Recommendations Needed

  • Thread starter Thread starter Swagath
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Swagath

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Hey guys,

I'm a talented young musician looking to start composing and recording at home. I was told by friends that I'd need a sound card, and was suggested the following by two different friends:

PreSonus Firebox:
http://www.google.com/products/cata...og_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCUQ8wIwAg#

And the Digidesign Mbox 2 Mini:
http://www.google.com/products/cata...eGCorq3QS9quX9Dw&sa=title&ved=0CAcQ8wIwADgA#p

I want Pro Tools, so I guess the first one's ruled out. So is the Mbox a good choice? I'm term-illiterate, and I've browsed a lot through many tutorials but haven't found any helpful. Obviously I'm doing something wrong, so I'd greatly appreciate it if someone took the time and explained things in brief or maybe pointed me towards some good links to learn from, along with suggestions for the sound card. Please don't let my friend's suggestions influence yours. My budget would be under $400, but I'm willing to spend more if the thing's really worth it. I'm incredibly talented, and I want it to be useful to me for a long time.

Thank you in advance. I have some insane ideas and want to get started right away! ;)
 
TetraFish said:
You've mentioned you're talented twice but fail to mention what you are talented at.
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"Incredibly talented" :p

But yeah talented musician turned forum cruiser, you cant go wrong with an mbox if you want to use protools. If you need any more than the one analogue you could just buy cheap mixer and let your talent do the rest.
 
TetraFish said:
You've mentioned you're talented twice but fail to mention what you are talented at.
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Well, they said they were a talented musician which could mean anything from paper & comb through triangle all the way up to simultaneous piano, sopranino sax and suitcase bass drum.
 
grimtraveller said:
Well, they said they were a talented musician which could mean anything from paper & comb through triangle all the way up to simultaneous piano, sopranino sax and suitcase bass drum.
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oooooo, I wanna learn how to play the suitcase bass drum.
 
TetraFish said:
oooooo, I wanna learn how to play the suitcase bass drum.
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wow..the suitcase bass drum is starting to become a feature on this forum!
i'm starting to think i should sell the water trough and make a REAL investment!
 
Swagath said:
I want Pro Tools, so I guess the first one's ruled out.
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That particular requirement limits you to only a handful of choices from one company (Digi/M-Audio). Is there a specific reason you need Pro Tools? There are lots of multitrack audio apps out there that are at least as good, if not better. I'd encourage you not to limit yourself by choosing PT unless you have specific needs that other tools can't handle (e.g. you're going to be collaborating with somebody else that uses PT). Just my $0.02.
 
I'm super sorry, if I sounded like an idiot when I said I was incredibly talented. I said it to tell you guys I'm serious about this, so you can go ahead and suggest something more than what I asked for if you believe it'll come in handy later on. I want something reliable and useful for a long time. Cheers.

That particular requirement limits you to only a handful of choices from one company (Digi/M-Audio).
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I'm not sure if that's the way you quote, but yeah, I am planning to collaborate with a couple of musicians away from where I live. They use ProTools. I'm planning to exchange sessions back and forth. But if it very seriously limits my choices, is it possible for me to buy any audio interface and buy ProTools separately?

You've mentioned you're talented twice but fail to mention what you are talented at.
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Haha, I'm sorry. I didn't realize it mattered. Still don't, but since you ask, I'm mainly a singer. But I also play a lot of instruments like the guitar, bass, drums, and keyboard which I'd like to record. I think I'll be sampling my drums because my drumset is pathetically out of tune, and my room's small and not at all soundproof. Thanks for the link.

If you need any more than the one analogue you could just buy cheap mixer and let your talent do the rest.
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What does an analogue mean? Sorry, I'm a moron, I know. But I'm willing to learn. :P
 
Um...and I also got hold of my friend's Home Recording For Dummies, 3rd Edition. Does anyone know if it's a good read or maybe if the information is still relevant? Because I browsed through it and it had some pretty ancient things in there.
 
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TetraFish said:
Read through ths...

http://www.tweakheadz.com/audio_interfaces_1.htm

What are you recording? how many ins do you need?
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Wow! The link was brilliant. Explained a lot of things. And about ins, I would prefer to have 1-2 XLR ins and atleast 2 jack ins. But if you think having more would help, please tell me. And at this friend's place, we jam using his computer. We connect all our instruments in and play. I think being able to do that would be useful.
 
On the ins it sounds like you might want a lot more than the ones you posted links to. If you plan on using it for an entire band you're looking at at least 8.
4 for drums, vocals, guitar, bass, spare (BU vocals, guitar, keys etc).

So I'd sit down and figure out exactley what you'll need and make sure you get it in the first try. Pre amps are always a big consideration for the 1/4" stuff. For example I have a firestudio and it only has two instrument ins, the other 6 are line level if you're going 1/4".

I have a feeling you should start thinking $500 - $800.

Once you decide what ins you need check that tweakheadz site, it has a comparison chart of a bunch of interfaces. That should help you narrow it down a bit.

You need to think about firewire vs. USB. I'm on the Firewire bandwagon, others will tell you that USB is fine. If you decide firewire make sure you Firewire card is compatable with the interface. A texas Instruments chipset is must.

I'm not sure about the whole Pro Tools compatability issue so I can't help you there.
 
Alright. Budget increased. Ins increased. I'm checking out the Firewire interfaces now.

How important is an ADAT i/o?
I understand that it helps connect external preamps and DAC's, but the same thing is said about s/pdif. Do I need both to connect more interfaces? Or do I either one of them?
 
TetraFish said:
Pre amps are always a big consideration for the 1/4" stuff. For example I have a firestudio and it only has two instrument ins, the other 6 are line level if you're going 1/4".
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I don't get it. I thought instrument ins and 1/4 line level ins were the same thing.
 
funkin182 said:
If you need any more than the one analogue you could just buy cheap mixer and let your talent do the rest.
Click to expand...

Okay, so now I get what you mean. But will this reduce sound quality by a lot? And will this save me money, compared to the things I've been looking at?

These are a few things I've been looking at:

1) http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--MTUULMK3

2) http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--FOCSAFFPRO40

3) http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--PRSFIRESTUDIO

4) http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--MDOPF2626

Please let me know what you think. I need as many opinions as possible, to make sure I don't end up regretting what I buy. Cheers.
 
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Swagath said:
I don't get it. I thought instrument ins and 1/4 line level ins were the same thing.
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The instrument ins have a pre amp so you can plug a guitar or bass straight into them, the line level ins need a DI box or a line from an FX unit or amp line out.
 
Swagath said:
Alright. Budget increased. Ins increased. I'm checking out the Firewire interfaces now.

How important is an ADAT i/o?
I understand that it helps connect external preamps and DAC's, but the same thing is said about s/pdif. Do I need both to connect more interfaces? Or do I either one of them?
Click to expand...

ADAT i/o probably isn't that important, unless you need more than 8 ins. I've never looked into it but I was under the impression that ADAT was the only one you could use for adding additional units, like my diagram below. I could be wrong though.

Here's just a sample how it could be used on the Firestudio.
http://www.presonus.com/media/diagrams/FireStudio with DigiMax FS and ACP88.pdf

The SPDIF can be a litle more use. You can hook up the out to a home theatre amp or any other amp with an SPDIF in and you can skip one DA/AD conversion in the chain.

The same goes for input, I've got a Line 6 X3 Live andit has an SPDIF out, so again if you use that input you skip a DA/AD conversion.
 
Swagath said:
Okay, so now I get what you mean. But will this reduce sound quality by a lot? And will this save me money, compared to the things I've been looking at?

These are a few things I've been looking at:

1) http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--MTUULMK3

2) http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--FOCSAFFPRO40

3) http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--PRSFIRESTUDIO

4) http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--MDOPF2626

Please let me know what you think. I need as many opinions as possible, to make sure I don't end up regretting what I buy. Cheers.
Click to expand...

For me it's either the M-Audio or The Presonus. I'm kind of partial to the rack mount stuff. Once you start adding gear like FX units, power conditioners it's nice to have them in a case. Makes moving it around a lot easier too.

ANd yeah, get more opinions than mine, I was wrong once.:D
 
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