My Home Studio

[TSatter88]

Hi everyone. I have been recording my own music for a few years simply using my shitty mic on my macbook. I ran into a little money and am interested in upgrading and getting a nice quality home studio. I already have Logic Express 8 installed on my computer but I am unsure of what else I should get that will create quality sound such as a microphone, mixer, ect... I record a lot of acoustic guitar but also am interested in creating my own loops. I definitely want a quality feedback from the vocal standpoint as well. Any suggestions on what to get?

 

[vijsolo]

Two things are mandatory

Audio interface and microphone

A good choice for an audio interface
Emu Tracker Pre USB 2.0 Audio Interface

Microphone

Depending on budget
Audio Technica AT2020

or

Audio Technica AT4047SV

Than again depending on a budget microphone preamp

Joemeek TwinQ Studio Channel Strip

 

[TSatter88]

Thank you for the suggestions. I'll keep those in mind! Would the more expensive mic be worth the extra money you think?

 

[Jeff_D]

I dont like Emu, but there are plenty of other options for USB or Firewire interfaces- check out MAudio, PreSonus, MOTU...

How many simultaneous tracks do you want to be able to record?

 

[vijsolo]

Thank you for the suggestions. I'll keep those in mind! Would the more expensive mic be worth the extra money you think?

Absolutely!

 

[TSatter88]

I usually don't record more than 5-6 at most in one song.

 

[nate_dennis]

By "simultanious tracks" he means, how many microphone OR guitar/bass/etc inputs do you need to record at the same time? Are you recording a whole band live? You'll need a lot, say 12-16 (I could be off.) Or, are you recording yourself and only need, say, two mics at once?

 

[Jeff_D]

By "simultanious tracks" he means, how many microphone OR guitar/bass/etc inputs do you need to record at the same time? Are you recording a whole band live? You'll need a lot, say 12-16 (I could be off.) Or, are you recording yourself and only need, say, two mics at once?

yup, exactly what I was asking. There are interfaces that can record 2 simultaneous tracks (maybe your voice and your guitar) and there are interfaces that can record 8 simultaneous tracks or more... If you are doing drums, you'll want at least 8 simultaneous tracks.

So, better question; what are you recording?

 

[TSatter88]

Ohhh OK I understand. I'd want to record my guitar, my voice, another guitar, bass, and drums. So 8 I guess. If it is 8 that I need, could you suggest some that would support that for me?

 

[dastrick]

You might want to read this. There's a lot of useful info. http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm

 

[cadbawdbawks]

Ohhh OK I understand. I'd want to record my guitar, my voice, another guitar, bass, and drums. So 8 I guess. If it is 8 that I need, could you suggest some that would support that for me?

If you're planning on playing all the parts by yourself, for example: you'd like to record your guitar track first, then after doing that, you lay down the bass track, and then the drums, and then the vocals etc. you may not need to extend all the way to an 8 channel interface.

However, if you're recording alongside another drummer and bassist and want to record the entire performance in one take, it might make more sense to have more channels.

In case if you didn't totally understand what Jeff_D was asking, I think the key to what he meant in his question was how many parts (aka, tracks) you're planning to record SIMULTANEOUSLY as opposed to individually.

Hope this helps!

 

[Jeff_D]

If you are actually going to record drums, then I'd say 8 is pretty much the minimum. For instance, on my drum kit, I have a mic on the kick, snare, 2 overheads and 1 on each tom- so a total or 7 mics on drums, then its nice to have an extra channel to do a scratch guitar bass track along with the drums. You want to be able to control the level of each of those things *after* you've recorded them...

Check out the MOTU 8Pre or the PreSonus FireStudio or stuff from MAudio or Tascam... Most of those have mic preammps built in, which in this price range is a good thing.

Hope that helps.