I'm looking for some input on an interface for recording my drums mainly, and then the rest of the band sometimes. We're doing a rough demo with a portable 4 track now just to have something to circulate. I could see recording future full lengths with the gear I'm getting, as we've been moving more away from studios to more DIY. I'm wanting to have more control throughout the process. Drums seeming to be the biggest hurdle to get sounding good and EQ'ed with so much available for guitar recording, and limited channels required.
I have a 7 piece drum set: 3 rack toms, 2 floor, bass, snare. Casual recording could be a 4 mic set up. For a polished recording I want to mic them all individually, and then run 2 overheads for stereo, add a mic for hi-hat and one for the ride = 11 mics. Add the rest of the band for 4 more inputs if recording live = 15. It seems it bumps me to an interface and preamp. So I've been looking at these entry(?) level units and how to achieve this. I'd like to be recording at 24bit/96k.
Currently in the running are:
Presonus 1818VSL + Presonus Digimax D8
Behringer UMC 1820 + Behringer ADA 8200
Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 (2nd gen) + Focusrite Octopre (not dynamic)
Mackie Onyx Blackbird + Mackie Onyx Blackbird
Roland UA-1610 - interesting unit with 12 tracks, but no ADAT, costs about the same as 2 of the above with 4 less tracks, so it would only cover the drum mics.
One thing I've been able to gather is that of those preamps only the Octopre preamp can run 8 mic channels at 96k because it has 2 ADAT outs, but then none of the other AIs have 2 ADAT in, which explains why all the other preamps only have 1 ADAT out, so they only run at 48k. Then I only end up recording everything at 48, I believe? The Mackie looks like the only option of those above that would provide 16 channels at 96k chained together. Or I would need to upgrade on the AI a few hundred to get something else with 2 ADAT connections? I've also seen some comments about using 2 interfaces with some workarounds. I'm not looking for the best gear, but I also don't want to think in 5 years I need to replace everything because it can't do what I want it to do.
DAW- can get something dependent on what works with the AI if there is a limitation, only been playing around with Reaper, so I'm not proficient in anything.
Computer- PC, going to start this on my last computer I built, Windows 7, quad core (I forget the series), 8gb ram, as more or less a dedicated machine, should be able to handle the task. Upgrading my current computer probably isn't too far out, so it would then cycle down, this one is Windows 10 64bit, Intel 4770 with 16gb ram.
Computer connection- I don't have any Firewire ports, but can add a card to my computer if I end up with that on the interface, looks like this is a lot less common than a few years ago since only the Mackie above uses it.
Thanks for reading and any input given as I begin to inform myself on the subject.
I have a 7 piece drum set: 3 rack toms, 2 floor, bass, snare. Casual recording could be a 4 mic set up. For a polished recording I want to mic them all individually, and then run 2 overheads for stereo, add a mic for hi-hat and one for the ride = 11 mics. Add the rest of the band for 4 more inputs if recording live = 15. It seems it bumps me to an interface and preamp. So I've been looking at these entry(?) level units and how to achieve this. I'd like to be recording at 24bit/96k.
Currently in the running are:
Presonus 1818VSL + Presonus Digimax D8
Behringer UMC 1820 + Behringer ADA 8200
Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 (2nd gen) + Focusrite Octopre (not dynamic)
Mackie Onyx Blackbird + Mackie Onyx Blackbird
Roland UA-1610 - interesting unit with 12 tracks, but no ADAT, costs about the same as 2 of the above with 4 less tracks, so it would only cover the drum mics.
One thing I've been able to gather is that of those preamps only the Octopre preamp can run 8 mic channels at 96k because it has 2 ADAT outs, but then none of the other AIs have 2 ADAT in, which explains why all the other preamps only have 1 ADAT out, so they only run at 48k. Then I only end up recording everything at 48, I believe? The Mackie looks like the only option of those above that would provide 16 channels at 96k chained together. Or I would need to upgrade on the AI a few hundred to get something else with 2 ADAT connections? I've also seen some comments about using 2 interfaces with some workarounds. I'm not looking for the best gear, but I also don't want to think in 5 years I need to replace everything because it can't do what I want it to do.
DAW- can get something dependent on what works with the AI if there is a limitation, only been playing around with Reaper, so I'm not proficient in anything.
Computer- PC, going to start this on my last computer I built, Windows 7, quad core (I forget the series), 8gb ram, as more or less a dedicated machine, should be able to handle the task. Upgrading my current computer probably isn't too far out, so it would then cycle down, this one is Windows 10 64bit, Intel 4770 with 16gb ram.
Computer connection- I don't have any Firewire ports, but can add a card to my computer if I end up with that on the interface, looks like this is a lot less common than a few years ago since only the Mackie above uses it.
Thanks for reading and any input given as I begin to inform myself on the subject.