Recording equipment opinions.

Only recording that I have done is through a J-Station with my computer.

Would like to get a good basic setup that is a little more robust. ie microphones etc...

Can anyone suggest a good basic setup to go for?
4 track recorder? cd vs tape vs digital setup?

Thanks :!:

I use Cakewalk (Pro Audio v9) on my PC. M-Audio Audio Buddy mic-pre to a M-Audio Delta66. Works pretty good but I need to upgrade my Cakewalk it's about 4 versions behind.

Ned

tavman said:

Only recording that I have done is through a J-Station with my computer.

Would like to get a good basic setup that is a little more robust. ie microphones etc...

Can anyone suggest a good basic setup to go for?
4 track recorder? cd vs tape vs digital setup?

Thanks :!:

Click to expand...

I too use old Cakewalk 9 with an Echo Gina 20 bit DAC. Still works great. I also have a J-Station I use very infrequently, but I like its S/PDIF that connects directly to my Echo Gina.

Instead of mics, I'd recommend you go the tube preamp route, with built in speaker emulation. I have a Boogie Formula Preamp in a rack with an external effects and compression unit. The TUBE BUFFERED effects loop of the Boogie works great with digital equipment.

Boogie makes the Recording Recto preamp and the Triaxis, the Formula is no longer made. $1100 Recto, $1400 Triaxis new. VHT has a fine looking preamp that sells new for $1100. ENGL has a killer preamp for $2200.

Tube preamps can be had cheap on ebay. $400 to $500 buys a mint Boogie Formula. $850 buys a Boogie Triaxis. I've also seen great deals on ENGL 530s for $200, Soldano X-77s for under $300 etc etc. The KEY is finding a preamp with good built in speaker emulation for recording!!!!

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I kind of like these new USB2 based external recording units. M-Audio has several models. Same with TEAC and several others. I like the idea of the A/D process taking place outside the computer's innards.

tavman said:

Only recording that I have done is through a J-Station with my computer.

Would like to get a good basic setup that is a little more robust. ie microphones etc...

Can anyone suggest a good basic setup to go for?
4 track recorder? cd vs tape vs digital setup?

Thanks :!:

Click to expand...

Another thing I might suggest. Pick up a copy of Band In a Box 2005. In minutes you can be composing your own music and making excellent sounding "backing tracks". You can mix in your own "live" instruments with BIAB backing tracks and really sound like a whole band.

Playing along with BIAB or MIDI files is great band practice simulation. Something you can do entirely thru headphones too, which means you'll feel MUCH less intimidated to experiment. Imagine band practice at 4 AM and nobody hears a thing. Play the same song over and over until you finally get that solo right. Try doing that with a real band.

You'ev opened up a real can of worms. "Buenas suerte!"

ned said:

I use Cakewalk (Pro Audio v9) on my PC. M-Audio Audio Buddy mic-pre to a M-Audio Delta66. Works pretty good but I need to upgrade my Cakewalk it's about 4 versions behind.

Ned

Click to expand...

i am in the process of saving for a recording set up and ive been looking into the either delta66 or delta 1010, how does the 66 sound, would you recomend?

Definately recommend the 66. The decision between the 66 and 10 is determined by the total number of instruments you need to record at the same time. For instance if you are recording a fully mic'd drum kit then the 10 might be the way to go.

Here is a short article on my PC recording setup - Link to Article

I have had a Delta 66 for about 3 years and it has been great the entire time I would recommend getting the OMNI I/O with it though as it has mic pre's and your options are greater.

I am currently looking for just the OMNI used but with no luck as of yet.

with my P4 2.8 ghz I am able to keep my latency down to about 2 - 3 ms wich is perfect for guitar latency in the 10 ms range is noticable regardless of what people tell you I notice it big time and many claim they can't.

I use Cubase SX to record and with the M-Audio ASIO drivers it is a perfect combo.

thanks ned & mrdylan, the reason i was considering the 1010 over the 66 is because of the in built mic pre-amps. but ill look into the omni.

ive done all my super amatuer recordings with acid pro 4.0.
and let me tell you, it fucking rules. i have a 4 mic pre behringer
mixer going into my line in on my PC (how basic is that?) and
i just mic my amps and balance levels. the noise floor is really high
but still, i dont need anything more. drums are super easy (although
time consuming if you plan to make them sound in the neighborhood
of human) and really simple user interface. i recommend it for
beginners.

I started out using ACID music actually and can vouch that it is a decent beginners program but getting yourself a cheap version of Cubasis or cubase SL would be a good idea as well so you can learn the ropes of it many sound cards actually come with these cheap versions and finding a copy should be easy enough my local store sells them for well under 100 CAD so in US money it should be even cheaper and you get VST instruments and all for next to nothing.

It is amazing how far home recording has come these days you can easily have better quality equipment than what they had in the 70's in pro studios it's just learning the knowledge they had/have to go along with it.

very true dylan, its all about using gear and software correctly and making
the most of what you got!

If I was doing this over again my setup would be a Presonus Firepod and a Mac of some sort. Either a Power Book or Dual G5.

M Audio Delta 1010/PC for about 3 1/2 years. I love it! The one thing you need to do when looking at this kind of stuff is make sure you have PLENTY of RAM (minimum of 1GB) and a separate hard drive for your data.