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Post by OldPaint Dave on Aug 13, 2006 12:47:50 GMT -5
Thought it would be a good idea to start a thread with this general question about sound set-up. As I sure we have all noticed, there is a wide variety of sounds - effects, volume, Equalized, volume, overall quality. If you are happy with your sound set-up, could you share a brief description of you set up. A lot of folks would love read about an an easy to use, and/or great sounding configuration. Thanks in advance!!
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Post by Elyssa on Aug 13, 2006 13:10:01 GMT -5
Hey there.. This is Elyssa from over in the main area of Bix and I just thought I'd share some of my setup with all of you. I don't have a lot of money to spend, so I really was trying to get the best sound I could within a tight budget. My mic is a Shure SM58 which to my knowledge is one of the best vocal mics around, It's not really a *recording* mic perse, as it is more for live applications. I assume the best mic for recording would be a studio type condenser, but this mic is still a well rounded, versatile, durable mic for recording on a budget. Also, if I'm not mistaken condenser mics are much more fragile and likely to pick up noise (hence the need for soundproof booths) I'm hooked up right now though an old soundboard to the computer. I'd like to change that though, as I think the old soundboard adds a lot of noise in the signal and is just a huge unnecessary piece of equipment. I only use it because my husband had it laying around. You can get an adapter for the mic at Radio Shack that is VERY inexpensive to hook your mic directly into your soundcard. I'm not sure if the Shure needs phantom power though, perhaps someone else here knows. I think i'm going to go with a preamp which you can get for around 40 dollars. They are much smaller and more what I think I would want instead of a sound board. My soundcard was a great buy in my opininion. It's an Emu 0404 (which is a model I think made by the same company that makes Sounblaster). I see it as a step of from Soundblaster without a huge pricetag. I really like it. It has onboard sound effects and an incredible amount of customization ability. It does take a bit of figuring out, but once you do, it's very much worth it in my opinion. I control and run my effects (reverb, eq, etc) from the soundcard. The camera I just got is a Creative Webcam Live VF0050. I think it works really well (of course what I have to compare it with is my old hunk of junk 10 year old camera). You can see the difference in quality yourself from my first video submission ("Yesterday") with the old camera and my newer submissions ("Angel".. "Never Gonna Let You Go"). It's like night and day! And incidentally, I got the camera for free from Fry's with a rebate! I think the rebate is still good until the 15th of this month if you happen to be in the market for a new camera. Anyhow.. that's about it! Sorry if this was a little long winded lol
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Post by oldpaint on Aug 13, 2006 13:17:08 GMT -5
General set up: PC line out feeds to a mixer (using home theater as main amp), condensor mic to same Mixer, monitor-out to PC line in. I am using a large diaphram condensor mic, connected to an 8-channel mixer (only using 2-3 channels). The mixer applies effects, volume and equalization to the microphone - THIS IS KEY TO GETTING YOUR SOUND JUST HOW YOU WANT IT. This set up as follows: - PC line out is brought into the mixer on dedicated channel (this is just so you can hear the bix music through the mixer)
- On the mixer, microphone channel volume, equalization and effects are adjusted to fit the song.
- Mixer Main out goes to amplifier (I use our home theater system) and headphones* to hear yourself with the music.
- Mixer Microphone channel ONLY fed to Monitor
- Mixer Monitor out goes back to PC in line in.
- Mixer Monitor out is set same as main out, gain/volume, equalization and effects, so what you hear is what you record.
*Note - To prevent feeding back the music back through the microphone, use headphones to hear yourself - either straight out of the mixer or through your amplifier.
PS.... If you use the 'alternate recorder' feed both the PC and Mic channel to PC line in (or PC mic) channel. Otherwise you won't hear any music.
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Post by Heather Davis on Aug 15, 2006 19:35:05 GMT -5
I AM HAVING A HARD TIME WITH THIS!!! Hi, Im Heather, new to the site, do not use a soundcard, just plug my sm58 right into my laptop and usually sounds great, but now I feel like Im starting over!! I tried to make a recording today and I got a TON of fuzz, it sounded like my recording was super duper compressed actually- ANY TIPS?? I am moving in a few weeks, and dont want to add much to my software (or spend much either) Thanks for any help
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Post by Bix Team on Aug 18, 2006 13:05:42 GMT -5
Heather,
The laptop has a sound card built in. As long as you plug your microphone into the "mic in" jack it should work.
You should use the "default recorder". Log into Bix and enter a contest then select a song. While it is downloading the song, there is a link at the top of the page. If it says "select alternate recorder", do nothing. If it says "select default recorder" then select that and when it asks you if you want to download something from Bix.com, say yes.
You should verify that your laptop is using the external microphone. Right-click on the Volume icon (looks like a gray speaker) in the Task Bar in the lower right of your screen. Select "Adjust Audio Properties" then select the "Voice" tab. Look at the "Voice Recording" section. Select Volume and move the slider up to the max. You can always turn down later if you are too loud.
If none of that makes a difference, please email help@bix.com so we can work together to figure out what's happening.
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Post by debbielynn on Aug 21, 2006 22:50:56 GMT -5
A CO-WORKER TOLD ME ABOUT SITES YOU COULD SING ON, SO I BOUGHT A LOGITECH HEADSET WITH MIC AND ONE EAR SPEAKER. THE PACKAGE SAYS FOR PS2 BUT IT WORKS FINE WITH MY PC AND IT ONLY COST ABOUT $30.00. IT IS A USB. I AM USING A DELL COMPUTER. GOOD LUCK TO ALL.
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Post by Bolinlamar on Sept 18, 2006 6:08:01 GMT -5
My sound set-up is simple, I plug the mic right into the back of my pc into the mic/line input of a Soundblaster Audigy soundcard,that I recently installed into the pc. I disabled the onboard soundcard first because it didn't record very well. I use Toshiba headphones and I have 3 different mics that I use depending on the type of sound I'm trying to achieve, but most of my singing is thru a Labtec Am-222 which is a very in-expensive computer mic available for around $10.00 on E-Bay. I also use a Marshall BP 10006 occasionally and also a logitec computer mic. I discovered that the real key to getting good sound is mic placement, too close and you'll sound distorted, too far away and you won't get enough volume. you just need to experiment to find the best range for your voice and singing style. Also don't be afraid to go into the sound settings thru the pc's control panel and make adjustments there until you find the settings that work for you. Well that's about it.
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Post by Bolinlamar on Oct 3, 2006 8:08:46 GMT -5
I'd like to know what kind of set-up people are using that are getting good quality audio and video with no skipping and no echo and the music is staying in sync. I have tried 3 different sound cards with the same result out of Sync Music and echo about halfway thru the song. Bix is checking into this for me and I'll post their solution if they come up with one. Mean while I wish some of you who are getting good recordings would share you set-up with the rest of us. Thanks
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Post by Dandy on Oct 16, 2006 9:48:15 GMT -5
I'm using a $20 Audio-Technica cardiod mic bought at Best Buy. Sound card is Audigy2 ZS which has various environment and effects on it such as 'concert hall', 'auditorium' , 'church' etc. It has a karaoke function on it where you can add or decrease amount of echo, reverb, etc. I'm still playing around with it, trying to learn best settings.
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Post by scrolls on Oct 22, 2006 3:52:04 GMT -5
It's very important to check in your recording properties that "stereo mix" or "what you hear" is not selected, if you use a mic connected to your computer select "microphone" if you use a mic conneced to a mixer which is connected to "line in" on your computer , then select "line in"....this will stop double recording the music.
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Post by ritalynn on Nov 20, 2006 1:32:16 GMT -5
I was wondering what i could use to get the echo that you hear in a lot of the recordings...that would be inexpensive....and where i can get them...I been to radio shack ...nothing there when it comes to microphones
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Post by athompson on Dec 7, 2006 14:22:21 GMT -5
I'm using one of the two high-quality mics that came with my RJTech RJ-4700 DVD player with full karaoke (CD+G) capability, along with a standalone karaoke machine (The Singing Machine, model STVG-500) and a pair of Sony headphones (MDR-V100).
I have the mic plugged into the standalone machine, which gives me an independent mic volume control, echo knob and "balance," which really just seems to adjust the tone.
The machine is plugged into the mic jack of my laptop via a stereo RCA to DIN(?) (whatever the mic jack on a soundcard or laptop is called) cable.
I have the mic unmuted in the Windows volume controls, which lets me monitor myself and the music through the headphones without the mic picking up the music and doubling it.
I've also turned off the "mic boost" checkbox on the recorder screen, as that tends to be what causes most of your distortion, and manually adjust the mic volume, echo and tone/balance knobs on the standalone machine.
It's taken a lot of trial and error, but I think I've just about got it worked out now, 'cause (I think) my recordings sound MUCH better now than when I started.
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Post by Bix Team on Mar 15, 2007 20:45:49 GMT -5
Hi all, for Internet Explorer, there is now an "Advanced" option just above the recorder that will allow you to shut off the music merge and use your sound cards music merge abilities. We hope this makes it easier to connect your higher end equipment to the site. Let us know!
Best, Leonard
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Post by elleng on Mar 16, 2007 20:37:32 GMT -5
Hi, ya'll. Okay, I'm a bit technically challenged when it comes to this electronics stuff, so bear with me. I'm using the original sound card, SoundMax, I think. And I am now using the Mark-12 Pro Mic that came with my VocoPro Karaoke machine. I would like better equipment, but don't know where to start. I would like a better mic that I can use with both the VocoPro and with the computer. All suggestions appreciated.
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Post by smiles2322 on Mar 17, 2007 13:10:59 GMT -5
I use a Line 6 Tone Port UX2 found here: line6.com/toneport/ which interfaces to my computer, and comes with Gear Box software which allows me to amplify, add effects or whatever I wish. I am using PG58 mics which I picked up by mistake while trying to find SM58s, but these do fine for now. I have the 2 mic system so that my children can sing with me or with each other. This system works well for me. Take a look at my entries: bix.yahoo.com/person/smiles2322
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