I have 1200 to spend on a home recording setup

[battlemaster69]

And I don't know where to start. My computers are pretty terrible so I was wondering if I should buy some sort of apple computer? I hear these are good for recording.

So basically for someone who knows absolutely zilch about recording but would like to get started where would my 1200 be best spent? In the studio that my band recorded in the guy was using a mac osx that was maybe like 2 years old and everything turned out great, should I look for a used one of these and go from there?

Thanks

 

[timthetortoise]

The computer isn't what makes the recording, it's your personal skill. A newer Mac is going to cost nearly all or more than your budget, so I'd recommend not going that route unless you have double or more the budget. Other than that, I'd say search the board as there have been a lot of discussions on cheaper setups that you could snag a lot of info from.

 

[suprstar]

If you dont have a usable computer, then I'd recommend getting a korg 1600, Fostex MR16HD, some standalone hard disk recorder of some type. A Fostex MR16HD costs $400, the 8 track version is $350. Some cheap monitors like Behringer Truth 2031A's are $350-ish for the pair, of KRK RP5's for $300/pair, but the truths sound a LOT better IMO, I'd spend the extra $40-$50 for em..

That leaves you about $500 for mics and cables. So how many channels do you need to record at once? Are you recording acoustic drums? If you're using a drum machine or ez-drummer or something, you can prolly get by with a couple 57's and a 58. Depends on your needs.. Otherwise you'll need a lot more mics, the cheapest drum mic setup I can think of would be something like a shure PG52 for the kick, 2 SM57's for snare/toms, and a couple condensors for overheads.. Then you can re-use the sm57's for guitars or whatever, and the condensors for vox. That'll eat up the rest of your budget. Then you need cables, that'll run you $100-ish.

i doubt you could do a whole lot better on that budget.

 

[battlemaster69]

I've really wanted to avoid getting a stand alone recorder I'm thinking I might just save a bit more until I can afford a computer setup.

Lets say I can get a mac with decent everything for 500 bucks, how much would everything else cost me (software, mics, cables, ect)? And are there any places in particular you guys would recommend I buy this stuff at?

 

[battlemaster69]

I'm thinking about getting a power mac g4 as this was the model the studio I went to used, is this a good buy if I used it strictly for recording?

 

[suprstar]

I'm thinking about getting a power mac g4 as this was the model the studio I went to used, is this a good buy if I used it strictly for recording?

You must answer the questions: How many channels do you intend to record simultaneously? What are you recording, a typical rock band? drums/guitars/bass/vox?

You can get a USB mixer that records 2 channels for $100, which would include Cubase LE or something if you're gonna record 1 instrument at a time (1-man-band style). Or you can get a firewire interface for $400-$500-ish that will record 8 channels at a time (4 drums, 1 bass, 2 guitars, 1 vox). The software could be free, Audacity is opensource, so is Reaper I beleive. Never used em but I beleive they both multitrack.

 

[Supercreep]

And I don't know where to start. My computers are pretty terrible so I was wondering if I should buy some sort of apple computer? I hear these are good for recording.

So basically for someone who knows absolutely zilch about recording but would like to get started where would my 1200 be best spent? In the studio that my band recorded in the guy was using a mac osx that was maybe like 2 years old and everything turned out great, should I look for a used one of these and go from there?

Thanks

Are you recording you, or other people? If it's you, I'd say the rank order of importance is (assuming talent ):

1) Instruments

2) Room

3) Mic

4) pres/converters/interface etc etc

4) everything else

So if your guitar doesn't stay in tune, I'd start there. Not knowing what you want to do and how "well" you want to do it, its hard to give better advice.