I need help on what to purchase

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Petergriffin720

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Hello, I am very new to the forums and recording music, but I was wondering if I could get help. :)

I have no idea where to start. I would mainly like to record guitar (mostly electric, but some acoustic). I have been researching, and was interested in the Line 6 UX2, Tascam US-144, and the Presonus Firebox. I also would like a mic, but have no idea what to get. I have looked into the Shure SM57, and MXL 991. I am not really looking into playing live, but more for just myself.


I am also interested in helping my friend record his grand piano, but didn't know if any of the above would be sufficient enough.

My budget is around $500:( But hopefully I can find something that will work. I am sorry for the noob questions.
Thanks!

EDIT:
Also, would Windows 7 be a problem? I have XP on my desktop and 7 on my laptop, but I heard a lot of problems about compatiblity with 7. If so, how would I go about recording my friend playing piano?
 
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Well as far as recording electric guitar, a 57 will work fine right up on the grill off to the side of the center of the cone. You'll be able to hear the difference when ya put on a set of headphones and move the mic around while playing.

As to the piano...(maybe) a pair of Studio Projects B1's will fit the bill. Piano will sound better with a stereo pair of mics instead of one in mono centered. Never tried em on piano...just tryin to think of some lower cost, good stuff that you won't outgrow in 6 months time.

The $500 limit is gonna be rough cuz just with 3 mics, you're at $300. You could just get one mic, like a B1 and try n make it work for ya but I haven't had a lot of luck with just an LDC on guitar cabs. Maybe a dynamic and an LDC.

Maybe buy a pair of SDC's like the Shure KSM109's. They work well for my acoustic and may work well for piano.

I dunno man...just throwin out some thoughts.
 
Thank you Dogbreath. You have helped out a lot.

Right now, I am just stuck on deciding between a Presonus Firebox, or a Line 6 Toneport UX2. From what I have heard, both sound great...but I do not know enough about them. I heard both have problems with Windows 7. Any suggestions?
 
My experience with the Line6 boxes has been decent in the past... however, I haven't tried their recording interfaces, but I have no reason not to think it'd do fine. I would say at that price point (~$200ish), you're not going to 'add' much to the quality of the sound. I would just find one that you can afford that will give you enough inputs and as quiet as possible to get the job done. What are you going to use for software?
Microphones... I tend to agree with dogbreath on that. Studio Projects has been getting 'good bang for the buck' reviews on many sites. The Rode NT-1(a) is also a fantastic multi-purpose mic (in my experience). Works well for vocals, acoustic guitars, etc. Hard to beat the classic SM57 for electric guitars (among other things). A good dynamic (like the 57) and a good condenser mic will cover so much.
Windows 7 isn't so much of a concern as much as whether you're going to run a 32-bit or 64-bit version of windows (this holds true for xp and vista too). At this point, you'll run into less issues with compatibility with 32-bit, but I've run 64 for a while and rarely run into something that won't run.
MONITORS... As good of a set (speakers) as you can afford is what I recommend here. Learning to mix on a crummy set of speakers or headphones can really cause you some grief as you progress (imo).
Don't forget cables, stands, etc. lol
 
Ahh thank you bholst. I will probably be using Cubase, Cool Edit Pro, Audacity, or Ableton Live to record.

I am leaning towards the Line 6 UX2 as of now, with a Shure SM57. Would I need to upgrade my sound card or processor for it though?
My specs are:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&docname=c00471052
I have heard that the M-Audio Audiophile 2496 would be good for me, but I am very new to sound cards. I have read that the Presonus Firebox will act as a soundcard though, so that might be a plus.
 
My obligatory standard reply-for-newbies that I keep in Wordpad so this is just a paste (I don't want to re-type this all the time):

First off, immediately get a good beginner recording book (spend $20 before spending hundred$/thousand$) that shows you what you need to get started and how to hook everything up in your studio:
Home Recording for Musicians by Jeff Strong - $15
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/04...mp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0470385421
(Wish I'd had that when I started; would have saved me lots of money and time and grief)
You can also pick up this book in most any Borders or Barnes&Noble in the Music Books section!

Another good one is: Recording Guitar and Bass by Huw Price
http://www.amazon.com/Recording-Gui...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215734124&sr=1-1
(I got my copy at a place called Half-Price Books for $6!!)

And you can get a FREE subscription to TapeOp magazine at www.tapeop.com

Barnes&Noble or Borders are great places to start --- they have recording books and you can go get a snack or coffee and read them for FREE! Don't pass by a good recording book --- this is a VERY technical hobby and you REALLY want to start a reference library!!!

Good Newbie guides that also explains all the basics and have good tips:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
http://www.computermusic.co.uk/page/computermusic?entry=free_beginner_pdfs
http://www.harmony-central.com/articles/
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/tips-techniques/168409-tips-techniques.html

21 Ways To Assemble a Recording Rig: http://www.tweakheadz.com/rigs.htm

Also Good Info: http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/directory.htm

Other recording books: http://musicbooksplus.com/home-recording-c-31.html

Still using a built-in soundcard?? Unfortunately, those are made with less than $1 worth of chips for beeps, boops and light gaming (not to mention cheapness for the manufacturer) and NOT quality music production.
#1 Rule of Recording: You MUST replace the built-in soundcard.
Here's a good guide and tested suggestions that WORK: http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards_for_the_home_studio.htm
(you'll want to bookmark and read through all of Tweak's Guide while you're there...)
Another good article: Choosing an audio interface - http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep08/articles/audiointerfaces.htm


Plenty of software around to record for FREE to start out on:

Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net (multi-track with VST support)
Wavosaur: http://www.wavosaur.com/ (a stereo audio file editor with VST support)\
Kristal: http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/
Other freebies and shareware: www.hitsquad.com/smm

Another great option is REAPER at http://www.cockos.com/reaper/ (It's $50 but runs for free until you get guilty enough to pay for it...)
I use Reaper and highly reccomend it...

Music Notation and MIDI recording: Melody Assistant ($25) and Harmony Assistant ($80) have the power of $600 notation packages - http://myriad-online.com
Demo you can try on the website.

And you can go out to any Barnes&Noble or Borders and pick up "Computer Music" magazine - they have a full FREE studio suite in every issue's DVD, including sequencers, plugins and tons of audio samples. (November 2006 they gave away a full copy of SamplitudeV8SE worth $150, November 2007-on the racks Dec in the US- they gave away SamplitudeV9SE and July 2009 issue they put out Samplitude10SE. FREE. It pays to watch 'em for giveaways...)
 
Petergriffin720 said:
I have heard that the M-Audio Audiophile 2496 would be good for me, but I am very new to sound cards. I have read that the Presonus Firebox will act as a soundcard though, so that might be a plus.
Click to expand...

The M-Audio is a very good entry level sound card but it doesn't have pre-amps, from what I can remember the presonus firebox does and thats a big part of your signal chain so bear it in mind. M-Audio do a package called Omni Studio which is a pre-amp box coupled with the Delta 66 sound card, it may be discontinued though as I can't find it on their site.

If your on a budget you could consider buying some of the stuff second hand. You can save a hell of a lot of money so it may be worth the risk, just watch out and make sure if its something like a sound card you get all the sellers details as you won't know if its broken until you have it on your PC at home.
 
You cannot go wrong with the Line6 UX2...mics...get 2 used AT3035 mics...they are usually going for $50 each right now...Ideally you would purchase 2 AT4033 mics or 2 KSM32s...but those 3035s will do any piano nicely and for a better price than most things.

Id say stay away from the SP B1...the C1 is decent...but the B1 not so much...MXL makes some bad mics too...v67 good...991 bad :(

You should get that SM57...everybody benifits from those...I have 8 of them.

Use the API 512 model on the line 6 and both AT3035s in an X/Y pattern on the opposite end of the piano about 18" away....this is a grand piano's sweet spot.
 
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