Studio Gear

A

Ares

New member
Hello guys

I'm planning a set up a small home-studio with a reasonable price.

So I'll buy a laptop, a MIDI keyboard and a mic.

Some people are telling me that I need a good soundcard stuff but I know nothing of this, any laptop has the card needed to play a MIDI keyboard, right?

And What would your best suggestion over a MIDI keyboard be with the price range $200-$300?

As for the mic, I wanted to buy a BLUE Yeti but I think I can't afford it, any alternative to it?
 
Ares said:
but I know nothing of this, any laptop has the card needed to play a MIDI keyboard, right?
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Not really. You should either get a dedicated soundcard {one that's dedicated to and for recording} or an interface that in effect acts as your soundcard. You'll need one to get a decent sound into your laptop, anyway.
 
grimtraveller said:
Not really. You should either get a dedicated soundcard {one that's dedicated to and for recording} or an interface that in effect acts as your soundcard. You'll need one to get a decent sound into your laptop, anyway.
Click to expand...

How much would it cost?
 
Do a search here on "Audio interfaces". You'll come across more information than you'll know what to do with because there are different kinds depending on what you plan to be doing.
 
Read the sticky-ed threads at the top of the Newbies section of these forums before buying anything.
 
mjbphotos said:
Read the sticky-ed threads at the top of the Newbies section of these forums before buying anything.
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I've been playing the piano for over 8 years. I'm not a newbie!

A friend of mine is playing his MIDI connected to his laptop and still gets good sound out of it with no interface, on the other hand some people tell me I need it. Why do I need one? In terms of better sound quality or something?

Is there anything else I should take into account buying a laptop to do music stuff?
 
Ares said:
A friend of mine is playing his MIDI connected to his laptop and still gets good sound out of it with no interface, on the other hand some people tell me I need it. Why do I need one? In terms of better sound quality or something?
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Absolutely no disrespect intended at all, but if these are your questions you are a newbie.

Either way, the stickies are definitely worth a read.
 
Steenamaroo said:
Absolutely no disrespect intended at all, but if these are your questions you are a newbie.

Either way, the stickies are definitely worth a read.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry but suggesting the stickies doesn't make sense. This is a forum, not a newspaper with limited information.

I'm asking these questions to know of the things in my case, so the sitcky-ed threads will not directly answer my questions. I told you that I had a limited budget so could not afford anything, I also told that if I ever need something other than what I listed above. Thanks for your replies all the same.
 
Ares said:
Some people are telling me that I need a good soundcard stuff but I know nothing of this, any laptop has the card needed to play a MIDI keyboard, right?
Click to expand...

If the midi keyboard has a USB connection, then yes, any laptop should interface with it just fine.
If it has the traditional midi connection then no, any laptop won't necessarily interface with it out of the box.


The stickies clear up a lot of basic info. Why/when an interfaces is needed, how things connect together etc.



Ares said:
How much would it cost?
Click to expand...

Ares said:
I'm sorry but suggesting the stickies doesn't make sense.
Click to expand...

Not reading the stickies, then presuming to know if they're applicable doesn't make sense.





Ares said:
I'm asking these questions to know of the things in my case, so the sitcky-ed threads will not directly answer my questions.
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Ok, fair enough you want specific info; Give us more specific info about what you want.


Midi keyboard.
Is this definitely what you want? (do you know soft synths are required to create audio, Ie. the keyboard itself usually makes no sound?)
If so, Usb or 5 pin midi?
how many keys?
portable?

Microphone.
What do you want to record with it?
Does it have to be usb?

Computer.
What operating system will you be running? Some software and hardware will only work on certain operating systems.
 
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Steenamaroo said:
Ok, fair enough you want specific info; Give us more specific info about what you want.


Midi keyboard.
Is this definitely what you want? (do you know soft synths are required to create audio, Ie. the keyboard itself usually makes no sound?)
If so, Usb or 5 pin midi?
how many keys?
portable?

Microphone.
What do you want to record with it?
Does it have to be usb?

Computer.
What operating system will you be running? Some software and hardware will only work on certain operating systems.
Click to expand...

-USB MIDI Keyboard with 49 or 61 keys, not necessarily portable.
-I use FL Studio and VST plug-ins to get sound, A MIDI keyboard is to get the sound easily as I'll record it with realtime playing. I don't want any delay when I press a key on the keyboard.
-USB mic, I'll often record vocals but from time to time I might need to record acouistic guitar as well.
-The OS must be Windows (I'm in the dillema of 32 and 64 bit but that's another matter)

My upper price range is, $350-400 for the keyboard, $600-700 for the notebook, $250-300 for the mic.
That is, for all these stuff, I can't afford any price more than $1500.
 
Ok, well, I can't give you a direct answer but I can help a little.

I know latency complaints are quite common on here from people who are using built-in audio for playback.

This will dictate whether or not you need a dedicated audio interface, and if you do need one, that opens up a whole new world of potential microphones for you.

Perhaps someone with experience of onboard sound and a midi(usb) keyboard will chime in here?
 
Steenamaroo said:
Ok, well, I can't give you a direct answer but I can help a little.

I know latency complaints are quite common on here from people who are using built-in audio for playback.

This will dictate whether or not you need a dedicated audio interface, and if you do need one, that opens up a whole new world of potential microphones for you.

Perhaps someone with experience of onboard sound and a midi(usb) keyboard will chime in here?
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Does an audio interface affect the quality of the sound coming out of a USB mic? Don't I plug the mic directly in the notebook?
 
No, you are correct.
A usb microphone has its own built in interface.

The problem comes with the playback, which is going to be coming from the laptop's built in audio unless you're only ever going to use headphones (from the yeti output).
 
Steenamaroo said:
No, you are correct.
A usb microphone has its own built in interface.

The problem comes with the playback, which is going to be coming from the laptop's built in audio unless you're only ever going to use headphones (from the yeti output).
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Well, of course I'm going to use headphones for the playback and then mix the vocals with the track I'll have used when doing the playback. How could it be any other way?
 
Generally speaking mixing on headphones is not recommended.

Quite often headphones are designed to accentuate bass and make your music sound pleasing which is no good for mixing; You want accuracy.

Even if you bought accurate studio headphones, you'll still have no real perception of stereo image.

With speakers your left ear still hears whats coming out of the right speaker and vice versa. This is not the case with headphones.



If you're tracking with headphones then latency shouldn't be an issue.
 
Steenamaroo said:
Generally speaking mixing on headphones is not recommended.

Quite often headphones are designed to accentuate bass and make your music sound pleasing which is no good for mixing; You want accuracy.

Even if you bought accurate studio headphones, you'll still have no real perception of stereo image.

With speakers your left ear still hears whats coming out of the right speaker and vice versa. This is not the case with headphones.



I use headphones for tracking and studio monitors for mixing. A high percentage of home or professional studios probably do the same.
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But everybody I know is using headphones to hear the playback track while singing. If it were monitors from where the track plays, wouldn't it sound really bad?

I think we're not talking about the same thing. English is not my first language, that's why I can't understand every single thing. :)
 
Ok, no problem.

What I'm saying is headphones are fine for while you are recording.

But when it comes to working on your track, mixing things together, adding effects etc, it's not a great idea to use headphones.

Monitor speakers are much better for this.
Ok, you can get by on headphones, but really, it's not ideal.
 
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