homerecording -> cable question

[maJ estY]

Hello everybody,

today I've nearly finished removing my furniture in my room. Finally, I have my PC and my keyboard set up in a way for easy recording -> means 90° on the right of my pc keyboard is my synth.

I've connected both with MIDI already for a long time, but I'd like to start recording my music as WAVE, so I would like to know which possibilities I have with

- a Roland XP-30 and
- a Creative SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 (NOT the Platinum version!)

and which cable(s) I need for that.
As for the recording software, I'm still waiting for Enigma to tell me what's going on at the moment :P

[Tigerfolly]

Hello everybody,

today I've nearly finished removing my furniture in my room. Finally, I have my PC and my keyboard set up in a way for easy recording -> means 90° on the right of my pc keyboard is my synth.

I've connected both with MIDI already for a long time, but I'd like to start recording my music as WAVE, so I would like to know which possibilities I have with

- a Roland XP-30 and
- a Creative SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 (NOT the Platinum version!)

and which cable(s) I need for that.
As for the recording software, I'm still waiting for Enigma to tell me what's going on at the moment :P

All you need to hook anything up to your computer is a 1/8" stereo mini plug (male) to two 1/4" mono plugs (male). It's probably better to get one of the more common 1/8" stereo to RCA, then RCA to 1/4" adapters in case there's something else you want to connect.

I personally use a 1/8" stereo to 1/4" stereo cable and connect my sound card's audio input to a patch bay, so I have a lot of flexibility on what I connect up to it.

While you have the Sound Blaster Live 5.1, I have the 4.1 Sound Blaster Live.. mine has rear out, front out, line in, min in, and digital out (from left to right, facing the board). Almost all SB cards use this layout, and you'll be using the line in for your purposes.

From here, you can use any .wav editor to record. I use Sonic Foundry's Sound Forge 6.0, but you can also use programs like Goldwave and Cool Edit instead. Or, you can use a multitrack recording program and record directly to a track. I use Cubase SX 2.0 for this purpose, as well as Sonic Foundry's Acid 4.0, depending on what I'm doing.

Another option would be to get a small mixer, and run it's line level outputs into the sound card's line in, to make it easier to record from different sources. But if you're just going to use your XP30, then you don't have to really worry about it.

As far as software, check out the demo versions of the software you're thinking about getting. Most manufacturers allow full working versions as downloadable demos, that have a time limit for usage. Others have slightly more limited versions, but you'll usually be able to see if the software will work for your purposes.

[maJ estY]

Hey Tigerfolly, at first, I would like to thank you very much for your answer!

As for the mixer you wrote about, I also don't think that I need one as I really record with my XP-30 only!
I've always used Cubase 5 for MIDI recording, but Cubase seems to be a little to difficult to me, because I never managed to record anything than MIDI with it. ;) (I already have one audio cable, which I put into my phones entry of my keyboard, which means that I only had mono sound anyway. (I could hear my keyboard through the pc boxes, the problem was really recording with Cubase!)

Even though I didn't really understand which cables I need to get. Do I have the possiblity to record in stereo quality? :roll:

[Tigerfolly]

Hey Tigerfolly, at first, I would like to thank you very much for your answer!

As for the mixer you wrote about, I also don't think that I need one as I really record with my XP-30 only!
I've always used Cubase 5 for MIDI recording, but Cubase seems to be a little to difficult to me, because I never managed to record anything than MIDI with it. ;) (I already have one audio cable, which I put into my phones entry of my keyboard, which means that I only had mono sound anyway. (I could hear my keyboard through the pc boxes, the problem was really recording with Cubase!)

Even though I didn't really understand which cables I need to get. Do I have the possiblity to record in stereo quality? :roll:

For a simple introduction to software multitrack recording, try Sonic Foundry's Acid (http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/products/acidfamily.asp). On their download (http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/download/step1.asp?CatID=1) page, they have the demo version of Acid Pro 4.0. I started software recording with Acid 2.0, recording .wav files and using Acid to layer them. The other night, I was mixing some live audio tracks with some loops I had found online. It's a powerful tool for recording, but it's really easy to use.

As for the cable, you will be able to record in stereo if you use this cable/adapter. "1/8" stereo to 1/4" mono Y cable". Here's one crappy picture of it (http://www.brtbcanada.com/images/Interface%20Cable%20-%20eight%20trs%20to%20dual%20mono.jpg),and a better picture is here (http://www.soundprofessionals.com/images/gold/full/SP-PHON-MINI-2.jpg). Just make sure you get it long enough to reach your keyboard and the sound card's line input.

[maJ estY]

Hey Tigerfolly,

thank you very much for your help and especially the links to the pictures, because now I have an idea of what cables you mean!
I will buy them as soon as I can. Right now, I'm going to check your other links!
Thank you very much!