Subject:recording in acid

Posted by: Joeyzb

Date:3/10/2003 11:57:16 AM

My Delta 66 has 4 ins and 4 outs. The problem is, it only seems out 1 and 2 work. This sucks because when I'm recording in vocals I don't want to hear anything coming out of the speakers. It will of course interfere with the recording. I only want to hear it through my headphones (which is a necessity so I can sing to the music). As a result of not being able to use 3 and 4, I find myself constantly taking out the speaker cords to replace them with the headphone cord. And then when I'm done recording I take out the headphone cord and replace the speaker cord (so I can hear what I've recorded on the speakers, and so everyone else can here). I feel like I'm causing a lot of wear and tear to my sound card. I want to be able to change the settings on the system so I can switch it to output 3/4 and then back to 1/2 at will without taking cords in and out of the soundcard itself. As you know (at least in acid pro 2.0), the tracks have separate output settings, so it's very cumbersome to change each track each time. Anyhow, it doesn't seem to work when I do do that. I'm sure there's an easier way that is going right over my head. I was wondering if you had any ideas? Thanks so much,
Eternally grateful,
Joe

Subject:RE: recording in acid

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:3/10/2003 12:35:37 PM

Did you check that outputs 3 and 4 are not muted and turned up in the Delta Control Panel's Monitor Mixer tab? (Scroll to the right if you can't see them.) You should be able to mute outputs 1 and 2 while you're at it in the same dialog.

HTH,
Iacobus

Subject:RE: recording in acid

Reply by: Joeyzb

Date:3/11/2003 12:06:12 PM

Hey thanks, and by the way, what you told me last time on how to monitor the incoming audio on the delta 66 worked. Thanks sooo much!
Another thing - do you happen to know the best way to warm up the sound of the vocals? Does 24 bits make a big difference? Also, we have a pre-amp for our microphone. It's suppose to warm up the vocals but it doesn't seem to be doing so. There's a button on the pre-amp that says "phase reversal" I think. Do you know what that is and should that be activated?
Thanks again,
Joe

Subject:RE: recording in acid

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:3/11/2003 2:51:03 PM

Using 24-bit will definitely help you out, especially with acoustic recordings such as vocals. A mic preamp always helps out as well.

Inverting a phase is usually used to prevent phase cancellation between different waveforms which would otherwise sound hollow. (I can't believe I just explained that.) You would invert one of the waveforms for the technique to work.

HTH,
Iacobus

Subject:RE: recording in acid

Reply by: Joeyzb

Date:3/12/2003 10:58:54 AM

wow, that sounds complicated. How would inverting the phase (by pressing the invert phase button on the pre-amp) apply to recording a vocal track? Would you suggest inverting the phase or recording in normal phase?
Thanks again,
Joe

Subject:RE: recording in acid

Reply by: Joeyzb

Date:3/12/2003 11:08:30 AM

You have been like the best person to ask on here! I have another question for you. I have Acid Pro 2.0 - can I only record in 16 bits with this? I switched from Sonar to Acid for recording because Sonar is cumbersome and inefficient compared with acid. Would it help for me to upgrade to Acid Pro 4.0 - in terms of ability to make higher quality recordings? - and how much better are the effects capabilities? I'm not sure if my computer is powerful enough to handle 4.0 though. I have 511 of ram, an 850 Mhz processer, (a pentium III).
Thanks,
Joe

Subject:RE: recording in acid

Reply by: Joeyzb

Date:3/12/2003 11:11:14 AM

ok, according to the minimum system requirements I should be fine. It's just that I had so many damn dropouts in Sonar that I am afraid I'll experience the same crap in Acid 4.0.

Subject:RE: recording in acid

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:3/12/2003 3:52:07 PM

I would suggest inverting phase when you're recording with two mikes that are close to each other, for example. Otherwise, normal should be fine.

Your system is in pretty healthy shape for ACID 4.0. (I've got a similar system as well.) ACID 4.0 also happens to sound better overall than previous versions. (Not as muddy; much clearer.)

Remember that ACID was not made out to be a multitracker app like Vegas is. You can probably get away with about 4 or 5 disk-based tracks. I've heard success stories of more than that, however. Performance is largely dependent on your system's hardware. A fast 7200 RPM hard drive always helps out, preferably one dedicated just to audio.

HTH,
Iacobus