Noob questions about equipment

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Meatballx

New member
So I'm trying to get the best sound possible on a budget, which is around 700 dollars. Ive been using the audiobox usb studio bundle and condensor microphone to record my mixes, but Ive quickly outgrown the setup and need more ports for recording drums and other instruments, so here is my question.

Ive done a bit of research and hear the Tascam US-1800 USB is a damn good interface which which I can grow in to, and its also very reasonably priced at around 300 dollars new. Am I lead correctly on this interface? I was originally looking at mixers but after reading a bit, I dont really see the need for a mixer as I can do everything a mixer does in my DAW.

Im also looking at the Shure SM57 mic for recording my guitar tracks, as I love its tone.

Im wanting to get some solid drum mics, a solid vocal mic, and any kind of monitor I can squeeze in to my budget. Does anyone have any recommendations for the remainder of my budget? (~$300)

Thanks!
 
Have you looked at the Tascam 800? Older model, so its at a clearance price of $100 right now. $300 is not going to get you a vocal mic, drum mics and monitors. Most people around here will tell you that $300 won't get you monitors!
 
I read in another thread about the 800 and it also seems to have everything i would need, but the only issue is growing in to the device in the future, but by the time that happens $300 for another interface wont be that huge of a deal. I was also looking at the US-1641 since its basically the older model of the 1800, but for some reason, I cant find it for a reasonable price (<$300) anywhere.

Is it a bad idea to shop on ebay? Im finding incredible prices (50-75% off) for new and like-new equipment, like the SM57. If I went this route it would also save me immense amounts of money.

thanks for the reply, by the way. Ive been reading and doing research for 4 months now and still am finding it hard to know exactly what it is a need/want.
 
Meatballx said:
I read in another thread about the 800 and it also seems to have everything i would need, but the only issue is growing in to the device in the future, but by the time that happens $300 for another interface wont be that huge of a deal. I was also looking at the US-1641 since its basically the older model of the 1800, but for some reason, I cant find it for a reasonable price (<$300) anywhere.

Is it a bad idea to shop on ebay? Im finding incredible prices (50-75% off) for new and like-new equipment, like the SM57. If I went this route it would also save me immense amounts of money.

thanks for the reply, by the way. Ive been reading and doing research for 4 months now and still am finding it hard to know exactly what it is a need/want.
Click to expand...

There is one for sale here in the forum for $190. :D

Jump on it!!!
 
Meatballx said:
Is it a bad idea to shop on ebay? Im finding incredible prices (50-75% off) for new and like-new equipment, like the SM57. If I went this route it would also save me immense amounts of money.
Click to expand...

Nah dude, there's plenty of guys on here who buy used mics off of Ebay and love them! If you see a good deal, GO FOR IT! Just gotta make sure you're buying from someone who has a good Ebay rep. :)
 
A good Ebay rep AND a return policy in case there's a problem. I got my SM57 and AKG Perception 220 in Ebay deals. Watch out for Shure forgeries.
 
mjbphotos said:
Have you looked at the Tascam 800? Older model, so its at a clearance price of $100 right now. $300 is not going to get you a vocal mic, drum mics and monitors. Most people around here will tell you that $300 won't get you monitors!
Click to expand...

Realistically, that's pretty much the bottom line. You don't really have enough cash for decent new gear across the whole range you'd like to cover. So a lot depends on what you want to do.

If your aim is simply to enjoy yourself and have some more fun experimenting (much as you have done so far) then you can pretty much break all the "rules" and advice that you'll read on forums like this. You could do things like using ordinary headphones or cheap computer speakers for mixing instead of decent monitors, :eek: you can work in an untreated room, :listeningmusic: buy cheap mics, etc etc. You're unlikely to get stellar results but you can still enjoy yourself and learn a lot about the business of recording music. Few hobbyists have all the bases completely covered, so some compromise is usually inevitable. BUT, it might not be too long before you bump up against the limitations of your gear all over again - and want to upgrade to something better once more. If so, then you'll need to start all over with building a new budget and the second hand low end gear will be pretty hard to shift at any price.

Another option is to buy just one reasonably OK item (like an audio interface or some powered monitors) and hang onto whatever change you've got until it will buy a half way decent version of whatever's next on the list. Be patient, keep saving and keeping watching out for good second hand gear and you could get a reasonable setup before too long. If you've been researching for 4 months it sounds like you do have the patience, which is a great asset. :)

I'm not a good person to give you advice on the detail (apart from agreeing that you definitely don't need a mixer right now, if ever) but maybe you could ask the good folks here for tips on which order to buy the gear, and what minimum standards to set? When I first started getting interested, some years ago, I bought cheap instruments and entry level gear. No more. :o It's taken me years rather than weeks, but I've now got a fairly reasonable setup. It will never be completely finished though, so I keep saving...

Good luck.

Chris
 
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