Hey urgent help please!

[NOOB101]

I know this question has been asked a lot, but we're complete noobs. We're a band with a little budget hailing from ghetto houston, texas. We want to record our music and we're looking for the cheapest thing avaliable with decent quality. We're looking for something that is able to record drums (atleast six mics at a time per track) that connects straight into the computer. So in other words, we want to record drums straight into the *beep this is where your suggestion comes in* and then into the computer. and yeah, our budget is really, in all honesty, less than five hundred dollars if possible. I would go to guitar center and ask but they might sell me the whole store. but yeah, thanks!!

I have heard suggestions, would just an 8 channel interface work? or a 8 channnel mixer work? im confused. well, we'll have open ears, let us know!


dyslxiccrown -our link name for myspace.
^our band

If it all possible, we will like to meet the song quality (as shown on the myspace) as a standard.



thank you!

 

[AMcB]

Get a presonus firepod there only $400 and you get 8 seperate tracks and free recording software.

 

[NOOB101]

Get a presonus firepod there only $400 and you get 8 seperate tracks and free recording software.

besides us saying that we love you for your help, i have a quick question.

Would the firepod that u recommended connects straight into the computer right?

so we would have to the connect all the mics from the drums, into the firepod..that will then go in the computer. and then then we record another tracks with guitar and then another with bass..and ect...is that how it works?

 

[mikeyhasnobones]

Yup, sure is

 

[Daisy]

Sure is a good thing you put "URGENT" in the title of your thread.

Otherwise, none of us would have been tripping over ourselves to help you. And you probably would have turned in to a pumpkin at midnight if no one answered your question.

 

[NOOB101]

Sure is a good thing you put "URGENT" in the title of your thread.

Otherwise, none of us would have been tripping over ourselves to help you. And you probably would have turned in to a pumpkin at midnight if no one answered your question.

Haha well actually, we're buying it tonight! so it was pretty urgent..we're going to go by the Tascam US1641...how do you guys feel about that?


would one gig of Ram be enough to sustain it w.o lagging it?

 

[Daisy]

It's probably fine, although I'd be a little cautious of anything that uses USB 2.0 rather than Firewire.

 

[NOOB101]

It's probably fine, although I'd be a little cautious of anything that uses USB 2.0 rather than Firewire.

whats the main difference between a firewire and a USB?

 

[baker_]

the main difference is transfer rate. firewire is typically faster than usb 2.0. the faster you can transfer data, the less you have to worry about issues like latency.

 

[NOOB101]

but what do I do if latency does happen?

Will it be bad?

We dont want each track to be off-time with the next.

I thought an Interface in general was supposed to cease this problem?

 

[Daisy]

but what do I do if latency does happen?

Well ... first, you start pulling your hair out.

Then, you start throwing random objects at your computer. Then you cool down a bit, and come back to the Homerecording forum and start threads titled: "Urgent Help Needed: I'm experiencing latency, along with clicks and pops in my audio."

And then a few of us give you some links to help out. But I wouldn't want to get ahead of ourselves just yet, just on the off chance that things work just fine for you the second you plug it all in.

I thought an Interface in general was supposed to cease this problem?

The problem isn't generally in the interface itself, but more in the firmwear and drivers. There are also potential problems with certain chipsets in the computer, along with IRQ conflicts (these are the most common and they're lots of fun), again depending on how old your machine is and who manufactured it.

But I don't want to discourage you just yet. There will be plenty of time for that later. Just keep in mind that, in theory, everything should work right out of the box and you shouldn't have any issues, etc. But in reality, this is computer recording and it's far from a perfect world.


Now earlier, you had mentioned that you were looking to record "straight into the *beep this is where your suggestion comes in* and then into the computer. "

If this is truly what you're looking to do, then you might actually be looking for more of a stand-alone recorder ... which you can record to ... then simply transfer the tracks to your computer for mixing. That would be a completely different type of system, and yes, that would be designed to cease any problems like latency, compatibility, and all that other jazz. But it's also going to come at a higher price tag.

The interfaces we've been talking about up to this point are merely that. They are basically the intermediary between your audio and the computer; but your computer is still doing much of the actual "recording," and is therefore going to play a large role in the actual recording process -- for better or worse. A stand-alone, dedicated recorder would take your computer essentially out of the equation, until it's time to transfer your work; a process that is generally a snap, and glitch-free for just about any modern machine.

Just keep in mind that there is going to be a learning curve in this, and in the end it will go over budget -- two things you can count on. So if this music masterpiece you're currently working on has any time-sensitivity to it, then you might consider handing the task over to someone more experienced for the time-being ... or simply budget some extra down-time in to your expected completion date, which I would hope has some flexibility to it.

 

[NOOB101]

Thanks for all the help daisy!!

 

[Mike Cleary]

get the firepod
weve been using one
and it practically sounds like an LA studio compared to our older recordings

they key with the firepod is that you can edit all 8 tracks you recorded at once individually. So it makes drums sound perfect