Sound Quality Issues

[ProcessOfIllumination]

Hey everyone,

So i have been recording for a short time now, i only have about 3-4 songs under my belt. I play guitar/sing and a good friend sings with me. We are very unhappy though with the quality we are getting once we convert our songs to mp3 and listen, say, through a laptop on itunes.

some information about my setup
-perfectly capable asus computer
-audix i5 microphone
-M-audio fasttrack pro
-i record everything into fruity loops
- i record with headphones into the jack on the fasttrack pro

Any help will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!

[venuestudio]

Post a clip of what you are getting, it will help narrow down the possibilities.

[newkid]

Originally Posted by ProcessOfIllumination

Hey everyone,

So i have been recording for a short time now, i only have about 3-4 songs under my belt. I play guitar/sing and a good friend sings with me. We are very unhappy though with the quality we are getting once we convert our songs to mp3 and listen, say, through a laptop on itunes.

some information about my setup
-perfectly capable asus computer
-audix i5 microphone
-M-audio fasttrack pro
-i record everything into fruity loops
- i record with headphones into the jack on the fasttrack pro

Any help will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!

mp3 and quality are an oxymoron.
how fussy are you?
did it sound okay before you converted?

just how bad is the sound? describe it?
better - post a sample.

[ProcessOfIllumination]

Thanks for the responses guys. Yea listening to the songs through fruity loops/fasttrack with headphones it sounds great.

I dont know how to upload, but if you dont mind, go here Tragen Boykoff
and play "Autumn Leaves"....only song on their recorded with this setup.

Thanks again!

[ProcessOfIllumination]

Any Ideas?

[String7th]

I took a quick listen Autumn Leaves. Are you using any compression, eq or any plug ins in Frooty Loops? I'm nat familiar with FL so I don't know what they can do.

For this type of music, you can get a great sound using nothing more than an i5 and a Fasttrack. Sounds like you only need to learn about compression and mic placement techniques. The track I heard was nearly inaudible in the begining, then I finally heard a quiet song about mid-way.

2 things would make this recording significantly better; learn how compression works and apply it to the guitar and vocals to get a steady sounding recording. Then read this forum's acoustic section to learn about home-made vocals booths using mic stands and Ninja Turtle blankets. I hear way too much going on around your vocals and guitar that could easily be fixed with better mic placement and a quiet place to record.

[ProcessOfIllumination]

Thanks a lot String7th, i will look into all of this.