Lots of recording questions..

[campbellj25]

I know if I spent a few more hours on top of the several hours I have been looking in random threads, I would find the information I am looking for, but I am getting lazy and just figured I would ask. So here it goes..

Mixers.. So many types, choices, prices, reviews ect.. ect.. I am curious about the different types.. I know I am going to need at least 8 xlr inputs, (pictures are just examples, not what I intend to purchase for the time being) so if I got a basic mixer like this..


since it is not usb or firewire, what would I have to get to get the sound from the mixer to my computer?? Some type of audio interface? That's one question... Now say I got a mixer like this..


This one is a firewire mixer, that means I would not need anything except a cable between the mixer and the computer? I know mackie makes some firewire mixers but it seems that you have to buy some extra thing that plugs into the back of the mixer to connect the firewire to. I looked at USB also, but why not just go with firewire and be able to adjust all the tracks on my PC also since usb will just send non adjustable stereo signals to my PC?

Or, I have found this..


For about the same price as a firewire mixer, why not be able to record (multiple songs)onto a mixer with a 40gb hard drive as this one has, then transfer to my PC? As of right now my PC is no where near my drums, so this would be an option.. But is one of these three styles of mixers better than the others? and why if so? Obviously none of these mixers/recorders are powered, So if I wanted to hook any one of them up to studio monitors, would I just have to purchase an amp to hook the outputs of the mixer to then to the monitors?

If I had my PC next to my drums, is there just some type of interface I could buy with 8 or more xlr inputs without the mixing board, to send via firewire to my PC and edit everything on the PC? I am clueless when it comes to this stuff.

As far as mic's, I know I would love to have the Audix DP7 kit, but times are tough, money is rough. I have been recommended everything from CAD, samson, Shure, Audix fusion7 kit ect.. I definately want to mic my snare, kick, 12" rack, 14" and 16" floor toms and have 2 over heads. The extra xlr will leave room for a bottom snare mic.

I am really considering going with the audix fusion 7 kit, because the price is low and I haven't heard any bad reviews of them, but how would they compare to the other low end mic's (cad, samson ect..) If they are not much better, I would just rather spend less money and get one of the other 2 kits.. or just wait and save save save and get the Audix DP7 and never have to upgrade.. I dunno...

As we all would, I would love to just buy everything top end, but this guy is living proof that it doesn't have to be top end to sound good, notice he as a Samson mic kit, ( different name because he lives in S. Africa) and Paiste PST5 cymbals.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIHXEJXjKfM"]YouTube - Cobus - Yellowcard - Breathing (Drum Cover)[/ame]

I just wonder what type of mixer he uses to get the mic's to sound that great, would it be all in the mixer itself, or could any mid quality mixer get those mic's to sound that good, just mixed the way he does it? Again I am sorry for all the questions that have been asked on here a bunch (probably) but it would be nice to have all the answers for us noobs to recording in one spot. Thanks in advance!

[pastor_bob]

First of all campbellj, the sound that you hear is dependent just as much on room accoustics and processing (EQing, and addition of certain effects like a compressor) as it is on the right mixer and microphones. Granted, you will never make a low end microphone sound like a high end microphone, but with the right room acoustics and good processing, you can certainly make things sound good, as the video proved. Keep in mind too, that on a video, post production techniques can clean things up tremendously too.

Having said that, the next question is whether you are intending to buy a good recording software, or are you thinking about going with a freeware program like Audacity? The better your recording software, the better you will want your set up to be to take advantage of what the software can do.

[campbellj25]

First of all campbellj, the sound that you hear is dependent just as much on room accoustics and processing (EQing, and addition of certain effects like a compressor) as it is on the right mixer and microphones. Granted, you will never make a low end microphone sound like a high end microphone, but with the right room acoustics and good processing, you can certainly make things sound good, as the video proved. Keep in mind too, that on a video, post production techniques can clean things up tremendously too.

Having said that, the next question is whether you are intending to buy a good recording software, or are you thinking about going with a freeware program like Audacity? The better your recording software, the better you will want your set up to be to take advantage of what the software can do.

As of right now, I have audacity, Sony sound forge 10, and sony vegas pro 9. I have used audacity for the 2 videos that I have already put up because of the simplicity of the program, and window's movie maker. The Sony programs on the other hand I think are too new for my computer. It's like trying to put a PS3 game into a PS1, they work as far as all the processing goes for the music, but when it comes time to render the whole file down to an MP4, avi, or whatever, I don't think I have enough ram or something to do so. It just locks up, or I could simply just be doing something wrong.

I did find software like pro tools ect.. that works with the M-audio interfaces,


What would be the pro's and con's of owning a piece like the one above, with all the software on a laptop, That would be as portable as a mixer, and should be able to process more things than an actual board, I would think. But would it be just as good in a live situation? Or could you even use something like this, to process your kit's sound, then out to a P.A.?

[pastor_bob]

Johnathan, you are starting to enter into the outer boundaries of my knowledge on this subject, and there are others here that can speak on this subject much better that I can. Having said that, I can say that portability for recording purposes is good even in a live situation, and you can get that with a laptop computer and software (which is what more people are going to because of what you can do with the software now). As far as producing sound in a live situation, you would still need a mixer and an amplifier (or a powered mixer), in order to shape the sound and push the speakers, so we are actually talking about apples and oranges when discussing what you need for recording, and what you need for sound applications in a live setting (I hope I understood your concerns correctly).

I started with a small M-Audio mic preamp, and then upgraded when I found a couple of good buys on used gear - a Samson line mixer, and a Nady PR8 mic preamp. It's not a perfect set up for recording yet, because I can't control the sound of each mic separately, but then I am not looking for top quality recordings yet. It does do a good job of allowing me a great deal of flexibilty in terms of micing the drums to tweak the sound for live situations, and that's just fun for me to experiment with right now.

[Russ]

I know if I spent a few more hours on top of the several hours I have been looking in random threads, I would find the information I am looking for, but I am getting lazy and just figured I would ask. So here it goes..

Mixers.. So many types, choices, prices, reviews ect.. ect.. I am curious about the different types.. I know I am going to need at least 8 xlr inputs, (pictures are just examples, not what I intend to purchase for the time being) so if I got a basic mixer like this..


since it is not usb or firewire, what would I have to get to get the sound from the mixer to my computer?? Some type of audio interface? That's one question... Now say I got a mixer like this..


This one is a firewire mixer, that means I would not need anything except a cable between the mixer and the computer? I know mackie makes some firewire mixers but it seems that you have to buy some extra thing that plugs into the back of the mixer to connect the firewire to. I looked at USB also, but why not just go with firewire and be able to adjust all the tracks on my PC also since usb will just send non adjustable stereo signals to my PC?

Or, I have found this..


For about the same price as a firewire mixer, why not be able to record (multiple songs)onto a mixer with a 40gb hard drive as this one has, then transfer to my PC? As of right now my PC is no where near my drums, so this would be an option.. But is one of these three styles of mixers better than the others? and why if so? Obviously none of these mixers/recorders are powered, So if I wanted to hook any one of them up to studio monitors, would I just have to purchase an amp to hook the outputs of the mixer to then to the monitors?

If I had my PC next to my drums, is there just some type of interface I could buy with 8 or more xlr inputs without the mixing board, to send via firewire to my PC and edit everything on the PC? I am clueless when it comes to this stuff.

As far as mic's, I know I would love to have the Audix DP7 kit, but times are tough, money is rough. I have been recommended everything from CAD, samson, Shure, Audix fusion7 kit ect.. I definately want to mic my snare, kick, 12" rack, 14" and 16" floor toms and have 2 over heads. The extra xlr will leave room for a bottom snare mic.

I am really considering going with the audix fusion 7 kit, because the price is low and I haven't heard any bad reviews of them, but how would they compare to the other low end mic's (cad, samson ect..) If they are not much better, I would just rather spend less money and get one of the other 2 kits.. or just wait and save save save and get the Audix DP7 and never have to upgrade.. I dunno...

As we all would, I would love to just buy everything top end, but this guy is living proof that it doesn't have to be top end to sound good, notice he as a Samson mic kit, ( different name because he lives in S. Africa) and Paiste PST5 cymbals.

YouTube - Cobus - Yellowcard - Breathing (Drum Cover)

I just wonder what type of mixer he uses to get the mic's to sound that great, would it be all in the mixer itself, or could any mid quality mixer get those mic's to sound that good, just mixed the way he does it? Again I am sorry for all the questions that have been asked on here a bunch (probably) but it would be nice to have all the answers for us noobs to recording in one spot. Thanks in advance!

i believe cobus uses an allen&heath 700 mixer, tama superstar custom, cherrybomb snare, pst5 cymbals, and samson mics.

[Riouel]

i am right there too


i need a hug

ok i need a good mixer or daw or whatever

i have arround 300.00 for the mixer

i just baught the shure PGDMK6 drum mic kit

helppppppppp

[Cant Get Enough]

Recording takes money and if you have it then do it right. Motherboard, HD24XR or ADAT, then dump into whatever software you prefer. You want ok sound then go cheap. But once you start you'll forever be trying to improve your sound. I've got closets filling up with equipment as I upgrade.

[itchie]

Recording takes money and if you have it then do it right. Motherboard, HD24XR or ADAT, then dump into whatever software you prefer. You want ok sound then go cheap. But once you start you'll forever be trying to improve your sound. I've got closets filling up with equipment as I upgrade.

send me some of that closet gear

[itchie]

i am right there too


i need a hug

ok i need a good mixer or daw or whatever

i have arround 300.00 for the mixer

i just baught the shure PGDMK6 drum mic kit

helppppppppp

um...internet

Yamaha is cheep just make sure you get enough xlr inputs for what you need

[LDS]

Wow. You've opened a big can of worms that I've been fighting for a while...

First off, Firewire vs. USB. Firewire will allow you to dump all of the tracks into the computer simultaneously. This is a good thing, then you can use software to mix the tracks the way you want. USB is a double-edged sword. Regular old USB basically allows you to mix the tracks down to stereo as you record, and feed two channels into the PC. This works great - as long as you have someone riding shotgun over the levels as you play or you just happen to get everything set just right before you start. BUT, USB 2.0 interfaces will give you the capability to feed multiple tracks into the PC.

I went around and around on the various devices available in order to put together a mobile recording rig and ended up going with the TASCAM 1641. It's a single rack space USB 2.0 interface and allows me to do up to 14 simultaneous tracks into the PC. 8 Channels with phantom powered XLR inputs, 2 selectable guitar/line level inputs and 4 line level inputs. I've used it several times now in various locations and it works great. The good news is that you can find them for around $400. The TASCAM is actually capable of doing 16 simultaneous tracks, but two of them are via digital inputs on the back.

Now, to get the tracks onto the PC you're going to need some sort of software. I use Adobe Audition 3.0. IMHO, it's every bit as capable as Pro Tools, but doesn't tie you down to specific interfaces as does Pro Tools. I use it with three different interfaces depending on when/where/what I'm recording - a MOTU 2408 in the home studio, an Alesis Multimix 8 USB for quick and dirty two-track recordings and the TASCAM 1641. With Pro Tools, you have to use either Digidesign or M-Audio interfaces. Another good piece of software is Reaper - it's free to try and only $60 to buy. Plenty of folks swear by it, and I've used it but prefer Audition.

As far as mics, you can go either really expensive or quite affordable. I have a couple of different sets of drum mics, and have found them to provide quite acceptable results. The first set I bought was really, really cheap - a Superlux 4 mic set. I think I paid less than $75 on eBay. It worked fine, and I still use everything but the bass drum mic quite often. The only reason I don't use the bass drum mic is that I loaned the set out to a friend and it came back with the bass drum mic malfunctioning (I later repaired it, but that's another story).

I then picked up a Samson kit for around $250. It has four drum mics (3 Q-Tom and 1 Q-snare) with clips to mount them on the drums, two small condenser mics for overheads and a very good bass drum mic. IMHO, these Samsons are every bit as good if not better than Shure SM57 mics. I even use them to record guitar amps with good results.

Lately though, since doing some treatment to my studio I've been getting pretty good results using just two overheads along with a kick mic and sometimes an additional mic (the Q-Snare) on the snare.

You can get an idea of the results I've been getting by listening to some of the tunes here. Sleep and Come What May are the most recent recordings. Come What may was done with just the overheads, kick and a tiny bit of snare.