External sound card?

[Michael Haselman]

What's a decent one that's not too spendy. I'll mainly be using for Power Tracks, no professional recording. Sorry if this is redundant.

[Bent Romnes]

Michael, this is not redundant at all...on the contrary it is very current IMO.

I settled for an Audio Interface, or more to the point, a Mixer. The one I got is an Alesis Multi 8 USB 2.0
Look it up at Musicians friend or and place where sound gear is sold.
When the Alesis is plugged in to your USB port, in effect it becomes your sound card.
It has 8 channels...plug-ins for phantom power, and 8 for regular 1/4" jacks. It has a 3 band EQ for each channel, plus 100 digital presets (reverb, concert hall etc)

It is a great interface to use for recording or as a regular mixer for live performances.

They might be pricey compared to a sound card (about $300 US)

I am am having some delivery problems (due to a mixup at the store) and I cant wait to get it and start learning on it.

This unit was recommended to me by John Roche (sound man) and I am glad I followed his advice.

[Michael Haselman]

Sounds interesting. So, then would Power Tracks recognize it it as a sound card? For the record, I have Soundblaster Audigy SE, a cheap one. I'm having sync problems when I record audio. When I record, say a guitar track, the track I recorded will drift faster as time goes on. This is at 44.1. if I switch to 48 bit sample it works ok, but then I can't burn correctly so it needs to be rendered back down. Kind of a nuisance. I'd just like an external device for recording.

[Billy McCombs]

Michael I have been useing a Presonus 24 bit Fire Box for about 3 months with Power Tracks and BB. About 300.00 at Guitar Center. Im new to recording and its working for me. It also come with Cubas Le software but I have not gone there yet. Billy

[Bent Romnes]

Sounds interesting. So, then would Power Tracks recognize it it as a sound card?

Yes, it will. If you have win XP, this is what happens the first time you plug it in: Windows will tell you that the correct driver has been found and installed.
If your Power tracks is like my Adobe audition 3, it will be set up but you might have to go into preferences and select it.

[Michael Haselman]

Well, I went and got a Behringer Xenyx 802. It doesn't have USB, but I believe it will work for my applications. Actually the main use is going to be for my in-ears. I play steel/fiddle/6-string, so I'm running those plus my vocals into one input and take the main board feed into the other. Seems like a nice little unit for $66, and I believe it will work nice for my simple recording projects.

[Delvin Morgan]

Michael,
Let us know how your little Xenyx 802 works out. I am looking for a mixer of some sort. I want to play around with making my own backing tracks and some songs. I have a Multi-trac for recording, but need a "real" mixer for all the mics and instruments, Steel, electric guitar and acoustic guitar and maybe a little b@~?o

[Michael Haselman]

Well, Delvin, I played the South St. Paul VFW last night, and for the in-ears it works great. I got very nice sounds, preamp out of the NV112, I use a Fishman Platinum for fiddle, so out of that, and split mic signals for 6-string and vocals. It's very nice to have the controls for all my sounds (and, really, what else matters ) right next to me. I can't imagine this thing not working very nicely for recording. $66, so not much to lose. Mike

[Greg Wisecup]

http://www.lexiconpro.com/ProductIndex.aspx?ProductID=7
Works great $99.00 incl. Cubase LE

[DennyFast]

Bent, I just got the Alesis MultiMix8 USB 2.0 and It won't install the drivers either from the CD or the ones I downloaded from the internet! I running WinXP with 2.0 sevice pack. Got any idea's on what to do? Denny

[Bent Romnes]

Hi Denny,
The CD that came with your mixer contains Cubase and some drivers. I didn't install Cubase as yet. Too busy with Adobe 3. The driver on my disc proved to be up to date. I checked on the web site and found out that there were no updates.

Don't worry. The first time you plug in the Alesis, your XP auto detects and installs the appropriate driver. Just make sure that you follow the instructions in the book during the initial startup, and the on-screen instructions when the mixer shows up on your computer.
When done, your machine is ready to go.

Stay in touch, we'll figure it out.

[DennyFast]

Thanks Bent, I got it up an goin! All I had to do was re-plug the 2.0 into the extra ports in front of the pc! So far it's a great unit, play back is incredible and today I'll check the vocal quility out. I'll keep you informed..Thanks for the help! Denny

[Bent Romnes]

hey Denny np. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I did my first recording yesterday using the Alesis coupled with Adobe Audition 3.0. My picking stinks but the gear performed flawlessly. Now I am trying to learn a bit of editing. Not an easy task for a cardboard ear.

Make sure you let me know when you learn some tricks on the mixer!

[DennyFast]

Hi Bent, I'll bet your pickin is better than what you admit too!! I'm also using Cool Edit pro 2.0 which is now Adobe Audition and It is the best editing machine I've ever used, records great too.
My main program is Studio4 and it's amazing. I had to get a better mic pre-amp though, and it should be here this week. So far, the Alesis is working great and I like the idea of the mixer and soundcard together. It make everything a whole lot easier to work with. I'll let you know later how it all works out. Denny

[Bent Romnes]

Denny, sadly no, my picking is bad. After learning for 12 years, then quitting at age 38 and then trying to pick it back up at age 60, the picking isn't good.
But I don't care. I have no studio dates and no gigs to practice for. I pick away at songs that I love. At age 61 it is good for a brain to have the steel to help stay in shape. The added bonus is that I have always had a fascination for sound and recording. With the advent of digital recording, the opportunity to learn is right at my fingertips.

I am getting on to Adobe somewhat. The difficulty now is to determine what buttons to drag where when, say, the compressor window pops up. It is hard to get the sound I hear in my head. Maybe you or others can give me some shortcuts?

[DennyFast]

Don't feel bad about being 61, I just turned 60 in March! I'll help you with Adobe Audition if I can, I've been workin with it for about 7 yrs now, just let me know the problem and I'll see if I can help. My new mic pre-amp will be here today and with the Alesis Multi8, I should get the vocal sound I'm after. Talk to ya later....Denny

[Webb Kline]

Denny,
I have Adobe Audition and I can't get it to stop bleeding previous tracks over to the next track. I'm using it on my laptop. Do you think it might be a soundcard issue? I have a Peavey USB mixer that I'm using to get into the PC.

[Al Marcus]

Hi Greg, Can yu tell me more agout your Lexicon Alpha with Cubase for only $99. It is easy to Work with, for a non-recording engineer.? Is Cubase easy to use?
I am still looking at various machines and the Boss BR600 seems to highly regarded. I do have a Samson Mixer with phantom power,effects, etc. paid $79.00 for it from Sam Ash.
Thanks...al.:)

[DennyFast]

I'm sorry for not getting back to you, I didn't notice your question, old age I reckon! I've never had a problem with tracks bleeding over to another, I don't think it's a soundcard issue but maybe someone else here in the forum can help. I'll do a little research on it and get back to you.

[Al Marcus]

Denny-I am looking for an easy recording program to use and havne't found any yet for a non engineer. I dont want to go back to college just to learn to record my music.

Can you give us some specifics on how you are using Adobe.? Thanks...al.:)

[DennyFast]

Hi Al, I use two different programs. One is Cool Edit Pro 2.0 which is Adobe Audition now and to me it's great! It had the best editing features I have ever found, very easy to use and great sound quility. The other is Cubase Studio 4 and it also is great. Both are around $300 which is high but worth it to me. If you need more info, get back to me.

[Al Marcus]

Denny-Thanks for your response, I'll check it out and get back with you...al:):)

[Earnest Bovine]

I don't think you should spend hundreds of dollars on a fancy Cubase program. Instead, you can just use the version of Cubase, Cubase LE, which is included free when you buy most any audio interface. It has enough features to keep you busy for a long time.

[DennyFast]

When your right, your right! I was only suggesting stand alone recording software if you already have equipment.

[James Collett]

i'm a Cubase guy! If you want simple, you can use it simply. But if you want to geat more complex, it'll go as far as you need. I have the full version, and have yet to find a place it is lacking in something.