Please help me make a cd...

M

Melbutterfly

Guest
Well...
My boyfriend is a hip hop DJ, but doesn't know a lot about computers, so I would like to help him make a CD next weekend. He has a Numark Pro SM-1 and an SM-2 and 2 Technics SL1200Mk2 turntables. I have a IBM Thinkpad A20m and an Iomega Zip 650 CD burner. So my question is what software, cables, etc. do I need and how do I hook it all up to make a CD? All help would be appreciated!!!
Thanks!
 
Well...if you already have a cd burner, the program that comes with the hardware should be good enough. The difficult part will be to record his music into the computer, without loosing the quality sound. To be real simple, I would suggest to record into the computer through a WAV file, this records not so good but it will record good anough to transfer to the CD. Once this is done, then just use the CD burner program to record audio files. Use a CD-R cd and this should be it. Otherwise, you will need to look for more hardware to connect into the computer and then record the peice.

EvikiOne
 
EvikiOne said:
Well...if you already have a cd burner, the program that comes with the hardware should be good enough. The difficult part will be to record his music into the computer, without loosing the quality sound. To be real simple, I would suggest to record into the computer through a WAV file, this records not so good but it will record good anough to transfer to the CD. Once this is done, then just use the CD burner program to record audio files. Use a CD-R cd and this should be it. Otherwise, you will need to look for more hardware to connect into the computer and then record the peice.

EvikiOne

How is that going to work? I dont think you can plug your mixer into the computer and just hit record. Aren't you going to need a special sound card with RCA jacks, and even besides that, youre probably going to need a certain program that will record external data from the mixer to the computer's hard drive. The question that was brought up in the 1st post is one that i was trying to figure out for awhile now. I too want to use my tables and dump my music in my computer and then burn a CD-R. I was thinking that maybe i would need a digital recorder, like the BOSS BR-8 or some type of TASCAM/FOSTEX digital recorder. They look like a 4-track with no tape cassette and cost about 500-700 bucks. Then if i record from my tables using that, i could then hook up the digital recorder to the computer to make the CD. I dont know about you, but what i know, you cant just plug your mixer/tables to your computer and hit record. I think a digital recorder is diffenetly a must if you want to burn a CD.
 
If you were to record a 'basic' session on a CPU, it would take a hundreds of Megs. Painfull....... Cubase V.5 & Protools, choice! after recording on the sofware, you could easily burn it to a cd. User friendly i must say..... If you dont have the software, try downloading the free version of cubase or ... look for it on the net. It only take about 8 Megs. Well, there is a simple program, but i never used anything besides those two (Cubase & DigiDesign protools)

Akira -I Do It LIVE-

[Edited by Akira on 04-05-2001 at 12:10 PM]
 
Thanks guys! Any other suggestions would still be helpful! The thing that gets me is that my CD burner has RCA plugs, so I was thinking that all I would need was software, hopefully off the internet because I do not intend on spending another $500-700...
~melissa
 
Well...I was not saying that you can just plug in your mixer and record...hey it's not that simple yo. I meant, like I have done in the past, just get the computer microphone and record it to a WAV file, like I said, it aint quality proof but hey, sometimes you just want to hear your s*** in your car, even if it doesn't really sound studio produced.

I gave suggestion, as what I have done before, it's only an Idea.

At no time did I just mention to miracle the computer and the mixer together.

Peace.

EvikiOne
 
well, actually you can just plug your mixer into the computer. That would produce much better quality sound than a computer mic would. I don't know much about the quality of laptop soundcards. But if you or your boyfriend has a desktop computer, it might be easier to record to that before using your laptop's CDR to burn it. Plug in the line out from the mixer to the line in on your sound card. You can get the cheap version of Cakewalk or Cubase for about $100. If that's too much, then you could probably find some freeware or shareware program you could use. And all of those programs record sound as wav files anyway, it doesn't matter what you use to record if you're not looking for "pro-quality" The more expensive programs are so expensive mostly because of editing features.
good luck on your recording

-Mike
 
you can download a demo version of sound forge from http://www.sonicfoundry.com and record to this program then burn to a cd - as long as you have the right cords you can plug your mixer right into your computer's sound card w/ no problems !!
Good Luck
 
Thanks so much you guys!!! I am going to try this out tomorrow night and I'll let you know how it goes! Any other suggestions are still appreciated though :o) I still have to figure out what cables to get and where my sound card is on my comp! LOL
PLUR -- mel
 
the only cables you will need for what you want to do is one that goes from 2 rca plugs to 1 headphone-like plug. and that will go from the mixer to the back of your computer into your sound card. you probably will have to plug it into the microphone jack.

[Edited by djtwitch on 04-06-2001 at 01:23 PM]
 
Don't plug the mixer into the microphone jack if you can avoid it. It will sound like shite. You're right with the cable that goes from 2 RCA jacks to a 1/4 in headphone jack, but plug the 1/4in jack into the line in jack on your soundcard. Any program you use, Sound Forge, Cool Edit, or whatever software came with your sound card will record off the line in jack by default. Hope this helps

Jeremy
 
If you have an internet connection,u can get Goldwave(www.goldwave.com) which is a wave editor similar to
Cool Edit,that has instructions and can get you started on that recording in no time,then use the software that came with the burner to write the cd. It really isn't too much
more complicated than that. That Goldwave is free for I think,30 days,that should be enough time to make that cd.
 
Additonally,that cable can be obtained at radio shack,with the RCA males at one end,and the walkman-like mini-plug at the other,and the input on the back of the computer is usually toward the bottom if you have a tower,or the right of the back of the pc if it stands like a stereo receiver.
The input for the mini plug is usually marked above or to the side of where it should be put in....Hope this helps
 
And one more thing,make sure the input level is turned up on
the pc,or you'll be scratching your head wondering why you can hear your system,but not get any signal from whatever
wave editor you wind up with. To ensure that,right click on the speaker icon,near the time display at the lower right hand side of the screen,and when that's clicked,you'll have two choices,either'open volume controls' or 'adjust audio
properties'. Choose 'open',and move that control up to 75%
of the way up,so you'll get volume,but not distortion. Keep
this panel open until you get the level at where you are comfortable. Maybe now you have the info you need!!!
 
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