Well hold on Shyam! The inputs on the front of the Audigy aren't all that great. ( I know because I had one.) For instance, the MIDI inputs on the front access plate are mini MIDI inputs that require an adapter to go up to full size.
Before I really knew what I would need for
professional recording I mistakenly upgraded to the Creative X-Fi Elite Pro (with the external console). Don't get me wrong, it is fine for home use and may suit your needs perfectly. It has one ( ONLY one) full size MIDI IN and MIDI OUT so no adapters are needed.
You can take a look here:
us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=209&subcategory=669&product=14064What it does not have is XLR mic inputs, nor does it have phantom power... a MUST for professional recording with large diaphragm condenser mics. It has one 1/4 phono jack line input and one 1/4 phono mic input. That means if you are going to want to record in stereo, you can forget it. It also has a bunch more inputs that you probably would have no real use for.
Here is a nice huge photo of the front:
www.muizenshop.nl/layout/media/2201-2400/2363_1_image.jpgand a photo of the back. I added what the connections are to it so you can see as, I couldn't find a nice large picture of the back on the web.
h1.ripway.com/midicat/XFi-Pro-Ext-back.jpgAs for software, There is plenty of very good, free recording and MIDI sequencing software available.
Audacity is great and it's free.
MU.LAB is a very professional audio recording program and has a learning curve, but again, it is FREE!
Space Toad MIDI Sequencer is a good, free sequencing program.
More info below on these
free programs:
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MU.LAB ( formerly known as Luna)
www.mutools.com/products.htmlMU.LAB is a state of the art, ultra-light music application, designed to compose & perform music of different styles and flavors.
MU.LAB comes in 2 flavors: MU.LAB Free and MU.LAB Unlimited.
MU.LAB Free is a light version of MU.LAB Unlimited and is free to everyone. The only limit is an 8 track limit. But be sure: a creative soul can do A LOT with 8 tracks!
MU.LAB Unlimited at the other hand supports an unlimited number of tracks for more extensive musical productions!
MU.LAB does not have a complex feature set, in which you can get lost.
At the contrary, MU.LAB is an easy yet rock-solid musical tool.
It's our intention to extent MU.LAB's functionalities in the future, but never by compromising on easiness or quality.
MU.LAB's core feature set:
Audio Recording & Playback
MIDI Recording & Playback
Flexible Composition & Sequence Editing
Supports Audio and MIDI VST Plugins
Powerful Audio and MIDI Plugin Routing (up to 100% modular if you want)
Integrated MuSynth: Powerful Modular Sound Engine
Integrated MUX: Powerful Modular Audio/MIDI Effect Engine
Integrated Audio Effects:
MuVerb: Very Nice Sounding Reverb
Stereo Echo: Very Versatile Stereo Echo
Multi Mode Filter: Very Versatile Audio Filter
And many more MUX patches!
Audio Engine using 32 bit floats, all usable sample rates
Sample Accurate Sequencing
Multi Undo/Redo
Available for OSX (Universal Binary) and Windows
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A member of the MusicByComputer yahoo group created a tutorial for this software, complete with screen shots. Here are the URLs:
* Using VST instruments
<http://johnnypumphandle.com/johnny/tutor/Mulab1_VST.htm>
* Recording midi data
<http://johnnypumphandle.com/johnny/tutor/Mulab1_MIDI_Record.htm>
* Recording audio data
<http://johnnypumphandle.com/johnny/tutor/Mulab1_AUDIO_Record.htm>
* adding effects
<http://johnnypumphandle.com/johnny/tutor/Mulab1_Effects.htm>
* VST automation
<http://johnnypumphandle.com/johnny/tutor/Mulab1_Automation.htm>
* Mixing to an audio file (WAV,MP3)
<http://johnnypumphandle.com/johnny/tutor/Mulab1_Mixing.htm>
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Audacity The Free, Cross-Platform Sound Editor
audacity.sourceforge.net/Because a lot of info has changed since I last copied their info, I suggest you look at the site.
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Space Toad MIDI Sequencer
www.spacetoads.com/The Space Toad MIDI Sequencer is a classical multi-track sequencer for Windows XP, which can be downloaded for free.
Supported features are:
· 64 tracks with 6 adjustable real-time parameters
· Mute & Solo options
· Standard MIDI File Import & Export
· Time signature changes are fully supported
· Real-time Tempo Recording
· Arrange Window for MIDI clips, which can be edited via drag & drop
· Matrix Editor with different self-adjusting zoom levels
· List Editor
· Editing of Lyrics & Text Events
· Virtual Keyboard
· Drawing tool for pitch, tempo & controller events etc
· Step recording facility
· Quantize function
· Logical Filter & Logical Transform
