Gettin Started! Big Step!

H

housefreak

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Hey guys i am a first time poster long time reader and just wanted to say hello everyone on the forums. Yes im a newb! lol

I've come here for help.

Basicly im taking my first big step in terms of recording/ producing.

Rather then Opinions witch often in the long run confuse me lol im seeking kind of stricked guidance yes or no sort anwers.

so my first questions is... what do you think of this setup

apple macbook pro
m audio fire wire solo
logic
?


The next question i have is i need somehat of the most basic asnwer possible i've done enough reseach but still can't understand. What soundcard do i put on macbook? what i need to understand is the m audio solo will make the sound coming in and out of the computer better, but does it act as a soundcard for lets say burning a song or mix i recorded on to the computer will i hear that same quality on the cd? if so do i just get a basic sound that comes with the laptop and the m audio will "overwrite" somewhat and act as the soundcard.



that's pretty much it for now. Thank you so much for reading and trying to understand my troubles.
 
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First, yes, the M-Audio acts something like an additional soundcard (in addition to your internal card). The proper term is an interface.

Once you've recorded your audio, the interface plays no role in processing. It handles only the preamplification and A/D conversion for recording, and D/A for playback. Anything you do to mix or what-have-you is all handled digitally between the processors, RAM, and HDD. Mixdown/bounce included.

I think this setup could work quite well. Certainly in terms of raw power. But be sure that whatever software and hardware drivers you buy are *natively* compatible with the new Intel-based Macbook. Do your homework on this. If the software uses Rosetta (their PowerPC emulation tool for not-yet-Intel-compatible software), it's not going to be using the full potential of the machine.
 
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so if everything turns out ok with compatibilty. So then i could with having the standard soundcard that comes with the macbook cause the m audio firewire solo will make the overall sound, sound better? basicly meaning as good as it sounds recording into the computer will i have that same quality if lets say i burn my mix or sound on to a cd, or have that good sound running a program like logic.
 
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The M-Audio is likely much better quality than *any* stock soundcard. It's not that it makes anything better; you shouldn't be using a stock soundcard for studio recording purposes. It's like using on-board video in a desktop for gaming...nobody who's serious about it does that.

If you record with the M-Audio, mix in Logic using the M-Audio and some decent monitors, then mixdown to 16bit WAV, you will not lose any quality when you burn that file to CD. The onboard soundcard has little (if any) effect on your production capabilities with the M-Audio, let alone burning a file to CD (no matter what format).

EDIT: Actually, let me clarify - the onboard soundcard acts much the same as the M-Audio, in that it's just an interface - its sole purpose is to convert a digital audio signal to analog (so you can plug in some headphones or something and have a listen), and vise versa. Outside of this definition, it has no bearing on other functions of your machine.
 
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thanks for the info very helpful... one more thing comes to mind is part of my setup is 2 turntables and mixer.... my old setup i had my mixer going into the computer via line in and then my computer sound coming out into my amp a home theater amp connected to my big speakers around the room

my question is how do i go about having this setup but with my macbook.... my mixer has 2 rca outs and 2 qauter inch outs.. can i connect that into the m audio firewire solo and then out from that again to my amp witch has rca ins?
 
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