Connecting Microbrute to DAW

[Icewind]

Hello all.

I recently purchased a Arturia Microbrute synth, and I'm loving it. It's my first hardware synth. Up til now, I've only been using VST's, which was fine, but I wanted something a little more hands on to better understand how synths actually work.

Long story short, I would like to plug my synth into my computer and use it's on board sounds in my DAW (fl studio). I'm not interested in using it as a midi controller, I want to use the sounds that are actually on the synth. I was told that a USB connection to my laptop would not suffice, and would only make the synth act as a midi controller. How do I go about this? I do not have a soundcard, but I've been told I need one, yet I really know nothing of soundcards. I was looking at this product here: http://www.Mgaudio.com/akai-eie-p-4657.html
Is that something I should look into?

Please advised accordingly.

Thank you.

[geebake]

The USB port on the Brutes does not transmit audio. You will need some other method of connecting your Brute to your PC. Needing a sound card is a bit bigger question. What you really need is an audio interface. Something that will physically allow you to connect the audio out from the Brute to your computer. Most (though not all) interfaces will act as a sound card. Almost all sound cards have an audio input but they are typically 1/8th inch and offer very little flexibility.

Your audio interface will become a very fundamental pat of your recording 'system' so this is no place to skimp. However, there are many very affordable interfaces on the market now and for as little as $40 or $50 you should be able to find something that will work for your needs. Of course, you need to figure out what those needs are. Try to think ahead about what you might want to record in the future. The number of channels is a hugely important requirement. If you ONLY want to record your Brute, nearly anything will do. If later, you decide you want to record a whole room with many mics etc, you will need more inputs.

One feature I would be sure to get with your interface though is ASIO. It's the latest protocol for passing sound back and forth between a computer and an interface (assuming you're in Windows of course) Previous protocols (WDM, etc) work just fine but don't offer what ASIO does. Fortunately, even the least expensive interfaces now seem to support ASIO.

The EIE you mention is an excellent choice. I have one myself. The fact that it has 4 usb ports is particularly useful to me.

Best of luck,

Greg