To Protools or Not to Protools

Albatrotic

New member
I I am just becoming interested in home recording. I have a run of the mill crappy single input sound card and i am looking at getting a better one for my 18th birthday. Because my parents are particularly stingy i can't hope for anything over 500 but perhaps i can put some more money into it if needed...

I have done recording with a Roland Vs 880 and it was quite fun however i am more interested in using my computer because of all of the cool sound manipulation software that i have picked up along the way. - At the moment i am using acid with the crappy sound card and it doesn't even sound that bad but i hope to figure out someway of getting a professional sound and i am willing to spend more money as time progresses. I make most of my music by myself so its normally just one track at a time - i use things like guitars drum loops keyboards strings and voice - so I am not too sure whether i would need to get a multi track card - although if i ever wanted to record drums (which i can see being a future possibility) then i would probably like 8 tracks right? (unless i could painstakingly record each piece of the kit in a separate take, however i would imagine this to be quite a banal task!)

I have also looking (a little bit) into digidesign card/protool packages and they are quite unbelievably expensive. - Is there some good alternative solutions to the questions i am raising or is protools indeed the way to go. - I am serious about getting a very high quality in my recordings so don't be afraid to tell me that i need to spend heaps or whatever...

I also know i need a good mic... what are some really good all purpose sort of mics that you could use for vocals guitars - amps -strings basically anything to get that nice punchy hi-fi sound? I have used ones that are suspended in some elastic harness and they have always sounded amazingly good - what is the name of these and would one of these mics be a good option? I am willing to spend alot on the microphone because i am a vocalist!...

My sister is moving out finally so i am hoping to convert her room into a studio over the following months. I am considering taking out a loan and going all out!... so any advice that you can give would be so very appreciated.

Thankyou so much for braving my long winded ignorance.
 
lets see...

Albatrotic:

well, I DONT LIKE PRO TOOLS for homestudio.

in my experience, I think you need a lot of hardware to make pro tools works fine. and that means a lot of $.
it is not a simple, funtional, practic, software.
it is like, kind of professional one.

I prefer Cubase, or maybe cool edit pro.
FOR MY HOMESTUDIO.

about the digi 001 card,
I prefer Aardvark or Echo. nice balanced 8 ins and outs, plus monitor, midi, spdif and a very light, simple, COMPATIBLE software.

about the mics, you will need to make a lot of homework to know what you want and what you need.

at the moment get a shure sm57 ;)
 
More money than brains.

Hey, I was just like you. I too had more money than sense. No offense. Really. I mean no offense. But if you have never used anything in the way of Digital Audio Software, and you are trying to build a complete studio in big sis's old room, then you need more financial advice than recording advice. Let me run my situation by you just to give you a reference to ground...

I moved to Munich Germany from Atlanta Georgia a year and a half ago. I had no firends here, and no equipment. I have been playing music since I was quite young so I had the ability and over a dozen complete songs written and just wanted to record them. First I thought about a studio, then I got the home rec bug. I had just gotten a KILLER job working for Renault, which paid 4 times higher than any job I had ever had. So I was swiming in money. I ran out and bought the folowing:

- Brand new PC 933MHz Pent III w/ big ass monitor.....$2,000
- Logic Audio Platinum v 4.7 Recording Software...........$750 (things are more expensive in Germany)
- MK-149 Midi Keyboard Controler..................................$200
- Roland JV 1010 Sound Module.....................................$500
- Midiman 2x2 Midi Interface .........................................$100
- Delta 66 24-bit 96 KHz High End Sound Card...........$400
- Delta Omni Vocal/Instruments Pre-amp, Audio Interface..$250
- Audio Technica 4033a Condensor Microphone.............$350
- Sure dynamic microphone ........................................... $150
- Line 6 POD Guitar Pre-amp effects Direct Rec Unit....... $350

I think that about raps it all up for my system. Weighing at around $5,050 American Dollars. And believe me, I have a FAR from professional studio set up. I mean I have the muscle to make some pretty decent sounding stuff. But I am A ok in some departments but weak in others. For example, to begin with, I could proably have gone cheaper and easier on the software. Logic Audio is a tough cookie to swallow in the beginning. And that leads me into my long winded point.....

Go a re-read my list of equipment, and try to imagine how long and difficult it is to learn all these systems dripped in your lap at once. I am still having unimaginable problems over a year later.

I got that job, and I went ape shit in a record store. Buying things with flagerent disregard for the learning curve associated with all the equipment. I am 23 years old and so I am not THAT much older than you. So I can say... slow is ALWAYS better. You run the risk of absolutle BURNOUT. There is nothing more frustrating than seeing all this dream equipment as decorations to fuck with your head, and make you feel stupid as hell.

But if your parents are going to front it all... then buy it... keep me informed, and I wish you the absolute BEST of luck!!!!

Mike
 
Thanks Mike for your advice... Some very wise words. Unfortunatly there is no way that my parents would pay for any of it besides perhaps the card which I am thinking of asking for my birthday.

Let me explain a bit more about my situation... I have been using protools (free), acid 3.0, cool edit pro, fruity loops and tracks and other software platforms for quite some time now so i am used to the actual process of recording. I have also recorded in numerous studios with my band and had the chance to pick up a few manual skills (not much however) and i have learned to use a Roland VS 880 hdd recorder. So its not really that i want to change how i do it - but that i want to hopefully increase the quality by getting 1) a much better soundcard and b) a really good mic. I can't really afford heaps of stuff although i am commited to building on what i have as i save money. I will respect your advice to go slow. I think sometimes i speed off wanting to do things "right here right now" but fortunatly I am not the type to purchase anything whimsically. Indeed I am quite frugal.

The other thing that I might spend some time researching is soundproofing. My friend who is a studying drummer has built a soundproofed room by putting insulation batts in the wall and using a solid door. Have you or anyone else had any experiance with these sort of cheap alternatives?

My other question was: It seems that people talk about preamps for mics... Now at the moment i am just plugging my shure mic straight into my mic input on the crap card. I am wondering when and why you need a pre amp for mics...

Thanks heaps for your ongoing support.
 
Your problem is that you are plugging directly into your card. No matter what you do that will sound like junk. You have to get a mixer to plug into your line in on your card (if it has one) and then plug your mike into your mixer. If money is a problem just check out e-bay I always seem to find a good deal on there.
 
So you mean i need some sort of pre amp and never to use the mic input on cards? Hmm interesting what typoe of preamp would you recomment. Do i need to use a mixer and what if it is not powered? Ok thanks alot for your advice
 
no, your mixer does not have to be powered. but i think youre talking about getting a condensor mic, so you would probably want to get a mxer which has phantom power. i am thinking about either getting the pro tools or this new korg setup too. and yes, pre amps will make it sound better and better. it just usues the mics full potential, and is a very wise investment.
 
this might help out a little....what i did with very little money and new to recording...first i bought a tascam tsr 8 multitrack...(ebay...$450.00) got me started learning the ins and outs...along with a tascam m-1508 8 channel nonpowered mixer....(ebay..$250.00)...then after alot of experimentation...i bought the echo layla 20 bit digital multtrack...has midi, spdif analog ins and outs (8 in and 10 out)...you can actually get these now...(the 20 bit not the 24) for less than $500.00...once again ebay for 399.00..comes with the card, breakout box everything you need...it also comes with cool edit pro....so you can really get started without spending alot of money...point is....get yourself the basics first ....see how well you like....and then add on...dont try to learn it all at once...it will just get you mad..and upset...you can put out good quality recordings without diving into financial bliss...its always easier to upgrade once you learn the basics...finally...a good mic (condensor) can cost quite a bit of money but there are some out there for $300.00...but if thats not possible...a good shure sm 57...is a truly reliabe mic..for just about all applications...dont forget sometimes your own experimentaion (musically) can sometimes produce a truly greater sound than 50,000 dollars worth of equipment
 
Someone said..
"in my experience, I think you need a lot of hardware to make pro tools works fine. and that means a lot of $.
it is not a simple, funtional, practic, software. "

Now now... It IS a simple, ultra functional, practical EXCELLENT software. Behave! ;)

Now, that aside, its not especially good without the true ProTOols setup, which is mega money. THe answer to his question is... does he LIKE ProTools better than the others. If you like it and are comfortable, go with it. If not, find somehting else. Although the Digidesign card isnt the best thing out there, its nothing to sneeze at, and it can accept (I think) 24 inputs, which means you can set up an outboard set of converters and use those to input into the card also. Fairly versatile, and it has two mediocre mic pres in it and headphones. Its not bad. Order the free demo video, it'll get you wound up.
I prefer myself to have an upper level Motu card and either Sonar or Digital Performer 3.

Lastly, if you want a true protools functionality and power, and you;re that serious and want to spend money, then check out Radar 24 or Paris Pro. $4000, guaranteed (I think) 128 tracks with 64 plug ins. Fat.
 
Need help?

Yeah pro-tools is not for the faint of heart... it is for people or professionals who know what they are doing and are dedicated.. first you will need to get up to 512 mb. of ram.. get a sweet hard drive.. i suggest a scsi external drive... need a scsi controller for your scsi drive.Then as you know you need a digital audio card.. i suggest echos line.... then you will a mixer....there are many mixers out there so you will need to do your homework and as with mic's that will require some homework. Then you will need to treat you big sis's room to get good acoustics. So bought what your thinking your studio won't happen for a while. And for software I suggest sonic foundry's vegas pro it works real well with echo's line from my point of view. good luck.by the way helps t get a job.
 
Back
Top