Recording a Mix?

alexanthony

Impact (Engage Audio)
Joined
Aug 15, 2009
Location
London
Hi, I have been asked to record a set for the night I'm playing at but I'm pretty useless at this sort of stuff and never have done it before!!

I have 2 cdjs and a Allen and Heath zone 22. If anyone could tell me what i need to buy or do to record a mix i would be very grateful :)

I know you can connect it to your laptop and use audacity but i have heard the quality is poor and sounds tinny!!

Thanks
 
you need an audio interface, USB, with Line input (any will do pretty much, doesnt have to be expensive)

Audacity is fine, anyone who tells you the quality is poor and sounds tinny, doesnt know wot the fuk they are talking about :)
 
you need an audio interface, USB, with Line input (any will do pretty much, doesnt have to be expensive)

Audacity is fine, anyone who tells you the quality is poor and sounds tinny, doesnt know wot the fuk they are talking about :)

I imagine he means recording through a mic in... they are only mono and very quiet I believe?

but yeah mate, what miszt said is bang on the money
 
that should be fine
i used to have the uca202 and it did the job nicely
 
yeah any kind of external soundcard should sort you nicely, i have nio 2|4 and it records in almost 320 quality - and there are cheaper alternatives on the market
 
i take it to connect the mixer to the audio interface i will need a cable with the red and white thingys at either end aswell lol?
 
yeah you need some rca cables!
ur mixer might have a record ouput, if it does... bob's ur biscuit
 
I usually have the Booth Out rca's connected to an rca to 3.5mm adapter, then straight into my line in on my soundcard. Works a treat. Then i fire up virtual dj's RIP VINYL tool (only good thing about vdj really) and select my soundcard, and select 320kbps and hit record. (if you do this deselect preamp, causes severe distortion.)
 
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If you want to create a strong promo mix for mastering, you want to have a strong connection - either balanced 1/4"s or XLR's. This will deliver the most sound to your CPU. Also, record at a high sample rate if you machine can handle it (24bit@88.1) to increase headroom for editing/mastering later on. Most important: keep your peaks around -6 dB, digital distortion blows.

Cheers.
 
what do you mean by the first bit.. the balanced 1/4's or XLR's?

cables.jpg

Pardon the crappy diagram. Above are types of cables to transmit audio signals. There are essentially four types (I left out fiberoptic and S/PDIF to avoid confusion):
  • RCA - Good for general music playback. Not so good for monitoring, recording, or being output to a larger sound system.
  • unbalanced 1/4" - used primarily for electric guitar inputs. Notice it has only one black ring (aka sleeve)
  • balanced 1/4" - Great for recording and studio monitoring due to greater connection strength.
  • XLRs - Essentially the same as balanced, but more sturdy and build in ground.

The key when recording from an analog source (like a DJ mixer) to a digital source (computer) is the strength of the audio signal. A stronger, hotter signal will result in a better, "fuller" recording. You also have a less chance for picking up unwanted machine noise when using balanced or XLR cables.
 
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