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Hi,excuse my noobness but i am kind of at the end of my rope trying to figure what i am doing wrong.Maybe it's equipment but i think it's probably just me.
Here is what i have,it's a karaoke system...
Allen & Heath USB Zed 12FX Mixer
Yamaha P5000S Amp
Sonic BBE 882i Maximizer
dbx 266 XL Compressor on the mic channel
Yamaha Q2031B 31 Band Dual EQ
Using SM58 Mic
I run this through my dell computer using the audio interface to the mixer

I am trying to make a recording of my wife and i singing.I have 2 different software programs and get the same results from each,Sonar 8.5 LE and an older Adobe Audition 1.5.
What i get when i record it is just a mess of very loud garbled crapola.Trying to explain it,it's like my voice is louder than the music,it seems so loud and poppy,just really really poor quality.
I am not sure if my settings aren't right(I've tried every setting i can think of) or my equipment isn't proper for recording.
I have an M-Audio Fast Tracks Pro i could try using as an audio interface instead of the mixer but wanted to see if i could get some input first.

Thanks

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BobRogers Wed, 02/17/2010 - 18:23

It's not completely clear to me what you are doing. I'm guessing that you are importing a backing track into Sonar and then recording a separate vocal track. If this is not the case, describe more fully what you are doing.

Regardless, the first thing to do is disconnect all of the outboard equipment. That's a very complicated signal chain for someone starting out and it can all be reproduced in your DAW. You can add it back later a piece at a time, but you want to start simple: SM58 - mixer (no effects, all tone controls flat) - computer - software. Start with spoken work, a capella singing. Get that sounding good. Get the right levels in the mixer. Once you are satisfied with that sing along with the backing tracks. Then use the plugins in Logic to adjust Eq, then compression of the vocals. Then add logic's plugin effects (probably a little reverb). Loop a short section of the song so that you can experiment with different settings and understand their effects.

anonymous Wed, 02/17/2010 - 20:32

Thank you, i'll try that.Basically i am playing the music using another program,i arm the track to record and set up the track to use the usb audio interface for recording and playback and it records the music and us singing..When the music starts playing, the track records both the music and our voices on the same track.
I have tried to do just voice and just music but it is still horrible. I'll break it down to the basics and give it another go,i guess i can try the fast tracks audio interface then as well if i'm still getting a bad result.
This is a fairly new system that i have upgraded to.My older system worked ok,it was a very basic setup and i wanted to step up to more professional entry level gear.Looking to do small karaoke venues and get a feel for the business.
I didn't think i would run into problems doing recordings but here i am.