Narrowing the choices: Hardware for fingerstyle solo recording.

Almy

Almy

Guitar Guy
Well I've spent a lot of time googling, reading a few pages of these forums, and flipping thru tons of product at musiciansfriend. I think I've made my choice, but I'd like to throw my thoughts out there in case I'm missing something.

I just want to record acoustic fingerstyle guitar with no lyrics. I have a nice setup for the guitar, Trance Audio dual-stereo pick-ups with an internal preamp and an external stereo or mono box. Now I just need a simple, but effective, means of connecting it to ye ole computer.

The system I built doesn't have Firewire ports but I could buy a soundcard to adjust that I'm guessing. But most of the advantages with firewire stuff is just way more than I think I need. Other than firewire I have the choice between usb or card setups. But usb's seem to be the same problem for me as Firewire, more money for more options I don't really need.

I'm looking at getting the E-MU 0404. I don't have a soundcard in my new system, purposefully went with onboard audio in anticipation of this decision. It feels the best to me as it would put me in a new soundcard, plus a recording device, all in one. I've seen other cards for the same price, or near it, but the price point of 100ish dollars seems like the 0404 is best bang for the buck.


Isn't another advantage of something like the 0404 better latency? I have a million questions, but I think my budget negates most of them. I really like the 100 dollar price range.

Am I missing something? Or misunderstanding any of the equipment?

James
 
You are thinking of the E-MU 0404. That has midi inputs. Do you need midi inputs? If not look at the E-MU 0202. It's basically the same audio capabilities of the 404, but without midi. Tascam has a decent little interface, too. Myself, I went firewire.

Latency.. we normally think of that as the delay created when a signal goes through the interface, *and through the software*, and then back out to the interface. The E-MU latency, through the whole chain, is no better than any other equipment. So, no, the E-MU equipment does not have "better latency". What it does have is an internal mixer that takes the signal going into the input of the inteface and sends it right back out of the output of the interface. You can hear what you are recording, yes, but you are really hearing the sound before it goes through the software. You don't hear what *has been* recorded. Many USB and firewire interfaces have this internal mixer capability.
 
I may be out of my knowledge with that question, but the card I'm looking at here doesn't have midi inputs. However there is a USB interface for it here that does. I was wanting to go with just the soundcard, with no interface. I've just assumed that was possible and that external interfaces were for ease of use or greater options. Do I have the wrong idea here?

Edit: Btw, tried to find the 0202 to take a look...didn't see it. Any chance for a link?
 
Almy: I think you better look at the Specs of the EMU-0404 again because it surely Does have Midi inputs, it says so in the first couple Paragraphs in the description in the Link you posted....

If you don"t need the Midi or spdif maybe look at the Card I use which is the "M-audio delta 44" it costs $50 more but it will give you Twice the Number of analogue Inputs/Outputs and it has better drivers and a Much less complicated Mixer controll Panel (many poeple complain about the dificulty of useing the EMU Patch Mix settings).....

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/MAudio-Delta-44-Digital-Recording-System?sku=701346


Cheers
 
Here's a great price on the EMU 1212:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/prod...evel-Recording-System?sku=242512&src=3SOSWXXA

It has better converters than the 0404. I paid $200 for mine two years ago.

The Delta 44 is also an excellent card and will give you four inputs but no SPDIF.

Almost no one uses onboard electronics to record acoustic guitar. They sound great live but do not record the natural sound of the guitar.

The best way to record acoustic guitar is with two mics and a decent mic preamp. Of course that will cost another $250-$300 for a decent setup.
 
Yeah, that's the thing... no pickup system is going to give you the natural sound of even inexpensive condensor mics for acoustic guitar. Which also raises the not-insignificant issue of a quiet, good-sounding room. Recording in a bad room = bad-sounding recording.

That said, the good news is that you can get a pair of MXL 603s mics and a DMP-3 preamp for under $300 - less if you buy used. That, IMHO, will get you an excellent acoustic sound.
 
Thanks for all the replies guys. On the 1212 I have to ask an ignorant question :P. Why does it have 2 cards rather than just one? I probably have 3 or 4 extra slots, and at least 1 or 2 are PCI, I'll have to check later.

I definitely understand sound quality issues, I'm right there with you on that. Right now I'll go with what I have to save money. But just as an aside, the Trance Audio system isn't cheap, and live with a PA has sounded more natural than some condenser mics. What' I'll likely do at first is record it as-is and see how it goes. Then I'll add a 57 and 58 to toy around, from there I can always borrow mics to see what I get.

Thanks again for the thoughts, I'll start reading more on that 1212 to see if I can get a handle on it.
 
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