Starting home recording?

[Spinkeh]

Hi,

I'm looking to get the equipment to start recording songs.

Basically this is the brief of what I'm thinking of:


Budget: £300 ($500) or there abouts maximum.


What I've got already:
A 2GHz PC with a basic sound card
A 670W 10 channel P.A. system with mics,leads etc.


What I want:
A multi-track recorder that will allow me to record elsewhere, and then bring the recording back, upload the various tracks on to the PC.
Software to mix the tracks together.


Its a fairly ambitious project giving the budget, but I reckon someone would be able to suggest a semi-decent digital multi-track for £200($300), and mixing software for £100($200).

So far I've considered a Fostex MR-8 as a recorder, but I have no idea about software.

It will be used to record an average band, vocals, drums, guitars, and bass.

[Scinx]

My advice is to not get a fostex; unless you are looking for unreliability.

[Spinkeh]

What would you suggest then?

[Jotosuds]

the mr-8 would be fine i think, but i'm pretty sure you'd need preamps for the mics going into it. if the mr-8 has built in preamps, i'm pretty sure their not that great.

for an editing program, i would recommend cool edit pro. i think it's like 200 bucks though. you should check hitsquad.com to see if they have a decent free multitrack editor, which i'm sure they have.

[branded]

Originally posted by Scinx
My advice is to not get a fostex; unless you are looking for unreliability.

That gotta be the funniest thing ive heard!
The mr8 would be a fine choice. My vfo8
hasn't given me no trouble what so ever.
And from what I here the mr8 is a great recorder
and is great in conjunction with editing software.

go with the mr8 man! great choice

[Scinx]

Im glad you find it humorous. Im glad you find your fostex reliable (for now). Ive never owned a fostex and never will simply because Ive heard from numerous people that theirs broke. Does that mean that this model sucks and is unreliable? No, not necessarily,but if Yugo tried selling cars over here not many would sell. Why? Because they HAD a bad track record. What if it was actually a very reliable car? No one would buy it. Why? Because they HAD a bad reputation for reliability.

That said - if it fits your budget, you like it, and you want it - get it.

[Ed Dixon]

My experience with my MR8 has been quite good. It has no moving parts to quit, I fine the mic pre-amps just fine, and the results are CD quality. That coupled with some PC based software for mixing, and you have a powerful combination for recording.

Ed