• Mix Music With Pro Audio Sound Equipment

• Record Your Audio

• Get Pro Audio Recording & Editing Software

• Electrify Your Sound With Microphones

• Hear Your Music With Monitors & Speakers

• Find Pro Audio Sound Equipment on eBay

• Buy Pro Audio Sound Equipment With Confidence

Mix Music With Pro Audio Sound Equipment

Mix Music With Pro Audio Sound Equipment

Pro audio mixers from Soundcraft, Mackie, and Yamaha have rows of knobs and sliders that you use to manipulate the sound of different audio tracks in relation to each other. Once you learn how to work one channel, you'll be able to manipulate them all.

Pro audio mixers take in an audio signal, process it, and then allow you to modify the high, mid, and low end to get the sound you want. You can also adjust the intensity (amplitude) of a signal. Typical channel adjustment options include equalizing, pan, mute, solo, channel faders, low cut filters, trim, and aux send.

When buying a pro audio mixer make sure that it has:

• Enough channels to meet your needs.

• Line-ins and line-outs to handle all of your equipment.

• The ability to supply phantom power to microphones and speakers or monitors.

Most pro audio mixers have more line-in connections than microphone inputs.

Record Your Audio

Record Your Audio

When doing any kind of sound production work, you need a place to store your data. The format you choose to record your audio work can have a major effect on how you set up the rest of your rig. Korg recorders, Tascam recorders, and Boss recorders can be classified as analogue or digital recorders.

Find old-school analogue audio recorders

Analogue audio recorders such as reel-to-reel machines and standard cassette recorders offer an inexpensive way to become familiar with home recording.

Some of the simplest audio recorder models combine 4-track mixers with a cassette recorder so you can just plug in your drum machine, guitar, keyboard, and microphone and hit record.

Ease of use and warm sound make analogue a great, inexpensive way for beginners to get started.

Dive into digital audio recording

Digital audio recorders come in two different varieties: hard drives and DATs. Most digital audio recorders can usually record up to 24 different tracks per recording, but double-check the model you’re thinking of buying.

• Hard drive audio recorders: Hard-drive based audio recorders have a limited capacity. Buy one large enough to record everything you want to record and make sure it supports the number of tracks you need.

• DAT recorders: Digital audio tape (DAT) recorders have a high capacity and you can transfer them from one deck to another. Because DAT tapes record in digital format, you can easily import your audio into a computer or transfer it to CD.

Get Pro Audio Recording & Editing Software

Get Pro Audio Recording & Editing Software

Computers play an important role in home audio recording studios and professional audio recording studios. Good audio software emulates everything you need to make music. It provides virtual audio mixers, sequencers, loops, instruments, and an audio recorder. The two most common types of audio recording and editing software are sequencers and sound generators.

• Audio sequencers: Software like Pro Tools, Cubase, and Reason all let you edit or re-sequence your music. You can overlay tracks on top of each other and create the exact music you want.

• Audio sound generators: Synthesizers, loops, and drum machines all fall in this category. Sound generators create sounds instead of process sounds.

Try out different audio software before you buy. Most manufacturers allow you to download a free demo so that you can test the audio software. When the demos expire, purchase the audio software you prefer.

Electrify Your Sound With Microphones

Electrify Your Sound With Microphones

The old saying "garbage in, garbage out" applies to microphones. Buy the best microphone you can afford, especially for digital sound recording because your end product can never get better than what you start with. Shure microphones, AKG microphones, and Neumann microphones are all quality microphones. You can’t go wrong with a balanced, low-impedance microphone with an XLR connector. It provides better resistance to radio interference, which will give you a better signal-to-noise ratio.

• Mike a band: Buy an omnidirectional microphone if you can only afford one mike and need to record more than one musician simultaneously.

• Mike a singer: Pick up a unidirectional microphone or cardioid microphone if you’re going to record vocals. They face toward the singer and reduce background noise in your recordings.

Rugged dynamic microphones are the most versatile and common type of microphone. However, capacitor microphones pick up a much broader range of sound at higher quality. Use more fragile capacitor microphones for studio work.

Hear Your Music With Monitors & Speakers

Hear Your Music With Monitors & Speakers

If you’re serious about audio studio work, JBL speakers, Peavey speakers, and EV speakers are all very popular.

Regular speakers are designed to make your music sound good. Most accentuate either high-end or low-end sounds. So when you’re mixing, you will be hearing an altered sound.

Studio monitors do not have a built-in bias. They reproduce music exactly how it comes out of your equipment, accurately representing your music so you can make it sound the way you want.

Monitors come in two main types: active monitors and passive monitors. Active monitors have an amplifier built in that’s designed specifically to provide accurate sound. Passive monitors do not have amplifiers built in and are usually less expensive.

Find Pro Audio Sound Equipment on eBay

Find Pro Audio Sound Equipment on eBay

Once you know what type of pro audio equipment you want, go to the Musical Instruments portal, click Pro Audio, and start searching for items on eBay.

• Categories: The Categories list on the left side of each page will help you narrow down your listings by item type. You'll find links for Cables, Computer Recording, Microphones, Mixers, Monitors & Speakers, Multi-Track Recorders, Parts, Accessories, Power Amplifiers, Rack Gear, and Other Pro Audio. As you dig deeper into the site, you'll also be able to narrow down your choice by brand or subcategory.

• Keyword search: Search eBay listing titles for specific words. For example, if you want to find microphones, type "microphones" (without quotation marks) into the Search box. Click "Search title and description" to expand your results. Visit eBay's Search Tips page for more tips on searching with keywords.

If you can't find exactly what you want, try shopping eBay Stores, tell the eBay Community what you want by creating a post on Want It Now, or save a search on My eBay and eBay will email you when a match becomes available.

Buy Pro Audio Sound Equipment With Confidence

Buy Pro Audio Sound Equipment With Confidence

Before making your purchase, make sure you know exactly what you're buying, research your seller, and understand how eBay and PayPal protect you.

Know your purchase

Carefully read the details in item listings.

• Figure delivery costs into your final price. If you spend a lot of money, make sure the seller will insure the item when it ships.

• If you want more information, ask by clicking the "Ask seller a question" link under the seller's profile.

• Always make sure to complete your transaction on eBay (with a bid, Buy It Now, or Best Offer). Transactions conducted outside of eBay are not covered by eBay protection programs.

• Never pay for your eBay item using instant cash wire transfer services through Western Union or MoneyGram. These payment methods are unsafe when paying someone you do not know.

Know your seller

Research your seller so you feel positive and secure about every transaction.

• What is the seller's Feedback rating? How many transactions have they completed? What percentage of positive responses do they have?

• What do buyers say in their Feedback? Did the seller receive praise?

• Most top eBay sellers operate like retail stores and have return policies. Do they offer a money-back guarantee? What are the terms and conditions?

Buyer protection

In the unlikely event that a problem arises during your transaction, eBay and PayPal are there for you.

• Pay safely with PayPal: PayPal enables you to pay without the seller ever seeing your bank account or credit card numbers. In fact, PayPal protects buyers 100% against unauthorized payments from their accounts. Plus, with PayPal Buyer Protection, your purchase can be covered up to C$1,250.

• eBay Security & Resolution Centre: Visit the Security & Resolution Centre to learn how to protect your account and use eBay's quick and efficient resolution tools.