Unclean recordings... New soundcard? Balenced & unbalenced inputs???

[kev]

Hi guys, Its my first post on Andy's forum, so would just like to say hi and Merry Christmas!

My recordings are not as clean as i would like and i dont know what to narrow it down to. I suffer from a poor signal i think straight in, and im inclined to blame integrated sound.

im looking at a new sound card such as this one:

http://www.harmony-central.com/Newp/2001/Delta-1010LT-large.jpg

And wondering whether this could help the problem? I intend to just plug my SM57 direct to the soundcard, so is that all good?

My current set up is SM57 into my little Zoom MRS-4 which plugs into my sound card (pink port) via a 2 phonos to mini jack lead. So i guess its acting as some sort of pre amp or something ??
Finally, i'd like to clear up the balenced vs unbalenced inputs??? Im a bit of a noob as you maybe able to tell just slighlty ! I heard balenced give double the output or something :S so could this be my problem, and would that sound card i plan to purchase sort that out?

Cheers very much!

Kev

 

[deathtotaliban]

ok most likely the main reason for your problem is taht your soundcard has crappy analog to digital converters. To solve it buy a new one and if you are using the integrated sound card then that is definitly it. also you may be losing fidelity if you are converting cables to diferent connectors (xlr to 1/4 or 1/4 to 1/8 and so on). I would say dont waste your money on a new sound card just buy a usb interface. m-audio sells one that is made specifically for guitars that has one mic preamp and one instrument preamp and i think its only like 100 bucks and that is the low end one they sell a much better one for just 50 bucks more(links at the bottom). usb is a good way to go if you are just doing mostly home recordings of just one or two instruments (bass or guitar or vocals) plus its so easy to setup and use and it will be tons easier than a sound card. anyway i hope that made sense.

Jordan

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=rec/search/detail/base_pid/703606/

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/701368/

 

[kev]

ok most likely the main reason for your problem is taht your soundcard has crappy analog to digital converters. To solve it buy a new one and if you are using the integrated sound card then that is definitly it. also you may be losing fidelity if you are converting cables to diferent connectors (xlr to 1/4 or 1/4 to 1/8 and so on). I would say dont waste your money on a new sound card just buy a usb interface. m-audio sells one that is made specifically for guitars that has one mic preamp and one instrument preamp and i think its only like 100 bucks and that is the low end one they sell a much better one for just 50 bucks more(links at the bottom). usb is a good way to go if you are just doing mostly home recordings of just one or two instruments (bass or guitar or vocals) plus its so easy to setup and use and it will be tons easier than a sound card. anyway i hope that made sense.

Jordan

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=rec/search/detail/base_pid/703606/

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/701368/

Thanks a lot for your advice Jordan! I'll definitly take this into account. Anybody else on balenced / unbalenced inputs? Also... can anybody clear up what phantom power is? Sorry for all the questions, i cant seem to find much on this stuff anywhere!

Edit: Jordan, its looking like im actually gonna go for a soundcard now, so what do you think between these two. Basically after the best sound input possible here for a guitar input, with a view to using a midi keyboard in the near future perhaps.

http://www.zzounds.com/item--MDOAP192

http://www.zzounds.com/item--MDOD1010LT+

Im figuring the first one will give me better sound- higher bit rate??? But it doesnt actually have a xlr input for the mic, so how is that got around? (looks like midi inputs ??)

Thanks if you or anybody could help clear this one up, will be really appreciated!

Kev

 

[deathtotaliban]

ok...phantom power is used on most condensor mics. its used to power them so they work. it isnt needed for dynamic mics like the sm57 or sm58 or stuff like that and it isnt need for ribbon mics either it can actually harm them. unless your soundcard says it has phantom power then it most likely doesnt. so if you are just using a sm57 you wont ever need to worry about phantom power but you will if u ever add a condensor mic to your gear. now for the other question....balanced means that the cable has a positive, negative, and a ground cable like a xlr cable is balanced because it has the 3 prongs and a TRS (tip, ring, sleeve) is balanced because of its three parts. An unbalanced cable is like a guitar cable it only carries two parts of the 3 so its more suseptable to signal attenuation. basically if you are running cables more than 30 feet you'll want balanced because they can run hundreds of feet without signal attenuation but for guitar cables and such they will work great if the length is kept under 30 feet or so.

i realy am not sure about those soundcards but if you are dead set on getting one id go with the cheaper one because with the other one I think you need an outside clocking devices to sync it with your computer wich can be a pain. does taht zoom thing have rca outs? if so run those into the card and you should get pretty clean signal. however most new stuff is going to interfaces like the usb one i mentioned before. they are a lot easier to install and offer the same if not more capabilities but if you really want a sound card go for it but you will be limited a lot more with it than withn a usb interface. anyway sorry for the long post hope it was helpful.

Jordan

 

[kev]

ok...phantom power is used on most condensor mics. its used to power them so they work. it isnt needed for dynamic mics like the sm57 or sm58 or stuff like that and it isnt need for ribbon mics either it can actually harm them. unless your soundcard says it has phantom power then it most likely doesnt. so if you are just using a sm57 you wont ever need to worry about phantom power but you will if u ever add a condensor mic to your gear. now for the other question....balanced means that the cable has a positive, negative, and a ground cable like a xlr cable is balanced because it has the 3 prongs and a TRS (tip, ring, sleeve) is balanced because of its three parts. An unbalanced cable is like a guitar cable it only carries two parts of the 3 so its more suseptable to signal attenuation. basically if you are running cables more than 30 feet you'll want balanced because they can run hundreds of feet without signal attenuation but for guitar cables and such they will work great if the length is kept under 30 feet or so.

i realy am not sure about those soundcards but if you are dead set on getting one id go with the cheaper one because with the other one I think you need an outside clocking devices to sync it with your computer wich can be a pain. does taht zoom thing have rca outs? if so run those into the card and you should get pretty clean signal. however most new stuff is going to interfaces like the usb one i mentioned before. they are a lot easier to install and offer the same if not more capabilities but if you really want a sound card go for it but you will be limited a lot more with it than withn a usb interface. anyway sorry for the long post hope it was helpful.

Jordan

Excellent post there Jordan! Thanks, thats cleared a lot of stuff up! The thing is, im using integrated sound at the moment, and a lot of people are saying that they make for better quality recordings and encode analog to digital better maybe? I've read a bit on people buying little external mixers too, so i dont know if i'd need something like this-

http://www.soundcraft.com/product_sheet.asp?product_id=121

and what benefits it would bring ? Im starting to think a little more about just buying the USB box now Jordan lol!

Kev

 

[chadsxe]

From my experince....

I had the 1010lt for awhile and though it produced so very good results for the money I updated to the 1010 a few months later. I can tell you in "My experince" the balanced outboard coverters on the 1010 were far superior then the ones on the 1010lt. After hearing the 1010 it made the ones on the 1010lt sound like they were casting a blanket over my sound.

EDIT...

Your onboard converters sound like crap.....buy the best soundcard you can for your budget......the 1010lt is a great card if you need 8 inputs....if not go with the audiophile......better yet save as much money as you can and get the best card possible....eaither way thoose two cards you are looking at are going to be a huge improvment....

 

[kev]

From my experince....

I had the 1010lt for awhile and though it produced so very good results for the money I updated to the 1010 a few months later. I can tell you in "My experince" the balanced outboard coverters on the 1010 were far superior then the ones on the 1010lt. After hearing the 1010 it made the ones on the 1010lt sound like they were casting a blanket over my sound.

EDIT...

Your onboard converters sound like crap.....buy the best soundcard you can for your budget......the 1010lt is a great card if you need 8 inputs....if not go with the audiophile......better yet save as much money as you can and get the best card possible....eaither way thoose two cards you are looking at are going to be a huge improvment....

1010 is just input jacks right?

 

[chadsxe]

No it has a/d converters for every channel....the diffrence between the 1010lt and the 1010lt is that the lt is not balanced and the 1010 is balanced....also the converters are not onboard like the lt.....with the converters being on the actually pci card there is a higher noise floor.....to me I heard a world of diffrence when I switched....not to say the 1010lt is bad....I actually got a lot of use out of it....

 

[kev]

No it has a/d converters for every channel....the diffrence between the 1010lt and the 1010lt is that the lt is not balanced and the 1010 is balanced....also the converters are not onboard like the lt.....with the converters being on the actually pci card there is a higher noise floor.....to me I heard a world of diffrence when I switched....not to say the 1010lt is bad....I actually got a lot of use out of it....

Chad, would it be possible to talk with you on msn about the differences between the two cards? 1010 and 1010lt . I could possibly stretch the budget to get a 1010 if it will be better for me!

Thanks,

Kev

 

[chadsxe]

I don't have an msn account.....just yahoo and aim....do you have any of those....

EDIT:
I do have an msn account and I am tring to log in as we speak...

EDIT:
Well I am having no luck with MSN messenger....do you have a aim or yahoo account?

 

[kev]

I don't have an msn account.....just yahoo and aim....do you have any of those....

EDIT:
I do have an msn account and I am tring to log in as we speak...

EDIT:
Well I am having no luck with MSN messenger....do you have a aim or yahoo account?

Yep, i've a yahoo account ! I'll download yahoo now. :hotjump:

 

[chadsxe]

Yep, i've a yahoo account ! I'll download yahoo now. :hotjump:

just let me what you screen name is......

 

[kev]

just let me what you screen name is......

kk, just setting one up now.

 

[kev]

Sorry for the Double post... Chad, all sorted its "themaidenmaniac"

See ya there!