Korg Forums

[RWolthuis]

Newby here. I’ve familiarized myself with the EX 88 and have composed songs. I have the Presonus Audiobox which I cannot get to initialize despite multiple readings of help articles. So, I can’t set up an audio device. Is there any other ways to convert to wav files or any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

[voip]

Try using Audacity software and the Line Ins for the built in audio card in the computer to produce WAV files. The quality won't be at all bad, except in extremely demanding recording situations.

Alternatively, a digital recorder, something like the Tascam DR-07, will produce WAV files of the input signals, and will accept line input levels.

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[RWolthuis]

Thanks. Can you elaborate on the exact connections and how to configure using Audacity? I’m new to this. Thanks.

[voip]

1) Identify the Line In inputs to your computer's built-in audio card. Obtain a suitable lead or leads to connect this to the Krome's Line Out jack connections. Typically, most computers today have 1/8" stereo audio jacks for Line In so, for example, you might need a lead with a 1/8" stereo jack on one end (for the computer) to two 1/4" mono jacks (i.e. having Tip and Sleeve connections) to connect to the Krome Line Outs.

2) Install Audacity and start the software. Below the "transport" controls, there should be a list of drop down menu items. Select the input to be Line In (an example might be SigmaTel Audio: Line In). Next to that, select 2 (Stereo) Recording. The last drop down selects the audio output for which an example might be SigmaTel Audio. Click on the recording level bargraph to activate it, so you can see the input levels. Select the correct sampling rate at the bottom left of the Audacity screen. For an audio CD, this should be set to 44.1kHz.

3) Start the Krome song playing and, using the recording level bargraph as a guide, adjust the recording levels to accommodate the full dynamic range of the song, preferably during the loudest passage of the song. Make the adjustments using the Recording Volume slider to the right of the microphone symbol in combination with the Krome's Main Volume control. Aim for the maximum recorded level to be around -6dB to avoid overloading the A/D converters in the sound card. When done, hit the Record transport control (button with red dot) on the Audacity window and start the Krome Song playing. A new Track will appear on the screen when you start the recording. Stop the recording when the song finishes (button with orange square).

4) When finished, click on the left hand side of the track that was recorded and, in the File menu, choose Export Audio. The dialogue will ask for a .WAV file name. The "Save As Type" drop down in this dialogue allows the selection of other file formats e.g. MP3, OGG.

5) You should now have a saved version of the audio recording from the Krome's audio outputs. Keep this as a backup.

6) Perform any edits to the audio track in Audacity. Examples might include using the Normalise effect to raise the level of the entire track to an extent that the peaks do not overload the available dynamic range. You might also wish to fade in or fade out the recording and remove excessive amounts of silence at the beginning and end of the track. When happy, do another Export Audio to create a file suitable for publishing/sharing your song.

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[RWolthuis]

Thanks so much. Grateful for this resource.

[RWolthuis]

Thanks for your help with this. It worked well for essentially recording an entire song using Audacity into one track. Since I am using the headphone Jack of my laptop as my line in, I am assuming I cannot, with this configuration, record one track to Audacity using my Korg keyboard and then record another track since there is no way to hear an output signal. Am I correct? In other words, is the only way to do this the way I did: record an entire song using the Korg sequencer, perform edits using the sequencer, and then recording to Audacity?

[voip]

Audacity allows additional stereo tracks to be be recorded. Let the previously recorded track play out to the end and then just hit the Audacity record button again. A new track, or pair or stereo tracks will be created and the previously recorded track(s) will play.

[RWolthuis]

Thanks. I understand that, but if I use the headphone Jack of the laptop as the line in, how do I hear the recorded track while recording track two if the only way to hear would be the headphone jack as output?

[voip]

Shucks, yes, OK. Sorry. I was basing my response on a desktop PC with separate Line Ins and Line Outs to the built in audio interface, and this allows playthrough. In the case of a laptop with a single audio port, it will be necessary to get an external USB audio interface and configure that. These can be very cheap and unsophisticated, and not much bigger than a USB connector, with surprisingly acceptable audio quality but limited features, through to more expensive, but more capable interfaces. The key requirement is separate Line Ins and Line Outs.

It might also be worth checking the documentation that applies to your laptop, although I'm guessing the chances are that the laptop combo jack will allow connection of stereo headphones and mono microphone, but not stereo on both i.e. 2x2.

PS You mention the Presonus Audiobox in the original post. Is it worth revisiting to see if it can be pressed into service, or do you suspect it might be faulty? If it can be made to work, it should support playthrough.

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