send it to a ME.

HI there..
you could export track to soundforge...and master mix it, normalize etc...it there..
BTW, im planning on going for a mackieOnyx 1640 with the firewire I/O myself...just wanted to know, does the firewire handle 16 I/O's simultaneously, smoothly enough..im planning to go in for a 2 gb RAM...and am recording it to cubase sx..for pre amps im using the mackie onyx..also i ve heard about the mix out knob from the mixer for this purpose..as in to determine how much mix out level goes into cubase..? can you elaborate it a bit pls..
many thanks..
http://www.themclones.com

Exactly what do you mean by "enhance the quality"?

You're not done mixing if the quality of the song isn't top notch. If you've mixed the track and you don't have it at finished quality, you need to mix it again. That's what mixing is all about. Not just getting levels right.

the onyx 1640 with the firewire has good pre's and i dont use it to record bands and live material. i only use it for home recording. i hear its good with bands and live material though. i use the audio technica 4050 mic and the material comes out clean and good. i was just wondering if there was any other little things to do to make things sound better. i hear people say mix down to stereo tracks but is that needed with cubase since after u get a good mix u can just export it to cd. im a good producer but im trying to get the engineering part down. i want the best quality sound.

smoove wrote: i hear people say mix down to stereo tracks but is that needed with cubase since after u get a good mix u can just export it to cd.

When you export to CD, you are mixing down to stereo tracks. All of your tracks are sent to either the left or right channel (or both) of a stereo track.

There are tons of things that can be done to enhance a mix. The most important is get the best sound recorded first. That way you are woking with good material.

I have some musician friends who send me stereo tracks they've recorded saying that they sound lifeless and they want me to "fix" them. For a quick and easy fix, I'll just send the audio through an aural exciter, dial in a setting and be done with it.

thanks progr4m.....so basically make sure im working with good quality material while recording and then there are numerous things i can do....

one last question..... i got the audio technica 4050 mic running into the onyx 1640....should i add highs, mids, and lows, to the mic with the onyx or just keep the settings at 0.... its a good quality mic already so is all of that needed??

Smoove,

You are asking very subjective questions with no absolute answers.

Learning how to "enhance the quality" of recordings couldn't be more vague. This, of course, is the goal of everyone here. If you need to have a professional product, you should get a professional Mastering Engineer involved. If you're just recording for fun, experiment with your Cubase mixdown with a wave editor like Sound Forge or Wavelab.

Regarding eq during tracking -

Learning eq techniques takes lots of trial and error listening experience. The choice of using your Onyx eq instead of the eqs in your computer depends on which is higher quality and whether your ears are good enough to make a judgement during tracking.

If you're just starting out and have no experience with such things, I'd record it flat (no eq on Onyx) and play around with eq, effects, etc inside Cubase until you get a good feel for what they do. Then you can judge whether you like your Onyx eqs better.

I'd also highly recommend researching starting points for eq settings. You'll find some general guidelines like cutting everything below 80-110Hz on a guitar. Again, there are no absolute rules, but these things can help get you started.

Best of Luck

thanks.........