Solo guitar - Zoom H4N vs DMP 3

[moon]

Originally Posted by bbrown

Am I right that if I use a preamp other than the one in the Zoom H4, then my PC (2002 Dell with Windows XP) soundcard will be what limits the recorded sound quality? I suspect my understanding might be off here.

I don't know what's been installed in the machine. If all you have is onboard audio then, yes, that's very much a weak link in the chain.

I have actually used onboard audio before to digitise some old four-track cassettes from a Fostex X-15. At the time I only had a dual-channel interface so the onboard audio gave me the other two channels I needed. If you can imagine some hissy old lo-fi cassette tapes, it was OK for that kind of audio quality. Not for anything else though.

Everybody always thinks room treatment won't matter but it's absolutely fundamental You can take a lot of the room out with a close mic position - and your ADK A6 is quite good in that regard because it has a fairly gentle proximity effect - but bad acoustics can really mess up the sound. Reflections, ringing, etc can make it impossible to get a defined, solid tone. Fran's video is a good example.

As it happens, I'm sitting down after a meal, catching up with emails. In a moment I'll be building some broadband absorbers of my own. In white satin... What can I say it was going cheap.

[bbrown]

Thanks Doug and Moon. I was close to actually making some of Fran's type of absorbers a few months back. This is a good time for me to do so.

Moon, I am unclear what you mean by "onboard audio". If I'm not using the Zoom to record, then it's my computer soundcard that's recording correct?
Again, my questions might be so basic as to create some confusion.

Oh, and when you finish those white satin absorbers, I expect you'll share with us some awesome Moody Blues renditions.

Originally Posted by moon

I don't know what's been installed in the machine. If all you have is onboard audio then, yes, that's very much a weak link in the chain.

I have actually used onboard audio before to digitise some old four-track cassettes from a Fostex X-15. At the time I only had a dual-channel interface so the onboard audio gave me the other two channels I needed. If you can imagine some hissy old lo-fi cassette tapes, it was OK for that kind of audio quality. Not for anything else though.

Everybody always thinks room treatment won't matter but it's absolutely fundamental You can take a lot of the room out with a close mic position - and your ADK A6 is quite good in that regard because it has a fairly gentle proximity effect - but bad acoustics can really mess up the sound. Reflections, ringing, etc can make it impossible to get a defined, solid tone. Fran's video is a good example.

As it happens, I'm sitting down after a meal, catching up with emails. In a moment I'll be building some broadband absorbers of my own. In white satin... What can I say it was going cheap.

[moon]

"Onboard" audio is literally embedded in the motherboard as opposed to a replaceable PCI card. It's a cheap solution providing basic audio support out of the box.