The Only Professional Vocal Remover
3p_rk_bl.jpg (26603 bytes)
Thompson Vocal EliminatorTM  Model VE-4
 Manufactured and Sold Exclusively By LT Sound

Record Your Own CDs on Your Computer With the VE4
   This application note will give you the information you need to record your own Studio Quality CDs on the CD burner built in to your computer.
   There are two stages to this process. The first is recording your WAV files of your songs and saving them on your computer as you record them. The second stage is to burn the WAV files onto your CD burner. 

Specific Application Note For The Creative Audigy2 NX
     
Most computers come with a sound card, but most do not have digital inputs.  There are significant advantages to recording from the VE4's digital output.  We are going to describe in detail a specific set-up that we have actually confirmed has ALL the Critical attributes we consider important to enable you to produce CDs on your computer that rival that of the best recording studios on the planet.
   If you have a sound card with a SPDIF  (Sony Phillips Digital Interface) INPUT  you should use that device. SPDIF inputs can be either the Optical Type or the Co-Ax (RCA) type.  They carry the same information in the same digital format.
    If you wish to get a sound card with a digital input, we tested and chose the Creative Audigy2NX because it met the following criteria.
  1) External - so you do not have to open up your computer - uses USB port - this makes it easily migrate able to your next computer providing long term value.
  2) Comes with Software allowing you to both record WAV files and burn them on your computer's CD burner.
  3) Real time monitoring of signal AS YOU ARE RECORDING! - This is important!
  4) The ability to drive headphones for monitoring during recording to decent levels.
  5) Economical - under $100
  6) Good Customer Support. You can get help directly from Creative (during the first 60 days) if you purchased their products separately as opposed to having them come already installed in your computer when you bought it. 
   Presuming you have a CD or DVD player (which will also be able to play CD's) for the source an additional investment of under $100 for the Audigy2 NX External USB sound card will provide both the Hardware AND the Software (included with the Audigy2 NX) to record the WAV files and Burn them onto your computer's CD Burner.
   You can order directly from Creative at 1-(800)998-1000 and I would recommend it unless you can verify stock at a local computer dealer.  Circuit City may stock them ... Best Buy does not.    Be sure you get the NX model as the Audigy2 ZS is a totally different product.

Basic Connection Overview
 Original CD to VE4 Connection
  You play the original CD on your separate DVD or CD player.  If your CD/DVD player has a digital output , either CoAxial(RCA) or Optical we would recommend using one or the other to go into the VE4's DIG-IN (if CoAxial) or OPT IN if your CD/DVD player has an optical out.  If you need to purchase a player, we would recommend a Sony DVD player in the $85 to $100 price range. It will have either a Co-Axial or Optical output.  Steer clear of the cheap DVD players as we have found some of them cut off the beginning of the song when using the digital outs.  SONY is your best bet. We have purchased several and tested them.   All worked fine. Conversely we purchased a Toshiba which died after a week and a Samsung which was a more expensive model and it cut off the beginning of songs when using the digital outputs.
 VE4 to Audigy2 NX Connection
   You will need an Optical Cable to connect the VE4's Optical Out to the Optical IN on the Audigy2 NX.

Software
All the WAV recording is done with Creative's MediaSource Player which comes with the Audigy2 NX.  Since you will be using it quite a bit we recommend you drag a shortcut to your desktop to make it easy to launch. Open Explorer.... START / RUN : Explorer and go to Program Files\Creative\MediaSource and Right Click the Shortcut as shown below and drag it to the desktop.  Then whenever you want to record all you have to do is double click the shortcut.


 

Launch Creative Media Source Player
    Double click the shortcut and the player will launch.  It's quite easy to use. First you have to
select the SPDIF (Optical Input from the VE4) as shown below.
 

Select The Recording Format
   Use the drop down box to select the recording format. For doing CDs that your friends can
play select WAV at 44.100 kHz and 16 Bit.

Record Your WAV Files
   It's intuitive and easy.  All you have to do is hit the REC Button to start recording and 
the Stop Button to Stop recording.  When you hit the stop button, a menu will come up
prompting you for the name of the file.  It will have a default name with the date .....
but over-ride that and use the song title..... say Moon River 1 ..... Moon River 2, etc.
you can go back and listen to the various cuts and drag the selected WAV files into a
Folder of all the recordings you want to record onto CD. 
    If you really want to get organized create you folders for your songs ahead of time
Such as a folder "Christmas 1"  "Christmas 2" and save them in an organized fashion.
    Let's say you have a 150 GB drive ..... you can record about 30 3 minute songs per
GigaByte.   So if you have 10GB available you can record 300 songs at full CD quality.