I'm pretty new and have some questions

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Kellerman

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Just to start off I would like to say Hello since I'm new here. I'm getting my recording and editing Macbook Pro at the end of August and was wondering a few things My main question is regarding to interfaces. Is it true that the majority of the recording quality is based off of the interface? Also what are some good quality interfaces with at least 1 XLR input, 1 Ipod sized headphone slot (dont know the size), and 1 Guitar cord input (dont know the proper name or size)?

Another set of questions I have is for Pro tools users and Logic users. I have heard great things about both and read many reviews and would really like some answers from people who have used both (but I'll take any info). Which one is easiest to use in your opinon? Does one have something that the other lacks? Any gliches or problems useing either?

Sorry about the long post and thanks in advance for any answers :D
 
Welcome to the boards!
A few things... If you like macs, great. But there seems to be a (mis)conception in some circle that the only way to do quality recording is with a mac. A PC is every bit as capable- of course there is a little extra "education" involved to keep your machine virus free, but for the savings and the greater versatility in hardware and software options make a PC a very good option for a recording computer.

As for software, Logic has a fine reputation. ProTools will severely limit your options for interfaces, since you have to have the hardware and software bundled- you're basically limited to DigiDesign and MAudio. There's been a bit of a backlash in the home recording circle against ProTools because, although ProTools markets itself as the best and the "industry standard", in reality it is one of the most expensive, and definitely the most limiting as far as hardware goes. There is software out there for a fraction of teh price as ProTools that is just as capable.

You are correct that the quality of your interface will have a LARGE affect on the quality of your recordings (MUCH more affect than whether you pick mac or pc). There are a few things in an interface that count- one is the converters- these convert analog sound into digital audio and back to analog. Not all DAC are created equally and some are definately of higher quality than others. The other thing that you'll commonly get in an interface is a mic preamp (or several mic preamps). Again, not all are created equal and in large part, you'll get what you pay for in each of these departments.

As for picking an interface you need to consider your needs and shop from there. Questions to ask will be,
1) what are you recording? Whole bands? Just you with an accoustic guitar?
2) How many tracks at a time do you want to record? If you are doing a whole band or anything with drums, you'd want an interface with at least 8 inputs and you'd want to consider how you would expand that as your needs grow.

in addition to the interface if you want to make good sounding recordings that sound good outside of your studio, you'll need to invest in a quality monitoring chain... This would be an amp, speakers (some speakers have amps built in) and the acoustics of the room you are recording and mixing in. You'll want a set of headphones for tracking, but you'll want speakers in a good sounding room for mixing...

and then there's mics... which you didn't really ask about, but those are important too. :laughings:

Right off the bat, something from Tascam or PreSonus will probably meet your requirements. I'm not sure how they function on a mac. The Apogee Duet would be worth considering too- its a bit expensive considering the number if ins and outs, but Apogee has a very good reputation for excellent sound and I beleive its made to work with the Mac platform...
 
hello and welcome!

I am also looking at getting an interface and have settled on the "m-audio fast track ultra". this sounds a bit much for you so i would definitely look at a smaller (but just as hi quality and reliable) version of that - fast track or fast track pro.
i'm afraid my knowledge is limited there but i would have a look at them - they have very good reviews in sound on sound magazine.

regarding software!

well i have never used pro tools but not by accident. when i was looking at getting either cubase, logic or protools i spoke to anyone i could (pro producers, studio managers etc) and the general consensus was as follows:

btw the m-audio is comtaible with both pro tools and logic :)

while logic has fantastic audio editing abilities the where it really grabs the market is in midi editing. this is not to put down it's audio abilitys at all (they are amazing).

cubase is very similar to logic but the general feeling was that it was always just one step behind logic. cubase grabs the market because it is windows compatible and mac as well. however - that is useless to you cos your getting a macbook!

pro tools is the industry standard for hi end studios and has allot of reputation behind it from over the years. however it doesn't compete with logic in terms of midi sampling or sequencing. also logic is beginning to prgress to a very advanced level of audio capability. the other thing that concerned me about pro tools (apart from the vast cost) was the compatibility issue. there are plenty of options of interfaces, eqs, compressors etc, for use with pro tools, but they are limited as pro tools needs certain hardware functions to allow compatibility. these also tend to be more expensive than general usage hardware options because they are industry standards.

logic in my opinion has the most going for it:

nearly all hardware options are compatible

it's relatively cheep but just as good quality

it has on screen mixing/eq/compression etc so those are not imediately required (u can wait till u need a really good compressor till later) this also makes it very space efficient.

it has great midi sequencing abilities (+ a huge library of optional midi samples)

great audio editing abilities

it has wide compatibility for both commercial and free plugins

another bonus of logic is it is used at all the colleges (at least near me) to teach music tech on.


So, while I can't really tell you about the others I can tell you how I went about getting what i needed and the conclusion i came to.

I (incase u hadn't guessed) got logic and have been very happy now for over a year. I also got a macbook pro at the same time and it is amazing!!!! - good choice. :D

I haven't managed this (mostly a space limitation) but logic is pretty screen hungry so if u can get or fit a decent external monitor then it might help.

good luck fellow researcher and hope i've been of help (very nice to find someone who is in the position i was a little while ago)
 
listen to Jeff he's talking allot of sense.

just to add that pro tools is a hell of a program to run on a laptop (of any kind really). logic is pretty big but with 4gb ram and a 2.5ghz or bigger cpu u should be fine. if you want to do midi stuff then logic has a great library but it's about 30gb of HD space gone just like that so get e decent sized HD at least 250gb :)

also if i could afford pro tools as well as logic (which often happens at pro studios) then there would be no doubt that i would get it it's just way out of my league and logic brings the same quality into my league.
 
Thanks to everyone who posted this is helping me a lot more than reviews :)
 
Look into Reaper,very very popular program and cheap.
Secondly,almost any multitrack software should do the trick,it's 2010,if you can't get the job done it's not because of the software.
Lastly,don't get caught up in a gear race.Learn how to use minimal tools and ask questions based on your experience.A lot of people say "buy cheap,buy twice" and that's true,but by the same token you don't have to spend a gazzillion dollars to make good recordings.Talent>gear.

The only luxury I'll steer you towards is the possibility of a dedicated recording computer,it will eliminate a lot of headaches and heartaches.
I'll second the suggestion of a PC,that whole Mac thing is soooo overrated.
 
I don't feel it's overrated, I'm convinced the Mac is a very fine machine. If you want to study computing, hardware modification and/or are heavily into gaming, many will say you're better off with the PC.

It's just that the PC allows more choice of software, upgrading possibilities and, just as a bonus, a thousand and one ways to mess up a computer (if you don't know what you're doing).

I think the rule may be pretty simple, since I've never seen any reported difference in end result using either the Windows or Mac platform for music, other than what's personal to you. If you like Macs, get a Mac. If you like messing with computers, get a PC. The Mac should work out of the box. In my experience, PCs need a bit of cajoling and tricking to get them to do exactly what you want them to do. Once set up though, I see no reason why they can't be just as professional a tool as the industry prefered Mac.

That's not to say Macs are infallable - they are still machines that can go wrong. The difference is, you probably won't be able to fix it yourself and repairs are expensive. They are noted for their reliability in the industry - but remember, those in the industry usually have more money to outlay on purchase in the first place and it certainly doesn't mean a PC can't be just as reliable, if built and used with due care.

There is some hype surrounding the Mac and I'm not fond of their advertising strategy, but I've no reason to distrust their reputation.

I prefer to own and use Windows PCs but that's a different story. I dont just use them for music.

Choose your platform in a scientific way, not in a religious way. In other words, do a little research to find what will be best for you, not because Mac-fans or PC-fans tell you one is better than the other. People becme comfortable and loyal to the tools they use and sometimes view another platform as a threat in some way. Ideally, I think its best to talk to someone who uses both and if not, just weight the cost and the convenience factors of both against your personal needs.

I can see sense in what illogical is saying. It's a good idea to check the machine you're buying will run the software comfortably. I really couldn't comment on whether it will.

Dr. V
 
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I think a good interface that is about in your guidelines for picking is the M-audio firewire solo. It has 1 xlr, 1 guitar input, two line inputs on the back. As for the ipod headphone size plug-in, an adaptor is relatively cheap as far as I know (otherwise every pair of headphones I've ever bought wouldn't have come with one).
 
Dr. Varney said:
I don't feel it's overrated, I'm convinced the Mac is a very fine machine. If you want to study computing, hardware modification and/or are heavily into gaming, many will say you're better off with the PC.
Click to expand...

Apple's marketing campaign is working!:rolleyes:
 
acidrock said:
Apple's marketing campaign is working!:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Dr. Varney said:
There is some hype surrounding the Mac and I'm not fond of their advertising strategy but I've no reason to distrust their reputation.
Click to expand...

Yet another platform evangelist selectively quotes... :rolleyes:

Yes, it worked so well, I bought a PC.

Do yourself a favour, mate. :p

Dr. V
 
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alright lest not turn this into a mac vs pc war.

the only difference between mac and PC is the software u can run on it and, consequently, the kinds of hardware u can run.

in my experience (but mostly others i have talked to) both pro tools and logic were built to run on mac.

personally i have used both allot but never a pc for music. also the pc was a cr*p pc so... i cant really compare the actual computers.

I would have assumed that if a mac or pc automatically gave a better sound then that would be very black and white. it isn't.

the user, software, hardware etc... - that is the difference not the OS
damit the bit-rate is what gives u quality sound not what operating system it was recorded on. bit-rate is bit-rate - cm is cm it doesn't matter whether ur ruler was plastic or metal!

sos for the rant :P

IF all ur using the comp for is music get the software first and then the OS that runs it better (probs the one it was made for) not the other way round
 
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iLogical said:
alright lest not turn this into a mac vs pc war.
Click to expand...

I have no intention of allowing it to. If anyone reads my posts thoroughly, they'll realise that. What I don't like is when people selectively quote to try and make me appear biased.

Dr. V
 
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this isnt a MAC vs PC instigation attempt..

either will suit you fine, do what you want.

i will however say, if you go mac.. get an external hard drive immediately.

believe it or not MAC hardware fails more often than PC (DELL in particular).

also make damn sure you treat a mac like a child... any ding or spill or anything and your warranty is gonezo (unless you've gotten the extended plan through geeksquad... its the only way to get accidentcal care for a mac).

however, if you have an accident withy our DELL and its no longer working... if you've purchased complete care warranty.. it covers all accidental damage... i've had people come in that "accidentally" ran over their computers and i've fixed them under their warranty or get ok'd by dell to ship them a new one and save their old hard drive (containing all their saved files.... like... songs)

just saying... you're storing a lot of work on this machine... how much you wanna trust it? i gear that especially towards MAC
 
iLogical said:
the only difference between mac and PC is the software u can run on it and, consequently, the kinds of hardware u can run.
Click to expand...

this is no longer true.

you can windows on your mac, and vice versa nowadays.
 
Steenamaroo said:
this is no longer true.

you can windows on your mac, and vice versa nowadays.
Click to expand...

I'm a little wary of this argument. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong - but if all what I've read is anything to go by, it appears you can run Windows on a Mac successfully but the 'vice versa' is a bit of a dodgy option...

Dr. V
 
there's nothing dodgy about it.

There are companies selling custom built 'PCs' which are fully compatible with leopard and snow leopard.

as far as i know, the EULA prevents the companies from selling osx software preinstalled, but still it can be done, and people are doing it.

The main company, PSYSTAR were engaged in long drawn out legal battles with apple. Apple tried to sue them for breech of EULA, but they counter sued on some grounds about unfair monopoly.

i don't think a settlement has been reached, but i could be wrong. i haven't paid much attention to it.

Personally i bought and paid for a copy of snow leopard which runs beautifully on my gigabyte motherboard,
just as leopard did for a few years before that.


Admittedly, it can be a difficult process if you just choose to run OSX on whatever PC you have, but if you're buying new gear, it's become very easy to pick and choose compatible gear and more or less run a retail copy of osx with very few additional 'drivers'.
 
Kellerman said:
Is it true that the majority of the recording quality is based off of the interface?
Click to expand...
No. The interface way down the bottom of the ladder.

Recording quality hierarchy:

Skill of the person writing the song
Skill of the people playing the song
Skill of the person arranging the song
Quality of the instruments
Skill of the person recording
Skill of the person mixing
Quality of the room
Skill of the person mastering
Quality of the microphones
Quality of the preamps
Quality of interface/plugins/effects/tape/mixing board/doo-dad

Also what are some good quality interfaces with at least 1 XLR input, 1 Ipod sized headphone slot (dont know the size), and 1 Guitar cord input (dont know the proper name or size)?
Click to expand...
I don't have a specific interface name for you, but Ipods have 1/8 inch stereo/balanced jacks. Guitar cords are 1/4 inch mono/unbalanced jacks.

Any interface that has two unbalanced 1/4 inch jacks will work for both an Ipod and a guitar cord with a simple cheap adapter cord.
 
Steenamaroo said:
this is no longer true.

you can windows on your mac, and vice versa nowadays.
Click to expand...

yeah sorry - when i say mac/pc i refer to there native os ie os x for mac and windows for pc. if you want versatility then mac is much better because they at least try and be compatible.

Dr. Varney said:
I have no intention of allowing it to. If anyone reads my posts thoroughly, they'll realise that. What I don't like is when people selectively quote to try and make me appear biased.

Dr. V
Click to expand...

hehe - i wasn't refering to u! i was impressed by your impressively unbiased post. u were certainly very kind to macs for someone who uses a pc :P
 
Steenamaroo said:
there's nothing dodgy about it.

There are companies selling custom built 'PCs' which are fully compatible with leopard and snow leopard.
Click to expand...

well if it is a "custom built" pc then it's not a "PC" is it...
microsoft make pcs apple make macs. if someone else makes a computer it isn't a mac or a pc :confused:
 
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