Misdee Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 Hi there, I'm hoping some of you chaps out there can help me with a problem I'm currently wrestling with. I am not very knowledgeable about anything to do with computers ( to put it mildly! ) and I want to be able to record myself on my PC playing along to music. Up to last week, I had been using my trusty old Korg Pandora PX4D in a cobbled-together fashion to record myself into Audacity However, the Korg is now kaput after 10 years sterling service. I have a brand new Tech 21 BDDI V2 that i haven't got round to using yet despite buying it over two and a half years ago and I want to use it to do the same job the Korg did, but I have no idea how to go about it. I know I will need an audio interface of some kind, but I want to be able to record both my bass and the track I am playing along with into Audacity so that I hear both on playback. Is that possible using a fairly standard interface? Any advice on what I need to buy in terms of hardware and accessories such as cables very gratefully received. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 (edited) Any interface with an XLR input, ideally one with a direct monitoring switch, and an XLR cable is all you need. Flick the +48V phantom power on, and you can power the Sansamp via the XLR cable too! What I do is just play my music player app then flick the switch on my Focusrite interface to direct monitoring - then I can hear my bass overlaid on top of the music without having to faff around in software to reroute the input to the output and adjust the latency. Then only pull Audacity or the like out to actually record. If not using direct monitoring, you'll want to select ASIO drivers and find the settings to pull the latency / number of samples down as low as you can get away with. This is the size of the buffer used to temporarily store incoming audio before it's processed and pumped back out, so obviously you want that delay as low as possible or it'll affect your timing! Edited November 20, 2019 by dannybuoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 You could get something like a Zoom B1-Four (or the cheaper B1-On) to replace the Korg. That way at least you can continue to record in the normal way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skybone Posted November 21, 2019 Share Posted November 21, 2019 Alternatively, you could try getting something like a Zoom B3 or the newer B3n with a USB interface. Plug & play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted November 21, 2019 Share Posted November 21, 2019 No audio interface on the newer B3n though, only the B3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misdee Posted November 23, 2019 Author Share Posted November 23, 2019 On 20/11/2019 at 21:30, dannybuoy said: Any interface with an XLR input, ideally one with a direct monitoring switch, and an XLR cable is all you need. Flick the +48V phantom power on, and you can power the Sansamp via the XLR cable too! What I do is just play my music player app then flick the switch on my Focusrite interface to direct monitoring - then I can hear my bass overlaid on top of the music without having to faff around in software to reroute the input to the output and adjust the latency. Then only pull Audacity or the like out to actually record. If not using direct monitoring, you'll want to select ASIO drivers and find the settings to pull the latency / number of samples down as low as you can get away with. This is the size of the buffer used to temporarily store incoming audio before it's processed and pumped back out, so obviously you want that delay as low as possible or it'll affect your timing! Thank you so much for this information, it's exactly what I need! Can anyone recommend a fairly basic and easy-to-use interface with an XLR input? I presume I will also need a USB cable to connect the interface to my PC? ( please don't be afraid of causing offence by stating the obvious, I really do know nothing😄). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misdee Posted November 23, 2019 Author Share Posted November 23, 2019 On 20/11/2019 at 21:30, dave_bass5 said: You could get something like a Zoom B1-Four (or the cheaper B1-On) to replace the Korg. That way at least you can continue to record in the normal way. On 21/11/2019 at 10:41, Skybone said: Alternatively, you could try getting something like a Zoom B3 or the newer B3n with a USB interface. Plug & play. Thanks for the suggestion, but I tried the Zoom a while ago as it seemed the obvious replacement for the Korg, but to me it didn't sound anywhere near as good as the Pandora. Despite the extra tweakability of the Zoom, it always sounded harsh and synthetic by comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted November 23, 2019 Share Posted November 23, 2019 (edited) 7 minutes ago, Misdee said: Thanks for the suggestion, but I tried the Zoom a while ago as it seemed the obvious replacement for the Korg, but to me it didn't sound anywhere near as good as the Pandora. Despite the extra tweakability of the Zoom, it always sounded harsh and synthetic by comparison. Interesting as i have the Korg PX4D still, and last time i used it i thought it sounded the opposite to how you are hearing it. The latest Zoom stuff is pretty good, but not really a patch on the Helix stuff IME. There are many USB interfaces around, but Focusrite seems to be very popular. I have the older 2i2, but this one should work a treat for you. Very stable Windows drivers as well. Completely plug and play with noting to set up in Windows itself. You just configure your DAW to use this instead of whatever you already use. https://focusrite.com/usb-audio-interface/scarlett/scarlett-solo Edited November 23, 2019 by dave_bass5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misdee Posted November 26, 2019 Author Share Posted November 26, 2019 Thanks, cheers for that. Right, so I am going to get myself a Focusrite Scarlet-solo and an XLR cable. May I ask do you know if it will work OK with Windows 7? ( Yes I really am that far behind the times) Regarding the Helix, unfortunately it wasn't available yet when I was shopping for an upgrade on the Korg Pandora, so I bought the BDDI V2 as a good safe bet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted November 26, 2019 Share Posted November 26, 2019 28 minutes ago, Misdee said: Thanks, cheers for that. Right, so I am going to get myself a Focusrite Scarlet-solo and an XLR cable. May I ask do you know if it will work OK with Windows 7? ( Yes I really am that far behind the times) Regarding the Helix, unfortunately it wasn't available yet when I was shopping for an upgrade on the Korg Pandora, so I bought the BDDI V2 as a good safe bet. Nice one. If there are Windows 7 drivers on their website then you are good to go. I love my BDDI v2, although have no need for it at the moment. Ill probably never sell it though. I even use my Helix with the BDDI sim on all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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