprised though...I've gotten some almost marshall-like recorded sounds out of a cheapo Fender Frontman, cranked wide open and close-mic'd with some very liberal EQing and compression.

As far as mic's, a good place to start would be the industry standards: Shure SM57 or Sennheiser e609. Both are under $100, and do the job nicely.

You can check MusiciansFriend for a decent assortment of firewire and PCI interfaces. The mics are there also. I'd steer clear of anything USB...it's just not fast enough and tends to have some serious latency issues.

Anything else as far as techniques or tricks to make things sound bigger or fuller or whatever you want, ask around here and search online. There's tons of knowledgable guys (and girls) around here, and even more out there in the interweb. First though, I would just concentrate on getting a good mic'd sound down to tape...or hard disk, or whatever.

Good luck!


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Reply:439 days 23 hours 21 minutes ago
Member: Jotun
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Thanks for the info...i dont know much about firewire, or pci-e recording...all I know is plug the mic in and hit record :P. My soundcard is PCI-E (i believe) and i also have a firewire card.
Reply:439 days 23 hours 10 minutes ago
Member: shanejohnson2002
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Your soundcard probably isn't a recording soundcard...most likely it's a gaming / multimedia soundcard, which is alright, but the Delta1010 gives you 8 channels, like on a mixer, with combination mic and 1/4" plugs. All you'd have to do (until you decide to upgrade certain things later) is to hook your mic into one of the channels that has a preamp (1 and 2 on the 1010, I believe) and hit record. You could also get 2 mics and record guitar and vocals, or x/y the mics and use both on the guitar...the possibilities are endless.

Firewire works much the same way. You just buy a firewire interface with mic plugs (they're called XLR plugs), make sure it has a built-in preamp (most do these days, from what I can tell), and go to town. You do have to install it just like any peripheral hardware but once it's set, it's usually pretty hands-free.
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Reply:439 days 23 hours 9 minutes ago
Member: SATAN
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uh.... dont plug in your speaker output to your computer.... headphone jack, yes, speaker, no. that can blow shit up. have fun though.
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METAL. Nuff said.
Reply:439 days 20 hours 28 minutes ago
Member: JTC
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Also, if your recording sounds muffled you may have the mic boost on and the mic recording volume too high. Make sure you use the line in and not the mic imput jack. Turn off the mic boost and in the recording properties reduce the input volume on the mic slider. If find it tough to record a guitar direct out of an amp into the computer without peaking the input on my system (my wifes laptop is even more difficult). I used to record to my computer using only my RP100A modeling pedal. When using this equipment I had to drag the mic slider on the computer down to almost nothing in order to get a clear recording.

Hope this helps...
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Reply:439 days 18 hours 58 minutes ago
Member: shanejohnson2002
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That's probably because the output on your pedal was way too high. I have used digital modelers before and have had no trouble getting the levels set right. The key is to not slam the computer with a ton of output.
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Reply:439 days 17 hours 2 minutes ago
Member: JTC
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Jotun,

Where you mention that when recording using the mic that the background sounds tend to build up and become unclear,,, This is where the use of headphones becomes important so that you don't have residual noise from the previous tracks playing from your computer speakers being recorded through the mic onto your new track. What I'm trying to say is that you should listin to the output from your computer via headphones as you record the new track so those previously recorded sounds are not picked up by the mic intended to record directly from the amp.

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Dreaming of a New Cloud
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Reply:439 days 15 hours 36 minutes ago
Member: G_Barber
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What I do is plug a Y cable into my Digitech RP80, and run that into the line in of my sound card, not the microphone in. I don't have any kind of special sound card at all, just the on board one that came on the PC. I usually use Acid or Cubase to do my recording, you get unlimited tracks to work with with those. You usually have to mess around with the EQ of your recorded tracks to cut down on any buzz you might get if your sound has a lot of gain.
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Reply:439 days 12 hours 50 minutes ago
Member: JTC
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Can you explain the use of the Y Cable? Also is this a Y cable that has a male stereo end and two female stereo ends or does it split a stereo signal into seperate left and right mono signals?

I'm looking for a Y cable that takes the headphone output of my BR-600 and splits it so that two sets of headphones can be used to listen. I'm not sure which type of Y cable to buy to make this work.
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Reply:439 days 2 hours 11 minutes ago
Member: G_Barber
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These are links to the stuff that I'm using:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102972&cp=&sr=1&origkw=y+cable&kw=y+cable&parentPage=search

and

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103711&cp=&pg=3&sr=1&origkw=rca+adapter&kw=rca+adapter&parentPage=search

I plug the phono to mono adapters into the left and right outputs of my RP80. Then, I plug in the male phono ends of the y cable in to the adapters, with the 1/8" stereo end going into the line in of my sound card. The cable you would be looking for is probably here:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=54256&st=y+adapter&lp=2&type=product&cp=1&id=1069301596185
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Reply:439 days 5 hours 46 minutes ago
Member: Nathan Roberts
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Ok. If you need a good multi track recorder, get REAPER. It's free, powerful, small, and FREE!(I realize I've already said free). The User agreement says that after 30 days they trust you to pay 40 dollars, but you don't have to as its not enforced. I like the program so much that I might actually pay! It has great effects, easy recording, and its completely amazing!

Here's the site-
http://www.cockos.com/reaper/download.php
Just copy and paste it.

It's so small, I even fit it on my flash drive!
Reply:438 days 6 hours 22 minutes ago
Member: Jotun
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ok thanks for all the advice guys...my souncard only has 1 line in, its a flexi jack for line in and microphone...

and on my amp if i hook it up to headphones, nothing happens...i can only get sound if it hooks up to the speaker jack
Reply:438 days 2 hours 56 minutes ago
Member: ibzRG
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