Help me spend money...

  • Thread starter Thread starter the_man
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the_man

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Okey-doke, here's the deal...

I've been recording for something like 2 years on my PC with N-track, a PreSonus TubePre, M-Audio BX-8 monitors and an SM-58. My band is talking about finally doing a record, and I'm thinking about going the DIY route. I'm at a point in my life and career where I can spend some cash (thinking like $3-4K) without being too irresponsible and was wondering how to use this money to get the best possible gear.

Even though I have a pretty good PC (2 years old, 2.5GHz Pentium 4, 512MB RAM), I'm wondering about getting an HD24. There's 2 reasons for this. First, I have neighbor issues which I could skirt easily by going mobile with the HD24. Otherwise, I'd have to do my drum recording only at certian times. More importantly, I've read on gearslutz that the converters in the HD24 are outstanding for the money and paying ~$1700 (I'm talking about the XR here) for 24 AD/DA converters is worth it.

Does this make sense? I guess I imagine recording everything onto the HD24 at our practice space, then using the Ethernet out to transfer the individual tracks to my PC, where I'd mix them with Cubase, Sonar, DP or something like that.

OTOH, buying an HD unit when I have a perfectly good PC seems stupid. Is it worth it just for the converters? I doubt I'll ever need to use all 24 channels simultaneously, (I'm thinking 4 would cut it) and I might be able to get 4 channels of higher quality if I bought separate preamps, and converters. How do the converters of the HD24XR compare to the ones founs in things like the Octane, OctoPre, Firepod, Fireface, etc, etc?


Thanks in advance. Oh, we play indiepop in the style of the Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, and Galaxie 500.


Kevin
 
What about the M-Audio delta 1010LT, really good card, and it would save you buying a HD24, less chans but what can ya do.

The Delta is 222 euro from Thomann.de, mabey install 2 of them if ya need a good few chans.

- Idgeit
 
If it were me I’d get a PreSonus or a Delta 1010, or any number of interfaces out there and look at other things to spend my money on like microphones, preamps, sound treatment etc etc..

I can’t speak from experience but I would imagine something like a 1010 and the HD24 are similar in sound quality. I wouldn’t get too caught up in all that and would stay more focused on things like the room you are recording in and what you can do to improve that.

Your computer is fine, don’t see any problem there.

Are you tracking vocals with a SM58? You might want to consider getting a good condenser mic for doing vocals.
 
Hmmmm, thanks foir the replies.

I guess I had always thought of the 1010's as the very bottom rung of multichannel converters. I was hoping that with some real money to spend this time around, I could avoid having to get the cheapest thing going. Although your point is a good one; I recall reading somewhere that good mics and preamps going into mediocre converters is going to sound better than mediocre mics and preamps going into excellent converters.

Are the 101's better than I thought? I certianly don't want to spend more money than I need to...

Kevin
 
Kevin...

I do sound for a couple bands, and recently started recording songs from the direct outs on my Midas Venice 320 into the HD24.

I load the tracks onto my PC via the firewire connector and remix them using N-tracks(4.05).

The results, I think, have been outstanding.

Check it out for yourself:

Strawberry Fields

Savoy Truffle
 
Spend the Money....

Mr. Man:

You could do worse than getting an ADAT HD24... as mentioned, the converters sound pretty darn good, and you'll find it's stable and works alot like tape. I/O isn't a problem either, as it's included. Wait -- I'm biased -- I helped work on and launch that machine when I was at Alesis.. but it doesn't mean that it's not a really good machine -- and will fit the bill for what you want it for. You can always take tracks over to your PC to edit via the Ethernet connection.

So -- that eats up about 1/2 of your $3k... probably a little more with cabling. You're gonna want a console w/ direct outs, or at least inserts that you can 1/2 jack to make use of the pre's if you plan to record live. If you're making a "record" in your rehearsal space, spend some dough on decent mics.

Oh -- and upgrade your monitors if possible. You always want to spend the most $$$ you can afford there -- all the $$ you spend on mics, pres, etc won't be of much value if your mixes suck because you can't hear what's really happening -- and end up with mixes that don't translate well.

Specific mics and monitors?? I'm sure you'll find a never-ending stream of opins on that here... but that's the places I'd spend my hard-earned dough.

Have fun!!!

TGB
 
Or...

Now that I re-read your post -- 4 tracks at a time might lead me to spend about $300 on a Lexicon Omega (which comes with software and a pretty darn good reverb plug) and dump the rest into mics and maybe a 2-ch pre or compressor.

Don't forget the monitors. :)

TGB
 
Thanks for all the replies, folks.

I guess I was hoping that this time around, I would like to buy at least *some* gear that I won't have to re-buy later because I skimped first time around. Its part of the reason I'm hesitant about suggestions like the 1010 or Lexicon thingamabopper.

OTOH, I'm realistic enough to know that 3-4K isn't near enough money to get 4 or 8 top-notch channels running to my PC (or HD24), and so some compromises are going to have to be made somewhere. Comments made here seem to suggest that my priority at this point should be mics and to a lesser extent, mic pres. Is this correct? In this scenario, getting a 1010 or something like that and splurging on mics and pres seems doable, right?
 
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