Suggestions on starting from scratch

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WesternHaikus1

New member
Hey everybody. First post on these forums, I am totally brand spanking new to the idea of home recording, but I have some done a little bit of reading up on some subjects, so bear with me.

My parents want to get me a gift for Christmas, and I really want to start getting into tinkering with some home recording. Music is my number one hobby, and I would like nothing more than to eventually be able to create decent quality studio pieces somehow. Obviously I don't want to overstep my bounds as a total newbie when it comes to first time gear, but I also don't want to limit myself too much as I've got a pretty good grasp of fundamentals of what makes recorded music pleasing to the ear.

I'm thinking about going the way of starter recording packages found on popular websites like musiciansfriend just to get me started and maybe build off of in the future. I'm trying to decide between two purchase scenarios:

1 - Get an encompassing beginners package - interface w/ an LE DAW of some kind, mics, monitors, cables, stands

2 - Get a package that includes monitors, mics, stands and cables, and then purchase the interface and DAW independently so I don't have to compromise on features quite as much. This option would obviously cost more.

Any suggestions would be helpful! Which scenario you think is better, a totally different approach, or recommending specific packages. I'm open to anything since I'm pretty new at this. Obviously since I don't have experience recording anything, I'm trying to budget pretty well so I don't end up overspending on things I won't have the capabilities to utilize - although I definitely plan on learning and doing as much as possible.

Sorry for incredibly newbish first-time post, but hey, we all gotta start somewhere!
 
Couple of things to know,

What is your overall budget for the heap.

Are you open to used gear?

Where do you live (roughly). It makes a big difference to prices.

What do you plan to record. Will you want a single channel interface, two channel, eight channel, etc.

Welcome and good luck :)
 
Steenamaroo said:
Couple of things to know,

What is your overall budget for the heap.

Are you open to used gear?

Where do you live (roughly). It makes a big difference to prices.

What do you plan to record. Will you want a single channel interface, two channel, eight channel, etc.

Welcome and good luck :)
Click to expand...

I need to keep any gift ideas around $300 mark, and am willing to spend money on it myself in addition. Here's what I was thinking:

Option A:

Presonus USB Audiobox package with monitors, single MXL 990 mic, Fostex Monitors, cables, stand. The Audiobox comes with Studio One Artist, which I've never heard of so is most likely not the greatest DAW in the world. I'd post a link but my post count isnt high enough. It's $350 for the whole thing.

This package is basic and includes everything to get started - from what I understand, its fairly light on features but may be okay for an absolute beginner.


Option B:

M-Audio Monitor + Mic package - BX5a monitors, MXL 990 and 991 mics, cables, stands and headphones - $350. This doesn't include an interface + DAW, so I would do some more research and buy one myself. Could probably get one with better features this way, but it would cost significantly more, but would also get better monitors, additional mic, headphones, etc.


Would getting something like option A be suitable for somebody who might start out with a system thats good for getting ideas stored (maybe acoustic/vocals, or two guitars for guitar riffs and stuff, also MIDI as I have a couple keyboards that can be used as controllers)? I'd probably start out pretty basic but I'd like to get to the point where I can record entire studio tracks (might use MIDI controller for the drums as I can't really play drums and dont have a set). Or am I better off spending more, getting slightly better equipment, and finding an interface and DAW seperately?
 
Well it depends on your needs, if you aim to record a full band live somewhere in time, I would consider investing an audio interface that can handle up to 8 simultaneous pre-amp inputs (which can be expensive). If your entire plan in building your studio is for recording vocals and guitars only, then a 2 tracks would do.

Most audio interface do include a DAW on them (not sure if its a licensed version). But I would suggest Reaper DAW because of low licensing cost (around $60), and its a good DAW.
 
+1 for Reaper---it's a great DAW and very inexpensive.

I use it right now in with a Zoom R24 (8 inputs---got mine used in Canada for over $400, but in the US they are probably cheaper. Otherwise a Zoom R16 is almost the same minus a few frivolous features) and I'm very happy.
 
So I think I've decided to just get a monitor/mic/headphones/cable package from an online retailer, and then pick up the interface independently. I'm looking at the TASCAM US800 right now because there's very good sales for it, but I'm a little concerned about some driver issues I've been reading about. Looks like most of the complaints are from 6 months to 1 year ago, wondering if anybody has some more recent input or experience?
 
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