set up studio

Sat Feb 9 17:23:37 UTC 2008

Hi, 

Sorry, in advance, for the long post. I want to record my songs but I’m 
having trouble just setting up the software/hardware infrastructure (if that 
term works). I thought if you knew my layout and challenges, I could get 
some general advice (instead of just specific things like, ‘this is a good 
amp’, and ‘this is a good software mixer’), so that my studio, though not 
state-of-the-art, will at least be functional - so that everything works 
together well. Here are my challenges: 

*E-mu 1212m pci card in linux*. I couldn’t get my emu1212m pci soundcard to 
fully function under Ubuntu 7.10 (even upgrading alsa sound drivers to 
1.0.14rc didn’t give me full functionality). I even tried installing alsa 
1.0.15, but the repository file I had to edit and the commands that the 
package manager advised me to run made a mess of my system (I had to 
re-install). 

*E-mu 1212m pci card in W2K*. So, I finally gave in (I’d really like to keep 
using linux) and tried Windows 2000 Pro. The soundcard works fine in W2K. 

*Linux/Windows dual-boot*. Since I want to do my other business work (word 
processing, printing, email) on linux, I tried to do a Ubuntu 7.10/Windows 
2000 dual-boot. Linux/Windows dual-boots usually work fine as long as you 
install Windows first (which I did). However, I’m getting W2K’s version of 
the blue screen ‘o’ death. I have repeated this problem several times now, 
so it wasn’t a fluke. I’d like to have a dual-boot scenario, at least until 
I find that there is a stable version of a linux distro that will fully run 
the emu1212m. Another reason I want a dual-boot is that I can save files 
between Windows and linux, easily. This would be good, for instance, if I 
created .aup (Audacity project) files in Windows, then (when stable emu 1212 
support is available in linux) move them over to linux and run them in 
Audacity on that OS. 

*Cubasis VST OEM, and Audacity*. Although Cubasis VST OEM (the 
recorder/mixer that came with the emu1212 m) seems to be giving me full 
functionality (of the emu 1212m), I was hoping to also have Audacity on the 
same system (so I can use both apps – I’m somewhat familiar with the 
Audacity interface and I know it will give me .ogg and unlimited .mp3 
functionality (both of which Cubasis does not offer “out-of-the-box)). 
Audacity does not seem to be fully functional for me under W2K (for 
instance, the mixer toolbar input selector drop-down menu is not even 
present). 

*Mic Pre-amp?* Yesterday, for the first time, I got the emu1212m to record! 
I was thrilled. It was just a phrase of singing. However, the singing 
sounded muddy. I have not done any EQ (which I don’t know how to do yet) but 
it was really muddy. I’m wondering if the problem is that I have inadequate 
microphone pre-amplification. I saw in the emu1212m manual that the balanced 
1/4” lines IN are “line level”. So, I plugged my mic into the only pre-amp I 
have (it’s just a little Realistic Stereo Pre-amplifier Model No. 42-2109). 
It’s a phono (record player) pre-amp; only about the size of two packages of 
cigarettes. Should it be obvious to me that this thing is just not clean 
enough or powerful enough (or both) to use as a pre-amplifier in a semi-pro 
recording studio? I don’t mind buying a mic pre-amp (which, I hope, would 
double as a guitar/bass pre-amp) but I don’t buy anything until I hit a wall 
and am sure of why I need to buy something. At one point I was looking at 
the “Presonus Firebox 6X10 24-bit/96K FireWire Recording System”. However, 
that was before I bought the emu1212m pci soundcard, so the Presonus may do 
the job but it may also be more than what I now need. 

*Analogue guy*. By the way, I am (for now) an analogue /non-midi guy. I 
don’t care (yet) about firewire, midi, adat, and s/pdif. I just want to plug 
a mic or guitar, keyboard or drum machine into an XLR or 1/4” port, record 
tracks, mix ‘em down on a simple interface, export as .ogg or .mp3, and burn 
a CD. 

*Balanced/Unbalanced*. I have a dog’s breakfast of balanced and unbalanced 
devices/cables/adaptors in my studio. I really don’t want to have to get a 
physical mixer (because of the expense) so I am using a patch bay. Nice and 
simple. Unfortunately, after years of using this (just to choose among 
listening to my tapedeck, CD player, and computer) I did a web search and 
find that it is probably an unbalanced patch bay (TASCAM PATCH BAY PB-32P). 
Rats. 

Any help would be appreciated. 

Chris
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