Best Value Setup for a "Newbie"

[raximus]

Hi everyone. I am completely new to home recording. I am pretty good with computers, and have a bit of knowledge to do with recording as my uncle owns a 48 track analogue studio.

I have just bought a 3Ghz, 1Gb of Ram, Pentium 4 with 120Gb of Harddrive space. It is running Windows XP Home Edition.

I'm a drummer, So i will be recording Drums, Bass Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Lead Guitar, Keyboards and Vocals (All at seperate times). The only other thing i may record at the same time is bass, but i dont have seperate rooms, so i may do things at seperate times.

The drum kit i have has two overhead Small Diaprahgm condensors, and 3 Tom mics, 1 snare mic and a bass drum mic (all dynamic),

If i wanted to record each drum on its own track, and the cymbals on 1 track, (eg 5 drum tracks, 2 cymbal tracks maximum) which would be the best interface to buy to connect up to my pc?

I was looking at getting a Phonic Helix Board 18 Firewire (can be founds on zzounds). Would this do the trick?

Does anyone know of anything as good for cheaper or better even? I am a student and strapped for cash. I don't want to go for anything more expensive than the Phonic Helix Board 18 Firewire (If thats possible).

Thanks alot

James

 

[ssscientist]

That Phonix board looks like a winner for what you need.

Consider this --- link --- as an alternative if you're not going to process your drums on the way into the computer, but leave that for the mix 'in the box'.



.

 

[raximus]

Thanks for the quick reply. That presonus firepod looks good, because its cheaper and it still has the 8 inputs.

Are you saying that with the Phonic Helix Board 18, i will be able to mix the sound as it goes into the computer (and EQ the sound Etc), whereas with the Presonis Firepod i wont be able to?

Also, i dont need a soundcard for either of these do i?

Thanks

James

 

[ssscientist]

First of all, both of these ARE soundcards so no you don't need another one.

Second, doing some processing on the way into the computer is what the Phonic mixer is made for. Both units bring signals from the analog to the digital domain but the Phonic lets you do a little or a lot to the sounds before they get into the computer.

That may or may not be a plus, because what you do to the signal on the way into the computer may be very difficult to undo.

Unless you have a monitoring system that you trust I would recommend taking the signals as they are with no external processing, then shaping and eq'ing and compressing and adding delay and reverb inside the computer. That way you concentrate on getting the best sound at the source using the right microphones with emphasis on microphone placement and not relying on the Phonic board to make corrections. In commercial studios you rarely find any type of board between the microphones and the recorder / hard disk / computer.

You don't HAVE to use the eq's and built in effects on the Phonic Helix, so it might be worth the extra money just to have it when you really need it. On the other hand if you're picky about your recordings it wouldn't take much looking for you to find plugin eq's and reverbs that sound just as good if not better than those onboard the Phonic, in which case the Firepod would be the one to go with.



.

 

[ssscientist]

One thing I forgot to mention -- with the Phonic board you get an analog mixer that can be unplugged and taken along to a gig as a submixer for your drumkit, while the Firepod is only useful when hooked up to a computer.

When playing larger venues this won't be an issue but if you're in a situation in which you need to rely on available equipment to put together your sound system it may come in handy.


.

 

[raximus]

Thanks so much for the help, its made it so much clearer to me now what i'm after. I think i've decided im going to go with software mixing, rather than mixing outside the computer.

One more thing. The Alesis iO|26 was suggested to me.

Its slightly cheaper than the Presonus.

I will choosing between these 2.

One again, thankyou so much

 

[raximus]

Also, i am confused about the two different types of firepods. Theres a FP10, which is $500 US, and then theres the firepod which is $400US. Does anyone know the difference between these. Its just that i am on a tight budget.



Cheers

James

 

[ssscientist]

The 'FP10 (formerly Firepod)' is the next generation of the Firepod and the main difference I can see is it costs $100 more. The fancy talk about the upgraded mic preamps is probably just sales blather. For $150 additional you can get the 'Mega Studio Producer Bundle' which is a whole bunch of software that may or may not be useful, most of it crippled 'LE' and 'Lite' versions. Most of it looks like it would be useless or nearly so for what you need.

If you're going to go with the Firepod buy it now while there are still some $400 versions around. For the record, I have had a Presonus Firebox - the smaller brother of the Firepod - for 2 years now and have found it reliable, well built and good sounding.

The Alesis IO26 looks good too.

Your money, your choice...


.

 

[Chili]

This might be a little late, but I'd like to make one small clarification. The Phonic mixer does not apply any effects to the signals sent to the computer. They are tapped off right after the trim knobs, so they don't see the eq or onboard effects. You would be doing all your mixing in the computer, same as the firepod.

The main mix can be sent to the computer which would include eq, effects, etc, but that is not the normal set up.

I have the FW12 and it works great for me. I like monitoring when recording, because the raw signal goes to the computer, but I can still apply a little reverb to what I'm hearing in the headphones without worrying about latency.

Hope this helps.

 

[ssscientist]

The Phonic mixer does not apply any effects to the signals sent to the computer. They are tapped off right after the trim knobs, so they don't see the eq or onboard effects. You would be doing all your mixing in the computer, same as the firepod.

That's no small clarification.

Now that you point it out, it makes perfect sense that the eq's and aux send on the Phonic mixer are useless on the way into the computer --- the Mackie Onyx with a firewire card is set up the same way.

Looks like I'm not quite as smart as I think I am. Or at least need to do a little more research before I post potentially misleading info...


.

 

[Chili]

Ya still gave the OP a lot of great info....

 

[deadleafecho]

I love my firepod!!!
Oh from what Ive heard (i havent had a chance to test it yet) if its not connected to fire wire, the signal just "passes" through. Meaning line in 1 goes to line out 1, line in 8 to line out 8 etc. So its somewhat useful even without a computer. I think everything still gets mixed into the main outs as well.
If the OP wants a deal on a FP, look up this # on ebay, 320157150687
Thats where I bought mine, looks like there is only a few left.

 

[dickiefunk]

The firepod is a good choice. There are 2 others worth looking at which are the MOTU 8pre and Focusrite Saffire Pro 10/10. They have slightly different features which may or may not suit. All of these interfaces provide you with decent audio quality and will enable you to make great recordings.

 

[cusebassman]

I am a big fan of my Firepod - haven't tried the Phonix mixer, but you won't be disappointed with the Firepod either way. I wouldn't trust the Alesis so much, but that is just my opinion of their company in general - haven't actually used it