Topic: Laptop recording, How do you set up your rig??

[wbaldwin]

Hello Everyone,

I've just completed my rig, MC012>UA5>Dell C840 (bigger laptop)

Recorded a buddy's punk band the other night, and was very happy with the results..... was amazed at how all of the hardware worked together without any hangups!

Had plenty of space to set things up in their room, but have been kind of wondering how to set things up for my first field outing.

How do you normally set up your rig?  Laptop on the ground, and UA5 next to it?  Seems like it'll take up a bit too much valuable space in the section.....  

I have a Manfrotto stand, and it seems pretty sturdy....  I have been thinking about designing some kind of rigging device that would hook onto the stand to support the laptop and the UA5 beneath it.

Does anyone have any thoughts, or suggestions for a newbie?

Thanks a bunch,

Wayne

[ducati]

Sounds like you had good luck.  My luck isn't so good, I hooked up my UA5 > Dell C610 and I get a weird "pffft" every 10 seconds.  Drat, I wanted to try out 24/96 at the Guster show on Tues.  

I just rebuilt a spare Dell CPi-A I have, as my C610 is my dev box.  So I'm really hoping the CPi-A will do better...  

Do you have any hints for setting up the Dell?  What software did you record with (I tried CoolEdit with the MME drivers)?

I carry all my taping gear in a laptop bag I got from TechEd last year, what I plan on doing is setting the laptop on top of the bag, with the UA5 lying vertically next to it.  I've tested it and this contraption fits right between two legs of the manfrotto.  I put a spare mic cable that I carry around underneath the UA5 in case a "spill" occurs nearby (prepare for this: I had a guy's puke running into my gear once NASTY) If space isn't tight I'll run them next to each other, "elevated" in the same manner but with the UA5 horizontal as normal.

[wbaldwin]

Yep, I would have to say that the luck was beyond any that I've ever had with first runs on electronics/computer hardware

I am using Wavelab 4.0 with the MME drivers.  I really have no experience with Cool Edit yet, but Wavelab has been a breeze so far.

I can say that I have not experienced any of the pops and noises that others have been reporting,  which I could not believe!    The only time I experienced any sort of dropout, was when I experimented with shutting the lig on the notebook.  I figured that it would do as much, but I also wanted to try it, b/c of the power savings if it happened to be successful.  I think I'm going to run with it up (nearly closed) anyhow, b/c I like the monitors within Wavelab.  I figure this way I won't have to use headphones.

As for the set up of the computer, I simply made a second user, for recording only, and disabled everything that I could think of.  Seems to work great.....   Extremely suprising.....

I hadnet though about setting it up vertically....  That is a great suggestion.  I have also been kicking around the idea of one of the foldable nylon camp tables.  Putting the laptop above, and sewing in a pocket beneath, for the UA5 to sit in.

As you have verified, elevation seems key!  Man, VOMIT    I would not have dealt well with that.....

Thanks for the input!

[wbaldwin]

check out this link to see the type of stool that I am thinking about using.....

http://www.campmor.com/webapp/commerce/command/ProductDisplay?prrfnbr=7342110&prmenbr=226

its pretty light, and the footprint isn't that big.  Should be pretty easy to hook up an underside pocket for the UA5 to fit into as well.

[ducati]

That's a pretty good idea, as long as it doesn't extend out past the footprint of the manfrotto, it should work really well.  I like the idea if having it elevated like that, you could tape through a flood

Yeah, it was nasty.  Really nasty..  I can still smell it.

I'll try wavelab and cooledit with my "new" clean laptop...  Thanks for the suggestion!  I didn't even think about creating a "taper" user.  I'll give it a whirl this weekend and post my results

[mterry]

I'm running WaveLab 4.0 on my laptop, USBPre in front of it. I haven't had any problems with clicks or anything either.

I was also lucky that my vaio came loaded with Sound Forge Deluxe(maybe 5?)

I can open that program, and record with Wavelab, once I hit the two gig mark, I can the just press stop and then start recording onto sound forge

I guess that is cheating though

[wbaldwin]

No need to cheat.....

within the recording function, there is an option to automatically split the recorded files.
Go into "settings" in the recording window, and set the split argument (750 - 800 MB, good size for transferring directly to CD-R), and check the "split mode" box in the recording window, and it will produce multiple (managable) files for you.

It is seamless too, so you don't have to worry about being able to merge them later.

[ducati]

Hey, that's a super-neat function.  That's in wavelab, you say?

Does wavelab record 24/96?

[mterry]

No need to cheat.....

within the recording function, there is an option to automatically split the recorded files.
Go into "settings" in the recording window, and set the split argument (750 - 800 MB, good size for transferring directly to CD-R), and check the "split mode" box in the recording window, and it will produce multiple (managable) files for you.

It is seamless too, so you don't have to worry about being able to merge them later.

I remember it doing that, but I was always panicked that I would lose some samples during some good jam or something

I'll be taping at the Visulite next friday so I'll give it a try

[wbaldwin]

Yep, Wavelab.

24/96 for sure,  it supports up to floating point data (32 Bit)......

As far as I can tell, no info is lost when utilizing the split mode.  I have seemed the files back together, and it worked out well.