Need help getting started

[naivete]

I have a new dell (specs below) and I have been playing with Adobe Audition 1.5 and an ancient Seasound interface for six or seven months. Everytime I try to record through a mic (EV N/D967), whether it be vocals or guitar, it sounds dead and muffled (crappy pre-amps? wrong mic? placement? too much gain?). I just assume that my interface is garbage.

I am looking for a way to get a decent guitar & vocal sound (rock/moderately heavy) and a fast and efficient way to put down drums/beats (think nin and radiohead). Ive been using samples in Acid Loops and transferring into Audition but I know there must be better ways (drum machine? sampler? or maybe the midi controller listed below?).

I have been reading at tweakheadz.com and have learned a lot, but I am still unsure about what to buy for my needs. I have about $2000 set aside for equipment just to start, will continue to build over time.

Would this be a good but inexpensive Interface for what i need?
PreSonus FIREBOX

Would I still need a sound card with this interface? Mixer? It comes with Cubase LE, will this suite my needs or will I have to upgrade to a better edition immediately? Or should I upgrade to Audition 2.0 and will it work with that?

Would this be a good Midi Controller for me or is it overkill?
MAudio Axiom 61Key

Demension E521
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 3800 (2.0 GHz)
Windows Vista Home (anything compatible?) have XP Home too
2 GB RAM
250GB Hard Drive
16x DVD+/-RW Drive
Integrated Audio(I heard soundblaster sucked so I figured I would buy a recommended soundcard at a later date.....was I wrong?)
IEEE 1394 Adapter

Also thinking about buying laptop solely for the purpose of recording/mixing, the mobility factor could be a huge conveniance for me. Good Idea? What do I want in a recording laptop? If anyone could give me an example of an ideal setup that would help me a lot.

An enormous amount of questions, I know. But any help would be greatly appreciatied.

[Monkey Allen]

I only answer this as I noticed you asking about the Firebox...yeah it's a decent card...and yes it is a soundcard...you won't need another soundcard with it. Get a nice condenser mic and you're away. Remember the Firebox is obviously firewire...so a laptop would need that connection. I don't know if they all have it by default. Never had a laptop. Advice on laptop would be to get one with good cpu power and good ram.

[wheelema]

Your PC has Firewire (1394) on the motherboard, but the Dell specs say that it is optional as to whether or not a port that you can plug into is available to you, so you would have to look for it. If you do not have a Firewire port you will need to talk to Dell to figure out how to get it. Without that you cannot use the Presonus Firewire devices.

[naivete]

Thanks for your help, I think Ill go with the firebox. If anyone has any more advice for me on any of my other questions, it would really help me out. thanks

[Dani Pace]

Originally Posted by naivete

I am looking for a way to get a decent guitar & vocal sound (rock/moderately heavy) .

For decent guitar sounds on recordings you need to start by getting a decent sound for listening. If it sounds bad to your ears, it will sound even worse recorded. Accurate tuning is a must, if you are out of tune, even a little, it will sound really bad when recorded. Big amps with lots of power are generaly harder to record than smaller amps. Mic placement is hard to explain, you just have to experiment, a lot! Moving a mic a few inches or changing its angle a little can make a huge difference. Some mics work better with certain amps than others. Don't think you have to record at gig volume, often less volume and gain will eliminate some muddyness and slur on guitar. Try different locations in your room for amp placement, raise it, lower it, tilt it, angle it to the wall, maybe even in the middle of the room, don't worry if the best sounding place looks weird. Get the best possible sound to start with and the rest of the recording process will be much easier.

[buryher17]

Originally Posted by Dani Pace

For decent guitar sounds on recordings you need to start by getting a decent sound for listening. If it sounds bad to your ears, it will sound even worse recorded. Accurate tuning is a must, if you are out of tune, even a little, it will sound really bad when recorded. Big amps with lots of power are generaly harder to record than smaller amps. Mic placement is hard to explain, you just have to experiment, a lot! Moving a mic a few inches or changing its angle a little can make a huge difference. Some mics work better with certain amps than others. Don't think you have to record at gig volume, often less volume and gain will eliminate some muddyness and slur on guitar. Try different locations in your room for amp placement, raise it, lower it, tilt it, angle it to the wall, maybe even in the middle of the room, don't worry if the best sounding place looks weird. Get the best possible sound to start with and the rest of the recording process will be much easier.

i definately agree, and couldnt say it any better. I actually have the exact same pc you have, i just bought that same set up, and i was looking at the firewire presonus too, but im going to go for the tascam fw1082, another good thing to look at, also firewire/midi. but i definately would recomend the presonus, very nice interface, and everything ive heard was very positive.

hope i helped some what