Topic: Simple newbie help...

[jwindhall]

let me preface my question(s) by saying that this place was reccomened to me hy some friends of mine over at etree, they said ya'll are good folk

I Live in Portland ME and recently i've got involved with minor organization and promotions of a streamline of new reggea music that' been coming to town. out of towners and virous small side projects and such.
 In doing all this, i've gained access to the SBD. now here is where it's going to get tricky... In no way do i consider myself a taper but i's really like to utilize this opportunity if at all possible.
with that being said, i've got 2 options. i've got a MD and an  Apple G4 1.33 ghz laptop. which route should i go down? keep in mind i'm pretty green here. How poor of a recording would i get from a simple SBD>RCA>line in to either my G4 or MD? Software is a whole nother issue i realize. currently for audio software I have soundtrack, garage band and i suppose final cut pro has some audio editing possibilities...
thanks for any info...

-J

[mmmatt]

You came to the right place for your question... You'll get different opinions on this one.  You will get the best sound using your computer, but the MD will be the easiest.  I'm not sure for mac, but for pc there are quite a few freeware/shareware programs that will let you record to the lappy.  I'm not sure how the quality of the input on the mac is... most guys who record with a lappy have something between that and the source.  I would experiment with the laptop in 44.1k 16bit mode and see what happens by hooking it to your stereo at home.  If you use the higher quality recording modes on the lappy you will have to convert it, and imho that requires top knotch sofware.  44.1/16b is the max quality you get from a cd so that is good.  IF that seems tough to do, then just use the MD in THE HIGHEST QUALITY setting.  Not as good as cd quality, but it should be fairly good.  Many people record shows with MD.  

Good luck and +T!!
Matt

[jwindhall]

You came to the right place for your question... You'll get different opinions on this one.  You will get the best sound using your computer, but the MD will be the easiest.  I'm not sure for mac, but for pc there are quite a few freeware/shareware programs that will let you record to the lappy.  I'm not sure how the quality of the input on the mac is... most guys who record with a lappy have something between that and the source.  I would experiment with the laptop in 44.1k 16bit mode and see what happens by hooking it to your stereo at home.  If you use the higher quality recording modes on the lappy you will have to convert it, and imho that requires top knotch sofware.  44.1/16b is the max quality you get from a cd so that is good.  IF that seems tough to do, then just use the MD in THE HIGHEST QUALITY setting.  Not as good as cd quality, but it should be fairly good.  Many people record shows with MD.  

Good luck and +T!!
Matt

thanks for the info. i'm aware that most folks usually put something betwenn the source (SBD in this case) and the lap top. i'm working on that. As for the line in i'm not sure what it's default setting is (although i'm pretty sure it's 16 bit) I'm going to have to peck around and find out ...
-Justin

[greenone]

Hey Justin - a Portland taper! Not too many up there...lived there for a few years in and after college. Used to love taping at the Stone Coast.

Anyway - if you do laptop line-in, that's analog, so I *think* you can record whatever bit depth you want from the analog feed (assuming you have software that's capable of 24-bit), but the A/D converter inside the laptop won't be the greatest. Ideally you'd want a device that had a USB or Firewire out so you can go digitally into your laptop though those ports rather than line-in, unless the laptop has an optical in (I think just the G5's have optical, though)...

--Dave

[jwindhall]

Hey Justin - a Portland taper! Not too many up there...lived there for a few years in and after college. Used to love taping at the Stone Coast.

--Dave

you'd be surprised they seem to be floarting around quite a bit these days...stone coast s gone now though!

sounds liek for optimal sound i need  some sort of USB Audio Interface/ Amplifier, Correct? from there on out its jst a matter of haveing the right cables from the SBD>interface.
 
thanks again for the help

-Justin

[sexymexi]

pick up a Edirol UA-5 on ebay, no need for modding it for your needs with the lappy, i've seen them go on there for real cheap.  And its easy to power in the field as well.  good luck welcome aboard.

[greenone]

you'd be surprised they seem to be floarting around quite a bit these days...stone coast s gone now though!

I know...so sad! Very cool room and cool ownership. The sound guy and I got to be friendly over the few years I was taping there.

sounds liek for optimal sound i need  some sort of USB Audio Interface/ Amplifier, Correct? from there on out its jst a matter of haveing the right cables from the SBD>interface.

Yup - mexi's got ya on the right track with the UA-5...TONS of people on this board use them and are very happy with them. There are other options, of course, but the UA-5 is tried and true so far.