Laptop Sound Card

Howdy Everyone,
I have just started experimenting with recording with my laptop. I'm using Power Tracks Pro Audio 8. I wanted to record some songs to post on the Zone, but I have discovered, to my horror, that when I record myself with just a standard UB1002FX mixer (reverb set to 00) straight into the microphone on my laptop, I SOUND HORRIBLE! When I listen with my headphones it sounds FINE, but the recording is "leaving out" a lot of the range. Will a better sound card help me out or am I about to face the cold hard fact that my voice is not very good?

My second question is this:
What PCMCIA sound card would you recommend. The Creative Sound Blaster Audigy looks good and is in my price range ($100). Does anyone have any experience with this model or can you recommend something else in that price range?

Thanks so much!
Charlie

That's the one I just obtained, the Audigy 2 ZS. Haven't tried it out yet, but it's been highly recommended by others. Do a google for a rebate.

Glenn

Thanks Glenn...
I'll check for the rebate and BTW, congratulations on your Senior Dance success... there is nothing better than having a performance that everyone enjoys; that's what it is all about.

Charlie

I'm using the Creative SB Audigy as well ... sounds real good, but there are times that the vocals seem to be missing some of the mids and highs ... could also be due to the speakers you are listening through ...
t.

Tony...
You may have struck on the real issue here... When I play the recording back, I have been playing it back on the LAPTOP! How stupid of me.... maybe if I save it as an MP3 and then put it on a CD and play it through my CD player hooked to my Z5500s, it will sound better?
What do you think?
Thanks,
Charlie

If the song sounds good through the headphones, but lousy from the speakers--it's not the sound card's fault--it's the speaker system.

Most OEM sound cards work just fine, and more often than not they'll provide you with excellent quality recordings, both midi and audio (.wav/mp3). I wish I had a dollar for every person that thought their recordings would dramatically improve just by changing the sound card--hell, I could have been retired by now.

The bottom line is the card is likely not the culprit. The easy test is to put a professionally recorded CD in the laptop,fire it through the speakers, then plug in the headphones and take note of the difference. If the speakers don't sound as good as the headphones, and you cannot tune the sound system to closely match the headphones using the EQ, etc, then it's time to think seriously about buying a new sound system.

Good Luck,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

Good point Gary. You can get a decent recording and playback even using most of the cheap soundcards that come in today's computers.

The Audigy will add some to the quality of any digital recordings that you may wnat to do, along with the advantage of using ASIO drivers that will greatly reduce latency, but you can do ok without it. If latency becomes an issue, you could always employ the use of the freeware ASIO4All generic ASIO drivers, which pretty much will work with just about any XP system and soundcard. I've used that setup with my laptop ( as a sound module only, not for recording ) when both space and setup time was at a premium and I didn't want to bring my USB quattro external soundcare along.

If you're going to do any serious recording, mixing, and mastering, that's when you might need to consider a higher quality card. The Audigy is fine, but I doubt you'd ever see it in action in any pro studio.

AJ

Howdy Gary!
First of all, I didn't quite explain my setup... the headphones that I'm referring to are plugged into the "headphones" plug on the UB1002FX mixer, not the laptop. When I listen to what I'm recording, it sounds GOOD, but when I play it back on the laptop, it sounds TERRIBLE. So the sound card COULD be the problem... right?
WAIT, WAIT, WAIT... I just thought of another test.... I'll do as Gary suggested and plug my headphones into the laptop and see how it sounds bypassing the laptop speakers.
Thanks,
Charlie

[This message has been edited by Charlie71 (edited 01-17-2006).]

Maybe ...but there are other possibilities to explore as well. You may be overdriving the signal from the mixer into the laptop. Remember that the laptop's soundcard probably has a mic input as opposed to a line input. because of this, it is important to greatly reduce the amount of signal going from the mixer to the card.

Does PT 8 have any Vu meters ( I'm not that familiar with the app ). If so, these should tell the story. If not, you might want to d/l a freeware one from somewhere like KVR Audio.

Another Q .. Are you recording at 44Khz and 16 bits. If you are recording at less there will surely be a noticeable degradation in sound quality.

What type of cords / jacks are you using between the two ?

AJ

Howdy AJ,

First, let me re-iterate the main issue. The recording seems to be very "dry" and doesn't sound full like I'm hearing it as I record it. Even the reverb that I add seems to be missing and the accompaniment is missing the "fullness" that I hear when I'm listening to the sound as I'm recording it. There is no "interference" or "static" or anything like that, it just sounds like it was recorded on a portable cassette recorder with only the condenser mic.

Now for the rest of your questions:
Power Tracks has Vu Meters and I'm definitely not overdriving the input. I have it set so that my max is less than the "clip" limit. As far as cables, I'm using a standard "double RCA to Mini 1/8 plug. I'm using the "out to tape" connectors on the UB1002FX and connecting directly to the "microphone" input on the laptop. There is no "line in" on my laptop.

How do I check to see if I'm recording at 44Khz and 16 bits?

Thanks,
Charlie

[This message has been edited by Charlie71 (edited 01-17-2006).]

[This message has been edited by Charlie71 (edited 01-17-2006).]

Most audio recording apps have some kind of option menu somewhere in the program itself that allows the user to determine which soundcard to use ( for comps that have multiple soundcards ) and at which rate you prefer to work with. I'm pretty certain that PT8 has that, and you should be able it tell by accessing it.

It's also possible that there are some loss issues with the DAC converters, as is often the case with some of the cheaper computer audio cards. Add that to a little more loss from using RCA to mini 1/8 inch jack connectors, and this may also be a contribuyor. Sometimes it is enough to make a rather discernible difference, in which case you likely would need a better card.

AJ

Thanks, AJ,
I'll check my settings in PT8 to see if they are set correctly. How could I avoid the cord issue? The only input I have is the 1/8" mini... What would you suggest for the cabling? I can use the "Main Out" connectors on the UB1002FX which are standard 1/4", but how do I get that adapted to the 1/8" mini? How do you go from two 1/4" connectors to one 1/8" mini?
Thanks,
Charlie

Charlie

There are cords available that are setup with 2 1/4 inch males on one end and a single stereo 1/8 inch male on the other. I picked up mine at a local music store, but if not there are plenty of online stores that should have these.

AJ

Charlie,

Now I know why you're having a problem. You do have a line-in, but you have to know where it is and how to activate it.

The Line-In is the same jack as the mic jack, but you have to take it a step or two farther.

1. Plug the stereo output of the mixer into the 1/8-inch mic jack on the laptop.

2. Double click the small, speaker icon on the lower right corner of the laptop screen, which will open the Volume Control screen in Windows.

3. Click Options, Properties, then Click Recording.

4. Place a check mark in the Stereo Mix box and click OK.

5. Now place a check mark in the select box beneath the Stereo Mix slider, set the slider at about 50 percent volume level, then close the page.

This selects the stereo, line-in for the computer. You were apparently recording through the mic connection, which would explain why you were having problems. BTW, to my knowledge there is no way to make these settings default, therefore, before each recording session, the settings must be made using the above steps.

Hope this helps,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

Thanks Gary. I totally missed that one. I still recommend testing your recording app's settings and ditching those adapters if you can Charlie.

AJ

Gary and AJ...
WOW! That solved the problem! Even with the crummy adapters, the sound is EXACTLY what I'm hearing when I record! I'm ordering the new cable assemblies today, AJ.

Now, I have no excuse for not getting some things recorded and posted...

You guys are AWESOME and once again, Gary, you have come through for me. When I get my OMB finally setup, I'm going to put a card on my setup that says, "Thanks to Gary Diamond for making this all possible."

Appreciatively....
Charlie

No problem Charlie--Glad I was able to help.

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

Should an upgrade soundcard also improve MIDI sound?

It may help somewhat with playback, but you will be hard pressed to hear a significant improvement over the OEM card. Mush of this is likely due to the fact that OEM cards have vasty improved over the past decade to accommodate computer games, MP3s and other audio devices.

Good Luck,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy