Connecting the kit to a PC

[Nulkki]

I'm going to buy and USB audio interface to connect to my PC, mostly for recording vocals. My question is: Should I buy a midi compatible interface for my drum kit? These are somewhat more expensive. Does it make any difference compared to buying a simple Midi to USB cable to connect the drums to my PC? Is there any better way, midi to XLR for example? I can't afford an interface with 8 line-ins from the brain, 1 isn't enough right? Sorry for the mass of questions I just want to record with my drums and possibly edit the sound a little.

[fishmonkey]

there is no harm using a separate USB-MIDI interface. just bear in mind that like anything else the quality of MIDI interfaces varies. oh, and there is no such thing as MIDI -> XLR.

if you are recording audio directly from the module, then you will want an interface that as at least 2 line inputs, for stereo left + right. having extra inputs allows you to keep more parts of the kit separate, like you would if you were miking up a real kit.

[Nulkki]

Thanks for answering. I aim to record straight from the "brain". Do you suppose MIDI or the 6.5mm audio cables are the better choice? If Midi, I'm leaning towards a simple Midi to Usb cable

[fishmonkey]

it sounds like maybe you don't know the difference between MIDI and audio...

MIDI is digital information that is used to encode and transmit musical information, it has no 'sound'. at its most basic, MIDI information describes when notes turn on and off, note values, note velocities (like a digital score). then there are various other controls and more advanced signals that it can also contain. to make actual sound from MIDI, either a software synthesiser or sampler interprets the MIDI information and creates audio.

when recording from the module you can choose to record MIDI information and/or the audio produced by the sampler inside the module. to use the MIDI recording, however, you will need to run drum sampler software inside a DAW to turn the MIDI into actual audio that you can hear.