Recording a Mix from Vinyl to PC

[IainB]

I havent had to do a demo in a very long time (10+ years) but have recently decided to start DJ'ing again after an 8 year break and, well things have moved on and it needs to be on CD now, dont know what was wrong with tapes personally

Setup is a couple of turntables with 2 CDJ's into a 4 channel mixer, out into a Denon D90 and then, well this is where I need your

My studio is out in the garage (so as not to annoy the neighbours 'too' much - I like to 'hear' the music (blame 10 years with some BIG sound sytems)) and the desktop is tucked away in the bedroom.

I do have an old laptop.... Compaq Armada M700, P3 650mhz, 392MB Ram, 5.58GB of which 3.74GB is available as free space running W2K SP4. Im looking at a max of an hour for a demo (be these for CD or something I can upload) and had thought (as my CDJ's arent the latest and greatest and cant read MP3) of recording these as .WAV using Acid Wav / Ace of Wav, so at least I know they can be heard in your every day player, hi-fi, car radio etc.

Now the questions!

1) I can see a headphone and what appears to be microphone sockets on the front. Can I use the Mic as Line In? (or will I need a USB soundcard?)

2) 3 1/2 gig is in my mind, plenty big enough to capture the raw recording before I bring it indoors, does anyone agree? (will be moving files around on either external hard drives / USB sticks....or recording direct onto them)

3) is the lappie up to the job, I am on a tight budget, until I can get out gigging and put some more money into this! (it will only be for the physical recording) manipulation will be on the desktop

Have I missed anything?

Or indeed can anyone recommend any free resources/apps that will help master the track, remove snap, crackles and pops etc?

Not looking for 100% studio quality but dont want it sound too.....cheap!!

Thanks

[Behemoth]

Hello there matey, I can offer some limited help for you with this having had a go myself.

Firstly your going to need an external USB soundcard, the mic socket on the laptop your planning on using really won't be upto the job. With the levels you'll be belting into the thing it will distort, badly. So an external sondcard with line-in from yor mixer is going to be your best bet.

3.5 gig should be more than ample, you'll probably find your recorded one hour mix won't be anymore than 650 meg (approx) in wav format on the laptop. I remember recording live sets off the radio via my personal stereo through to my PC and that was a lesser spec than your laptop (P2 350 256 ram and 8 Gig HDD)

Get yourself a 4 Gig USB memory stick if you haven't got one so you can get the mix off the laptop and then get it on the PC if needs be so you can compress it into mp3 should you want to upload it

Application wise, hit yourself up with audacity, it's free As many people here will say it's a very good little app.

Out of interest what style are you mixing ??

Hopefully I've been more help than hinderance

[IainB]

Originally Posted by Behemoth

Out of interest what style are you mixing ??

'Old Skool' UK Garage, Funky House, Trance and R'N'B im a bit of an all rounder!! Will be looking for a classics night early to late 90's

Any ideas on the Soundcard, had a brief look on E-Bay, but they all appear to be in China!!

No hinderance, its answered a few questions, thanks

[Behemoth]

If you can find one, a Creative Extigy or whatever it was called. I'd have though you'd be able to grab something like that pretty cheap these days.

Just having a look for one, they seem to be rare as rocking horse muck.

There is a trust one here which might be just what you need - http://www.autdirect.co.uk/acatalog/..._Cards_10.html

[ACiD303]

If you can get a USB soundcard with RCA inputs (as opposed to 2xRCAs > 3.5" jack) then all the better for recording, there is a mammoth difference in sound quality.

They don't need to be expensive, the one I've used (for the same purposes of recording mixes) is a Soundblaster X-Fi SB0270. I sourced mine in the states a couple of years ago (when the exchange rate was better!). It's not got bells and whistles and different DSPs, but for a portable sound I/O USB soundcard it's more than a bargain.

[Moby-Dick]

More importantly , where are you playing

[Norky]

The laptop should be fast enough to record as everything will be uncompressed. If it struggles you could try Ubuntu Studio

Most mic ins on laptops will only be mono, so not really any good for recording. If you do get an external card try get one with ASIO drivers available

[Norky]

Oh yeah, if you think CDs are a novelty, wait til you discover Serato

[IainB]

Originally Posted by ACiD303

If you can get a USB soundcard with RCA inputs (as opposed to 2xRCAs > 3.5" jack) then all the better for recording, there is a mammoth difference in sound quality.

They don't need to be expensive, the one I've used (for the same purposes of recording mixes) is a Soundblaster X-Fi SB0270. I sourced mine in the states a couple of years ago (when the exchange rate was better!). It's not got bells and whistles and different DSPs, but for a portable sound I/O USB soundcard it's more than a bargain.

Thanks, that would make more sense!

Shame I cant get my desktop out to the garage as my Soundblaster has a breakout box on it.....or maybe I could sell the laptop and get a cheap desktop I can leave out there, then change the cards over (as I have onboard sound)

Originally Posted by Moby-Dick

More importantly , where are you playing

Havent got anywhere yet, but I will let you know, there is a chance I may work with one of the old Legends Luton DJ's again, cant see me getting into a big club straight away though (need to get my old contacts back!!)

Originally Posted by Norky

Oh yeah, if you think CDs are a novelty, wait til you discover Serato

Time Coded Vinyl..... have seen that in use, looks good (and I cant use my excuse of not being able to touch the vinyl!!) Im the first one to admit, everything has moved on in leaps and bounds since I last played out!!

[IainB]

Does anyone know if this would work?

http://www.djstore.com/item/soundcards/behuca202.htm

[ACiD303]

Originally Posted by IainB

Does anyone know if this would work?

http://www.djstore.com/item/soundcards/behuca202.htm

That looks like it'll do the job

[Behemoth]

The looks fine to me

[IainB]

Finally got round to getting this set up.....couldnt work out why the input was so low....then realised that I had of the faders down! (I WONT say how long it took me to find that out!!)

For those that are interested Ive put 2 10 minute mixes up on Youtube www.youtube.com/DJIainB72 not my finest pieces of work but a) I havent done this for a while, b) my CDJ500s are old, dont like my media, have a habit of skipping and throwing up error messages c) by my own admission I keep mixes in too long!!

These are straight 'live' recordings, no post processing etc, laptop mixing etc

[4444405]

Edirol UA-25 USB Soundcard...typically £70 on eBay....used by pro's and home users.
I'd be lost without mine