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Thread: Looking into getting a little more serious about recording

  1. #1

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    Default Looking into getting a little more serious about recording

    My question is; how important is using a recording interface as opposed to a mixer, and if the interface will improve sound quality alot I would love some suggestions on good quality cheap interfaces. I have been looking at this one Any help is greatly appreciated!
    sorry about the commercial link
    Last edited by peachyplace; 04-27-2010 at 01:04 PM. Reason: commercial link

  2. #2

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    Default Re: Looking into getting a little more serious about recording

    What is your price point?

  3. #3

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    Default Re: Looking into getting a little more serious about recording

    the least amount possible haha, 800 at most

  4. #4

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    Default Re: Looking into getting a little more serious about recording

    For $800, if you're not recording say for an album, you can get a pretty sweet setup. I just completed my little setup. Here is what I got, and what I paid:

    Yamaha MS102 Mixer - 6 channels, 4 mic inputs, TRS and RCA inputs, phantom power, compression on two channels. $99 at a local music store.


    Tascam DP-004 4 channel digital recorder - Pretty basic digital recorder, comes with 1GB SD card, two stereo mics. You can record two channels at once as far as I can tell so far. I currently just run this out of the mixer. I mix the drums on the mixer and output to the recorder directly, along with my iPod. $189 at GC.



    Cables - I made my own cables. Went and got the wire and ends at a local electronics supply store. Bought 75 feet of cable, 8 ends (4 male, 4 female), green shrink wrap (to color code the cables) all for $72. I made 4 mic cables to mic my bass drum, snare, hi-hat, and one overhead condenser.

    Shure microphones - I bought a Shure PGDMK6 mic kit used off of CL for $200. I am currently only using four mics, as noted above. They do a pretty good job as far as I can tell. I'm not a pro though, so more discerning ears may hear, or not hear, something I don't, or am missing. Or something.



    Total investment (pre-tax) - $552.

    I will try to get some pics of the whole setup and how I have everything arranged soon.
    Robert

    "Ok Guys This Is In Da Key Of Boom Chick Boom Boom Chick...." - SIR PHROGGE

    "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, design a building, write a sonnet, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, solve equations, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." Robert Heinlein

    Zildjian League #1 Flunkie

  5. #5

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    Default Re: Looking into getting a little more serious about recording

    Ok 800 bucks. You have got some options then.
    1. Your analog digital converter is the heart of the system that will convert the sound to digital data and then send it to the computer where the audio software will handle the tracks. The better your converter the better quality recording you will get.
    2. preamps are key to a clean sound with the minimal amount of "muddyness". The preamp takes the mic signal boosts and sends it to the converter.
    3. I would get the best mics you can afford. Now. I like Audix and their different lines. They all sound prety good right out of the box with minimal eq'ing.
    4. I am assuming you already have a computer that can handle the audio data load that you will be sending it.

    So recommendations. Well I have been a big digi fan over the years and love their products however avid has bought them so there is no telling which way this is going to go. This is good and bad. The good part is you can pick up a digi 002 on ebay in the price point you are looking at which will include pro tools LE. The 002 is a rack unit that has 8 channels ( 4 xlr and 4 trs) with the ability to increase to 16 channels using a light pipe and an ADAT (i.e. ADA8000). The 002 also has spdif allowing two more channels on top of the eight. The converter is not bad and the preamps are pretty good for the price. The down side is the software can be touchy ad you need to check the specs on your computer to ensure it will jive.

    Other companies out there with similar products include presonus which is cheaper than digi with a little more user friendly software. Be aware though the converters, word clocks and are not quite as good which will degrade you signal path. These include the PreSonus FireStudio 2626 and the PreSonus FireStudio Project. These are great choices and will perform well.

    One thing I have noticed on this forum is everyone loves to buy analog mixers which are great but then they can't get multiple tracks recorded separately on their computers. The only way to do this is to have an interface like the ones above which allows you a separate track for each drum (one channel for the snare, one channel for the bass, one channel for tom 1, one channel for tom 2, and one channel stereo for the overheads, etc). Analog mixer boards are fine for those who want to mix outside of the box (computer) and then use an interface that has only two channels however as time goes on and if you dive deep enough you come to the realization to maximize your recording everything needs to be on separate tracks. So anyway long post but fire me a pm if you have any other questions.

  6. #6

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    Default Re: Looking into getting a little more serious about recording

    Nucjd obviously knows more about this than me, but like I said, I'm just getting started. Good advice. But, as promised, here are more pics of my setup.

    This is my mixer, with the mic cables attached, as well as an output to my recorder and input from my iPod and metronome. The green mic cables come in from 1. bass, 2. snare, 3. hi-hats, and 4. overhead. The bass and snare are on 1 and 2 because those channels offer compression, which can help to even out some of your playing, volume wise. Directly to the right of them is the mono input from my metronome. Next is the stereo input from my iPod, then the output to my Vic Firth Isolation Headphones, and finally, the out to the recorder in orange and gray. The output to the recorder will capture anything input into the mixer, so I can send drums, iPod and metronome simultaneously if necessary.



    These are the mics for my snare and hi-hats. Normally you would probably place the hi-hat mic on a mic stand, but since I don't have one, I just mounted it upside down on the snare. It still sounds pretty good, and I'm not making money with my drums, so I don't complain. The condenser is hanging directly above the set from the ceiling, and the bass drum mic is laying inside the bass drum, through the hole in the reso head.







    I hope this helps some. Good luck.
    Robert

    "Ok Guys This Is In Da Key Of Boom Chick Boom Boom Chick...." - SIR PHROGGE

    "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, design a building, write a sonnet, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, solve equations, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." Robert Heinlein

    Zildjian League #1 Flunkie

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