OT - recording / mixing HW and SW

ethrbunny · March 28, 2005, 11:10:28 PM

What hardware and software do you use for recording and mixing tracks for yourself and/or your band? Im desperately confused as to which hardware and software products will work together... should I get the digidesign 001 and spend the $$ at the outset (and start with protools) or can I get by with something like the EMagic EMI 2|6 and a less expensive SW package? FWIW - Ill be recording onto a PC laptop.

All Im wanting to do is record and mix my notions so that when I present them to the band-at-large they make more sense. My general feeling on big purchases is to 'do it right the first time' rather than having to re-do it down the road.

Why would one want the Digidesign product vs the Echo Layla or the Emagic unit?

Ive been trolling gearslutz.com and have read through homerecording.com. It seems like most people end up with protools anyway - so should one start there?

seanm · March 28, 2005, 11:23:17 PM

I just have a cheap mixer and record to computer. It isn't the best sound, but is ok. I spent about $100CDN for the mixer, $100CDN for cables, and I had the computer

I couldn't live without my mixer. I use it for practice. For recording little things. As an input and output for working on effects. It is so tweakable. And if I blow a channel, I am out the price of a opamp!

ryanscissorhands · March 29, 2005, 12:10:44 AM

Everything/everyone you need to know about recording can be found at:

www.homerecording.com

Seriously.

mojotron · March 29, 2005, 12:51:27 AM

I got a Roland digital VS880 recorder, a BOSS drum machine, and a Beringer Vamp - This combo is not the cheapest way to go, but you have all the tools.... The one thing about combos like these, and I'm fairly "old school" about recording..., is that they are not the best route to producing an MP3 file, but the sound quality it very good.

sean k · March 29, 2005, 04:29:10 AM

if you go out and buy the 2496 audiophile soundcard,and its cheap as, you get enough software to be happy for quite a while.Too much possibility is a pain and just hampers your ability to actually spend time playing.

ethrbunny · March 29, 2005, 07:24:59 AM

Its going to be a computer based system for certain. Im just hoping to understand the various crosses between all the different pieces of hardware and software - and more specifically - who plays nicely with whom. (?) (no pun intended).

GFR · March 29, 2005, 08:38:15 AM

The priority should be the hardware imho - get a nice mixer with a good mic pre, the best mics you can and a good audio card. A POD or V-AMP is really useful.

If you want to record a band live note that most "normal" soundcards can only record two channels at a time - you may need something "pro".

The multi-track recording software can be something free like Kristal.

You may want a good software synth that can load soundfonts like Vsynth (in case your soundcard can't). There are some nice soundfonts for free in the net. Also soundfonts like PCs with loads of memory.

Clipped · March 29, 2005, 09:18:13 AM

If you're looking at anything USB based, make sure to do alot of research! There still seems to be possible issues with compatability across the board with different processors, motherboards, etc.

Ron

Brett Sinclair · March 29, 2005, 01:29:16 PM

Check out the Mackie Spike if you have enough with 2 channels (2 mic/instrument preamps). It comes with Tracktion which is a nifty multitrack soft, plus a version of Ableton Live.
http://www.mackie.com/products/spike/index.html

If you want more channels, go for something Firewire (instead of USB2) from Edirol (http://www.edirol.com/products/info/fa66.html) or Motu (http://www.motu.com/products/motuaudio/traveler/) or M-Audio... or... for the ultimate in quality... RME if you have the money (http://www.rme-audio.com/)
:wink:

My setup consists of a Motu 828mk2 (which has 2 preamps and more ins and outs i'll ever need...) together with Ableton Live and Propellerhead Reason.

O yeah... if you go for FireWire audio, make sure you have a quality FireWire interface card in your PC. For Macs this is not a problem, and for a PC i believe you are safe with a card that is based on a Texas Instruments chipset.

ethrbunny · March 30, 2005, 10:01:14 AM

If Im spending 300+ for the Mackie (or equivalent - Echo,etc)... why shouldn't I go ahead and get the Protools Mbox?

Brett Sinclair · March 30, 2005, 01:07:33 PM

Quote from: ethrbunnyIf Im spending 300+ for the Mackie (or equivalent - Echo,etc)... why shouldn't I go ahead and get the Protools Mbox?

Well... i would buy the MBox for the focusrite preamps (hoping they indeed sound amazingly good) and the ProTools LE software. Expensive though...
IMHO i think a Spike is interesting because it has midi i/o, costs less and comes with software that is comparable in features.

But can't say which one is better in quality. :wink:

ethrbunny · March 30, 2005, 01:46:14 PM

Am I correct in saying that Digidesign HW works only with Digidesign SW? But any other soundcard vendor (EG Echo, Emagic) can use (practically) any other SW (IE Acid pro, Live, etc).

Yet protools is still the top of the pile?

Brett Sinclair · March 30, 2005, 02:15:17 PM

Quote from: ethrbunnyAm I correct in saying that Digidesign HW works only with Digidesign SW?

DigiDesign has ASIO drivers for it's hardware that allows it to be used with other software like Live, Logic, Reason, Acid, Cubase, Nuendo...
But some dedicated hardware functions are only controllable from within ProTools.

On the other hand, ProTools soft only works with DigiDesign hardware i believe.

Quote from: ethrbunnyYet protools is still the top of the pile?

Oh well... it's an "industry standard" being used in almost every studio. It is very good, but that doesn't mean you can't get a quality result with other tools... :wink:

ethrbunny · March 30, 2005, 05:30:31 PM

Ah ok.

Seems like every device I start to read about I end up finding some god-awful review on. Know anything about the "Lexicon Omega" or the "Tascam 122"? The lexicon looks v nice. How can I tell whether it will work with Acid Pro or Live?

Brett Sinclair · March 31, 2005, 04:43:42 AM

With the Omega it seems you're able to record 4 channels (2 stereo tracks) at the same time.

If the hardware has ASIO drivers, it'll work with pro audio soft.
ASIO are actually "low-latency" drivers, which means the time between the signal at the input of the hardware and the signal being received by the software is small, and can be set by the "buffer size".

Hardware, the interface (USB or FireWire), the quality of the ASIO driver and the speed of yer PC play a role in the lowest latency you'll be able to achieve. I can get down to <2ms with my setup, once i add more tracks/plugins/record and playback more stuff at the same time i have to increase my buffer size and latency goes up to 4ms or 8ms.

This is why an option like "direct monitoring" is so important, it allows you to hear what you're recording at the input mixed with playback of the soft (and not several millis later when it goes back and forth between interface and software).

(If you play a software synth with a MIDI keyboard, you'll also hear the actual note struck XXX millis later, defined by the latency.)

ethrbunny · March 31, 2005, 12:15:32 PM

QuoteMy setup consists of a Motu 828mk2 (which has 2 preamps and more ins and outs i'll ever need...) together with Ableton Live and Propellerhead Reason

Why the two different SW products?

Brett Sinclair · March 31, 2005, 12:52:39 PM

Quote from: ethrbunnyWhy the two different SW products?

Reason is only for software synths, drum programming etc. But it cannot record any audio.
Reason and Live integrate well (Reason becomes a sort of plugin when i run the two at the same time), and i use Live to track / record guitar parts and sequence all the recorded material.

A friend of mine does the same with ProTools (recording, sequencing, midi stuff) and Reason (sounds, loops, midi stuff), they integrate in the same way (syncing together etc.). That's because ProTools, Live and Traction (amongs others) are all capable of being a "ReWire host for Reason". Cubase can do this as well, but this is real nightmare in terms of stability, freezing and lockups all over the place! :?

cheers!

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OT - recording / mixing HW and SW