high end or low start;) interface and do it yourself or let do

O

Oreo27

New member
Hey guys, thanks for having me in the homerecording crew.
(My gear: Pc, cubase, neumann kms 105, nord 2 piano, loopstation rc 300, older lakewood j 14 cp guitar, Lr baggs venue di paddle, audio technica ath m50x headphones )

My first plan for recording will involve voice, guitar and harmonica and then propably piano instrumentals on real piano or nord and then perhaps finally all the stuff mixed.

As most of my gear is probably rather high end Im wondering if its worth it to go for a really good interface, considering the fact that I may start making a living out of music. (but is there really a big audible difference between them?)
Im just not really sure if I will eventually try to do most of the recording myself (cause im still a noob) or if i will just produce some stuff but more demos. I know that if i will do it professionally my musician background is not enough and i need more stuff like monitors, mics and a hell more of DAW and acustics knowledge...
Maybe some of you have/had similar decisions to make and can share some of their experience.
I would appreciate it very much
(sorry for 2 different kind of questions)

Cheers Orio
 
I think the acoustic tracks will benefit from good MICs and electronics. I'd say it is advisable to start with a lower cost interface, 'til you know what sound you want and if you will be doing the final tracking.

Are you going to start off stereo MICing an acoustic piano, for example
 
Thanks garww for your quick reply!
Maybe i can figure out if the loopstation could be used as an interface.
no probably not. if i need piano i either use the nord or my one neumann in the middle of the real one
 
As the Loop station (and no doubt the Nord?) has MIDI ports and you might want to dabble? I would look for an interface with very low latency.

The latest generation of F'rites and Tascams etc are MUCH better than they were but if you want to go 'high end' you will not find better than RME and the interface will never be out of date or succumb to the evil ministrations of Microsoft. The sound/converter quality of RME kit, especially the latest model is beyond reproach, but then as Garww intimated, almost all modern AIs are very clean indeed.

If the RME is just a bit much $$wise look at the Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6. V low latency and THE most stable drivers you will find short of RME.

But! IF you just want a very cheap hook up and play? Alesis i02 Express, $100 or less but really quite good.

Dave.
 
I still suggest the poster skip the Apogee and Prism (and RME) 'til he gets a better handle on what he is doing and how this stuff sounds different
 
Welcome to the rabbit hole..Enter at your own risk. Historically, based upon this old guys observations, I would say more financially successful musicians just learn to play, write and perform well and don't have their own recording studio...They focus on being a performing musician not a recording technician...The 3 most common reasons for failure are ...failure to focus, failure to focus and .....what was I saying? Yeah I'm one of those musicians that is easily distracted by shiny objects and decided to go down the recording my own tunes rabbit hole.

I started with a stereo reel to reel about 40 years ago and the rest is misery...

Seriously though in today's incredible digital "made in china" world you can record and produce songs amazingly well with a relatively current computer a few decent mics and $100 interface that ( in the right hands ) can exceed the quality of anything recorded 20 years ago and before. That combined with the huge amount of free recording education resources available at the click of a mouse, it is something that many more musicians today are doing than in the past...

Recognize that it is garbage in garbage out. If you have a great song recorded OK it has a much better chance of going somewhere than a crap song recorded pristinely. Figure out how to get the tunes down as easily as possible on focus on the craft of playing and writing.....My advice is use Reaper as your recording software with a decent computer and grab a $100 Behringer 4 track u-phoria...a couple shure sm 57's and with the other stuff you've already got you are equipped to get your tunes down well enough to put out fantastic demos....Now you just have to learn how,,,,The Mp3 clinic here has really blossomed and is a great place to get critiqued by a bunch of guys who have also gone down the rabbit hole...some are incredibly educated in recording...some not so much but they collectively give you an amazing sounding board for test driving your recordings and the tunes therein....

This all said to make a point of the garbage in garbage out comment earlier....below is a list of songs recorded on a tascam portastudio...from wiki Good Luck and have fun!

Guided By Voices recorded much of their classic-era songs on a Tascam 4-track.
The Jesus and Mary Chain used a TASCAM Portastudio to record their first demos sent to Bobby Gillespie and Alan McGee.
Primus' first release Suck on This, a compilation of several live performances, was recorded entirely on a TASCAM quarter-inch eight-track Portastudio.
John Frusciante recorded his two first solo albums Niandra Lades & Usually Just A T-Shirt and Smile From The Streets You Hold on a Portastudio 424 (source: VPRO 94 interview).
Bruce Springsteen recorded his album Nebraska on a Portastudio 144.
Soviet poet and musician, Viktor Tsoi, frontman of the Soviet rock band Kino, recorded demos in the late 1980s to early 1990s for their main albums on a Portastudio tape recorder. A few of those albums are Gruppa krovi (Blood Type), Zvezda po imeni Solntse (The star called Sun) and Chyorny albom (The Black Album) in couple with a drum machine.
Travis Meeks of Days of the New recorded "Cling" on a TASCAM four-track in his sessions leading up to his debut album.
John Vanderslice, an analog recording enthusiast, made Life and Death of an American Fourtracker, a concept album about home recording, including the song "Me and My 424".
Alan Wilder recorded his first solo album 1+2, under the nickname Recoil, on a four-track Portastudio.
Ween recorded their second album, The Pod, on a Tascam four-track.
"Weird Al" Yankovic recorded half of his songs on his debut album with a Portastudio in his drummer's garage before signing up for a proper studio.
Wu-Tang Clan's debut album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), was mixed down to a Portastudio 244.
Iron and Wine's debut 2002 The Creek Drank the Cradle was recorded on a four track cassette recorder.
Madlib recorded his first album as Quasimoto, "The Unseen", on a TASCAM Portastudio.
Portastatic was named after the Portastudio Mac McCaughan used to record the songs that became its first album.
The Dixie Bee-Liners recorded their Christmas single, "Santa Wants A Whiskey", on a TASCAM 788.
Nik Kershaw recorded the demos to his album, "Human Racing", on a Portastudio.
Clive Gregson and Christine Collister recorded their 1987 album Home And Away on a TASCAM (referred to as 'TEAC' in the album sleeve notes) 244 Portastudio.
 
Ha Well, the basement tapes are still sought after, also. The scratch tapes from Curt and from Pentagram, etc..

Save everything.... eh.. Burn the photographs, I guess;
LastDaysHere.jpg
 
Another vote for any $100 current USB interface. As a solo artist you'll be recording one track at a time, having a lower latency multi-input interface would be IMO a waste. Focus on the quality of the input (perhaps a mic preamp in your case?) with the money instead. Most of the critical work will occur after you've recorded, in the DAW. At least that's how many of us '21st century' home recorders are doing it. You can still expend huge sums of money on outboard gear if you want, but it's not essential anymore because of advances in home computing power and audio software. Unless you're after a sound you can't find in the digital realm, think software for everything you can.

When live tracking it's advisable to 'freeze' (temporarily mix down) the previously recorded tracks if you're using any virtual instruments or applying plugin effects to them. Your computer can introduce latency, which shows up as a delay between your live input and the mix you're trying to play/sing along to, if the computer has to render real time effects while you're also trying to live track to those effected tracks. I've found this to be more a product of certain plugins used than the interface, so not sure even a higher end interface will completely eliminate the need for this additional track freezing process. Maybe someone with a higher end interface could elaborate. I know with Amplitube, which I use a lot as a guitarist, tends to introduce latency depending on the settings (amps, pedals, other effects) I'm using for a track. I can record the one live track fine with anything Amplitube offers, but if I don't freeze that track when moving on to the second track I'll usually end up with some latency. Just an example of a virtual instrument/plugin that causes this in my own setup.

It should be noted to acoustic instruments using a mic, you'll have less opportunities for latency as you're not likely to be applying many (if any) effects in real time. This further makes the case for getting any adequate usb interface.
 
Thanks so much guys! Im overwhelmed by so many helpful comments:)
[MENTION=89697]ecc83[/MENTION] yeah the nord, loopm and also my voice effect thing have midi so dabble means recording both right? Your options look great. Thanks Dave!
[MENTION=105765]garww[/MENTION] youre probably right. First i will record some demos just on the loopmachine and see how it goes and what sound I want.
[MENTION=1094]TAE[/MENTION] so did i get it right that you keept the recording process to yourself all these years? For me the feeling and the atmosphere are so important and when Im in the studio i feel easily under pressure and perhaps dont like the vibe thats the main reason why I want to start little bit of homerecording and see how it goes. Totally agree with garbige in out... Also Bon Ivers Emma album and Sufjan Stevens Michigan were so low budged as well. The tallest man on earth first albums have crap sound but great musician quality and well in general the recording itself is just another art form. And as Brian Eno put it mistakes make character or sth like that^^ I need to check out reaper and the behringer. I think i still got an sm 58 lying around somewhere but will also check the 57. Im indeed intrigued to get a tape recorder but well its time and money consuming. Maybe if i get lucky some time i will try analoge.
Thanks for welcoming me in the rabbit hole;)
[MENTION=13226]Pinky[/MENTION] Yes that sounds good cause I will use the mic for guitar, voice and harmonica and dont need many inputs.
I appreciate your tips for the live tracking but I think it will take some time till i dive into that? but who knows.

Cheers guys
 
Oreo27 said:
[MENTION=13226]Pinky[/MENTION] Yes that sounds good cause I will use the mic for guitar, voice and harmonica and dont need many inputs.
I appreciate your tips for the live tracking but I think it will take some time till i dive into that�� but who knows.
Click to expand...

I definitely mentioned this as a more 'advanced' recording tip, but one you might need sooner than later depending on what strategy you employ when live tracking. If you end up with latency hopefully you'll think of this.
 
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