Recording to PC: what to buy first?

S

Scotsman

New member
I've got a basic idea of what I need to record acoustic guitar and vocals to PC but am looking for some advice on products.

First off, here's my current equipment:

Soundblaster Live! 5.1 soundcard with 1/4" line in on front
Cool Edit Pro 2

I know that I'll need a mixer board and microphone(s). My needs are to record for personal consumption, nothing too professional required. I'm looking for a pure acoustic sound with no effects capabilities, and vocals.

A mixer that seems good value is a Behringer MX802A.

Now to mics. I have a budget of around 150-200 USD. I believe I should be considering condenser mics for acoustic guitar, so with that in mind I've done some research on the Audio-Technica 300 series of mics. This series comprises one large diaphragm unidirectional condenser mic (AT3035) and two small diaphragm ones (one uni-directional (AT3031), the other omni-directional(AT3032)).

So I could use the large diaphragm one for vocals and guitar, and the small diaphragm for just guitar - does that sound feasible?

Or why not use an AT3035 and use the guitar's pickup for the other track? What would be the most effective first step, given that I simply can't afford to buy two mics and a mixer-board at once?

Any other suggestions would be more than welcome - there's such a steep learning curve to all.

Cheers,
Jock
 
I would save up another $100 and go for an AT 4040 ($299) for both your vocals and acoustic guitar, and skip the mixer and get a dedicated preamp (Joe Meek, ART, M-Audio DMP3/Audiobuddy)

Have a listen to the 4040 here, as well as darn near every other low-budget LD condensor

http://www.thelisteningsessions.com/session5.htm

If you can't handle the extra hundred bones, look for a used AT 4033 on Ebay

Good Luck
Chris
 
The best advice I could give someone just starting a home studio is: build it from the outside in.
Start with the best pair of monitors you can afford. They are your ears, and they will allow you to better evaluate every other piece of gear you add to your studio later on.
It's funny, so many guys overlook them and get mics and effects and mixers first, and use stereo speakers or something worse (like headphones) to monitor with. That is just so backwards.

Chant it with me now:
Monitors first. Monitors first. Monitors first. Monitors first. Monitors first. Monitors first. Monitors first. Monitors first. Monitors first. Monitors first. Monitors first......

Aaron
http://www.voodoovibe.com
 
Chris:

what would the benefits be of a dedicated preamp over a mixer with built in preamps? I'm working to a budget here, but I guess taking my time and getting the right gear would future-proof and save in the long run. The M-Audio Audio Buddy is in the same price area as the Behringer MX802a mixer, only the latter has 4 inputs/preamps.

And bearing in mind the budget, what does the AT4040 mic have that the AT3035 doesn't?

Aaron:

Monitors first. Monitors first......
Click to expand...

Forgive my ignorance, but what's a monitor in this context? Those needles that you would find on the front of the M-Audio DMP3 Preamp?

you might have better luck posting this in the "Computer Recording" forum
Click to expand...

D'oh! I deliberated and figured guitars. Is cross-posting frowned upon over here? I'm new...

Cams
 
By monitors I mean speakers to listen to your music on as you record and mix.

Yeah, cross posting is frowned on. Don't worry about it. We'll take good care of you in this forum too. And if we don't like you we'll grab you by the seat of your pants and throw you into the songwriting forum where all the sissies and nerds hang out. ;)

Aaron
http://www.voodoovibe
 
Aaron

Nice studio you have mate! And a fellow guitarist too!

I'll keep my query to this thread in the hope of some more feedback but will make sure to post any future threads to the relevant BB.

Jock
 
Aaron Cheney said:
The best advice I could give someone just starting a home studio is: build it from the outside in.
Start with the best pair of monitors you can afford. They are your ears, and they will allow you to better evaluate every other piece of gear you add to your studio later on.
It's funny, so many guys overlook them and get mics and effects and mixers first, and use stereo speakers or something worse (like headphones) to monitor with. That is just so backwards.
Click to expand...

Crap... and here I am monitoring through headphones :)

I just went through this whole thing where I denied the goodness of a decent soundcard, thinking I could get away with my Soundblaster. Well those days are gone and I'm trying to get the funds to move up to something like a Delta 44. And now I sit with headphones on, thinking everything is just dandy, and this little voice in the back of my head remembers all the times I've seen 'buy monitors... headphones baa-aad' (in its best Camp Chaos Hetfield voice), and I think, "In a year from now, am I going to scrap all the time and energy I put into fiddling with these mixes made on headphones when I finally purchase my first pair of monitors and another whole world of hidden fidelity blooms before me?"

I guess everything comes in stages. First stage for me was to buy my first mic. Then it was the mixer. Next its going to be the soundcard. Then probably a POD XT or something else that I can use to record direct instead of my Korg Pandora. THEN it was going to be monitors (how many years down the road is that?).

Should I move monitors up on the priority list?
 
Assuming that you have a baseline of enough gear that you are actually recording , then I would say you shouldn't buy anything esle until you have the best pair of monitors you can afford.
Of course, there's no point in spending your life's savings on them if you don't even own a computer or guitar yet.
How can you judge how your new preamp/mic/POD/reverb unit sounds if you can't hear it properly?

Aaron
http://www.voodoovibe.com
 
Care to throw a few monitor recs into the ring, Aaron? I'm thinking that, based on what I saw on your site anyway, that you know what you're talking about when it comes to studio gear and I thought I'd ask for a few pointers. What do fairly decent monitors retail for? Would the Tannoy Revolution speakers I have on my AV setup be usable as monitors? Not that I'd like to start shifting them from room to room, but I could run a couple of cables through if it meant keeping to my budget.

And just to add some feedback to my initial post: I'm getting pretty close to a decision of a Mindprint Di-Port with a Terratec EWX 24/96 soundcard, a pair of MXL 603S condenser mics and a Studio Projects B3.

Jock
 
I have a pair of Mackie HR824's. They are becoming pretty ubiquitous in home studios these days, and are regarded by pros as sort of the cheapest "pro-level" speaker. I'm hearing a lot of good things about the Blue Sky system, though I've never heard them.
There is are great article here. It's a monitor shootout that is very enlightening.

If these are out of your price range, I would first check out the Mackie HR624 or maybe the Yamaha MSP5.

Aaron
http://www.voodoovibe.com
 
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