RECORDING STUDIO Set-Up Questions

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bauhaus1919

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I am completely new to digital recording and joined this forum as a means to learn about home recording from experienced self-engineering musicians and hopefully share knowledge i gain in my experiences when i know what im doing..

first off i need to know how to hook my equipment together properly..

I have:
- fostex Vf160ex (hard-disk recorder)
- Behringer Xenyx 8-track mixer
- Behringer PA (being used as monitors till i can afford real monitors)

I understand basics from
 
You plug microphones into your Fostex and your monitors into the monitor outs of the Fostex and you leave your mixer in its box.

I'm assuming that when you say "PA" you mean speakers, incidentally... a "PA" is a combination of things... Also assuming your speakers are active, not passive.
 
I hate to state the obvious, but all the items you listed would have come with an operating manual, the manual would have shown how to connect the equipment to other pieces of equipment. The manuals will also explain how the equipment works, If you have lost the manuals they are probably available on line.

As a writer of manuals it is depressing how many people don't read them.
Alan
 
witzendoz said:
I hate to state the obvious, but all the items you listed would have come with an operating manual, the manual would have shown how to connect the equipment to other pieces of equipment. The manuals will also explain how the equipment works, If you have lost the manuals they are probably available on line.

As a writer of manuals it is depressing how many people don't read them.
Alan
Click to expand...

yes i agree, you are absolutely right, but the problem with manuals is the wording..
they usually aren't exactly "entry level engineer-friendly"
I have read all my manuals thoroughly (multiple times)
but unfortunatly they all lack a glossary..
so people new to audio recording like myself end up with a bunch of audio terminology confusing the hell out of them

and i don't know if all manuals are like this. but my Fostex manual seems to have been converted from chinese to japanese to spanish to french to english
 
There are many places that can give basic direction for entry level recordists. Manuals will make more sense once you have basic knowledge of what you are trying to accomplish. Even then, some manuals seem to be written in a different language. Actually, most probably are. lol.

Google the basics first. It all will make sense soon. And then still, you won't really understand until you do it yourself.

I suggest you start here. Did me well when I started. :D

And hey man, welcome to the forum! Noobs buy the beer! :drunk:
 
Yes but they also have pictures which should help you somewhat with the connections.

You might need to frame more specific questions to get useful information. So far it's "I have stuff, how do I hook it up..." - what leads do you have, what sockets with what labels on them

You have all the gear in front of you, we don't... and I'm loathe to go googling pics for noobs when they can do basic stuff themselves..
 
bauhaus1919 said:
first off i need to know how to hook my equipment together properly..
Click to expand...

I suppose what I am saying is that this question is way too general, it sounded like you had not read the manual. Also remember that people here may not know all the equipment on the list and how it's configured.

Alan.
 
Which came 1st - the manual or the egghead who wrote it? Sorry couldn't resist. Manuals are getting better & writing one is a very exacting art - unfortuantely too many are written artlessly.
That said ???? 4 Dummies did create a change in mind set in the western world with regard to them. The Qucik Set Up guides are really the point of contact & they are most definitely MUCH better than they once were.
Most people have a hard enough time writing instructions for making toast & vegemite and functional literacy is still not what it ought to be. If we factor in excitement, hubris and helpful friends it's no wonder the manual is almost last to be looked at.
 
witzendoz said:
I hate to state the obvious, but all the items you listed would have come with an operating manual, the manual would have shown how to connect the equipment to other pieces of equipment. The manuals will also explain how the equipment works, If you have lost the manuals they are probably available on line.

As a writer of manuals it is depressing how many people don't read them.
Alan
Click to expand...



Sooooooo Your that guy. :D
 
Dang it Henry, you beat me to it!!

I was gonna say: "If I was a bad person, I would use the :RTFM: smiley now. But I'm not :D"


Oh and welcome to HR :)
 
How about this? Why not state what you you know already? How did you choose that gear? What precisely do you hope to record? When I am having struggles, I write down what I know already as though I am teaching someone else. Much of the time that process reveals the answer to the questions, because some times you do know what you need to know, but you're focused on the concerns that you are missing something. How can you know what you don't know? You may NOT be missing anything, or at the very least you will provide context for people to answer the questions.

What are you recording? Describe the environment as you see we might need to know. Describe a theoretical event you wish to record, and what you do know to do. Do you have a power supply for your recorder? Do you have microphones and cables? Do your mics require phantom voltage(do you know what this is)? Do you have cables to connect the mixer to the recorder? Does the recorder have preamps, or do you need the mixer for this? How many channels will you record per session (or take)?

Seriously, write a step plan of what you do know (setting up your gear at an event), and then we can answer your specific questions in the context you will create by following my suggestions.

Right now it's too theoretical to gain any value from this conversation. Take steps forward, then ask specific questions.
 
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