[Eric]

GenXGlow LIVE is going to start recording the entire sets of the events that we attend. I've been researching methods for doing this, and so far the cheapest and easiest way to record a set is to plug into the mixer from my laptop's mic in, and record with Audacity.

Does anyone have experience with recording sets with Audacity? Does this work just fine?

What about other methods? Please share your experiences...

[Eric]

Need some love in this thread? Waldo, you are an audiophile - help a raver out!

[burrow2010]

I've tried recording through mic in and it sounds shitty. Do you have a line in, or rca?

[DJ_Eezergud]

i used audacity and its fine for me.

when recording i take a RCA from my mixer *record output* and put it into the line in on my mac, sounds just fine
ofcoruse you'll need a cable that has rca on one side and a regular headphone style on the other.

[Grimes]

i would recommend finding a way to get sound into the computer through usb or firewire. the cheapest thing i found is this rca connection by behringer for around $30
http://www.pssl.com/Behringer-UCA-20...udio-Interface

[whenyournex2me]

usb is much faster than firewire.
and using audacity will suffice. although i use a usb interface and use the free version of wavepad sound editor instead of audacity because i can do a little more edit wise.

you do need to be attatched to the output mixer from the dj booth.
and this will give you a nice recording of the djs that play for the night.

[Jasper]

Originally Posted by Eric

GenXGlow LIVE is going to start recording the entire sets of the events that we attend. I've been researching methods for doing this, and so far the cheapest and easiest way to record a set is to plug into the mixer from my laptop's mic in, and record with Audacity.

Does anyone have experience with recording sets with Audacity? Does this work just fine?

What about other methods? Please share your experiences...

I would not recomend throwing it through a laptop soundcard as usually laptop soundcards are prety shitty (unless you don't really care about how high quality the sound is, which you might not). I would agree with other people saying throw it through USB or Firewire. Also at the person who said USB is much faster than firewire, it depends on what version of the standard you're talking about, USB 2.0 running 480mbps is faster (barely) than firewire running 400mbps, but also keep in mind the more USB you throw through a system the more the bus lag is evident (not to mention when you actually benchmark USB 2.0 vs Firewire 400 it turns out Firewire is almost twice as fast depending on your system because of some hard ware bridge inadequacies), and if you're running a USB soundcard, mouse, hard drive, etc. firewire is actually better depending on the setup. Also there are newer versions of firewire (firewire 800) that will completely own USB 2.0. And of course USB 3.0 will compete with the firewire S3200... Prety much it's just a tech war, pick whichever. Personally I have less issues with my firewire device (finalscratch 2) if I'm running alot of other USB devices such as a MIDI controller and a hard drive, since the only firewire device I ever use while performing is my soundcard. However other times I use a USB 2.0 instead (so I can get vinyl control in traktor with audio 8 dj).

As far as hooking it into a mic in, isn't that going to take it down from stereo to a mono recording? What I usually do is split off the effects out, booth, or master with a splitter (Radio shack is your friend here) or RCA cable/quarter inch cable depending on the mixer (then whatever you're hooking into you can get an adaptor for to hook into your sound card, I would suggest on an AUX in or an actual IN jack, not a mic in, which I doubt your laptop has, thus the external sound card).

One problem you might run into when hooking up a laptop is you're going to encounter ground loops (I'm assuming that's what they are, prety much buzzing and other noises in your system). I've heard Firewire eliminates ground loops completely because of the way the wire is setup, however in practice (and first hand experience) this is not always the case (FinalScratch 2 is a good example of this). Laptops more often than any other piece of equipment I've seen seem to cause this. Keep in mind I'm not claiming to be an expert on this damned noise, and I'm told it's very hard even for very experienced sound people to figure out what's causing them sometimes.

Depending on the club, sometimes it's not an issue, but if it's a shitty bar and the wiring/mixer/speakers are barely working much less electrically sound, you might have to run your laptop on a battery to eliminate this hum, or you can also try running off of line level instead of phono (if your soundcard/mixer has that option) and it makes it so you can't hear it unless nothing is playing over the channel. Usually what you'll end up having to do is tweak your master mixer levels so that it makes the noise not noticeable. Also hooking everything through the same outlet will fix the problem normally, depending on just how bad the wiring in the place is and how many power cords you're hooked through.

Just some thoughts, I'd definately test out whatever you're using prior to trying to hook it in at a live show. Also keep in mind what sounds fine off your bedroom monitors might sound drastically different on a club system that can pick up a wider range and less audiable sounds. Not familiar with the program you're planing on using but also make sure your levels don't go into the yellow/red area or it'll make the recording very distorted and sound like crap (due to it clipping the sound levels). You could always invest in a recorder too but I'm not sure if they have the same issues (and I've read ground loop isolator boxes don't always get rid of the noise).

And one more thing, definately hook in your laptop LAST, that way when there's a sound in the system they can't blame it on your laptop if it's not hooked in (had this happen to me alot, and it turned out to be the mixing board, not me, and took 20 minutes to convince them of this even AFTER I'd unhooked my entire setup from the system and the sound was still there). Sound booth techs aren't always well qualified.

Good luck.

[Eric]

Wow, great fucking post! I am looking to record the best sound possible, so I think a laptop is out of the picture. Especially with all these outside factors that I will have no control over, especially since I will recording from any number of clubs.


Now, one more question:
Is there a recording device I can just plug directly into the mixer? I hear some people use these, and they are relatively small and affordable. Can't I just plug something in and hit record, which will save it digitally to an inside hd?

Like these:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/shop/4...Recorders.html

This one looks good:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...fessional.html

?_?

[Jasper]

Originally Posted by Eric

Wow, great fucking post! I am looking to record the best sound possible, so I think a laptop is out of the picture. Especially with all these outside factors that I will have no control over, especially since I will recording from any number of clubs.


Now, one more question:
Is there a recording device I can just plug directly into the mixer? I hear some people use these, and they are relatively small and affordable. Can't I just plug something in and hit record, which will save it digitally to an inside hd?

Like these:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/shop/4...Recorders.html

This one looks good:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...fessional.html

?_?

Yes, there are many devices you can just plug into a mixer, but keep in mind that ANYTHING with a ground on the plug can cause ground loops (in otherwords anything with 3 prongs, it's the little round one at the bottom of the smiley face that looks like it's doing this: ). Also from what I've read 2 prongs (or some of them?) do have a ground, but it's not an earth ground. Also some laptops have eliminated having 3 prongs, but I'm not sure if it's routed some other way to still have an earth ground. Ground is a safety feature, so I wouldn't recommend trying to get a 3->2 prong adapter as if a beer gets spilled on the laptop you might get fried.

I've seen effects processors, turntables, and all kinds of equipment cause noise, I'm just saying that laptops seem to be more prone to it for some reason (probably due to the fact most turntables have ground wires that run through the mixer, rather than their own grounds, which cause a "loop" which is prety much feedback that builds over and over and over from "dirty" power. It's prety wierd, read up on it, I'm sure someone else can explain it better. It's prety much like when you put no decay on a sound in a music program like fruity loops, and the longer the loop plays the louder and louder it gets untill it maxes your energy (level) limit and clip.

I'm not saying rule out a laptop, I'm saying you might want to invest in a good sound card and be ready to deal with some potential issues (but anything you plug into a system can cause issues). You may still run into these issues with an external recorder. Also, if your battery can last long enough, just running off a battery will pretty much eliminate this problem all together. I could also be wrong about the mic converting it to mono, depending on your sound card. Also I think most good recorders are prety expensive and might cause ground loops just as bad if not worse, I don't really have any experience using them, I usually hook a channel of my mixer back into my soundcard on a dedicated channel to record (FS2 and ADJ8 both have a shit ton of inputs/outputs, I've nicknamed them both "medusa" from the number of cables that run out of them, looks like something Perseus would be carrying around... rofl).

And just an FYI, if you record an 80 minute set in .wav format, you're looking at about half a GB worth of data (actually almost a gig, ~700MB). I wouldn't say rule out your laptop, was just trying to give you a heads up with things that CAN (and have for me from time to time) go wrong. I'm not saying you'll even neccesarily going to have the issues, or all of them at once, I was just trying to warn you so if you run into them you won't just be like "what the **** is that?!?" haha... But yea, if you run some of those recorders, they might still cause a ground loop if you're not running them off of battery. I'd say bring some backup batteries and if your laptop has a smart bay have another battery charged up ready to go (smart bay is the thing that lets you pop out your CD drive and throw in a battery into it without having to plug in your laptop to switch out the battery).

I'm a vinyl and laptop DJ and I've yet to quit using a laptop just because of issues (and honestly I always record with computers, and get alot better sound quality on my demos that almost anyone else I know except a few people who also use computers), the more you use it the more you'll learn and the more you'll learn how to fix it. The main thing is get a good soundcard and a fast computer, and you'll run circles around any other setup as far as flexibility goes. Your backup plan: Bring a couple of spare laptop batteries (and make sure they're charged), and be ready to record off of battery. Also get a ... uuhmm... "liberated" version of soundforge maybe, I use it for recording and it's always worked great, plus you can edit with it. Also MAKE SURE you turn off all non-essential programs (shut off your wireless card, shut down AIM, and ****make SURE your screensaver/sleep mode is turned OFF****). If you leave your screensaver/sleep mode on, your computer will shut down about 30 mins into recording depending on your power settings. This is a BIG thing to remember.

Hope that helped, sorry if it sounded like I was trying to scare you off of using a laptop, there's not really an issue over other methods, it does take up a little more tabletop space but it's also alot more flexible as far as being able to tweak your settings than a hardware recorder would be. It's all on how much you want to spend and how much you want to mess with it (and how good you are with computers and sound setup). If you're ever running through charlotte sometime I can bring up some stuff to where you're setting up and show you what I'm talking about (just watch, it'll work with no problem and completely negate my post... rofl... things always work fine if you're trying to get them to messup, when you're not everything goes wrong... lol). But yea, there are so many things that I've learned from using a laptop I could go on for prety long about them (computer science major), I THINK those are most of the biggies, I keep remembering more stuff to tell you every time I start writing. The biggest thing is try it out alot on things that aren't mission critical or absolutely important you record.

Oh yea, and if you want to webcast, you can setup your computer to do that too if you can get an internet connection with where you're going to be.

Hope that addressed what you were asking somewhat, sorry I'm abit long-winded sometimes, I type really fast.

[Eric]

Alright, thanks for the feedback everyone - especially Jasper.

I ended up going with a M-Audio MicroTrack II - Professional 2-Channel Mobile Digital Audio Recorder:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...fessional.html

With this bad boy, I can record in WAV/MP3 formats with at different quality settings. It even can work off a built-in rechargable battery.

So now, for the follow-up question:
What format should I record in? MP3 or WAV?