Wanting to set it up right....opinions appreciated!

I

imsharris

Member
Great forum with an incredible knowledge base, so I am really hoping that you guys might be able to help me out a little. I have recorded in many different formats, in studios, at home, live field recording and I have always kind of just made due with what I had at the time. Not a bad thing and I always had fun trying to figure things out and get the most out of my stuff. I have finally gotten to the point where I would like to really get a setup together that I can use to basically archive a bunch of songs using video as well. I understand that to get the best sound I really need to do the video and sound separately and I don't really have a problem with that. What I am looking for though is advice on how to get the best possible sound that I can. I would like to just run everything into my MacBook Pro. I really haven't been that impressed with USB mic's and from reading several threads through here it seems that a majority would agree. I mean they are great for what they are, but just not really what I am looking for (even though the new Rode NT-USB has me wondering!).

I am wanting to mainly record only vocals and acoustic guitar. Both at the same time. I was originally thinking about 1 condenser mic, but I really don't think that is going to work for me either. Would you guys suggest an interface and maybe a couple of condenser mic's? Any suggestions for this kind of setup? Also, is it something that could be mobile if needed to record live solo acoustic shows? Honesty, any and ALL suggestions are greatly appreciated!!
 
imsharris said:
I am wanting to mainly record only vocals and acoustic guitar. Both at the same time. I was originally thinking about 1 condenser mic, but I really don't think that is going to work for me either. Would you guys suggest an interface and maybe a couple of condenser mic's? Any suggestions for this kind of setup? Also, is it something that could be mobile if needed to record live solo acoustic shows? Honesty, any and ALL suggestions are greatly appreciated!!
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Hi,
How important is isolation to you? Also, is stereo image important?

I generally record live gtr/vox performances (in studio) with a pair of sm81s on guitar and an sm7b on vocals, although a 58 will do for vocals.

If stereo image isn't that important, there are two channel USB interfaces out there - one gtr mic and one vocal mic.
That'd keep you fairly mobile too since you aren't replying on an external PSU.

What Ido says is right. You might want to stick to dynamic mics and instrument outputs if you're recording live performances on stage.

Hope that helps. :)
 
Yes, that does help a lot! I guess that I could clarify a few things that might help the answers as well. When playing live, I would be using an SM58 for vocals and running my acoustic through a Pitch Black tuner - Boss RC-3 - Radial JDI - Allen & Heath ZED 10FX. I would normally just run that mix directly into the computer through the Allen & Heath, but I have such a hard time getting a good recording output from that mixer that it drives me nuts. It has a wonderful regular main output, but getting the levels up enough through the usb is just a pain. I have to have everything turned almost to 3:00 on that board just for the level lights to register. Of course with everything that high, the main volume has to be turned to about 9:00 for very small stuff or just in the house. That is why I was thinking about the interface route. I am really not playing out live that much anymore so I guess I am really looking for home recording solutions.

Oh, and I really am not that concerned with stereo recording. Mono is fine. Really I am just recording for archival purposes. I do still want a good sound though.
 
I have a ZED10FX Imsharris!

Mine actually feed a 2496 PCI soundcard but I have used the USB feed for test purposes and found it pretty good.

I don't have a mac and know nowt about them but in Windows the mixer appear as a "USB MICROPHONE CODEC" or some similar ***t and is subject to level adjustment in Win7. Most commonly peeps leave the gain set at the default 100% then complain of a very noisy system. The level needs to be backed off to 5% or even lower for good results. I feel sure there must be a similar level control in the mac?

As for an interface? Well you will want it "bus powered" not good lugging (forgetting!) another chunk of kit.

The Steinberg UR22 gets a good rep' but as with legions of AIs at that price you will be limited to two inputs. If you can stump up a few more shekels the Native Instruments Komplete audio 6 is the bizz. Two very good mic inputs and two more line ins which could take the guitar rig or indeed a feed from the mixer.

Re "mixer/guitar rig? Are you aware that the ZED10FX has very high, 10meg, impedance inputs on ST1? You don't really need a DI box and in fact the Z is high enough to handle a passive peizo acoustic.

Do bear in mind that tho' there are shedloads of interfaces out there almost none will beat the "front end" of the ZED 10!

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul12/articles/rsg.htm
^ Worth a varder?
Dave.
 
Armistice said:
You might think that now..

Budget?
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+1! There is a very great deal to be said for a simple CO-I pair. You record pretty much what a listener would hear at that point. Room acoustics are "natural" and do not seem (to me at least) to be such a problem. And CO-I is completely mono compatible. ....Best done with a pair of SDC*s mind.

*Well, "they" say fig' eights are even better but I don't have that sort of dosh!
Dave.
 
Great article! Thanks! I honestly love my little Zed 10 and I am sure that I am not using it to the full potential, but I could never really find any good instructions for it so I may have to hit you up ecc83 for some tutorials!

I had been looking at the Focusrite 2i2. but if I can learn to use the ZED 10, maybe I already have my interface?
 
imsharris said:
Great article! Thanks! I honestly love my little Zed 10 and I am sure that I am not using it to the full potential, but I could never really find any good instructions for it so I may have to hit you up ecc83 for some tutorials!

I had been looking at the Focusrite 2i2. but if I can learn to use the ZED 10, maybe I already have my interface?
Click to expand...

In many ways yes, the mixer is very suitable for home recording. About the only drawback would be track "building" i.e. if you needed to monitor an existing track and play along with it and record. I dare say even that is possible with the ZED10 but I would not know how!
I have just found a USB lead and plugged cans into the Z and played back a BBC3 concert via the mixer. Very clean.
Next I rigged an AKG P150 SDC up and did a bit of "Mary had" . I easily got a -20dBFS recording and at the end turned the mixer channel pot to zero and the system returned an rms noise level of -92dBFS and that is close to theoretical 16bit limits.


Tutorials? No way! I bought the mixer as a good front end for my 2496 cards (Berry X802 before that. Not that bad at all!) . Son has used it for guitar and vocal recording (then buggered off to France!) a bit but neither of us have explored its capabilities to any great degree at all.

But! By all means PM me and we can investigate it together!

Dave.
 
I suspect that you are looking at the recording level in your computer and trying to get close to 0db, hence cranking the levels. You don't need to do that, instead track at -18 to -12, then raise the volume up in the DAW during mastering stage.
 
imsharris said:
Let me ask you guys this. What are your thoughts on the Focusrite 2i2, 2i4 or 6i6 running into Reaper?
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Well let me say first of all that they are each basically very good interfaces...but!

The 2i2 lacks MIDI (personal HHorse, cheap of them IMHO). It also had poor headroom on the instrument input. This has now been improved, by how much I don't know.

The 2i4 has MIDI. Other than that I am not sure how it differs from the 2i2 save price?

The 6i6 (replaces the 8i6 that I have?) has MIDI, 2 mics in and two more line ins plus S/PDIF and thus has the connectivity of the NI KA6 but I am pretty sure the 6i6 need a power supply as does my 8i6. This does not bother me one jot but might be a PITA for a portable rig? The KA6 is bus powered, about the same price, and IMHO the better interface.

Whichever make you go for it makes sense (wtgr) to me to get a "plus 2 lines in" interface since that enables the connection of that excellent mixer giving you the possibility of 4 discrete mic channels or the mixer could (say) give you a 4 mic "stereo" mix of a drum kit.
'S'only another nifty!

Dave.
 
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