How to get the best quality recording of your mix

[SketchySteve]

I have recorded a couple of my mixes recently and want to do a few more to chuck up on the web, they way i've been doing it so far is by recording into my minidisk player (which is a cheap sharp one0, then plugging it into my onboard soundcard using, then I compress it into MP3 (using lame thankfullly ).

I reckon the stage of the process where it loses the least quality is the compression to mp3. The quality int all that great, my soundcard creates a constant hiss and i'm sure all those shit qualtity interconects arent doing any good.

How can I improve the quality of my recordings? I'll be moving the PC upstairs soon so that will get rid of the minidisk but what is the best way of getting sound out of my DJM500 and into my PC??

 

[Faction]

I'd reckon a better soundcard would be the way to go, once you've removed the minidisk from the equation. For now though, make sure you have all inputs turned off except the one connected to the mixer. Also make sure the DJ mixer is putting out a decent level so you don't have to boost the gain at all in the soundcard's mixer. Record into an application like Sound Forge which gives you decent level meters, and set the levels so that the average level of the signal coming in is between -6dB and -12dB; this will give you enough headroom to make sure that you don't clip the inputs when you have both decks in the mix. It will also be useful for you to see by just how much the levels increase when both tracks are in there, and might even help you improve your skills!

 

[psyfi]

Do you have an audio cable going from your CD-rom to your soundcard? If so disconnect it as allot of noise comes through that but I'm not sure how much difference it would make as you have an on board card but it cant hurt to try.

 

[SketchySteve]

Cheers for the advice Colin, I'm using adobe audition to record at the moment, gives me lots of options on how I want to record and good feeback. You're right about the soundcard, what would you recommend, I dont do any production so just want a card with excellent sheilding and inputs I guess. What would you recommend?

 

[Biggins]

just to hijack this thread slightly, once you have the mix saved on ur machine am i right in thinking that you need to compress it first, then normalise..is that the way to go???

*feels like he's asked thesew questions before*

 

[Continuum]

just to hijack this thread slightly, once you have the mix saved on ur machine am i right in thinking that you need to compress it first, then normalise..is that the way to go???

*feels like he's asked thesew questions before*

you mean compress as in with a compressor, or compress to an MP3?

If you mean the former, what I do is create a wav file of the highest quality (I use 24/96) of the whole mix. Next put it thru waves L2 set to a verrrry gentle setting, just to catch any peaks and perk up the overall level a bit.
Next, normalise it to -1db and finally convert it to a crap-rate MP3 for posting.

This seems like the right way of doing things but I'm always prepared to be contradicted by anyone who actually knows what they're doing

 

[Biggins]

waves L2?

 

[Ott^]

Its all in the A-D converters.

Your onboard soundcard is never going to sound any good.

If you're serious, stick your hand in your pocket and buy a decent soundcard.

£100 should see it.

 

[Continuum]

Its all in the A-D converters.

Your onboard soundcard is never going to sound any good.

If you're serious, stick your hand in your pocket and buy a decent soundcard.

£100 should see it.

Hundred quid! Luxury! I saw an audiophile 2496 for 58 quid today. I've got one and its perfectly fine if you only want stereo in&out

 

[Continuum]

waves L2?

ah, sorry -> http://www.waves.com/content.asp?id=139