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Recording problems

Uberduck

By Uberduck
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Uberduck Contributor

Uberduck

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As I don't really record many of my mixes for personal enjoyment this is a bit of a grey area for me....

I'm in the process of trying to record my submission for the Secret Santa but I'm having major problems with the final quality of it (the sound, not my mixing!). Perhaps this is a Mickey Mouse way of doing it but........

I record mixes onto my laptop by running a phono to 3.5mm jack cable from the record output on my mixer straight into the microphone socket on the laptop. I use the Microsoft 'Sound Recorder' application and record straight to WMA file format. On the sound section of the Control Panel it gives three options of record quality:

2 channel 16bit 44,100 Hz CD Quality

2 channel 16bit 48,000 Hz DVD Quality

2 channel 16bit 96,000 Hz Studio Quality

If I record onto the CD quality then it comes out too quiet and if I try and boost this by pushing more through my mixer, it obviosly becomes distorted. he DVD quality sound good but it has an occasional crackle over the top. Studio quality sounds gash as it's really crackly.

However much I mess about with levels on my mixer or the record levels on the sound section of Control Panel, it never gets perfect quality.

Is this possibly due to the fact that my soundcard is rubbish or am I being totally blonde in the way I'm recording? I'm pretty sure my soundcad is a 'Realtek - High Definition Audio', which I guess is basic as it came with my laptop. I may have to bite the bullet and get a new soundcard anyway when it comes to converting my vinyl.

Any suggestions from the technoheads?? :confused: :confused:

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Aza Contributor

Aza

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Just skim read through that and, from my immediate reaction, I think the problem doesn't lie anywhere with what your doing.

Should you not be putting the recording into your Laptop's 'line in' socket rather than the 'mic'?

Line in is better quality I gather? Well, that's what I use?

EDIT:

Furthermore, MS Sound Recorder is not really the best prog to use... I use (and always have) NeroWave Editor (bundled with Nero).

You should record straight in at CD quality (44.1KHz, Stereo) and also save it initially as a WAV (Windows Media Audio (WMA) is a compressed format). From there you should convert it to mp3, but if its going straight onto CD, leave it as a WAVE and just burn it as it is (properly worthwhile just splitting it into tracks though) so that you don't loose any quality.

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Neuro Legend

Neuro

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Both excellent suggestions from Justin & Aza.

Definitely Line In - it's exactly where incoming audio should go. Buy an external soundcard as Justin said and then rip a WAV as Aza described using the highest bitrate possible.

Then rip it to a nice mp3 using an encoder such as the one found here. If ripping vinyl, give it a clean and then whilst recording always monitor it live through headphones for any blips, before ripping to 320, nothing less ;)

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Uberduck Contributor

Uberduck

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Nice one guys! Would an external soundcard have a socket for 'Line In'? My PC doesn't appear to have that capacity. Downloaded the WinLAME Tim. How does that work then? I guess once I've recorded the track I then use that program to change it to 320?

Sorry guys, I'm not the most technical when it comes to computers and sound!! :rolleyes:

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Justin Haze Regular poster

Justin Haze

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Nice one guys! Would an external soundcard have a socket for 'Line In'? My PC doesn't appear to have that capacity. Downloaded the WinLAME Tim. How does that work then? I guess once I've recorded the track I then use that program to change it to 320?

Sorry guys, I'm not the most technical when it comes to computers and sound!! :rolleyes:

Yeah that Creative connect soundcard lets you record "Line In". I can assure you that this package is a peace of piss to hook up. Basically one USB and two RCA`s :thumbsup:

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Neuro Legend

Neuro

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Downloaded the WinLAME Tim. How does that work then? I guess once I've recorded the track I then use that program to change it to 320? :rolleyes:

All recording decent programs like Nero will let you save what came in through the Line In as a WAV file... the bitrate for that runs into the millions of Hertz and will be an absolutely enormous file size. The only reason everyone converts all audio into mp3s is purely to save space, and that's where the encoder comes in (like Winlame, which does the job). It can convert the file into any type of mp3 quality you like, from CD quality (320k) to awful (1k or whatever, lol). So after converting, the filename will change from .WAV to .MP3 and you're left with a much smaller file - done. :)

The converting into mp3 is the easy bit to be fair; the hardest by far is getting some decent recording software first and making sure the volume level going into your PC is absolutely perfect.

Uber, your "Sound Recorder" already on your PC will not do the job, and probably doesn't allow you to save beyond 96,000 Hz (96k) because it knows the soundcard can't understand anything of higher quality than that :(

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KSheehan Experienced Member

KSheehan

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I record using my mic socket (as I dont have a line in on my laptop) and it works jus fine. I use 'Total Recorder'- a really simple and effective program which also allows you to record any sound that comes through your sound card! I've heard good things about that "creative sound card" thingy too!!

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Aza Contributor

Aza

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Hmmm - if you can get away with that then cool, but surely that is not the textbook deffo?

If you are serious about your mxing and want to ensure a decent recording and using some decent kit I would get an external sound card :)

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Justin Haze Regular poster

Justin Haze

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So how does this work then? On the pic it has sockets for phono's too. Is this just plugged into your computer and then the 'line in' plug goes into it? :huh: I'd appreciate a brief explanation . Thanks.

Right you plug the soundcard into your laptop via a USB cable then run phono cables from the soundcard to your mixer and speakers / amp - simple! Good software with it too

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Neuro Legend

Neuro

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Yep it's basically a piece of hardware that likes good quality audio and wants you to feed it that from your mixer or player; and because it's linked to your PC, it already has a power source and your PC knows its there so it can easily control what it does by software that probably came with the soundcard - so you can pause and start and stop recording, and save etc. It's better than your built-in soundcard which clearly isn't capable usually of handling high quality audio input from outside.

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Uberduck Contributor

Uberduck

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basically a piece of hardware that likes good quality audio and wants you to feed it that from your mixer or player;

:lol: You've almost given it a personality there Tim!

Sorry for all the questions but does this soundcard have the software needed to record single tracks and mixes? I'm a little bit confused.

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Neuro Legend

Neuro

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I'm not sure, but when you buy a soundcard it usually comes with some sort of recording software - if this turns out to be irritating then I'm sure someone on here can help you out by 'suggesting' other software which is better.

You've almost given it a personality there Tim!

I often talk to inanimate objects, especially if they're not working. A newly-installed oven is a good example of this!

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Uberduck Contributor

Uberduck

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Bought this device on Friday. Have just installed it on my computer! Will have a fiddle with it later today after I've watched the Milan game on 5.

Hmm. Just been trying to get this [soundblaster Connect] to work but am having major problems. After many attempts of getting this kit to work I'm still bamboozled. I've successfully managed to instal all the software and have updated my device drivers so that this kit should work. The problem is that when I try and open the actual recording program it states that "There is no audio device available on the system. The application will now close". What the hell that mean's I don't know??

The Soundblaster looks to be working as the LED on the top is on. Many hours are now required getting frustrated messing about on the 'Support' section of the Creative website

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Neuro Legend

Neuro

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Uber try going to Start> Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices

Make sure that under the "Audio" tab in that that you have selected your new soundcard under Sound Recording and Sound Playback, or else your laptop will get confused as to which device it's meant to be using.

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Uberduck Contributor

Uberduck

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I sent my query to the technical department of Creative last night and they replied today (speedy response!). The guy informed me that although some of the software that comes with the Creative Connect is Vista compatable, Soundblaster installation disc and Smart Recorder will not work with Vista?? Funny, as the box says it's compatable with Vista? He's given me a whole list of things I need to do to get the card working and a way round recording sound. Looks a total mission to me and not something I feel confident doing :( I can see this going very wrong :unsure: .

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Uberduck Contributor

Uberduck

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Right..... Next problem!!

I've been badgering Tim about this and I'm ready to raise the white flag but he insists I persevere.

I've managed to get my SB Connect working now and have successfully managed to convert a couple of vinyl's to MP3. That is until Tim urinated on my raging [and quite happy] fire ;) . I recorded the tracks using sound recorder (with the SB Connect as the soundcard) because the SB Connect software isn't compatible with Vista. Now the problem with Sound Recorder is that it will only let me save the tracks as 96kbps WMA and not WAV (to be converted to MP3 later). With other versions of Vista it does give an option of saving as WAV files. As Tim explains, I want them as WAV to start off with as this maximises the quality before encoding to MP3.

Can anyone suggest a solution to this without me having to buy another soundcard :mellow: ? I dont mind spending a few quid on decent sound recording software but it'd have to be compatable with Vista Home Premium.

I'd greatly appreciate any assistance :) .

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Aza Contributor

Aza

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I've stated many times on here that Nero WaveEditor is the boy for me. It's simple and now (like you having a bit of trouble with Vista) is compatible with my OS.

Seems a bummer really as your restricted to your lappy with no 'line-in'. Could you not use NeroWaveEditor with that soundcard?

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