I have 4 Tracks but want 8....reccomendations?

M

m98ter

New member
I'm currently using a Tascam 424mkIII which has been fine so far, but I think I'm soon to be ready to move up in the world to eight tracks. I've always been more of a fan of the old school way of doing things, and I've contemplated buying a Tascam DA 38 and A newer analog mixer to go along with it. My only problem with that is that I really dont like buying used digital gear off the internet.....just seems real risky to me. I guess the question I'm trying to ask, is what should I be recording to? Considering that I want to still be using an analog mixer. I really wish I could get something like a Tascam 788 and use an outboard mixer to control the eq and have inserts and such while still using its hard disc to record to, but I know thats not possible considering each channel of the 788 doesn't have outputs. I'm going to assume that the answer to my question lies in computer recording (which I know nothing about), so I'm curious to what kind of advice anyone can offer me. I really have no need for a crazy amount of tracks, but I think I'm just ready to move to something a little nicer and digital. So, can anyone reccommend me a system and decent mixer for not a crazy amount of cash? Keep in mind, I really don't have much of a need for any more than eight tracks, and I really don't want to do that much editing on the computer, as I still want real faders (call me crazy)...Im more after the computers storage space I guess. Thanks for all the help.....and think cheap...and by the way, I have a friend who builds computers so that may factor in things being a little cheaper.

Will
 
Check out the Yamaha MG series of mixers - MG12/4 has 6 preamps & inserts on each channel - $196.
The M-Audio Delta1010LT soundcard has 8 analog inputs, 8 outs, & a couple of preamps and pretty good a/d/a convertors for $220.
Drop the card into a nice fast Asus mobo with an intel 865/875-based chipset, a gig of ram, couple big hard drives, and you're set
 
I assume that the signal chain in that situation would be to record direct to the computer then send it to mixer/effects for mixdown then from the mixer to your mastering device? If so, that seems like a pretty cool setup rather than having to go from mixer to recorder to mixer to master. About how much would a computer like your describing run me? And keep in mind, I just want enough for it to get by with eight tracks that arent going to freeze up on me. Thanks!
 
For recording, your signal chain would be mics --> mixer --> soundcard --> recording s/w.

For mixing, you have a couple of options. You can either mix in the s/w, or if you prefer faders, take a feed back from the pc to the mixer. The downside of going back to the mixer is you've only got 8 tracks to work with, as there's only 8 outputs from the sound card. Plus you're going through an extra d-a-d conversion as you're mixed output will have to come back to the pc.

If you really want faders, you can get a control surface that will drive the s/w. Pretty pricey though.

For the computer, you should be able to build something pretty robust for around $700 - $800, depending on what kind of monitor,case, dvd etc you go for
 
what bh said. as an option if you got a trust fund consider an ...am...64
nah too much bucks. consider some decent mics like a cad m series mic or gxl. do you have software for multitracking ?
if not look at powertracks and magix music studio that i use as well as ntrack, and multitrackstudio.com. the last in my opinion is one of the best relatively unknown pieces of recording software ive come across.
if you need a "back up band" in software , look at band in a box.
a very interesting piece of software that helps in songwriting.
for monitors consider yorkvilles.
 
:D Yo 98:

I agree with the Clone-man. Get the 16 or more tracks. That way, you have all these tracks to add a pling or a plong or a dink or a dank or a ting or a tang.

Lots of fun.

Green Hornet :cool: :D :D :D
 
Hell yeah, if you want 16 tracks just get a bigger mixer and drop in a second 1010LT. You can string up to 4 of those cards together for 32 tracks if you want
 
hey bh - would respect your input on that 32 track idea.
i'm thinking in moving in this direction myself.
any problems you know of with pci bus traffic maxing out issues ?
16 i can see , but 32 at once concerns me.
do you know of anyone doing 32 successfully ?
 
No, it would be fun to try though.

Are you looking to record 32 mics simultaneously, or you want to run 32 tracks back out to a mixer?

At 24bit/96 Khz, recording 32 tracks will push around 9MB/sec to your hard drive, which is not a big ask for a modern drive or the pci bus.

Your cpu could struggle though, playing back 32 tracks with heavy plugins. But I guess if you're mixing outboard, you're more likely to be using outboard effects.

I recommend you give it a go & let us know how you get on heh
 
thnx bh. but i think im gonna err on side of caution.
and wait for the next generation of processors.
16 ins is all i really need for some time as i mix in the box.
here weve had lots of arguments about pros/cons of stem mixing.
 
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