All About Soundcards, Part 2
Brian Heywood concludes his look at PC soundcards by considering some of the issues involved in using them to record and play back digital audio.
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Brian Heywood concludes his look at PC soundcards by considering some of the issues involved in using them to record and play back digital audio.
Derek Johnson brings you more news from the platform that wouldn't die... the ST.
AARRGGH! Just as you were about to save your computer crashes, destroying the only record of your latest musical opus. What should be your next step? Before you douse your PC in aviation fuel and set it ablaze, calm down, and hearken unto the soothing advice of Crashmeister Janet Harniman-Cook...
Every studio musician knows at least enough about analogue connections to get a standard recording system up and running. When it comes to digital, though, we're often in the dark about what will work with what. Hugh Robjohns raises the digital standards.
Most budding engineers will, at some time, have to tackle a performer who wants to sing and play the guitar at the same time. Mic type and placement can make a big difference to the quality of the result obtained, as Hugh Robjohns explains..
Many people have trouble adding new software cards to a PC. If your slots are full to overflowing, and every card is fighting for its own resources, you will almost certainly encounter problems. Fortunately, Martin Walker is here to lead you through the minefield.
Astonished by the speed of software development, Martin Russ wonders where it's all leading... MOTU Digital Performer.
Brian Heywood discusses the powerful new soundcard from Terratec, plugs a couple of musical web sites, and entreats software developers to stop trying to reinvent the wheel...
Hard disk recording is what everyone seems to be talking about, with new systems being released, at all levels of the market, almost every month. For anyone confused about how hard disk recording works, Martin Russ points out a few things you might not have considered...
One of the PC's plus points is its adaptability to a variety of tasks depending on the extra hardware installed in it — and the soundcard used can make or break it as a musical tool. In this two-part series, Brian Heywood takes a look at the various types of soundcard available.
Ofir Gal and Derek Johnson round up more Atari software and hardware news, and discover a new online Atari magazine.
When your PC soundcard ceases to function, the newly connected external controller very often gets the blame — wrongly. Brian Heywood identifies some possible alternative causes.
Janet Harniman-Cook quite literally takes the lid off the PC, and explains why she thinks it's the best bet for the future of music.
Paul White looks at the components of a PC-based desktop music system, and suggests some helpful ways of using such setups in conjunction with more 'traditional' studio equipment.
The PC-owning community now seems to be split into two camps — those who already record onto hard disk, and those who would like to, but have not yet worked out what equipment they really need. Martin Walker guides you past the pitfalls and perils.
Paul White gives some foolproof step-by-step ideas for creating contemporary and vintage guitar sounds in the studio.
Martin Russ gets to grips with Quick Time 2.5, explains how Weird Blinking Lights work, and gives his regular roundup of Mac news and useful 'net addresses.
Multi-port MIDI interface and patchbays can seem an expensive indulgence for the average studio. But, as Martin Russ explains in the concluding part of this two-part feature, they can really help you to get the best use from the MIDI gear you already own.
The flexibility of digital multitrack and hard disk recording is undeniable. But what if you yearn for the sound of your old analogue machine? Craig Anderton explains a trick which uses the playback head of a three-head analogue deck to give you the best of both worlds.
When Martin Walker decided it was time to buy a removable SCSI hard drive for his sampler, he fondly imagined that it would be a centralised storage solution for both samples and MIDI data from his PC, streamlining song organisation and making sample management easier. Enter reality...