Helping a friend with an A/V setup

[aresprophet]

I'll quote his post here for starters:

I'm not exactly the most tech savvy guy around so I was wondering if I could get a little help.

Is there a way to connect my amp to my computer, and then (with the right software) record what's being played and mess around with it at a later stage, like add a drum and bass line to it.

I'm sure there would be a way, but I have no idea what I'd need or how I could go about doing it.

Any advice?

And then the part which made me think of these forums:

I'm about to go and buy me a new computer, I'm getting help from a friend of mine and we're building it piece by piece. This is part of the reason I'm asking this, I always knew that this kind of thing could be done, but I had little to no idea of how to do it, I also couldn't be bothered upgrading to everything necessary to do it well.

So I'm buying all my stuff on wednesday, what would you suggest buying (soundcards, connections, programs etc.) to do this. I'm not looking to have a professional setup, but I'd like something better then downloading some crappy program that revolves around monkeys hitting bongos with coconuts for a drum line.

Cheers.

It's a little out of my area of expertise, but I'd like to help him anyway. I've asked some more clarifying questions and await a response - will post that here when it comes. In the meantime, any suggestions for the kinds of hardware and software he'd need would be appreciated.

[SonicVanguard]

One, the last thing your friend wants to do is run an amp to his computer. The signal would be way too hot. But he can either run direct (instrument --> computer), though a preamp or preamp output (instrument --> preamp --> computer), through a non-powered mixer (instrument --> mixer --> computer) or mic the amp (miced amp --> mixer or mic preamp --> computer).

I'm going to assume your friend either plays guitar or keys - if he has a preamp output on his amp, that will work. But it won't give him the sound he's getting from his amp (hence the pre part of preamp). And if he plays guitar, he probrably wants his guitar to sound like it does coming from his amp. If that is the case, the best way to go about this is the last senario I gave you. Something low-end as a Shure SM-57 mic will do the trick for a guitar. But I would run though a preamp of mixer to clean the signal a bit - although it's really not required with a dynamic mic like a SM-57.

As for software - Cakewalk has a program built specifically for guitarists - Guitar Tracks Pro (http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/GuitarTracksPro/default.asp). It's perfect for the guitarist just getting into recording on a computer. There are of course many other options software wise.

For a soundcard - I'd go with soemthing fairly professional simply because if ASIO (professional audio driver standard) and latency (which ASIO drivers take care of). I'd look for a M-Audio Audiophile 2496 (http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Audiophile2496-main.html). It's a great sounding card and will handle anything a guitarist can throw at it. It will give him a pair of high quality analog inputs & outputs (2 channels - or joint stereo) and a pair of digital inputs & outputs. Considering the Audiophile 192 just hit the market, the 2496 should be coming down a bit in price.

Keep in mind these are only basics - your friend is going to have to become a technophile to a certain degree if he really wants to do anything serious. He needs to research the different audio editors available to know what best suits him (and that's just the start of it all).

Dave.

[Hi Ho]

Dave has covered pretty much everything. HERE (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=29-121-103&depa=0) is a link to that card on Newegg[/url].

[Foges]

i have basically the same problem, that i want ot start recording my guitar on my computer, but dont know how. I ofc want the sound to be as clear as it can get, but dont know 100% how. Now i see that SonicVanguard has answered it, but i am not totaly clear about the answer, so:
you mean it would be best to have a microphone infront of the amp, and the microphone is connected to my computer?
Is there no soundcard that will connect the guitar straight to the computer and give it a good sound?
and what is a "preamp of mixer"?
What type of cables do i need to connect the Audiophile 2496 to the mic?
Is the Audiophile 2496 the best card or are cards like the SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum better?

[SonicVanguard]

Going direct (guitar --> computer) is your choice. Most guitarists want/like the sound that comes from their amp so they record from the amp. Will you get a good sound going from the guitar directly to the computer - I personally don't like the sound at all. Any guitarist I work with - and I mean any - will get recorded via miced amp.

The Audiophile 2496 and Audiphile 192 are professional cards - no consumer-based card can top them - not even the Audigy4Pro.

A preamp or a mixer ('of' was a typo) something that will allow you to set gain stages for your mic - so your levels are at 0 (zero) dB.

Dave.

[Foges]

thanx for the reply, so i should get the Audiophile and then hook it up to some mixer card, how are the behringer's? like this one (http://www.behringer.com/UB802/index.cfm?lang=ENG) for example? This one will connect to the card right?

[SonicVanguard]

That it will but for just guitar work, consider this (http://www.behringer.com/MIC100/index.cfm?lang=ENG). Street value is around $60 and at that price, it can't be beat for it's warmth and quality.

Dave.

[Foges]

ok, thanx. well they have it here where i come from, anyways can you only plug one guitar into this device? what if i want to plug a bass into it aswell would that work? or would it be better to connect this tube mic100 to another mixer later?

[SonicVanguard]

I like to run a preamp like this between a mixer and a mic - but I would run from the preamp to the mixer via 1/4" cable rather than a XLR (thereby circumventing the mixer's on-board preamp which are usually substandard).

But yes, that preamp will only handle one input at a time.

Dave.

[Foges]

ok, thanx, but when connecting the mic100 to the audiophile i can connect via the l + r 1/4" plug to the l + r in's in the back of the audiophile, not an xlr right? are the xlr's only for mic's?

[Foges]

Ok, i just bought the behringer tube mic 100. Now how exactly do i work it? do i just have to use press the limiter button and adjust the gain and output as i prefer it?

[SonicVanguard]

Ok, i just bought the behringer tube mic 100. Now how exactly do i work it? do i just have to use press the limiter button and adjust the gain and output as i prefer it?
That's about it. Get the sound to your taste and you're done.

Dave.

[Foges]

ok, i connected my audiophile card to pci slot and got it working with my speakers. Now the only problem i have is that when i hook my guitar up to the tube mic100 there is no sound coming from my speakers. I can open up the m-audio controll panel, and it shows that something is playing, but there is just no output. What can i do??

[SonicVanguard]

So you see a signal in the master volume meter but you're not hearing anything? Are you sure nothing's muted? Do you have the output routed to the monitor mix?

[Foges]

if i route the output to the multi i get absolutely no sound. the output sound only works with wavout 1/2. the master volume doesnt move when i play the guitar, only the h/w in 1/2 moves. the wierd thing is that if i go to control pannel > audio > volume and go to options > advanced, the only preference that will show any recording controlls is the m-audio delta ap multi.

Edit: i just found out that if i go to h/w in 1/2 in the patchbay/router menu in the m audio controll pannel i get sound from the guitar, but no sound from any devices installed on my computer. i think need to get the windows control panel sound hooked up to the monitor mixer, which till yet doesnt seem to work.

[SonicVanguard]

Which version of the Delta Control Panel and driver do you have? I believe the latest are:
Driver: 5.10.00.0046
Panel: 1.03.17-2.2.00

In the windows audio control panel you should have M-Audio Delta Multi or 1/2 selected as your mixer device.

[Foges]

i updated the drivers, but i still cant get both to play simultaneously

the problem seems to be that i cant configure the windows control panel to have m-audio delta ap mon. mixer as a playback option. arg

[Foges]

hmm, its anoying, it seems like ill just have to listen to the sound of my e-guitar from the sound of me playing ampless.

[SonicVanguard]

I guess I'm a bit lost - what can't you play simultaneously?

[Foges]

ok, i got it to work now. Thanks so much for all your help though. :D