Finding the right stuff

[DDev]

This is my first post so please bear with me. I've been monitoring this site for several months as I have been learning to use my PC at home with Cakewalk Guitar Tracks software, dreaming of the day I can afford to dream bigger.

Well, the day has come, and I would appreciate any advice that can aid in deciding how to take the plunge into a much bigger system.

I have been tasked by my church to develop a proposal for purchase of a modest recording setup that is capable of the following:

- Recording at least 20 tracks simultaneously
- Ability to do quality mixdowns and mastering preparatory to mass duplication

This system will initially be utilized for live recordings of praise services, but will ultimately be used for a small studio for in-house musical production of original material and soundtracks for vocalists.

We currently have a Mackie 32 channel/8 bus mixer for the house sound that will most likely be used as the conduit to provide signals from the stage and possibly for mixdown (I may have to purchase equipment in phases so this step could save lots of bucks up front); a plethora of SM57's, SM58's, and condenser mics; a few outboard processors; a CD burner; and a desire to do this all right. [I have recently been tapping into this to remix the house sound down to a stereo recording for evaluation purposes, and quickly decided that I need the ability to get everything separated to get a better balance in the mix. Being in the same room where everything is being performed and mixing to headphones leaves something to be desired.] In about a year we will be moving into our new facility where I will have dedicated space for a studio (size of rooms still fluctuating but thats for another post).

Since I am new to this, even though I have read just about everything I can find on current equipment, I am looking for help in deciding whether to go with a computer based setup, or to a standalone recorder such as the Mackie HDR24/96 or Tascam MX2424. Simplicity of use and ease of learning will be crucial, as well as quality of components and future growth. I will also need good quality monitors.

My gut instinct has me beginning with the following setup:

- Mackie HDR24/96 recorder w/ 3 ea. AIO-8 analog input I/O cards
- Mackie REM24 remote control
- Alesis M1MKII powered monitors
- PC keyboard, mouse, monitor

Any recommendations or critiques?

I realize everyone has an opinion, and all are welcome, but please understand that I already know that mixdown and mastering are arts to themselves, so please just stick to equipment or software discussions.

Thanks for your patience, and in advance for any advice offered.

DDev.....

 

[Cyrokk]

Simplicity of use and ease of learning will be crucial, as well as quality of components and future growth. I will also need good quality monitors.

A stand alone recorder will give you better ease of learning and simplicity of use than pc recording.. Especially if you are going with recording 20 tracks simultaneously.

A pc system with a high end sound card will yield future growth.

So my advice in this regard would be to get both and to spend most of your time recording with the stand alone while learning how to work with the pc during downtime.. I'm almost completely certain you will have to spend time tweaking that pc system before you can get it up to the quality your after..

As for monitors, you mentioned you thoroughly read most of the posts here.. so you should have a feel for what some of the better brands are to look for.. I suggest you search for those monitors in local music stores and listen to as many as are available, keeping in mind that you are looking for monitors that sound accurate and not necessarily "good"..

Cy

 

[hixmix]

So, in other words, DDev, you're interested in swapping wives?

 

[DDev]

Thanks for your inputs (and no, swapping wives is not a planned activity; she actually wants to be part of this.....we'll see how that works out).

I think my weakest understanding is with the selection of monitors. I've checked around town a bit (Wichita, KS) and nobody seems to carry studio monitors anymore, so I am trying to figure out whether to close my eyes and point, or drive 200 miles to Kansas City to see if I can find anything there. I will probably invest in the monitors before anything else, because I can really use them right now for my current projects.

Anyway, as far as a computer platform goes, I am totally confused about options for getting multiple channel inputs into the PC. I've seen ads for the Motu, Seasound (now defunct?) and Aardvark stuff, but it only seems to get 4 or 8 channels. Do you have to add several units and corresponding cards to the computer to get where you want to go or is there another way? Do you need mic pre's in the chain prior to the A/D converters?

Also, I know that there are a lot of ADAT and TASCAM type digital interfaces but I haven't figured out how all the data from these machines gets dumped into a PC. Say, for instance, I record 18 tracks of audio on a standalone machine and want to do some editing on the computer, do I dump all 18 tracks to the computer or just what I want to edit. And does it all stay synchronized?

I am thinking about possibly doing a smaller setup (maybe a Fostex VF16) that isn't quite so much money that I can play with to see how to make this work (and that I can record at church and bring home to play with). I discussed my "master plan" with our budgeting folks and they indicated that we can probably go forward in 12 - 18 months, but I am anxious to begin as soon as possible just to learn and see what can be done.

Anyway, I'm long-winded and prone to drone. Thanks again for your feedback. Someday (maybe) I'll figure out how to get there.

DDev.....