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sjusk
Jun-04-2004, 11:36am
Today I downloaded a limited shareware version of n-Track Studio at www.fasoft.com, and it has one feature I havenīt found in Audacity: When I want to record a second track with a backing guitar, there are no troubles with the timing. With Audacity I have to manually move the second track back and forth til itīs there, (and sometimes it never happens) and the only "method" I can see, is estimating and guessing. Lot of pushing back and forth.
Maybe I just havenīt found that button yet in Audacity that syncronices the tracks, but I donīt have to bother with that question in n-Track Studio at all.
On the other hand: n-Track is shareware, not all features are available, and it has anoying pop-ups wanting you to buy the stuff - reasonable I guess.
Audacity has other features I didnīt found in n-Track, so I have been exporting and importing between the two programs, and had some fun with it.
n-Track also needs an mp3 encoder to convert, but the first time you want to use that feature, a sign pops up and takes you to the url where you can attrieve the encoder.

On a different note: Iīve been listening to ALL the great recordings on Mandolin Project, and itīs such a great way to be inspired - thanks yīall!!
I hope to be able to make my humble contribution soon.

sjusk

Bluegrasstjej
Jun-04-2004, 12:16pm
Beautiful, Sjusk!!!!!!!!!! I tried it!! It syncs really well! It looks much more complicated than Audacity but I'll try to learn it, I do anything if I don't have to fight with the timing every time I do a recording!

Harrmob
Jun-04-2004, 2:24pm
N-Track is neat, and easy to use. That is what I use and it is pretty powerful. The only problem I have is that if you do not have a pre-amp, and you have a buzz or a hiss when you record, it is compounded with eaach track that you have. If you have 8 tracks of something going at once, count on a huge hiss. That is probably with any software though, not just N-track.

Bluegrasstjej
Jun-04-2004, 2:47pm
what is a pre-amp? And please, please, explain it in words for someone who don't know ANYTHING about microphones or technology.

sjusk
Jun-04-2004, 2:59pm
Youīre right Harrmob, I couldnīt figure out either to eliminate hissing in n-Track, but Audacity can deal with it, so I exported the wav-file there and managed to get a deasant result out of it.
To you tjej: donīt get confused with all the buttons and sliders, I donīt know what they are for either; just press the record-button and pick away. Little by little youīll get aquainted with how it works.
Iīm sure Harrmob knows a lot more about pre-amps than I do.

sjusk

Brian Ray
Jun-04-2004, 3:14pm
Tjej,

A preamp amplifies a signal. In this case, a micraphone preamp, amplifies the signal from a mic (makes it louder). Mic output is very low... they need a gain boost in order to get to a respectable level. It does other things as well but that's basically it...

Bluegrasstjej
Jun-05-2004, 3:33am
Thanks Dasspunk. A friend of mine brought another mic some week ago, and it didn't work at all on my computer, because of the very low output. How do I know I can use a certain microphone on the computer? I now use a headset but I'd like to get something better.

Brian Ray
Jun-05-2004, 7:59am
Tjej,

What kind of mic do you have now (usb or 1/8th inch mini jack)? What kind of sound card? For that matter, what kind of computer?

Bluegrasstjej
Jun-05-2004, 11:18am
I guess I have a 1/8th inch mini jack, like an ordinary headphones plug. My soundcard is a Realtek AC97 Audio. What do you need to know about the computer? I don't know anything about computers. I just know how to use them. (isn't it sad?) It's a Compaq Presario. My processor is an AMD Athlon. I guess there's more info somewhere, but then I have to look through all my papers. That's not a problem, if you need more information.

Brian Ray
Jun-05-2004, 12:10pm
No Tjej, that's enough info on the 'puter.

Here's the deal...
- Computer soundcards typically don't have great AD converters (analog to digital (audio ins)).
- Your average computer mics will never sound that great.
- Decent recording gear will cost you

My guess (guess!) is that your mic is the biggest problem but getting another cheap-ish computer mic will not likely get you where you want to be.

There are really good, cheap mics out there. There are also a few good cheap mic pres. I would suggest buying one of each and going through your existing sound card.

Some cheap mics... (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=rec/s=mics/search/so=asc/sc=price/c=4625/so=asc/sc=price)

Some cheap mic pres (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=rec/s=mics/search/so=asc/sc=price/c=4639/so=asc/sc=price)

The Audio Buddy (two mic pres) and any of the ART tubeMPs (single pre) are quite nice. You'd run out of the mic pre into your sound card. I think you'd be surprised at the difference... and all for about $100!

Then the only issue may be a noisy sound card...

Bluegrasstjej
Jun-05-2004, 1:44pm
Thank you very much, Dasspunk. The pres seem very interesting. I'll think about it and make a decision when I've started making money (quite poor at the moment, get my first salary in a couple of weeks and I have some things I need to pay first).
Thanks for great help!!! You're a rock! Usually people talk about things here and there and mention lots of brands and numbers so that I eventually feel like an alien...

Brian Ray
Jun-05-2004, 2:13pm
Not a problem a'tall...

One last thing, your sound card does have a line in, yes? The mic-in would likely not work well. It's bound to have a bit of boost in it that would be noisy as hell when using a line-level signal (eg. from the mic pre). You'd want to go mic=>mic pre=>sound card line in.