I downloaded audacity. I made a beat on the 404. Now I'm trying to record into Audacity on my laptop. So far I've been successful with getting the signal in, it just sounds horribly muddy. Is this the sound quality that I should expect from a free program? Do i have to shell out $700 for a damn M-Box?

Can someone help please?



AAARRRGHHHH!!

EDIT: Would a USB mixer help me with this?

a usb mixer wont really improve anything, basically all you have to do are some minor settings within audacity to have your incoming signal record at certain freqs, personally i dont really mess with audacity i usually use garageband or cubase, but for free software maybe try out reaper, but audacity should work fine just as long as you have the proper settings, if that doesnt work out, then it must be your internal soundcard, if so, i reccomend getting something like the "presonus firebox audio interface" which runs with firewire instead of usb, which is cleaner and faster processing....good luck man!!!!

Thanks for getting back to me man. Kinda funny, I was just on your myspace page listening to your tracks. Good shit bro!

I'm looking to fix the settings so that it comes out well, i'm not sure where to go within the program to get it done though. (excuse my noobness) I've been hearing and reading about this PreSonus Firebox, however I don't have firewire ports on my laptop. only USB

I guess, I should either wait to get Cubase or ProTools. My internal soundcard may not be ideal for what I'm trying to do. Are there any other solutions other than what has been mentioned? I wanna submit a few songs for the forum's beat tape.

you can use an iMic which has an input output that you connect through usb. i got mine for like $15 i think. just plug n play

you could get something like a cheap hardware digital multitrack recorder like a Boss or Tascam, record into that then export your tracks onto the pc by sd card or usb cable, software can be a bitch sometimes but what do you do, other than that, i dont reccomend stepping up to something like cubase or pro tools right away, i say learn something like Audacity, Reaper, Cool Edit, get a feel for audio editing software then in the future go for the bigger software, but if your ONLY just recording from the SP into the software then its a waste of money buying pro stuff, just my opinion, bottom line i think your biggest issue is your soundcard, go for something like M-audio or Line 6 there both inexpensive and work great, good luck.

when you record stuff in,

1) Its silly but - check you're not recording thru the mic by accident instead of the line in

2) Check to see if the waveform is 'clipped' - that is.. instead of having various height peaks, it has a kinda flat horizontal peak that everything gets cut off at.. Reduce clipping by turning down the level at the earliest stage possible (eg the volume knob on the sp-404)

it could be peaking before the final recording stage or during.. usually this sounds distorted though not muddy..

3) Is your SP and computer on different sets of speakers? It could be the way youve mixed down the track on the SP for those speakers, doesnt work for other speakers (EG: People usually have their computer speakers sub turned up way too high)

Also, check in the preferences of audacity what the input settings are, and check what the default recording quality is - you'll want at least 16 bit 44.1khz WAV

The actual software won't alter the sound of the recording - so cubase/whatever will sound just the same if setup right..

Finally.. yes..It could be that your computer has a particularly terrible built in soundcard.. You can get a pretty cheap USB one that will record a single line in fine and such if youre on a budget.

Thank you guys. Thanks a lot. I'm going to try altering the settings and adjusting my samples to better accomodate the free programs. I looked on craigslist in my area and I found a Fostex MR8 MKII for about $120. So, i'm going to buy that as well as the Audacity/Reaper alternative. It's always good to have extra gear than no gear, especially if it's useful.


I appreciate you guys getting back to me.


Peace....GetBusy

yeah, i agree. i've worked with ProTools in school. I don't remember too much, but I do know how to work it. I just don't wanna get an Mbox right now. I feel it's unnecessary. I've always wanted to get my hands on a 'stand alone' multi-track recorder. So I followed through. I should have it by next Tuesday. I'll let you all know about my progress by posting some of my work as soon as I get it in my CPU. lol.

If you have a PC, it could just be a sub-par mic input. Macs have a pretty good line/mic input that's fairly discreet for SP type beats. You could get a behringer u-control uca202 for $30 online and that will take care of your sound issues in audacity on anything else.

Thanx mane! I'm not using a mac anymore. i picked up a toshiba satellite with windows 7 last november. i may look into that u-control so that i can transfer some vinyl to cd, but i want a mtr anyway.

Word, just something I noticed switching back and forth from my macbook to my asus laptop for school.

no doubt. thanks for the input, cuz i wasn't aware of it myself. good look..



YEEEEE!

Hi peacegetbusy!...me also messed round lil time til ge the settings right, with similar equipment; til now this setup pretty fine: SP404 (sometimes+ 555)> maybe run thru mixer+(tape)or some other "OUT"> M-AUDIO TRANSIT USB soundcard/interface (by RCA/mini Stereo Adapter)...good basic soundcard!!!...
app. 60 € ~ 165 reais (?)> USB-IN laptop ( some small DELL)> AUDACITY> there recording> like some dude said before: watch clipping !!!> same time back OUT from laptop> maybe to MIXER (tape) or some other "IN" or Speakers / for listening while recording......, hope this helps!
results of that routing ( 1 year ago) here: http://www.myspace.com/avocadoaudiolab

good luck- bom foda

bob

valeu hein, bob... i appreciate it 'mano'..