Record Yamaha Digital Piano with Better Quality using an Audio Interface

[akilatharuka]

I have a Yamaha P-125B digital piano. I currently record my stuff using a USB connection (Connecting a USB printer cable to my laptop and the keyboard).
Even though the sound quality is good, I need better sound quality.

Can I record a better and studio quality sound, using an Audio Interface (Etc : scarlett 2i2)?

 

[Biggles]

Limiting factor is the quality of the soundcard inbuilt in the Laptop which seems to be the case for you and by using an external interface it should give you more options.

Before you splash out on more kit can you advise what recording software you are using and what settings are you using?

As for interfaces a Scarlett 414 would be a better choice as the 212 is intended for a Mike and Guitar and with a digital piano there is a much wider frequency range that needs to be catered for.

Another option is for a standalone recorder like a Zoom R8 where you record in WAV format directly from the audio output of your P125. This is basically how the sound guy FOH will record on his mixer desk.

 

[akilatharuka]

@Biggles The software I'm currently using is Audacity. About settings, actually I'm just recording with default settings.

And thanks about the recommendation of 4i4 too. That's an option for me too.

 

[akilatharuka]

Limiting factor is the quality of the soundcard inbuilt in the Laptop which seems to be the case for you and by using an external interface it should give you more options.

Before you splash out on more kit can you advise what recording software you are using and what settings are you using?

As for interfaces a Scarlett 414 would be a better choice as the 212 is intended for a Mike and Guitar and with a digital piano there is a much wider frequency range that needs to be catered for.

Another option is for a standalone recorder like a Zoom R8 where you record in WAV format directly from the audio output of your P125. This is basically how the sound guy FOH will record on his mixer desk.

"Limiting factor is the quality of the soundcard inbuilt in the Laptop " This sentence makes great sense. Thanks a lot.

 

[Biggles]

@Biggles The software I'm currently using is Audacity. About settings, actually I'm just recording with default settings.

And thanks about the recommendation of 4i4 too. That's an option for me too.

The default settings may well be the problem but I doubt it.

Look under Edit > Preferences > Quality to see what your default Recording format is.

On my PC it is 44.1k medium quality, but I do not use Audacity as my default Recorder so this is the installed default setting.

Even so this setting should give you CD quality output capabilities but that depends on the Export to file option you have chosen and what you are listening to the audio by way of speakers/headphones.

 

[akilatharuka]

@Biggles
Yeah. I have the same settings.
Actually I export the output as mp3. It's reasonably good (One of my recorded sample :

).

But I started working on some YouTube covers and I'm trying the best possible quality with by budget.

 

[Biggles]

That is your problem.

The default Standard output to create an MP3 file is with a bit rate 120-160 bps

Export to an MP3 at 320 bps

Or Export to a WAV

 

[akilatharuka]

@Biggles
No. It's set to 320 kbps

 

[Biggles]

That is as good as it gets for an MP3.

Try Exporting to a WAV file.

If a WAV if then is not good enough for you the problem will probably lie with a low quality audio card on your PC.

 

[akilatharuka]

Limiting factor is the quality of the soundcard inbuilt in the Laptop which seems to be the case for you and by using an external interface it should give you more options.

Before you splash out on more kit can you advise what recording software you are using and what settings are you using?

As for interfaces a Scarlett 414 would be a better choice as the 212 is intended for a Mike and Guitar and with a digital piano there is a much wider frequency range that needs to be catered for.

Another option is for a standalone recorder like a Zoom R8 where you record in WAV format directly from the audio output of your P125. This is basically how the sound guy FOH will record on his mixer desk.

I posted a question on Focusrite official site, and they confirmed between 2i2 and 4i4, 2i2 is the ideal decision for digital piano recording.