Advice for recording with this beginner setup

COMPUTER:

Windows Xp Pro
Intel(R)
Celleron(R) CPU 2.60GHz
Memory - 1016MB Ram
2.59GHz, 0.99 GB of RAM

SoundMax Audio Card



Program:

Using Sonar 8



Blue Microphone Icicle
The Icicle is a USB microphone interface that can be used with any computer and with any microphone--even condensers that require 48-volt phantom power. About the size and shape of an expensive cigar tube, Icicle starts with a low noise, studio quality pre-amplifier with gain control. It's a fully balanced analog design and feeds a 'plug n' play' 44.1kHz/16-bit CD-quality analog to digital converter.


MXL 990 Condenser Mic
Pressure gradient condenser microphone
6 micron gold-sputtered 30 Hz - 20 kHz Cardioid 15mV/Pa 200 ohms 20dB (A-weighted IEC 268-4) 80dB (Ref. 1Pa A-weighted) 130 dB Phantom Power 48V (+- 4V) <3.0mA 60mm x 130mm / 2.36 in. x 5.11 in. 1.2 lbs / 544.3g Champagne

Mic Set-up
Center of Living Room, best position possible with-ought vocal booth. (Top floor apartment + Close to the street + No mic stand I got it hanging from a lamp and it moves slightly because the pop screen) It catches vibrations and wind from moving and all of course.


Recording:
Audio Driver Bit Depth = 16 Bit
Sampling = 44100
Buffers In Playback Queue = 2
Buffer Size = Safe - 342.9msec

*Yes I got updated drivers

Cheap Wireless headphones (mic pics up a little sound from them of course)

I got Allot of Waves Plug-ins and stock plug-ins that come with sonar 8. ( cant set a compressor before recording because it doesn't record right) * Been reading but dont know that much so Ive tried to use presets and even played with the settings but no success with pre recording efx. After recording vocals I can apply compressors, eq's and what not but Like I said if I apply to much Sonar DROPS_OUT.

* Dont have Monitors just basic computer speakers, headphones and ear buds. ( Earbuds work good for Waves: click, crackle and noise and plug-ins like that ) or am I wrong? Seems like those are the only thing there good for. My cheap usb mic pics up allot of pops(even with pop filter),cracks and what not thats why I use those plug-ins and they work good.

* I dont use synths ,midi tracks or instruments. Just Leased Instrumentals and vocals. I been practicing on trying to master the instrumental before I add it but  like I said Im new but Ive gotten allot better.

!!!Please do not reply with post saying you need this and you need that. I Know what I need but dont have the $ to get it right now, so I ask you as a artist with a passion for music not a hobbie, if you could give me any tips with this set-up until I can get a better one???

Yea thats right. They weren't free if thats what your thinking. If you had any you would know they arn't  cheep. Guess I just spent my money unwisely.  But I also didnt pay 3 a piece for them so it seemed like a deal at the time, and whats the point of a mic stand with a cheap mic? Ill save the money from the mic stand and put it towards a better condenser...

I'll leave the Waves issue alone for now. With your current setup, you are probably going to have to give up on recording with plugins. I don't think your soundcard can handle it. So, having said that, work on getting a good recording level with what you have. Alot of us record "dry". No plugs. Try and find a good spot in your room to get whatever instrument you are recording to sound good. This requires experimentation. Moving around the room with your headphones on, and moving the mic around and playing or singing. No other way around this. Its how its done in pro studios, so common sense will tell you that in an untreated room, you've got to be creative and find the sweet spot for what you are trying to do.
After you get some decent tracks recorded, you can start learning about effects and the proper way to use them. Presets are a decent starting point, but try and stay away from just putting them on a track and leaving it at that. Check out some info on "freezing" a track. This may help you with the dropouts when you have more than a couple of plugins on a project.

Randy

Recording:
Audio Driver Bit Depth = 16 Bit
Sampling = 44100
Buffers In Playback Queue = 2
Buffer Size = Safe - 342.9msec

 
Thats is all wrong!!!!!!! Your audio bit driver should be 24bit.
Your buffer size is way way way too big. Your music's should be between 1ms to 25ms, give or take
 
Your forgotten the most important piece of your set up. An audio sound card/interface!!!! Why would you use an onboard card. There not recommended for use. There drivers suck, maybe thats why your latency is over 300 secs. There A/D and D/A converters suck and they have no 1/4 inputs and outputs. For god sake, get yourself an audio sound card.
Why skin on the most important part of your set-up?? I dont get it!!
Cj
 

I recorded vocals in stereo, but I should have recorded them in mono???

Yes, record vocals in mono.

Basically, any signal coming from a microhpone should be recorded in mono.

Synths, amp sims like the Pod etc CAN be recorded in stereo - that's up to you and an artistic decision based on what you want to hear.

I agree.... the sound card interface was a necessity. The first thing I bought after the software. I mean like right after I bought it.... I knew better than to try to run it on a laptop card.