Basic Question.

[scottfisher]

I was thinking of getting an M-Audio Mobile Pre, but heard bad things about it. Then, I was thinking of getting a Tascam 122, but heard bad things about it too.

Now, I've been suggested to a mixer into a Delta 44 soundcard. Would this work better (Compatibility, sound quality) than the two setups mentioned above?

Im going to use a SM 57. I'll be recording mostly vocals and some acoustic guitar.

Thanks.

 

[Bartman]

Sm57

Dude,

Don't use a 57.

"I heard bad things about it"........... ;-)

Just joking. The 57 is a great all around mic. Probably not my choice for recording vocals or acoustic guitar but could serve your purpose.

L8TR

Bart

 

[scottfisher]

And that helped me how? LOL

 

[Bulls Hit]

Yep the 44 is a good card.

It will let you track upto 4 inputs at a time.

It's a lot better than your other 2 choices.

For a mixer, have a look at teh Yamaha MG series, like the 12/4

 

[scottfisher]

How much would the Delta be? Is this the cheapest way?

How much would a mixer be?

 

[Neeps]

Make sure you have at least two inputs for stereo recording re. the acoustic guitar. You can overdub the vocal in another take. Or if you want to sit down an record a natural take with an stereo miked acoustic and a vocal in one go you'll need at least 3 inputs. So that 4 input card sounds like a good bet... other than that the card will be the least of your worries..

good luck...

 

[Rokket]

Since you asked, I'll post a couple links and let you decide.

http://www.portlandmusiccompany.com/delta44.html

http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--THKMIMD442?trk=smx

The Delta 44 is the same price on both sites...

The Yamaha mixer:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=rec/search/detail/base_pid/630051/


http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-YAM-MG166FX--src-D0401IN0HAMS0000.html

If you feel you don't need 16 inputs, the MG also comes in 12 and 10...

Do some searching on your own. We can offer advice, but please don't make us feel that we are doing all the work for you. Do some of it yourself. The whole search I just did (and it was not as thorough as I was when I first started out) took me less than 5 minutes...

Good luck!

 

[scottfisher]

So how does this work? I plug the mixer into my Delta, and then plug my mics into the mixer?

Then I can press record in Cool Edit Pro?

 

[songwritten]

If it were that simple...every shmoe in the world would try to record. You're forgetting that you need engineering skills, talent, and understanding of why certain things occur. First of all...you have to install the card. If your computer sucks...then you're gonna have problems. Then, you can plug in your mixer to the delta. Yes, the mics get plugged into the mixer. No, you will not just "hit record" in Cool Edit Pro...you're going to have to setup the audio in the program and make some adjustments. Also, you are forgetting many things. You need mics, mic stands, a pop filter and a few other things. And also, you werent very thankful to Bartman. His advice was not to use a 57 for your recording purposes. That alone was advice. You need a Condensor. 57's are good mics but they aren't the best for what you're trying to achieve. Search the board and look around. Don't look for the cheapest way out or you might as well just buy the products you heard aren't that good. Good luck!

 

[scottfisher]

Sorry. I have looked into this, and know of everything else. I didnt mention it because I didnt think I needed to mention all that.

So I have an updated list.

Delta 44
Yamaha MG 10-4
Studio Projects B1
Shure SM 57
Quiklok a300 BK AM -- Mic Stand
k&m -- popkiller with flexible gooseneck -- Pop filter

Besides talent, and all that, what am I missing?

My system specs:

AMD Athlon XP
Windows XP Professional
256 MB RAM
1.4 GHz

(Thats all the info I have on my System Information thing, dont know where to get anything else.)

 

[songwritten]

I'm not big into the computer aspect of things...someone else will have to ocver that for you...but u def. need ATLEAST 512 MB RAM.

 

[scottfisher]

Where did you get that info?

From zZounds Site:

Minimum System Requirements for PC
Windows 95, 98, or NT
Pentium II 266MHz - (96kHz operation)
Pentium 200 MMX - (48kHz or less)
128 MB of PC100 RAM - (96kHz operation)
64 MB of SDRAM - (48kHz or less)
UDMA EIDE or SCSI HDD

Dont I have enough?

 

[Farview]

The minimum is never the way to go. It will limit your track count and the amount of plugins you can use. Anything less that 512 mb of ram is almost useless.

 

[Bulls Hit]

Yamaha MG 10-4

So, is that the 10/2 or the 12/4?
If you can afford the extra 100 bills, get the 12/4.

You'll also need some s/w to track & mix with

 

[LemonTree]

here's another option......

Get a Delta 410 PCI card. it has 2 inputs and 8 outputs to feed back to the mixer if you don't want to do all your mixing in the computer. They're discontinued now which means CHEAP and they use the same drivers as all the delta cards plus it had the digital S/PDIF in/out which lets you link up more delta cards in the future if you need more inputs or outputs.

The SP B1 is a great starter mic for acoustic and vocals

I recorded a few songs called PENNY and STAR with a SP B1 and a delta 410 in you want to hear the results you can find them HERE

Good luck,

Alec

 

[Adam P]

If you want to use Cool Edit, make sure that your interface has compatible drivers. Also, I've read about some interfaces not working well with certain processers (I stayed away from an Athlon because I read that they don't get along very well with my Layla card, for example).

A friend of mine got a good starter setup for vocals and acoustic guitar with an M-Audio Firewire 410 interface (which came with a free MXL 990 mic), a MXL 990/991 mic bundle, Cubase SE (because the Firewire 410 isn't compatible with Cool Edit), and some stands and cables. I think it all clocked in at right around 500 bucks from Musicians Friend. Plus, if you have a Musicians Friend credit card, you can finance purchases over $500 interest free for 12 months (this isn't meant to be a plug in any way).

I'm not sure exactly what his comp specs are, but I'm going to assume that he has 512 MB of RAM and (obviously) a Firewire port.