Extreme Newbie Needs Help

[spikeskug]

Hey all, just stumbled upon this website and thought it would be the perfect place to get some help. Anyway I'm a rhythm guitarist in a progressive rock band and I had recently acquired an Alesis io4 Audio Interface and a Behringer Xenyx X1832USB Mixer as gifts. Since I'm totally new to this type of hardware I was wondering if one is going to be used over the other or if I could use both in different settings or even if I could use both at the same time for home/live recording. I'm incredibly stumped on where to start so I'm hoping that someone can point me in a direction. I hope this isn't too vague

 

[ecc83]

Hey all, just stumbled upon this website and thought it would be the perfect place to get some help. Anyway I'm a rhythm guitarist in a progressive rock band and I had recently acquired an Alesis io4 Audio Interface and a Behringer Xenyx X1832USB Mixer as gifts. Since I'm totally new to this type of hardware I was wondering if one is going to be used over the other or if I could use both in different settings or even if I could use both at the same time for home/live recording. I'm incredibly stumped on where to start so I'm hoping that someone can point me in a direction. I hope this isn't too vague

Not vague Spike but a bit lacking in specifics. First off, computer. Probably best to say what to avoid! A mincing little 1.6G laptop with 1G of memory and Vista! You might be suprised to learn that a beat up old "office" HP Compaq with the same spec but running XP would be fine! Do Tell.

Next: whadayawannadooo! Chunk a few chords in the bedroom and sing or record the whole band? Well with that kit you could do both and since the Alesis will record 4 discrete tracks that adds a lot to the system's flexibilty. But there is a bit of a mountain to climb in setting up and a systematic and sober approach will pay dividends here!

Forget the mixer for now (nice BTW!) and check the alesis Audio Interface documentation. Find the manuals and read up on the initial setup instructions. FOLLOW THIS TO THE LETTER! Usually with usb devices you do NOT plug them into the PC before you have installed the software and usually at some point you will be told when to do this.

Next you need to install the supplied DAW software Cubase LE4 (if perchance you don't have this download "Reaper") Now, IIRC LE5 runs ok for a time as a demo but at some point you will need to register with Steinberg and get it activated permanently.

Having done all this ! You should now be able to plug in a mic and guitar and record thyself. Listen back on headphones. Monitor speakers can wait!

Dave.

 

[spikeskug]

Huh my reply didn't show up.......Guess I'll retype it
First off, thanks Dave! Anyway, I'm currently running everything through my laptop which has 1.6 ghz and 3 gb of ram. It's running vista (all I have to work with at the moment til I can save up for a new computer).

I plan on using the hardware for recording myself at home, recording our band practices, and recording/mixing the audio for some of our small private shows.

The software that came with the Alesis wont run on my laptop but the manual says that it will run on pretty much any other type of software, so I'm using it with Audacity for now.

 

[JimmyS1969]

Wait, you software won't run on your software? That makes no sense.

You do have a 'worst case scenario', as far as your PC, IMO. It is just something you will have to deal with, or change. For now, you should be able to run Reaper on your lappy. Not sure why Cubase won't work, but if it is LE4 (and not LE5), I would recommend not even trying. LE4 was a buggy mess for me back in the day....

That being said, Audacity if like a baby toy, compared to an actual DAW like Reaper or Cubase. You should at least start learning to use the software to your PC's capability.

 

[MrWrenchey]

Wait, you software won't run on your software? That makes no sense.

You do have a 'worst case scenario', as far as your PC, IMO. It is just something you will have to deal with, or change. For now, you should be able to run Reaper on your lappy. Not sure why Cubase won't work, but if it is LE4 (and not LE5), I would recommend not even trying. LE4 was a buggy mess for me back in the day....

That being said, Audacity if like a baby toy, compared to an actual DAW like Reaper or Cubase. You should at least start learning to use the software to your PC's capability.

He was trying to saw the HARDWARE (Alesis) will run on any software, but the software that came with the Alesis (Cubase LE) won't work on his old laptop.

 

[JimmyS1969]

Well, if it is actually Cubase LE, then the laptop is newer than the software. LE4 and 5 are 'supposed' to work on Vista, but I'm not sure any software actually does well on that OS. My wife still uses it, and it has issues all the time...

Anyway, Reaper is likely a better bet anyway. At least no expense to learn.

 

[ecc83]

Huh my reply didn't show up.......Guess I'll retype it
First off, thanks Dave! Anyway, I'm currently running everything through my laptop which has 1.6 ghz and 3 gb of ram. It's running vista (all I have to work with at the moment til I can save up for a new computer).

I plan on using the hardware for recording myself at home, recording our band practices, and recording/mixing the audio for some of our small private shows.

The software that came with the Alesis wont run on my laptop but the manual says that it will run on pretty much any other type of software, so I'm using it with Audacity for now.

Oooer! Sorry about the good guess! I have a Vista laptop with 3G ram but it is 2.16G CPU and that runs my AI, an NI KA6 fairly well using Samplitude SE8. I can try Reaper on it and let you know but it should be ok. It is the 3G memory that is saving you, my laptop started with just 1G and was practically unusable.

I don't know what else you HAVE to do on the PC but get rid of everything you can. Deff' turn of Aero and ditch big programs like Ms Office and Win Media player, I use VLC. I have removed Norton and all other anti malware software and just run Msoft Security Essentials. If you possibly can kill wireless capabilty (I can't, works pc and often not by an outlet).

Off to bed now talk more tomm'
Dave.

 

[spikeskug]

Thanks for the suggestions guys Like I said, I'm gathering funds now for a new computer so the laptop issue should be dealt with relatively soon!

 

[ecc83]

Thanks for the suggestions guys Like I said, I'm gathering funds now for a new computer so the laptop issue should be dealt with relatively soon!

That is great but anything new will be running Windows 8 and although that seems to be ok for music work it is not truly proved out yet. It might be better to see if you can still reserve a machine with W7 64 bits and as much ram on it as the pocket will stand.

Unlikely not to be so, but do make sure any new laptop has at least one usb 3.0 port on it.

Dave.