Questions about Bettering Sound Quality Overall

i wanted to figure out a couple of things:

1) is sampling through the MPC a good way to maintain quality when
cutting samples from vinyl?

2) when using Cool Edit Pro (or Adobe Audition), what is a good sequence of tools/plug-ins to use when trying to boost the sound quality of instrumentation up overall (basically --- the concept of mastering --- i think)?

3) are there other software programs that are good to use for mastering or do you have any recommendations overall on how to do it?

4) how intergral are studio monitors in the whole process and what are a good set to use to try to achieve a good level of sound quality (almost on an electronic level of clarity [yes i do understand that most electronic samples are not from organic sources, so they tend to sound synthetically clean b/c they are])?

thanks a lot.

i'm a bit slow -- i also noticed a few answers to my questions in this forum already -- still help if possible though. thanks.

i start wid monitors. these are your interpreters to communicate with your ears, the sound needs to be represented a s flat. so they sound good on a wide spectrum of different audio systems, whether it be car, computer speakers, hi fi , boom box, sound system, or your grandma radio. but also your acoustic environment has to be equally as well. for example my bung hole, is shaped like a trapezium, and my monitors sit at one side of tht. my mixes sound very bass light in my room. but on other systems, the bass make you have involuntary bowel action. the point i am making is tht the room got to be set up to give a flat response as well, speakers must be at least 6ft apart, and not in a corner, diffusers would be nice to cancel out any standing waves, and direct reflections. a good test would be to snap, your fingers or clap your hands , in the position you will be monitoring, and see if you get any slap back. if you do, place paddings, whether it be acoustic sponge, or egg crates to break up those reflections off the wall. use the rolls tht material come on, cut them in half and place them incorners. basically try not to have any corners, or directly flat surfaces in there(and stay away from integrated amps. get a proper two channel 8ohm amp with just a button tht says on/off, no input selector sh**, simple) just do it, intil it is dead, or rather near enough.
if you got a perfectly square room, your bass is gonna sound loud and heavy. hence on other systems it is going to be light.
b4 u go any further, this should be yur first investment, to get a good representation of what is happening. experiment. do a mix, and try and listen to it on as many different systems tht you can.
the only way to have a dead room , is to have a room with in a room. whether it be compressed or not. (the room tht is) by this i mean right where you sit, the ceiling slants in tht position then back out again. the advantage of this is tht you dont have to drive your monitors as hard, to get tht level of db in the listening position. if you having trouble, get some ply and cover with some sponge, bout an inch thick, and cover it with material, so it is pleasing to the eye or clients, u can use wall angle brackets as feet, and just place them behind you, when monitoring, this absorbs the sound, so you dont get it coming from behind back into your ears at a different frequency, your ears just aint there to hook the glass frames around, they act as a filter, so sounds coming from behind, are of a different frequenct than tht of the front. and last ut not least, if you really serious and skint, just hang a sheet, like 6inches to a foot off the ceiling, guerilla style, this also deadens the sound.
as for sampling, have them raw, whether through mpc or any other device. no e.q no compression. just straight and clean. then after wards you can freak them as much as you want, if you dont like how it sounds in the end, you can always take off the effects, and go back to the original. i dont have a phonograph. and i sample off of cds, i end up using filters, and plugins tht give me a vinyl effect izotope vinyl.. scratches, dust, warp, 1960s worn needle, what ever my heart contents.

as for tools, i dont really f*** wid them, if you got the time , patience, and hand eye co-ordination then go for it. i normally go outboard through a mixer. i love touching. and they dont come cheap either, if you got the moola, then waves, psp, and t- racks seem to be good. also bear in mind be suttle, you can really f*** up yur sound if you twiidle too much with tht software stuff.
hope this hs been helpful

its a raggy road , road is so rough, trodding this road for the longest time, and never think to pop off another man coil.

i start wid monitors. these are your interpreters to communicate with your ears, the sound needs to be represented a s flat. so they sound good on a wide spectrum of different audio systems, whether it be car, computer speakers, hi fi , boom box, sound system, or your grandma radio. but also your acoustic environment has to be equally as well. for example my bung hole, is shaped like a trapezium, and my monitors sit at one side of tht. my mixes sound very bass light in my room. but on other systems, the bass make you have involuntary bowel action. the point i am making is tht the room got to be set up to give a flat response as well, speakers must be at least 6ft apart, and not in a corner, diffusers would be nice to cancel out any standing waves, and direct reflections. a good test would be to snap, your fingers or clap your hands , in the position you will be monitoring, and see if you get any slap back. if you do, place paddings, whether it be acoustic sponge, or egg crates to break up those reflections off the wall. use the rolls tht material come on, cut them in half and place them incorners. basically try not to have any corners, or directly flat surfaces in there(and stay away from integrated amps. get a proper two channel 8ohm amp with just a button tht says on/off, no input selector sh**, simple) just do it, intil it is dead, or rather near enough.
if you got a perfectly square room, your bass is gonna sound loud and heavy. hence on other systems it is going to be light.
b4 u go any further, this should be yur first investment, to get a good representation of what is happening. experiment. do a mix, and try and listen to it on as many different systems tht you can.
the only way to have a dead room , is to have a room with in a room. whether it be compressed or not. (the room tht is) by this i mean right where you sit, the ceiling slants in tht position then back out again. the advantage of this is tht you dont have to drive your monitors as hard, to get tht level of db in the listening position. if you having trouble, get some ply and cover with some sponge, bout an inch thick, and cover it with material, so it is pleasing to the eye or clients, u can use wall angle brackets as feet, and just place them behind you, when monitoring, this absorbs the sound, so you dont get it coming from behind back into your ears at a different frequency, your ears just aint there to hook the glass frames around, they act as a filter, so sounds coming from behind, are of a different frequenct than tht of the front. and last ut not least, if you really serious and skint, just hang a sheet, like 6inches to a foot off the ceiling, guerilla style, this also deadens the sound.
as for sampling, have them raw, whether through mpc or any other device. no e.q no compression. just straight and clean. then after wards you can freak them as much as you want, if you dont like how it sounds in the end, you can always take off the effects, and go back to the original. i dont have a phonograph. and i sample off of cds, i end up using filters, and plugins tht give me a vinyl effect izotope vinyl.. scratches, dust, warp, 1960s worn needle, what ever my heart contents.

as for tools, i dont really f*** wid them, if you got the time , patience, and hand eye co-ordination then go for it. i normally go outboard through a mixer. i love touching. and they dont come cheap either, if you got the moola, then waves, psp, and t- racks seem to be good. also bear in mind be suttle, you can really f*** up yur sound if you twiidle too much with tht software stuff.
hope this hs been helpful

its a raggy road , road is so rough, trodding this road for the longest time, and never think to pop off another man coil.

im about to get a new needle.......A hifi needle, NOT "a good scratch needle".

I realized that It all starts with the sound source. If you can get a very clean sound from the vinyl, Your beats will sound better. I.e. less hiss, more accurate representation of sound (as some dj needles are more for durabilty then quality-scratch needles) And also if the level of your sample is good.

The best way to get clear sound is through a good needle, not meant for scratching, because scratch needle tend to be more durable, and less accurate to a wide range of frequencies....while they may be good in the club, or for scratching, for sound design, you need hifi.

ive ordered this needle and will let you know how it goes: http://www.shure.com/catphono_hifi.html the M97xE

On that needle you CAN NOT do any dj stuff with it, and i plan not to even back cue with it. Im just gonna drop and listen-if i need to go back, i will pick it up, not reverse the vinyl. I dont want anything to **** this needle up, so i get the best sound i can.

You do need a good preamp no matter what too. My turntable has one built in-so i can just directly connect the turntable to the mpc. Or you can buy a mixer for one, if your table doesnt have one built in. They also just sell "preamps" meant for hifi use, but they are bit expensive.

Also, ive been altering the sample after its been sampled, not before, I like it straight. Then mess with eq, and filter, etc. later. Unless sometimes ill slow down the bpm with the turntable pitch fader, to sync it with a beat, if it sounds good, ill sample it, but most of the time i get creative inside the mpc.

If you sample quality, then when it comes to mastering your stuff, it shouldnt be as hard, because remember alot of the stuff you sample is already mastered. Alot of times for me, sampling is also finding sounds that match well with other sounds too, so that i dont have to worry too much about getting sounds to mix, and eqing them later. If it doesnt work right away with me, ill search for differant drums, or bass sounds, or whatever to match the sample. THis helps too.

FInally, id start with the source: that means clean your vinyl well. USe cleaner meant for vinyl records (search this site for some).

When you pick out vinyl, make sure its good i.e. take it out of the cover. ANd look to see if its really worn. iF at all possible get ones that are not worn too much.

GET a good needle. A scratch needle can work just fine, but try not to scratch with it, because it will lessen the quality. If you can a good hifi would work too. But for sure, anything from ORfton would be good if you dont like the looks of the "shure" one above. Or ive heard about Gordo, but they are expensive.

Get good cables, and connections. That includes connecting your needle right. and making sure the Rca cables are tight.

Also take your time when you sample. Listen for mistakes you might not realize at first-like extreme hiss,or hum from chords or vinyl thats bad....or poorly recorded vinyl. Sometimes the original recording was bad, so you may want to realize taht you cant fix it later and scrap it. whatever.

Peace.

MONTIORS are very important. If you have crap monitors like computer speakers or something, youll do stuff to your sounds to make them sound good....but it will end up bad on someone elses speakers or when it comes time to take it to the studio.

the monitors im refering to are: "powered monitors"

which means that they have an amp built into the speaker. the amp is kind of like your reciever on your home cd player hifi system.

The built in amp matches the speaker well and all you have to do is plug in your mpc right to them. Or plug in your mpc into a mixer (not a dj mixer, but a recording mixer) then plug the mixer into the speakers.

id get nothing smaller than 8" because you get more frequencies with them.

check out an online music store to see the differant brands. IVe got yamaha msp 10s. If id get new ones id go for something from EVENT. like the event bias 20/20s. BUt if your on a budjet, the alesis are good.