Advice on creating a digital home recording setup

S

Spectro_Acousto

New member
Hey all,

New to the community but already found so much helpful info here, now its time to dive into the details...

I am getting back into home recording. My previous experience with this was a Tascam 424 cassette-based setup. So this digital world is truly amazing to me. I record old school analogue instruments, except a keyboard (but no midi)


I am so naive in this field, ANY help would be appreciated. I have a good (I think? ...bare bones) windows 10 PC (Intel® Core™ i5-4570 Processor, 16GB RAM, Realtek Audio sound). I just found Cakewalk by Band lab (its free!) which is what I think they call a "DAW" This software seems to fit perfect what what I need. I was up and recording in under a day, and I was impressed by how easy things worked. In conjunction with Kdenlive (also free!), it was super easy to make that demo video.

So here is where I a hoping to get some advice by more experienced folks.

I would like to record multiple tracks simultaneously into Cakewalk. In the video, the several mics for the drums were run into an analogue mixer and sent into the mic input of the computer to record in a single track in Cakewalk. I want to have individual tracks for each mic/drum etc.

I have considered two approaches, and there's almost an overload of info.

Something like a soundcraft signature 16 mtk. A many track mixer that connects via USB or firewire. I think this should be able to route each channel on the mixer to an independent track on Cakewalk? My concerns here might be latency....or maybe not quite as good sound quality as option #2.

Something similar to a PreSonus Quantum 2626. This seems to be an audio interface without the mixer aspect (which I think should be OK with me since I should be able to take care of all that in Cakewalk, right?) My guess is these mic preamps will sound better than a USB-mixer interface. Also I think the latency will not be an issue with this. However, I could only record 8 tracks simultaneously I think.

When I get the guys over to play, I think I would ideally like to record 12 tracks at once. Though for individual home recording, I think 8 at once should suffice. Are there better options for the USB mixer/interface or something better than the Presonus?

A good estimate for the top end of my budget is ~$600. But since I would hope to use this for the rest of my life, I might be willing to spend a little more if there is some perfect solution out there.



Well I think thats it. Of course if you have additional recommendations...better DAWS, sound cards, anything I might be too ignorant to ask about, I welcome all perspectives.
 
There are multi-track digital mixers that give you as many tracks as you want and also have multi-track interface capability. These things have exploded in the past year.

Your budget is the problem, though, and if you really want more than 8 tracks, it might be more cost effective to get an interface with ADAT capability and an 8 channel ADAT unit. I'd even look at Behringer to meet your budget. I used the 8200 ADAT unit for a while and found it just fine for home recording, and lots of folks have found happiness with the UPhoria interfaces. The X-Air XR18 (tablet required) digital mixer has found a place in some home studios - seems to me there's someone (or more!) here that use that.
 
I expect the the Soundcraft, even though it has 16+ channels, will only send two via USB to your computer.

The Presonus Quantum would allow you to send all its channels separately, which you can then mix within Cubase itself. However , the Quantum has a Thunderbolt connection which works with Macs (but may work with Windows PCS with Intel processors).

In the end, though, an interface such as the Presonus 1824c would be a better option for you than a mixer with USB

However, if you do want a mixer with lots of channels and a multi-track interface, then you might consider something like the Presonus Studio Live:
StudioLive 16.0.2 USB | PreSonus
 
These replies are SO helpful. I am already learning and a evading a large mistake. THANK YOU!

Starting with the Soundcraft, it seems as if models with the suffix of MTK has the potential for outputting to more than two tracks. For example the Soundcraft Signature 16 (no MTK version available, 16 channels) has 2-in/2-out for its USB interface. However the Signature 12 MTK 14-in/12-out….so I will have to look more closely into it.

Though I am leaning more and more towards the 'pure interface' direction. I realized by computer is NOT thunderbolt 3 compatible (HUGE thanks on pointing that one out), so the Presonus Quantum 2626 is not an option.

The Presonus Studio 1824c looks really sweet for the price…even thinking of two of these at once would be a cheaper route than the StudioLive 16.0.2. Also looking at Presonus studio 192.

For the prices, I really have to take a hard look at the Behringer stuff….combination of Behringer UMC1820 and Behringer ADA8200 seems like I could get 16 preamps and a few more outs and get each one its own track in the DAW….tough to pass up.

Lastly, stumbled upon the Focusrite 18i20 as another option.

I have more research/another rabbit hole to fall into. I will report back.

Thanks again and keep the opinions and advice coming!!!!!!
 
For recording strictly at home, I think the interface with an optional ADAT unit would be the way to go.

Do you ever plan to play out with the band? If so, then the way to go might be the Signature 22MTX, or possibly the Tascam L24 or Zoom Livetrack 20. The Tascam and Zoom would give you the option of recording live shows as well at home. In addition, they can be used as mixers for any PA system you have. You can record 16 tracks directly to SD card, which can then be dumped into any DAW if you so desire.

Isn't is nice to have options that didn't exist 20 years ago when you had your 4 track cassette, and at essentially the same prices you paid for a cassette recorder?
 
There are SO many options that didn't exist 20 years ago, its mind blowing. Without a forum like this and advice from more experienced folks, I am the type who would just have option paralysis...taking months to decide on a piece of gear only to have 2 more competitors released in the meantime.

Most of my playing with others is in the form of informal get togethers/jams. I don't currently have a band. But when I do play out with a band, I guess I have been too lazy to want to live record.

I think in the end, I will prefer to have a fixed setup for recording at home that I won't end up dropping or damaging by taking out of the house too much.
 
Take a look at the Zoom R16 and or the Zoom R24. I use the R16. It's both an audio interface and a portable recorder as well as a control surface. You can use 8 inputs at the same time. It's an awesome unit and is extremely portable.
 
One nice trick you can do with the Zooms is to gang them together. Set up one as a master, the other is linked via USB as a slave. That way you can record 16 tracks and keep in sync within 1-2ms. Put the drums and bass on one machine, the guitars, keys and vocals on the other, dump them all to the computer later for mixing.

I like the R24 over the 16 just for having the phantom power available on all 8 tracks, vs on 2 for the R16. I really don't use the drum pads.
 
Hi Specs' Once again we have a thread all about the *&^%! front end and no mention as to how you are going to HEAR these masterpieces with any degree of accuracy!

Keith said "budget is a problem" and it surely is because $600 only really get you a toe in the door for some decent monitor speakers and leaves you nothing for room treatment. You might retort "But I am going to use headphones!" Ok but the vast majority of the true experts here (I am NOT one BTW) will tell you you can do much on cans but not everything. Then, even good quality headphones will punch a $200 hole in that budget. Does the $600 just cover the AI/mixer? Do you have 8 mics, cables and stands already?

Regarding the 'front end' again? I would go for the best ADAT AI you can find, maybe the Berry ADAT pre later and let the other guys in the band club together for a mixer!

Ooo! Did anyone mention Tascam? used to be very good value and THE go-to multitrack AI.

Dave.
 
For the price of the Soundcraft you could buy a Behringer X32. I have a Midas M32, behringher X32 and an X32 rack - and with an ipad as control surface, or the X32 editor you can record 32 ins and outs, well - 16 if its microphones due to the number of sockets! USB to your computer and you can do so much. In my studio I dumped the Soundcraft mixer back into the store. I simply don't need it anymore. If I want to, Cubase can control the X32, but usually it's just there for getting mics into the system when I need more than the 8 on my presonus.
 
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