recording fairly acc. diy sound clips to comp.?

[donald stringer]

O.K. I have done some homework since the last time I posed this question and have managed to use the things at my disposal to at least learn the bare bones routine. For ref. I have used some inf. from guitar.net on simple recording tech. on a tight budget. ..No new sound card/ no mixers/..... I made a 1/4 to 1/8 patch cord to plug into the line in on my comp. I got a little stronger signal with the line in rather than using the mic. input. I didnt have a dir, box so I am using my rp-3oo with a clean patch [and all effects turned off.] to bring signal up to line level. I have another similiar patch which uses the clean 1 tube amp. sim. on the rp-300. for just a little more  oomph. So the chain goes  Guitar > fender pro 185 ss>miked w/ shure 57>rp-300 clean>stock sound card[win 98 standard] power tracks pro-audio vers.6.....Right now I am listening to the recorded wav. through my one

speaker so I am going to go out of the speaker out and into an aux.input on my stereo for monitoring. This is pretty much bare bones and I have achieved some ok results. at least for now. If anyone would like to chime in on there techniqes that would be great. The rules are though it should be on a budget preferably with amateur in mind. For ref. though even blue collar working class slobs like me have some effect laying around cables and a little diy knowledge.........My purpose would be with all the knowledge on this forum we could come up with several alt. budget chains[ and me or some one post a block diagram for saving to arons forum for everyone to ref.  What do you think  ESp. run off grooves method I would like to hear from them.

[zeta55]

I've had some nice results with guitar-sansamp-soundcard. I've used an ordinary soundblaster card and as software Cubase VST. The sounds was fine with no need at all to equalise it.

[Transmogrifox]

Anyone know where a person could find specs on the line and mic inputs of a sound card?  It would simple to design a DIY guitar interface project if I knew the input impedances and expected signal levels including absolute maximums.  

It would also be interesting to find out what the sample rate and bit resolution on the A/D converter is.  If it's at least 16-bit and 40+ kHz, it should be great for low-budget recording.

[Transmogrifox]

After that last post, I got curious about what my computer is using for a CODEC.  I am using a Dell Dimension maybe a year or two old computer and here's the specs on the CODEC:

http://www.analog.com/UploadedFiles/Data_Sheets/1198969AD1985_a.pdf

Very high quality CODEC by Analog devices: SoundMAX AC-97.  Your sound recording programs should allow you to set a sample rate, and the resolution should be constant at the 20-bit capacity of the CODEC.

The input impedance for both line and mic are 20 k-ohms, input capacitance ~7-14 ~ish pF.  Maximum input signal level on line input at 1Vrms, 2.83 Vpp.  This mic input specs depend on the input volume you set from your computer.  

It's easy to burn up this codec by exceeding the maximum input parameters so please please please start small and try to get your recording gain by setting the input level from your computer first.

You should be able to drive it with any buffered-output pedal using a 1/4 to 1/8 converter...even wire stereo effects if you like.

Just make sure you have volume control in your FX chain somewhere so you can attenuate the input so you don't burn up your sound card.

The moral of the story is that a more modern computer using an analog devices CODEC will actually give you superb studio quality recording from the mic or line input.  The only thing you don't have is 24 channels of recording.

[Gilles C]

That's the same in my Compaq laptop.

20K line input impedance. Sound Max it is.

... 10K in my Sound Blaster it seems. 5K for the mic in I think. So I need a buffer all the time.

[donald stringer]

In my sys. info. it says I have a crystal audio codec which seems to be a fairly standard itemwith win 98 and as far as specs, I couldnt find any,standard with the others I suppose. I have a non functioning direct box that is a prime candidate for the instlalation of an active circuit my goal would be then to build an active circuitto boost from the -7dbv. to +4dbv, powered by 9 volts[ possibly utilizing 5532[ for its low dist. levels] and without any other tricks or knobs I would possibly just include an spdt to toggle from +4 to a -4 [pad for hot signal] just for the sake of have the option. Thanks all of you for replying the next step is getting a sample posted.

[bwanasonic]

So the chain goes  Guitar > fender pro 185 ss>miked w/ shure 57>rp-300 clean>stock sound card[win 98 standard] power tracks pro-audio vers.6

How does this compare with just going direct thru the RP-300 ( i.e. no mike, ss amp) ? I would think even a cheap mic pre would serve better than than the RP if you want to use a mike/amp. You can find a cheap tube mic pre for <$100 .

Kerry M

[donald stringer]

kerry wrote:How does this compare with just going direct thru the RP-300 ( i.e. no mike, ss amp) ? I would think even a cheap mic pre would serve better than than the RP if you want to use a mike/amp. You can find a cheap tube mic pre for <$100 .
                                                                                                               Right now its all about using what I have at my disposal, and unfortunately that doesnt include a mic pre-amp, though I agree with you that would be cool if the money were there. If I want a mic. preamp I am going to have to build one which would be more a likely scenario. I am using the rp-300 as a line leveler on one hand, I can record my boxes hitting the front end of a ss amp[this amp is on the clean channel with no effects and three tone knobs set at  about level 5.......or I can record just the rp-300 as that is going to be a part of my site that I am putting together. There I plan on having a patch library with some sound snippets if I get that far. At that time  I will be going straight into the rp-300 > then to sound card. [maybe a speaker sim. thrown in for a load. Besides all that kerry I dont really know what I am doing. I will try it both ways to see which sounds the most natural. I may do it three ways one clean/ one miked amp w/dist. device/ one dist. device only. Thanks for your advice  

[bwanasonic]

Besides all that kerry I dont really know what I am doing. I will try it both ways to see which sounds the most natural.

That's where the fun begins! I have had pretty good results using a Giant Squid mic ( http://www.giant-squid-audio-lab.com/gs/gs-oak.html ) with a homemade battery box. You might find this useful:

http://www.christianmusicweb.com/microphones/mic_project.html

Kerry M