suggestions please
Hi-
I am pretty much a novice at the home recording, though I’ve done a bit of it in the “hack & slash” mode. Now I’d like to learn to do it better. I have n-track studio installed.
My computer system is:
Athlon XP2700 w/1.5GB RAM
6600GT video
SOLTEK Motherboard
I’ve been using the same crappy PCI Soundblaster Live that was in my computer from 3 generations ago (probably not even as good as the onboard audio on the motherboard). And my speakers are just a pair of desktop computer Yamaha that sound good for what they are, but don’t qualify as “studio monitors”.
My questions:
1. What do you recommend for an audio interface? I do not foresee myself needing to record more than 2 inputs simultaneously (i.e. one electric guitar, probably played through the Line6 PODxt, and one vocal), since the goal here is for me to create demos of my own material. I plan on overdubbing lots and adding drum tracks, etc. but that doesn’t dictate more inputs. I do have an ART microphone tube preamp that came with my Audix (OM-5), but that’s all I’ve got. Should I go for an internal sound card? Or an external audio interface unit? My budget: I’d like to stay under ~$200 in the used market.
2. What do you recommend for good studio monitors? I’d really just like something that is reasonably true sounding. For style, I guess I was considering things in the general category of the Behringer Truths, though I’ve only read about those, haven’t even heard them yet. My budget: Prefer to be around or under the $300-$400 range in used market.
3. Do I need an external mixing board?
Thanks for your suggestions. Sorry if this has been covered previously, but I didn’t see it in any recent posts.
Bob
The M-Audio Audiophile 2496 is a great card with 2 analog ins/outs. It currently goes for $99:
2496 @ Musicians Friend
You don’t need a mixer… You can use the ART preamp for your mics, and the POD can plug directly into the inputs of the 2496. Of course, you’ll need a couple adapters - the ins/outs on the 2496 are RCA jacks - the adapters you need can be found at Radio Shack for about $5.
My first CD was recorded with exactly this set up - 2496 card, ART tube pre, POD 2.0, and a Studio Projects C-1. Go here for some samples:
http://www.johnpbarton.com/musicsamples.htm
As long as you’re only recording 1-2 tracks at a time, this is all you’ll need. (Maybe a better pre-amp, or at least a better tube in the ART, but that’s for another day)
Best of luck!
-John
I agree wholeheartedly with John, the M-Audio cards are good. I have the 2496 and 192 cards, both have been reliable, and IMHO sound great. The 2496 goes for about $100, the 192 gets about $179-$199 depending on where you shop.
They also have the added benefit of a pair of SPDIF inputs that offer some future expansion to 4 tracks if you need it.
Both cards also incorporate good midi interfaces too.
.-=gp=-.
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| Quote |
| I’ve been using the same crappy PCI Soundblaster Live that was in my computer from 3 generations ago (probably not even as good as the onboard audio on the motherboard) |
SBLive cards was not designed specificly for recording purposes, the ones the guys mentioned are better. But be aware that “crappy” is not apropieated for it. Is a great card, with a powerfull midi synth and realtime fx, and is offenly better than most of the onboard souncards. You will be surprised how many of the guys that own a professional card, still mantain one soundblaster in an old computer or the same system. I mean, you can do great music with it still, until you get some modern soundcard.
| Quote (chutz @ Jan. 12 2006,13:14) |
| I agree wholeheartedly with John, the M-Audio cards are good. I have the 2496 and 192 cards, both have been reliable, and IMHO sound great. The 2496 goes for about $100, the 192 gets about $179-$199 depending on where you shop. They also have the added benefit of a pair of SPDIF inputs that offer some future expansion to 4 tracks if you need it. Both cards also incorporate good midi interfaces too. .-=gp=-. |
I’m looking at the M-Audio Delta 1010 LT at the moment. It looks like this could be a good solution. It is available for $199 shipped on E-Bay.
Any thoughts on this one? I like the fact that it has lots of inputs, and that it has XLR with pre-amp built in.
pre-amps make the diffrence between a good recording and an excelent one. Not saying that the pre-amps of the delta are bad, but you will found that there are some pre-amps out there that can make more alive your voice. I mean, ask too for a good pre-amp.
HI rsilverst,
I am glad you asked this question. Keep asking around about these things.
Please consider some other monitors than the Behringers. There are plenty of others out there. Behringer equipment varies greatly (some folks hate everything Behringer but I feel that a few things they make are OK) and those monitors are know to have problems including tweeters that tend to blow, unreliable electronics and generally fair to poor sound (port chuff in bass, brittle highs that tire out the listener quickly).
It is best to audition monitors in person with a lot of different material. There is a lot of info on the web about auditioning monitors. This is one place where it may be best to spend a few extra bucks to buy locally, maybe they will even come close to or match online prices. You are going to spend a lot of hours listening to your monitors so it is an important decision.
IMO, AFA recording hardware is concerned, microphones, monitors and your DI box (if you are recording guitar with a podlike device) are going to have the biggest variation and effect on your recordings. You don’t have to spend tons of money to get something that will do a nice job for home recording but don’t believe the factory/catalog hype - they always say their product is wonderful.
The Behringer monitors are quite heavy and you generally cannot get warranty service on them locally. One more thing to think about.
OTOH I am very happy with my Audiophile card. My top three choices in this range of price performance at the time I purchased were the Audiophile 2496 PCI card, Emu 0404, and the Echo Mia MIDI. I picked the Audiophile because it has the largest user base (more is known about compatability), very good driver support in both M$ and LINUX worlds and the ability to add more channels through other M-Audio PCI cards (except possibly the Delta 44 which has no way to hardware sync due to its lack of digital I/O - think they may have a work around in the drivers but I don’t know if it works or not). The Emu product and drivers may be a little more mature than it was back when I was shopping (it was pretty new and not well known back then) but I feel it is hard to go wrong with the Audiophile.
Hopefully someone else can come up with budget monitor suggestions for you to check out.
Peace,
TrackGrrrl
| Quote (TrackGrrrl @ Jan. 12 2006,14:37) |
| It is best to audition monitors in person with a lot of different material. There is a lot of info on the web about auditioning monitors. This is one place where it may be best to spend a few extra bucks to buy locally, maybe they will even come close to or match online prices. You are going to spend a lot of hours listening to your monitors so it is an important decision. |
Yeah… I plan on going to listen to monitors. I’ve always made the assertion that one should never buy anything that has a speaker in it without hearing it. Unfortunately, I’m not thrilled about the fact that this means I’ll probably need to make a trip to Guitar Satan.
I also agree with John & Chutz!!!
I am using the, M-Audio Delta 44.
This is; 4 in, 4 out.
Works excellent for me.
I not sure about the problem StaggerLee is having but I have never had this sort of problem.
I’v used seen a bit of the M-Audio gear in action, They make quality gear!!!
i use the Delta 1010LT and absolutely love it. i actually took off the XLR’s on inputs 1/2 and threw on 2 more female RCA’s so i could use my 8 channel Hosa snake (RCA to 1/4") into my cough behringer mixer. truthfully, i love behringer (pun intended). but for monitors, i use KRK Rokit 5’s because my local guitar center had them marked down to $99 each (from $149). they’re pretty nice… 75 watts each if i remember correctly. some people might not like the idea of 5 inch woofers, but you really need to use a subwoofer no matter what so it doesn’t make much difference.
going back to the 1010LT, which has 8 analog ins/outs and a stereo digital in/out, i have a neat setup. i have 2 of those Hosa snakes i was talking about, and the first connects all my 1010LT inputs to the direct outs of mixer channels 1-8. the other snake connects all the 1010LT outputs to the 4 stereo mixer channels (9/10, 11/12, 13/14, 15/16). this is convenient because i can set my windows default audio device (all the dings and stuff) to one output, winamp to another, ntrack to another, and still have one free for something else. by the way, my mixer is a behringer UB2442FX-Pro.
Yeah, I know a guy who’s berry monitors have blown the tweeters, and it’s taking ages for him to get it replaced/repaired.
Again - YORKVILLES!! hehheh. I think Woxnerw just picked up a pair too.
I have an EMU0404 card, which has 2in/out analgue balanced. These can be 2 X mono or 1 X stereo. For me though, I tend to lay down the tracks, one at a time, so only ever use one stereo input, which I monotor back on my outboard mixer (small beiringer) from the stereo outputs. The mixer, although small with, ummm 4 inputs and one bus I think, is really useful.
I have just invested in Edirol (Roland) monitors AD-M15 (or is it AM-D15 
). It’s a bit early yet and I haven’t done anything serious with them, but they sound great. Currently though, I am getting to know them, i.e. play pro recorded stuff through them so that I can hear tonal differences between that and my own stuff. I still maintain that there is no such thing as monitors that are completely accurate. You have to learn and experiment and use your ears to do the final judgements. But, having said that, it’s a lot easier to have decent reference speakers right there in front of you rather than trying your recordings on different sources to hear how it sound and tweaking and re-trying.
I too have a Delta 1010LT and I’m impressed with its quality. I had no idea what I would do with all the inputs and outputs (I choose it for the mic pre amps). If you only have a need for two inputs you’ll never out grow this card.
Here is a link to a live concert recording I did with a Nagra recorder and digitized though the Delta 1010LT.Jazz Number
Click free at the bottom and follow the instuctions ~10meg
I did all the processing through M-Audio LX 4 speakers subwoofer. I believe they sound better than my ears can hear.
Event Electronics TR8’s. About 500 bucks a pair. Worth every cent. One of mine smoked during a brown-out. Event fixed it free of charge even though they were out of warranty. Great bunch of people to work with should you need customer service. I have a hunch you won’t get that from Berry…
M-Audio makes good product. I’m an EMU guy myself but then I need a bunch of I/O to track bands with. Look at the EMU0404 or 1212M. The 1212M will give you room to grow if you need more I/O in the future PLUS the Mastering grade converters make for one fantastic sounding card.
$.02
D
Well, this is worth exactly .02, but I got a pair of Fostex PM0.5’s. I can hear/see the stereo field very clearly, and seem to get nice detail from acoustic instruments, especially- including voice.
I’ve spent some time mixing down 4-track sessions from my old “one-off avant-garde prog-jam trio” (from tape to digi-world), and though I’ve learned a few things since, and am still just an ape, I got results that were pretty accurate after hearing the mixes in my home stereo.
You might want a sub, I believe someone said that.
I also find the Fostex are pretty listener-friendly over a good stretch. This could be meaningful.
I am an Event (20/20/bas) and EMU (1820M) man myself.