Poor sound quality recording acoustic guitar

[keshenatech1]

I have a 12 string acoustic guitar with a built in pickup. I've tried running it directly into my mixing board and also through a preamp/effects pedal. It sounds good when playing through my computer speakers, but when I record it in audacity, it sounds "muddy" and slightly distorted, not nearly as clear as when it is played live. Checked the sound levels and I'm definitely not clipping or over-driving the input
I'm running Windows XP on a Gateway 1.6ghz proc. w/640 MB ram and a Sound Blaster Live! Value sound card that came with the machine, updated to the latest drivers for XP. It's a model CT4870 32 bit.
Does any one else run this same sound card with Audacity, and/or know if it works good with the program? I'm not sure if my problem is in the sound card, PC, or if it's just normal for the software. I just downloaded it last week and I'm not sure what type of sound quality to expect from a free program. Does Audacity generally give good quality recording results?
Any advice or comments would be welcomed and appreciated. Thanks

[waxcylinder]

I'm not sure what type of sound quality to expect from a free program. Does Audacity generally give good quality recording results?

Sorry I can't comment on your particular sound card - but yes you should expect Audacity to produce truly excellent results when set up and used properly.

Hopefully someone who uses your soundcard will read this and comment too.

WC

[straightupwv]

I don't have the same sound setup that you do, but I do have an acoustic 12-string with a built in pickup that has been difficult to record. What type of pickup is it? Is it a sound hole pickup? Is it an "under the bridge" piezoelectric sensor? If so, does it have a built in preamp? If it has a preamp, replace the battery. That cured a lot if the problems I was encountering. If it's a sound hole pickup, that's more than likely the problem. The bronze wound strings do not interact with the magnet in the pickup. Only the unwound strings and the thin core of the wound strings will be heard. Using a built in pickup to record an acoustic guitar will not give you the resonance of the body so the resulting recording can sound thin and brittle.

Here's how I record mine. Plug the pickup into one channel of the mixer and plug a good quality mic into another. Pan one left and one right. Setup Audacity to record a stereo track, [Edit /Preferences /Audio I/O /Channels: 2 (Stereo)]. Place the mic as close to the sound hole as possible without whacking it with your strumming hand. Record the guitar part. The pickup should be on one channel and the mic should be on another. Now, split the stereo track into two mono tracks. To do this, click "Audio Track" on the far left, (next to the "x"). There will be a drop-down menu. Choose "Split Stereo Track". This will split the track into two separate tracks. On each of those tracks, open the drop-down menus and choose "Mono". You should now have two tracks of 12-string that you can mix to get the best results.

I hope this helps.

[keshenatech1]

Thanks for the suggestion. To answer your question, it is a built in non-amplified pickup. It sounds good with headphones through my mixer board. Just comes back "muddy" sounding on playback. Hard to describe, but slightly distorted, not very clear, and somewhat tinny. I found a 64 bit sound card cheap on ebay for only $15 including shipping so when it comes in, I'm going to give it a try just to eliminate that as a cause of the problem. According to the Audacity documentation, all of the analog to digital conversion happens on the sound card, so I'm thinking maybe that's where it's getting messed up? My current card is old, like a 2001 vintage so maybe there is a component starting to fail or it's just not fully compatible with XP? Had problems even locating a driver for it. After I get the new sound card, I'll repost and let you know how it works.

[comcon]

As a comment on "straightupwv" 's suggestion.

Most things I've read about mic'ing acoustic guitars warn against mic'ing at the sound hole (as intuitive as that sounds).

They recommend microphone placement either at the bridge, or at the twelfth fret.

[straightupwv]

The reason I mic the sound hole is to counterbalance the treble of the bridge pickup. Experimenting with mic placement has taught me that putting a mic at the bridge of a 12-string gives a very shrill sound. I only recommended this method because I've achieved good results with it.

[kozikowski]

<<<it is a built in non-amplified pickup. It sounds good with headphones through my mixer board. Just comes back "muddy" sounding on playback.>>>

Know anybody with a Mac? You are the poster child for the way the Mac handles sound. The Line level sound out of your mixer directly into the Line-In of any Mac. Add appropriate Audacity and go. No drivers, aging components, cheap sound cards, etc.

A capture should sound exactly like it does at your mixer. If it does, you know your sound card is at fault. If not, the line output of your mixer may have problems.

Koz