I'm looking into a recording interface, please help

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azraelswings

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I am a guitarist/singer/songwriter looking to purchase a recording interface. I dont know a great deal about recording. I've looked at a few products by M-audio, the firewire solo looks like it would suit me well, if not for the fact that I have no idea what software to purchase. All I'm really looking to do is record tracks with vocals, rhythm and lead guitar, perhaps recording percussion down the road. From what I can tell, between the software and the interface, the only things I particularly need are:

phantom power
multitrack recording (although not a very large number of tracks)
either firewire or USB connectivity

I thought of using a free version of Pro Tools that I found here http://www.digidesign.com/ptfree/ but the truth is I really don't have a clue what I'm looking for. Any nudge in the right direction would be GREATLY appreciated.

--Sean
 
How many tracks will you be wanting to record simultaneously? (not just now but in the future).

What 's the spec of your comp? (presumably a laptop seeing as you're after f/wire or USB?)

And the most important question, What's your budget?
 
At this point, all I'm looking to record simultaneously is 2 tracks - rhythm and vocals. After that I might add a second guitar. Eventually, I may need 8 tracks to record a full drum kit, but I consider that too far down the road to weigh in this decision.

As for my comp, its an hp with an athlon AMD XP2200+ 1.79 Ghz (as if I know how relevant any of that is). Soon I will be upgrading to (at least) 512mb ram. Firewire isn't onboard, I have a notebook adapter card. The card says IEEE 1394 (if that means anything).

For sake of discussion, I suppose I'd like to spend $300-400 between the interface and software. This is a starting point for rather modest home recording purposes, and since I know I'll have to upgrade eventually, I'd rather not drop too much.

Thanks again

--Sean
 
azraelswings said:
At this point, all I'm looking to record simultaneously is 2 tracks - rhythm and vocals. After that I might add a second guitar. Eventually, I may need 8 tracks to record a full drum kit, but I consider that too far down the road to weigh in this decision.

As for my comp, its an hp with an athlon AMD XP2200+ 1.79 Ghz (as if I know how relevant any of that is). Soon I will be upgrading to (at least) 512mb ram. Firewire isn't onboard, I have a notebook adapter card. The card says IEEE 1394 (if that means anything).

For sake of discussion, I suppose I'd like to spend $300-400 between the interface and software. This is a starting point for rather modest home recording purposes, and since I know I'll have to upgrade eventually, I'd rather not drop too much.

Thanks again

--Sean
Click to expand...
Any of the M-Audio interfaces will do what you want. And I think they come with the recording software as well as the drivers. check on their homepage for the specs to figure out which one you want. You can order it online at zzounds.com or musician's friend...
 
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i got the little tascam usb-122 interface and i love it. it comes with steinberg software but i dont use it. i got cakewalk home studio xl on ebay for about 30 bucks used. i use a behringer mixer for the left input on the tascam and plug a nice mic preamp into the right input. you could always use a mixer setup like that for your drum set. at any rate theres stuff available to get it done for cheap
 
jeez

looks like somebody is trying to sell you an emu.

the tascam has the same cubase vst and also has gigastudio sampler and all for 199.
 
PT Free

The previous litsed interfaces will do fine. In terms of software, I recommend Pro Tools Free. It's very easy to use and will give you great results. PT Free should also work with any interface you choose to get.

Note: Pro Tools Free only works on Windows 98 SE and lower.
 
GOODLAND said:
The previous litsed interfaces will do fine. In terms of software, I recommend Pro Tools Free. It's very easy to use and will give you great results. PT Free should also work with any interface you choose to get.

Note: Pro Tools Free only works on Windows 98 SE and lower.
Click to expand...
Anybody know which software these come with? I'd heard it was some variation of Pro Tools or Ntrack....
 
the bundled software is usually stripped down versions.

the cubase vst seems a lot less useful than the cakewalk home studio. the cakewalk does a lot more than i will ever use.

pro tools free does only 8 tracks of audio. i can go over 8 tracks easily.

tascam has the 428 with more inputs and controls for only 299. i got my tascam new on ebay for only 150 so theres discounts to be had.
 
I’ve got a US122 and had Cubasis VST from before. The bundled version was limited to 8 tracks, so I used the old one. I like the US122 but some people have trouble getting it to work. Cubasis isn’t bad, but if I had to do it over again I’d get Home Studio or ntrack.
 
Thanks all

Well thanks, everyone. From what everyone has told me, it seems like an M-audio Mobilepre USB is the best way for me to go. It can handle everything I'll need to record in the immediate future, comes with stripped down software for me to find my footing in, and costs so little that I wont have wasted money when the time comes to upgrade. I considered the firewire solo, but really I'd just be paying for things I don't need, and not getting software with the deal. I figure when it comes time to record a drum kit live I'll look into a firepod or similar model.

Thanks again all, and please let me know if you see any flaws in my reasoning.

--Sean

P.S. I didn't want to start a new thread to ask this, so: I plan to upgrade my laptop's RAM and HD a bit. The decision for RAM is whether to upgrade to 512 or a full GB. Will having a full gig of RAM be helpful?
 
azraelswings said:
Well thanks, everyone. From what everyone has told me, it seems like an M-audio Mobilepre USB is the best way for me to go. It can handle everything I'll need to record in the immediate future, comes with stripped down software for me to find my footing in, and costs so little that I wont have wasted money when the time comes to upgrade. I considered the firewire solo, but really I'd just be paying for things I don't need, and not getting software with the deal. I figure when it comes time to record a drum kit live I'll look into a firepod or similar model.

Thanks again all, and please let me know if you see any flaws in my reasoning.

--Sean

P.S. I didn't want to start a new thread to ask this, so: I plan to upgrade my laptop's RAM and HD a bit. The decision for RAM is whether to upgrade to 512 or a full GB. Will having a full gig of RAM be helpful?
Click to expand...

Yes.............................
 
azraelswings said:
I am a guitarist/singer/songwriter looking to purchase a recording interface. I dont know a great deal about recording. I've looked at a few products by M-audio, the firewire solo looks like it would suit me well, if not for the fact that I have no idea what software to purchase.
Click to expand...
1. Don't buy anything. Start with downloading demo versions of the software, your computers built-in soundcard and the cheap mic you got with the computer, just to see which software you like best. Yes, it will sound like you record it with your mic up your ass, that's not the point, the point is finding software you like.
All software is NOT alike. I would rather carve my foot off with a blunt knife than use Cubase. It's all a matter of taste.

2. If you have no mic, buy an SM57, a mic-cable and an adapter so you can connect it to your soundcards mic-in.

3a. If you end up feeling all software sucks, buy a portastudio.

3b. If you find some software you like, see if you can get that + one of the M-Audio soundcards in a bundle. USB and firewire soundcards are only something you want if you have a portable computer so you can't use the PCI soundcards, or if you need to use the soundcard on different computers.
 
Thanks regebro, I'll definitely sample softwares. I plan on using my laptop for recording, so a PCI soundcard isn't in the cards.

No mic came with my comp, I do have a vocal mic (audio technica midnight blue, in case thats relevant). What kind of adapter do I need to purchase? I have all the cables necesary to plug my mic into my soundcard, but I'm not sure if thats what you mean. I've never had success recording direct to my soundcard with an instrument or mic before.

Please excuse my terrible ignorance, thanks once more.

--Sean
 
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