Building a home recording setup

[Knightshade]

Hi All,

I just started browsing this site about an hour ago, and so far I'm very impressed with the extent of information you have to offer. I just built a nice new machine with the following specs:

Pentium 2.6ghz
1gb PC3200 RAM
120gb 7200rpm 8mb buffer HD
M-Audio Revolution sound card

I want to turn it into a home-recording setup. All I need is a microphone, as I'm a rapper. I've got the beat-making situation covered. So, what would my best setup be? I was thinking a Digidesign MBox and, since I don't quite think I want to build a sound-proof booth, a non-condensor mic like a Shure SM58 (with accompanying stand and pop screen). I've recorded on a similar setup but with a Roland 8-track recorder in place of the MBox, and I couldn't tell a whole lot of difference between that and a $60/hr studio I've recorded at. Does anyone have any experience with the MBox?

Also, I'm looking for a good pair of monitors. I don't know exactly what I should be looking for, beyond that they they should be active. Should I be plugging them into the sound card, or the MBox (or equivalent hardware) that I'll be using? Will they have a 1/8" plug I can plug into my sound card?

Thanks for any advice!

Shade

 

[mmistudent]

SM-58? nah. Thats not the mic to RECORD vocals with... its more of a live mic. You don't need a sound-proof booth to record vocals into a condenser. In fact, I would recommend getting a high quality condenser for vocals... especially if thats all you're recording. May I suggest the AKG C 3000B... its a great sounding mic for vocals for the price (299.99 in musicians friend). An M-box wouldnt be a bad choice, as it has a decent mic pre built in, and on top of that you get protools. Why does that studio charge so much? You're paying for the engineer and the use of all thier equipment. I'm sure they have an $800 mic plugged into a $2000 focusrite mic pre going through the 8-track (at least for that price, they better). But yeah, I think the M-box and the condenser will get you real far for what you're using it for.

 

[manning1]

my recommendations

1. get a second hard drive if you can. daws work best with windows on one and your recording projects on the other. reason - less head contention.
2. monitors - cant beat a pair of yorkvilles for value. if you want to save money look around for a cheap used stereo receiver for 60 bucks.
3. mics - too many options. just try a bunch. B1, studio projects, the old
standby 57, AKG's, beyer. some people really like CAD mics for vocals. check these out before making a decision. i mean REALLY REALLY LIKE !
4. mixer/preamp. cheap - an audiobuddy or a little yamaha mixer folks like. the new mg series. 100 bucks. also dmp3 preamp. a dleeper preamp liked VERY MUCH by a lot of people is the rane ms1b. more money. RNC from
fmr audio. big bucks but great are all the boutique pre's like great river, hardy etc. or if you want to save money do like i do and build your own.
you can build a pretty good preamp for 10 bucks. heres an example ....
soundclick.com/bmanning ,,,, try the aint no lyin fool song or up in the sky song.
5. sound card - cheap but good - audiophile 24/96. or if you want to record multiple tracks at a time. delta or rme . if you want real cheap 24 bit recording tracertek.com have a sound card for 100 bucks.
6. multitrack software
i adore the following....all under 100 bucks....
pgmusic.com powertracks 29 bucks. superb. 48 digital audio tracks.
plus a great midi sequencer plus tons of built in effects including ability to make your own midi rap drum tracks using styles you can muck around with.
other great ones - fasoft.com, magix audio studio magix.de,
and for free try audacity or kristal multitrackers.
all the demoes are at hitsquad.com
peace.