Cakewalk UA-1G question: simultaneous mic & guitar recording possible?

Hello agoraphone,
 
Some answers for you;
 
1. You can only record from either the 1/8" mic input or the 1/4" mic/guitar input; you cannot record from both inputs simultaneously.
 
2. It is a mono input
 
3. Yes, you can use it as your default audio output device for all your applications, not just music recording apps
 
4. Windows 7 drivers are not available until after Windows 7 ships. I would expect them later this month after Windows 7 is released (10/22/09).
 
Hope this helps,
 
Samara

1. The UA-1G 1/4" input does not provide phantom power. If the mic can be self powered with batteries it will work fine with the UA-1G.

2. You can get cables/adapters that can split the headphone output into two so you can use two sets of phones. But that will also split the signal strength to each headphone in half. I can't speak to how loud you would be able to turn them up but it wouldn't get as loud as using just one set of phones. It would be better to get a headphone amplifier and plug that into the UA-1G headphone output. Adapters are cheap if you want to try that out and see how it works for you.

3. It is POSSIBLE to make professional studio recordings with the UA-1g as long as you work within its limitations. It is ADVISABLE to spend more money and get a more sophisticated and versatile audio interface, such as one with good preamps, hardware input monitoring and XLR inputs with phantom power.

The RCA jacks output a line level signal and the output level is not adjustable on the device. I don't know how useful that would be as a headphone output. You could try it but you'd probably be better off splitting the regular headphone output. I still recommend getting a headphone amplifier for best results.

I'd say limitations of the UA-1G include having only one stereo pair for recording/playback. If you never record more than one stereo source or two mono sources at one time this may not bother you.

More sophisticated audio interfaces have hardware input monitoring so you can listen to what you are recording with no latency and blend the input signal with the output signal with a knob. That's a pretty handy feature for most recording applications and especially for singers. The UA-1G has input monitoring but it works through the software and is neither as intuitive as that feature built into an interface nor as easy to use.

More sophisticated audio interfaces sometimes have built in compression on the inputs which can help record a more dynamically balanced track.

I use my UA-1G with a mixer and  think that's the best way to use it if you have one, though you can use just the UA-1G.

The most important question is what do you want to do with it and will the UA-1G do that. If you want to record 4 separate things at once and have each one on its own track, the UA-1G can't do that. If you're only going to record one thing at a time, the UA-1G will do that just fine. It will also allow you to use soft synths much better than an onboard integrated audio interface will allow you to do.

I can't say the quality would be better than what your video shows, but you would be able to record at higher sampling and bit rates, which many users say can facilitate recording/mixing even if the end product is then converted to 44.1 kHz and 16 bit. You might be very happy with the UA-1G and decide to upgrade, or not, in the future.

Pretty good video, by the way. I enjoyed it. Keep up the good work.

bugsinspidey


Hi

Had a dought..... can i hear what i am recording at 24 bit/96Khz sampling rate....????

The 96 kHz mode is not full duplex, so you can PLAY at 96 kHz or RECORD at 96 kHz, but not both at the same time. This is what the manual says about that: