Use Computer Software or Stand Alone Recorders?

OldyGoldy

New member
Been trying to dabble with recording for years on audacity and still have an old tascam recorder, but want to take it past beginning level. Which is best between computer recording and stand alone recorders and are there any tutorials for getting started with home recording? Thanks
 
Search Youtube and you will find thousands of videos on the subject. Quick and dirty take: standalone recording has slightly less learning curve and equipment, DAW has more expandibility and more possibilities IMHO
 
Sadly, I suspect hardware recorders are on their way out, bar in a few specialist areas? Things like the zooms and Tascams still do the job simply, but what they produce of course, still ends up inside a computer.
 
Been trying to dabble with recording for years on audacity and still have an old tascam recorder, but want to take it past beginning level. Which is best between computer recording and stand alone recorders and are there any tutorials for getting started with home recording? Thanks

It is your choice. Both work well.

You do need to import the stand alone recording into the computer to edit mix master and make cds from.

There are a number of books. Mostly old but still good enough. Although some of them are truly bad.
Check the reviews on amazon. I think there is a dummies book on home recording that got good reviews.

After that you may want to see specialized books for your DAW although audacity is simple enough you should not need it for that one but if you switched someday then you would want some guidance to start.

Other areas might be midi, terminology, how to mix, and other technical areas.
Or ask SPECIFIC questions and you can usually get answers on a forum.

There are a few , very few sites , that will give you a good start with home recording.

The 9 Home Recording Studio Essentials for Beginners
has some very basic overview info.

This is pretty good with more info
Home Recording For Musicians For Dummies: Jeff Strong: 8601234608912: Amazon.com: Books

This might be useful
Site Map

and this
How To Set Up a Home Recording Studio: The Complete Guide - TuneCore

There is one really good site I can picture in my memory but cannot find.
connected somehow to zzounds and covers everything in a bit more detail than the sites above
maybe if you googled for items of interest or with your questions it would pop up for you.
So far I cant find it again although although I saw it last week.

Found it!
just had to google smarter
TweakHeadz Lab Electronic Musician's Hangout
 
Been trying to dabble with recording for years on audacity and still have an old tascam recorder, but want to take it past beginning level. Which is best between computer recording and stand alone recorders and are there any tutorials for getting started with home recording? Thanks
Best is what works best for you. to each their own. Why not download a DAW and start learning it. Cakewalk by Bandlab is free. Download it and see if you like it. But just know, there is a learning curve for everything.
 
I tried using a daw for awhile and didn't like it. I've been using standalone multitrack recorders for more than twenty years and they work the best for me. Up until recently I've been using a Fostex VS160 but I just purchased a Tascam dp32sd and so far have been loving it. IMO, if I were you I'd try a good multitrack unit first and if that's not your cup of tea go with a daw.
Good luck.
 
Been trying to dabble with recording for years on audacity and still have an old tascam recorder, but want to take it past beginning level. Which is best between computer recording and stand alone recorders and are there any tutorials for getting started with home recording? Thanks

use a computer

audacity is very good

sonar is different better

forget the tascam
get a zoom if you must have something portable


oodles of tutorials
see the other posts for a good list
home recording for dummies book
tweakhedz site

many others too
 
There are many people that are sick of the digital way that recordings are made. They seem to have no character to the recordings. If tape decks were so far an old thing I would not have over 200 of them here to be repaired or calibrated. They do a wonderful job while computers over complicate things and often times get people in over their heads so they lose focus on the recording they are trying to make and get all stressed out. I had to often help people in real studios at Radio Stations as Chief Engineer where a button would get pressed and the setting change all over the place in a suite of software. There are many hidden buttons in computer software that can send you down the wrong path.
Tape recorders and mixers are just much simpler to deal with and much better with transients and overloads that computes crap out totally with.
Take an overall perspective to the two fields before deciding which way to go. Many of my clients say they have had DAWs and are done with them. They did not need any prompting from me.

Keep in mind that most U tube videos are made by people with the most basic knowledge of a subject and try and to pass themselves off as some kind of expert. I have watched many videos and the last one was laughable as the guy was fixing an audio problem by resoldering a wire onto an erase head which has nothing to do with the play function. Of course the stupid audience does not know this- he is shoveling crap as 96% of them are.
 
There are many people that are sick of the digital way that recordings are made. They seem to have no character to the recordings. If tape decks were so far an old thing I would not have over 200 of them here to be repaired or calibrated. They do a wonderful job while computers over complicate things and often times get people in over their heads so they lose focus on the recording they are trying to make and get all stressed out. I had to often help people in real studios at Radio Stations as Chief Engineer where a button would get pressed and the setting change all over the place in a suite of software. There are many hidden buttons in computer software that can send you down the wrong path.
Tape recorders and mixers are just much simpler to deal with and much better with transients and overloads that computes crap out totally with.
Take an overall perspective to the two fields before deciding which way to go. Many of my clients say they have had DAWs and are done with them. They did not need any prompting from me.

Keep in mind that most U tube videos are made by people with the most basic knowledge of a subject and try and to pass themselves off as some kind of expert. I have watched many videos and the last one was laughable as the guy was fixing an audio problem by resoldering a wire onto an erase head which has nothing to do with the play function. Of course the stupid audience does not know this- he is shoveling crap as 96% of them are.

Nonsense. There were people saying the same thing about three track tape vs. mono tape recording back during that transition, that three tracks just gets people distracted and music is better recorded live to one track. Staying focused takes a little practice, but it's really not that hard.

If you're clipping in digital then you're doing it wrong. I think you're just uninformed about digital, which makes you biased toward analog tape. You can't say the same about me. I've got various analog tape machines, including a Tascam 4-track cassette, an Akai GX-220D, a Sony quad RTR (that seems to need work on the supply reel clutch mechanism), a nice Realistic 8-track cartridge deck (that needs a main belt) and one of the better Tascam dual well cassette decks. I used to have a working wire recorder. I've got a turntable and a spare for parts. My preference for using computers for recording is informed by my experience with analog.
 
I tried to use an old fashioned manual typewriter last year. I thought it would be cool to get back to "analog" writing and the old machine had a cool vibe to it.

I always liked the way the the metal arms/letter pads hit the paper. They produced all kinds of small errors and that imparted a lot of character to anything that was typed. Too bad I couldn't type a damn thing on the machine. It was a royal pain (no pun intended. I was using a Smith-Corona) and I just gave up. It looks cool on the shelf, though, and people always ask me about the machine. I think of this experience whenever I hear people discuss analog equipment and wonder how it would even be possible to record on a deck.

As far as hard disk recorders goes, they seem almost as difficult. In many ways they were one piece on the evolutionary path to the DAW, which will one day be replaced by another set of technologies. So I'd suggest using a DAW until the next new thing comes along.
 
Each to his own of course........but.......it seems to me that people who disliked computers from the start or never got a lot of exposure or training on them are more likely to avoid a DAW. Conversely...........younger people who might have been "raised" on computers would think that older push button stuff is crazy and limited. I'm not doing a "younger vs older" thing here. Just making a few observations. As for analog.......vs digital........and tape vs digital.......well........in my experience having begun with an old Fostex X-15 (tape).......over the years to a DAW (using 3 different Tascams and a Zoom standalone in between).......the flexibility of the DAW is miles ahead of any standalone with quality to match. Can you point out one or 2 characteristics of a standalone that a DAW can't match........sure......but can you point out MANY characteristics of a DAW that a standalone can't match......absolutely. If you like or need to push buttons.......add a control surface to your DAW and you'll be happy.

I keep hearing this viewpoint that a DAW is "distracting" and thereby inhibits creativity. For me it's the opposite. As I compose and then create.....I know up front how far I can go with my ideas and can incorporate them in the creation process and the anticipation of all that is VERY motivating.

If your needs and goals and expressions and compositions are 100% compatible with a standalone......that's great. No one should tell you to go in another direction. But.......are you comfortable telling yourself that a new idea one day.......might not be do-able on your standalone? Sort of like saying to yourself.......well......I'll probably never get any better at creating.

Before you all bomb me.......these are just my opinions and I've been on both sides of this debate at one time or another. No matter what.......recording is about the love of it and the creation is about the love of that too.
 
There are many people that are sick of the digital way that recordings are made. They seem to have no character to the recordings. If tape decks were so far an old thing I would not have over 200 of them here to be repaired or calibrated. They do a wonderful job while computers over complicate things and often times get people in over their heads so they lose focus on the recording they are trying to make and get all stressed out. I had to often help people in real studios at Radio Stations as Chief Engineer where a button would get pressed and the setting change all over the place in a suite of software. There are many hidden buttons in computer software that can send you down the wrong path.
Tape recorders and mixers are just much simpler to deal with and much better with transients and overloads that computes crap out totally with.
Take an overall perspective to the two fields before deciding which way to go. Many of my clients say they have had DAWs and are done with them. They did not need any prompting from me.

Keep in mind that most U tube videos are made by people with the most basic knowledge of a subject and try and to pass themselves off as some kind of expert. I have watched many videos and the last one was laughable as the guy was fixing an audio problem by resoldering a wire onto an erase head which has nothing to do with the play function. Of course the stupid audience does not know this- he is shoveling crap as 96% of them are.



A few people are stuck in the past. Most people are quite happy with how digital sounds and even more are more happier with how much easier cheaper faster better it is now with digital.

I loved tape. I subscribed to tape recording magazine from england in the 60s. I used tape decks and loved them. But they took a lot of work to keep clean and calibrated. Tape media was noisy. First paper tape then plastic then mylar bases but still imperfect.

I imagine your clients are old curmedgeons who are stuck in the past and too lazy to learn how to use DAWs. Probably still have rotary phones at home on a landline. Maybe a couple of adventerous ones have a flip phone from AARP that is easy to use.

DAW makers are not going to lose any sleep. You keep telling your clients they are right.
 
Each to his own of course........but.......it seems to me that people who disliked computers from the start or never got a lot of exposure or training on them are more likely to avoid a DAW. Conversely...........younger people who might have been "raised" on computers would think that older push button stuff is crazy and limited. I'm not doing a "younger vs older" thing here. Just making a few observations. As for analog.......vs digital........and tape vs digital.......well........in my experience having begun with an old Fostex X-15 (tape).......over the years to a DAW (using 3 different Tascams and a Zoom standalone in between).......the flexibility of the DAW is miles ahead of any standalone with quality to match. Can you point out one or 2 characteristics of a standalone that a DAW can't match........sure......but can you point out MANY characteristics of a DAW that a standalone can't match......absolutely. If you like or need to push buttons.......add a control surface to your DAW and you'll be happy.

I keep hearing this viewpoint that a DAW is "distracting" and thereby inhibits creativity. For me it's the opposite. As I compose and then create.....I know up front how far I can go with my ideas and can incorporate them in the creation process and the anticipation of all that is VERY motivating.

If your needs and goals and expressions and compositions are 100% compatible with a standalone......that's great. No one should tell you to go in another direction. But.......are you comfortable telling yourself that a new idea one day.......might not be do-able on your standalone? Sort of like saying to yourself.......well......I'll probably never get any better at creating.

Before you all bomb me.......these are just my opinions and I've been on both sides of this debate at one time or another. No matter what.......recording is about the love of it and the creation is about the love of that too.

+1
 
There really shouldn't be much of a debate here. Hard disk recorders are just that: hard disks. It's all digital. The only question is how big do you want your monitor to be.

As far as the analog v. digital debate, I love the concept of analog. And I love that there are people out there still practicing the art. I use to be a darkroom photographer and I still see people using film and chemicals. It's a very cool process and far more magical than digital. But it's not for me. Neither is vinyl, the rotary phone, typewriters, or drawing with charcoal or pencil. That doesn't me that these approaches are obsolete or uninteresting. It just makes them harder to do. Analog, in any respect, is really a craft. It takes real dedication and it's very hands on. You spend as much time building equipment or trying to find it as you do on the actual process itself. That may be part of the charm, though. Especially if you like old dusty second-hand shops better than Musician's Friend.
 
There really shouldn't be much of a debate here. Hard disk recorders are just that: hard disks. It's all digital. The only question is how big do you want your monitor to be.

Agreed........some people seem to confuse modern stand-alones as analog for some reason. As you point out....they're digital....just like a PC with a DAW. What some debate....however....is that a DAW is somehow worse than a stand alone.........because it's more flexible........can do more........doesn't have buttons and is distracting to the creative process for those reasons and more.

The analog vs digital debate....especially as regards the characteristics of tape seems to mostly be a pure matter of preference and science. Neither seems debatable to me.
 
a stand alone recorder will always be easier and more cost effective. i started in the digital recording domain with a zoom 24. while it was easy and fun , it was tedious adding any processing using that scrolling , turning the rotary knob and selecting which track to add effects. still have the recorder , but, it sits idle as i found daw recording so much more versatile.
 
I am a recording newbie so I typically don't voice my opinions here because I don't really have much valuable to add in most cases. However, I feel like the OP is in the same boat as me so I will give my thoughts on my own progress.

I've been trying to get into recording myself and do own a simple Tascam DP-008ex. But right now my concentration is on looking at all the Reaper video. The problem is, the more flexibility there are, the bigger the learning curve. That's what I find with learning to use a DAW properly VS. a simple standalone multi-tracker.

That's not to say there is no learning curve on the standalones but I do feel there are a lot more variables in working with interfaces and DAWs.
 
I would love to have enough money and space to have a hybrid recording setup. I love the fact that I don't have to deal with tapes and calibrating machines, and also not having to own a ton of outboard gear but I would really enjoy being able to physically mix by turning knobs and moving sliders, like we used to. There is something in the tactile-ness of the act that led me to try things that I don't tend to do anymore, like reamping drum tracks thru guitar effects, and the like.

Anyway, if given the choice (which I suppose I already have) between going back to sitting in a super hot control room for hours on end fighting to get as much as possible on just a few tracks, or having 100 tracks and all of my old gear in a laptop, i know which option I'd take. ;)
 
I am a recording newbie so I typically don't voice my opinions here because I don't really have much valuable to add in most cases. However, I feel like the OP is in the same boat as me so I will give my thoughts on my own progress.

I've been trying to get into recording myself and do own a simple Tascam DP-008ex. But right now my concentration is on looking at all the Reaper video. The problem is, the more flexibility there are, the bigger the learning curve. That's what I find with learning to use a DAW properly VS. a simple standalone multi-tracker.

That's not to say there is no learning curve on the standalones but I do feel there are a lot more variables in working with interfaces and DAWs.

Even multi track tape decks had a learning curve. Once you can get some basic concepts under your belt they are all pretty similar-the implementation is usually where the biggest differences lay..
 
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