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Old 06-15-2007, 02:21 AM   #1
Paul
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Default Recording on a laptop - USB Mics or new Soundcard

Hi Folks,

Just a quick question here.

I normally record most of my stuff on a desktop computer with a decent-ish soundacrd and mixer/mics, etc. On occasion though I would find it really useful to be able to record elsewhere on our cheapo laptop, for instance to record the piano downstairs or try weird vocal stuff in a bathroom.

I've tried connecting the mixer to the laptop and the results are pretty awful, presumably beacause of the rubbish soundcard that they come with.

So my question is... am I better invesing in a laptop soundcard that is better than the internal one (the priciest option) or will buying a £50 USB Condenser mic work better (the cheaper option) and record straight to the disk/bypass the soundcard, thus saving moving the mixer, etc and allowing me to record on the go.

Or is there a better solution i'm missing? I'm really looking for quick and easy (with pretty good results) as I will only be recording like this sparodically.

Any pointers?

Cheers



Paul
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Old 06-15-2007, 05:03 AM   #2
manning1
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paul..
your a wolves supporter...
but i'll forgive you for that...lol.
a edirol ua1ex is very cheap for roughing out things.
just connect your mixer line out to line in of edirol.
yes..laptop sound is bad with bad latency mate.
zzounds.com have lots of other usb devices also.
u might also look at a behringer device.
they have usb n firewire. but ive never used one.
but they are cheap.
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Old 06-15-2007, 05:21 AM   #3
alex zonder
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Be sure to have the ASIO4All driver installed on your laptop as well.
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Old 06-15-2007, 05:44 AM   #4
Art Evans
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And don't expect low noise. Generally USB mics don't seem to live up to expectations - though if rough and ready is adequate for the purpose, then you might get away with it.
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Old 06-15-2007, 05:48 AM   #5
Paul
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Ahh.... cheers folks.

I've seen some really cheap Beringher interfaces about and have generally had very good experiences with their stuff (unlike a lot of posters here and other places) so may give that a go.

Am I right in that doing this effectively bypasses/replaces the dodgy soundcard?

Cheers

Paul

PS: Not a Wolves fan... I defected down here some years back from the hills of Wales!
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Old 06-15-2007, 11:50 AM   #6
manning1
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paul...
yes it will bypass the junky sound chip in the laptop.
just make sure you choose in rpr preferences the new usb device for ins n outs mate.
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Old 06-16-2007, 12:23 AM   #7
Paul
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Quote:
Originally Posted by manning1 View Post
paul...
yes it will bypass the junky sound chip in the laptop.
just make sure you choose in rpr preferences the new usb device for ins n outs mate.
Good good.... a trip to Rumbelows it is then! (Sorry... a joke from old blighty!)
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