I Need Some Tech. Help.

[tc1881]

Hey guys, Im some what new to recording. I found a way to record at my friends house, that now i have carried over to my own home. I record my acoustic guitar by using a pick-up plugged straight into the microphone input. BUT...aat my friends house it sounds clean, and here its has more bass and have some weird wavey/echoy sound in the background. is there something i can change without spending hundreds of dollars on recording gear and have it sound cleaner?

Thanks,
Tyler

[Electriclight]

Are you using a different computer (sound card) at home than at your friends house? I know you realize this is not a great way to record.

So if it's not the different sound card (my first guess), perhaps there is some interference where you are recording in your home..a CRT monitor, flourescent lights, a big honking electrical panel nearby?

[uab9253]

Also, check your sound card and/or Windows media player settings to make sure you don't have EQ or effects enabled.

[brandondrury]

I'd try installing ASIO4All. It's a driver that is designed to make crappy soundcards less crappy. It won't necessarily improve sound quality, but it will make a cheap soundcard run better and solve some technical problems.

I hesitate to recommend Behringer products because of my poor experience with them, but they do have a tiny little audio interface that should work for you.

Behringer U-CONTROL UCA202 USB-Audio Interface
Buy Behringer U-CONTROL UCA202 USB-Audio Interface online at Musician's Friend

[tc1881]

alright i'll see what i can do with that info and i think our sound card is the same...i should probably buy a better one anyways just so that can't be a problem.

[brandondrury]

i should probably buy a better one anyways just so that can't be a problem.

That's the path I recommend.

Brandon

[uab9253]

I highly recommend the Presonus Inspire 1394. It comes with Cubase LE all for $150 at Sweetwater.com
I have found it to be very useful. It is external firewire. The only things I didn't like were that the headphone output was not loud enough, but I resolved that by buying an Art headphone amp for $50 and no Midi in or out. I bought a USB midi interface that I should have today, so I will see how that works out. Good luck!