How to set up speakers and mixer for recording?

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Posted by xCxStylex on Oct-28-2003 08:30:

How to set up speakers and mixer for recording?

When you want to record on your computer, how do you set up your speakers and line outs?

On my mixer, a Behringer djx700, there are Master, Booth, and Tape outputs. Right now, I have it set up so that the "master" are my computer speakers and the "booth" leads to the computer input.

Is this how you are supposed to set it up or does it not matter? When I record in soundforge, its rather soft, and I have to increase the volume using soundforge. If I turn the volume up too high, the bass distorts and doesn't record properly.

Posted by DjJade on Oct-28-2003 15:15:

use the booth output to your speakers and the tape output to the computer to record. you dont want to monitor from the computer becuase you want the shortest signal. tape output was put there for a reason so its probably more clear than the master and booth.

youre supposed to turn up the volume using normalization. there are alot of threads about normalization and soundforge. try running a search for soundforge and record or normalize and you should find plenty of info on that.

Posted by bachatu on Oct-28-2003 18:00:

Well, as far as which output to use, read the manual for your mixer, as certain mixers can be different. For instance, my aux out and master is exactly the same (according to the manual), and i dont have a tape out.

For making the mix louder, i wouldnt suggest normalization, as it should be used to normalize the loudest parts of your mix to -1db to prevent clipping.

Best thing to do is set your gains proper on your mixer to where you average recording stays a bit above -3db but does not typically exceed -1db or 0db. You may get a mix here and there that exceeds 0db, causing clipping, so when you would normalize your mix to -1db.
The less you process the recording, the cleaner or better it will sound IMO. You can work on mix a bit more by adding compression by making it sound different or adding compression to making the lower parts sound louder, but it is a bit time consuming to get everything sounding right, and there are other threads discussing normalization and compression and software to use for recording, as Djade mentioned.

Ive noticed through use of certain programs that some are a bit more sensative on the uv meter than others, or that they may even sound a bit tad different. I personally prefer wave lab for sound quality.

Posted by T:REBEL on Oct-28-2003 18:49:

RCA cable the mixer output into your computer RCA input.

That should do it unless you have a different sound card w/o a breakout box...

Posted by xCxStylex on Oct-28-2003 20:20:

Thanks for your information guys. My manual merely suggests to use the TAPE output because the volume output is a fixed level.

I have still have one question though, what is a signal? Is it the "sound" that is sent from mixer to speakers or recording device?

quote:
Originally posted by DjJade
use the booth output to your speakers and the tape output to the computer to record. you dont want to monitor from the computer becuase you want the shortestsignal. tape output was put there for a reason so its probably more clear than the master and booth.

signal

Posted by DjJade on Oct-28-2003 20:29:

the needle on your cartridge tracks the waves on the vinyl. as the needle oscillates a current is induced and sent to the mixer and eventually to either the speaker or your computer or whatever. the current is your signal. you dont want that signal to travel too far or change too much. the farther it travels, the less clear it gets.