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Topic: Built in track recorder vs line-in Audacity recording  (Read 2074 times)

Offline stylerpiano

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Built in track recorder vs line-in Audacity recording
on: October 28, 2016, 06:40:33 AM
Hi all!

I'm just thingking on that which is better, the Clavinova's built in track recorder (actually it creates  wav audio files), or to connect the piano to the computer(aux out, and my laptop's mic port) and record it's sound with Audacity.

I also excited in that anybody have some experience on recording digital piano with microphone?

So here is three option, which do you think is the best?

My personal oppinion:

- built in audio recorder makes nice, but quiet sound(with laptop speakers), and I have to boost it's volume level with audacity as well, but the quality of the sound reducing during this process and with laptop speakers, the piece lose it's dynamic range after the volume level boost
- When I had older digital pianos I tried the line-in recording, but there were some noise in the recording
- I didn't tried to record a digital piano with physical microphone (I don't think it's a good idea)

Offline indianajo

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Re: Built in track recorder vs line-in Audacity recording
Reply #1 on: October 29, 2016, 11:01:13 PM
Before I could afford good microphones, about 1986, I recorded an Ensoniq EPS sampler synth on the piano stop directly into a 1/4" 4 track tape recorder.  I then sang over it with a $3 dynamic mike, sound on sound.  It turned out pretty well.  Voice records fine with cheap mikes, but piano sounds are not so frequency and power limited.  When doing sound on sound, you have to record the initial track lower, about 6 db, to allow for adding sound without saturating the peaks and clipping. 
My version of Audacity does not have automatic gain control (AGC) so the dynamic range is not reduced on my recording.  I downloaded Audacity  with ubuntu studio.  It took a while to find the control for the incoming gain, it was some mysterious graphic button. You have to get the gain right or you get excessive hiss (not enough gain) or clipped power peaks (too much gain).   My version of Yellow Bird on Hammond organ is on inbojat.tumblr.com  recorded with one condensor KSM27 mike, and the $3 mike on the other channel , the hissy one.  
Now that I have two KSM27 mikes, the computer that I run Audacity on has died.  It's 10 years old, no great loss, but my budget doesn't allow for a new Apple Mac or the equivalent.  More craigslist shopping is the ticket this fall I imagine.  Dragging a tower case home on the bus is a real P***.  I tried a used $65 laptop, but the Win 7  op system was ripped off, killed by MS over the internet, and the free ubuntu I loaded on it couldn't operate the DVD drive.  
 

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