using a pre-amp in a DAW

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Excuuuse me if this is dumb, but I can't seem to figure it out. I like
to use a stereo pre-amp in my Digital Audio Workstation. You have to
hook up the computer sound card like you would connect a tape deck, or
else you will be connecting the sound card input and output together,
which of course doesn't work. You can use the "tape monitoring" switch
on the pre-amp with a tape recorder, but with a sound card "tape
monitoring" again connects the sound card's input and output together.
Does Windows XP have any settings which affect this? Is this a sound
card "full-duplex" issue or something?

Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

BC,

> I like to use a stereo pre-amp in my Digital Audio Workstation. <

I'm not sure what use that will serve. The main feature of a stereo preamp
is multiple input selection, and to amplify the tiny signals from a phono
cartridge. With a DAW you usually want two different types of preamp: One
type is for microphones, and it should have phantom power if your
microphones require this. The other type is for use as a "direct box" such
as an electric bass that needs 10-30 dB of gain and a very high input
impedance. So it seems to me you'll do much better with a small Mackie mixer
or an equivalent.

Have a look at my article "Using a Mixer with a DAW," first in the list
here:

www.ethanwiner.com/articles.html

This should answer a lot of your questions.

--Ethan

Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

BC,

> Your article made me realize that I need to learn a lot more about mixing
and recording. I don't think I have enough knowledge yet to really
understand everything you are saying in your article. <

It's not that complicated, but maybe it seems so after only one reading.
Audio routing is identical to plumbing in a home. Pipes get routed from here
to there, with valves (volume and pan controls) in between. It really is as
simple as that. But there are a few more pipes in a mixer than in most
homes. And plumbing deals only with hot and cold water, where a mixer has
input channels, output busses, sends and returns, etc. But it's exactly the
same kind of logic.

> I am bound and determined to add a multi-channel I/O sound card to my
computer ... the only one I found was the SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum
Pro. <

That's a stereo card, no? Unless you need to record more than two sources at
once, an Audigy will do fine. The M-Audio Audiophile cards are a good choice
too. If you plan to record more than one or two things *at the same time*
you need something like the M-Audio Delta 66 or Delta 1010 or similar that
has more than two inputs.

--Ethan

Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

B,

> I like to use the stereo hi-fi preamp mainly as a switching device, and
since I like to record vinyl as mp3, so I need the phono preamp. <

Then there you go, you're all set with what you have. To interface that with
a computer you'll send the receiver's Tape Out to the sound card's input,
and the sound card's output to the Tape In. That avoids a potential feedback
loop no matter what input you select to hear and record, and basically sets
up the computer as a tape recorder which is what you want.

--Ethan