set up studio

Mon Feb 11 15:19:28 UTC 2008

On Sat, Feb 09, 2008 at 12:23:37PM -0500, chris-n/jUll39koHNgV/OU4+dkA at public.gmane.org wrote:
> 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). 

I have no idea about win2k.  It is after all obsolete and no longer
supported.  I know audacity runs on windows, although I don't know which
versions (XP for sure).

> *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. 

record player preamps are NOT for microphones.  They are for record
players only and nothing else as far as I know.

For a microphone you want a microphone amp.

> *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. 

Yeah it is described as 32 mono jacks, so unbalanced only.  The balanced
PB-32B would have "stereo" jacks.  The balanced model can run either
(just like the emu1212m).

--
Len Sorensen
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