Getting start

Coldsteel333

New member
15 years ago I use to dj and make beats on a motif7. Fast forward I now have a 9 year old that loves music and in my home theater will be setting aside a spot for her to record and explore. What I have currently is 2 event studio monitors powered. An Maudio powered sub. Asus Laptop computer. A 24 key maudio MIDI controler. a blue yeti usb mic. a large box of cords and probably a 20 year old version of fruity loops.

Can you guys help me with some next steps. I think I need an interface of some type. I’d also like to play all my digital music on my computer in nice anolog sound. Was looking at a Ghiselli DAC for this purpose but maybe you guys know of a nice all in one thing that will tie all this together and be nice to build upon. Again I’m over a decade out of this. Last time I hooked anything up to a computer it was through a dedicate sound card on my 4000 dollar dell desktop that sit at the bottom of some landfill now. Thanks in advance
 
Good morning Coldsteel and welcome to the HR forum. Great that you detail the kit that you have...SO many people don't!

You don't give the specifications of the Asus laptop or its OS but if Win 10 and i5 or better and 8G ram (better 16) and an ssd you will have little trouble. You COULD run with a lesser spec' and older OS but things like "latency" could be an issue.

Yes indeed, the young lady needs an interface and I am going to suggest one here that is a bit pricier than many but is really top bllx, the MOTU M4. This has 2 excellent mic preamp, XLR inputs which can also accept jack plugs from a 'line' source or electric guitar. At the rear of the M4 are two more balanced line inputs that can take a keyboard say. Four balanced line outs and MIDI in and out on DINs. You will not need another DAC the M4 delivers near state of art digital to analogue conversion.

An interface makes a USB mic pretty redundant. Do you have any mics left over from your DJ days? If not there are many good dynamics around now in the $30-50 range (I have assumed you in USA? Me limey) you will of course need an XLR cable (always buy two!) Many people prefer a capacitor microphone these days and one I can recommend is the Mackie EM-91C at around $100. Peeps also often forget a mic stand! They can be had for $25 or less, not 'road robust' but fine for home use.

Much more to tell you but that is the basics of the kit she will need.

Just looked up that DAC friend. $300 and on back order. Sweetwater have the M4 at less than that and its D/A converters are I would aver just as good.

Dave.
 
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Good morning Coldsteel and welcome to the HR forum. Great that you detail the kit that you have...SO many people don't!

You don't give the specifications of the Asus laptop or its OS but if Win 10 and i5 or better and 8G ram (better 16) and an ssd you will have little trouble. You COULD run with a lesser spec' and older OS but things like "latency" could be an issue.

Yes indeed, the young lady needs an interface and I am going to suggest one here that is a bit pricier than many but is really top bllx, the MOTU M4. This has 2 excellent mic preamp, XLR inputs which can also accept jack plugs from a 'line' source or electric guitar. At the rear of the M4 are two more balanced line inputs that can take a keyboard say. Four balanced line outs and MIDI in and out on DINs. You will not need another DAC the M4 delivers near state of art digital to analogue conversion.

An interface makes a USB mic pretty redundant. Do you have any mics left over from your DJ days? If not there are many good dynamics around now in the $30-50 range (I have assumed you in USA? Me limey) you will of course need an XLR cable (always buy two!) Many people prefer a capacitor microphone these days and one I can recommend is the Mackie EM-91C at around $100. Peeps also often forget a mic stand! They can be had for $25 or less, not 'road robust' but fine for home use.

Much more to tell you but that is the basics of the kit she will need.

Just looked up that DAC friend. $300 and on back order. Sweetwater have the M4 at less than that and its D/A converters are I would aver just as good.

Dave.
Thanks for the quick reply. Yes I’m in the US, what about yourself? The Asus is fairly new and meets all those specs. Your suggestion looks only a tad more than I was expecting and will serve dual purpose as a dac for my audiophile listening. Read the m4 has a nice dac. I Should have plenty of xlr cables and mono cable in my trusty electronic cable tub. I don’t have any mics left over just the blue yeti but I see what you’re saying about going analog into the interface with a mic. Now with this being hobby level currently is there anything cheap or preferable free to caputure, mix and arrange the recordings. The first thing I’d like to do for her is find an instrumental of a Taylor swift song. Play it in her headphones (still have some good sonys) and have her record the vocals over top. Then be able to over lay it mix it and play it back for her.she will think that is so cool I’m sure. In the home theater realm you commonly have revolving sales, like I bought my jbl 580s for 299 and regularly 7-800. Does the m4 commonly go on deep discount or are these things more constant in price? Thanks again
 
To add to what Dave said, you can use the always recommended Reaper. You can use it for free, just have a nag screen when it starts, $60 bucks to purchase. Very good software.

Now, since you are an ol' DJ, if you haven't, I suggest looking at Ableton. I don't often recommend it, but if you want to do DJ, EDM and eventually live (even if just in your house for friends), this is the software with a Push controller, or other grid style controllers. Probably one of the best for free flow DJing. The alternative is Bitwig. I don't know much about the software, but some folks from Ableton spun off their own company and started Bitwig.

That being said, it is expensive, but I can tell you there is no other software that I know of that can manipulate and create loops on the fly like Ableton and if you get really good at it, do it as a live performance. The software with the full suite (I recommend as it as everything you need) can really make music creation fun, especially if you don't play an instrument. It is one of those things you and your daughter can do together and both learn, create and perform together. That is really what it is all about.

You can do linear recording as well as capture live performances, but the fun is in the doing live loops and effects on the fly. You don't need a controller for the software, but it is where you can really have the most fun. The software is about $700 for the full suite, but you an pretty much just use that, look for some free plugins and you are off and pretty much done. All of their plugins are of great quality and it has samplers and sound generators included. For an old DJ, I think you will appreciate the software.

Hope I didn't hurt your head, but I think Ableton might get the old spark lit for you and you can then groom the next generation of DJ performance artist (daughter).
 
To add to what Dave said, you can use the always recommended Reaper. You can use it for free, just have a nag screen when it starts, $60 bucks to purchase. Very good software.

Now, since you are an ol' DJ, if you haven't, I suggest looking at Ableton. I don't often recommend it, but if you want to do DJ, EDM and eventually live (even if just in your house for friends), this is the software with a Push controller, or other grid style controllers. Probably one of the best for free flow DJing. The alternative is Bitwig. I don't know much about the software, but some folks from Ableton spun off their own company and started Bitwig.

That being said, it is expensive, but I can tell you there is no other software that I know of that can manipulate and create loops on the fly like Ableton and if you get really good at it, do it as a live performance. The software with the full suite (I recommend as it as everything you need) can really make music creation fun, especially if you don't play an instrument. It is one of those things you and your daughter can do together and both learn, create and perform together. That is really what it is all about.

You can do linear recording as well as capture live performances, but the fun is in the doing live loops and effects on the fly. You don't need a controller for the software, but it is where you can really have the most fun. The software is about $700 for the full suite, but you an pretty much just use that, look for some free plugins and you are off and pretty much done. All of their plugins are of great quality and it has samplers and sound generators included. For an old DJ, I think you will appreciate the software.

Hope I didn't hurt your head, but I think Ableton might get the old spark lit for you and you can then groom the next generation of DJ performance artist (daughter).
Thank you, I will check into both Reason and Ableton. i remember Ableton Live from back in those days. At that time i did everything with vinyl on 2 numark i think t200s and had a pioneer cd player to cue up for stuff not on vinyl and a pioneer effect box. I will probably lean towards reason for cost purposes though. with reason can you integrate the m-audio axiom 24 and load up different synths and drum kits etc? when i made music i did it on a yamaha motif and it had tons of different kits to choose from and was very customizable in those kits. but i ended up selling that to a church 10 years ago for pennys on the dollar. a friend gave me this m-audio axiom 24 but i have never got it hooked up in the 5 years ive had it. its just collecting dust. Would like to take a stab at making hip-hop-, r&b, and electronic music again but on the computer.
 
I see the 25, but not the 24. If it is a MIDI controller, should work as a controller, but it doesn't appear to do audio. As a MIDI controller, I would think there shouldn't be an issue, you might have to map some functions. I have a controller from 1989 and I can use it in Reaper and Ableton, but just as a keyboard, it doesn't do much else. But MIDI is well supported in most DAWs, just a matter of what the DAW does.

I am still thinking you need audio In/Output.
 
I see the 25, but not the 24. If it is a MIDI controller, should work as a controller, but it doesn't appear to do audio. As a MIDI controller, I would think there shouldn't be an issue, you might have to map some functions. I have a controller from 1989 and I can use it in Reaper and Ableton, but just as a keyboard, it doesn't do much else. But MIDI is well supported in most DAWs, just a matter of what the DAW does.

I am still thinking you need audio In/Output.
You are correct it is the axiom 25 (sorry was going of memory) it is a MIDI controller. Audio in/output? I just want to use it to control synth and drum kits and other sounds. Does reason have good kits to use with a MIDI controler?
 
I don't know Reason, I use Reaper and Ableton and I mainly use Ableton.

For Audio In/Out, what the other were saying, to get the sound out to play MIDI notes through the VSTIs and and get audio in; voice, guitar, noise, etc. and then to play back in a way that gives the best sound. You can use the built in card, but your results may vary. Might be a good way to start you just have to use what you have.

I assume your old controller is USB connection? If so, then just get the software you want to use, and start the journey. You'll be back and we will be here :) Pretty deep rabbit hole.
 
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