Interface/converter upgrade or is there a workaround?

pikingrin

pikingrin

what is this?
Scenario: home recorder with modest setup, interface with 8 mic/line ins and 2 bands wanting me to record a few songs for them on the cheap (depending on how long they take). Both bands have the full drum kit - kick, 4 toms, hats, cymbals and snare.

One is all acoustic with 2 guitars that also both do vocals, bass, sax and horn. Other is electric with a rhythm guitarist that also does vocals, a lead guitar, and a bass. I'm reading (and re-reading) greg's "how to" on micing up live drums but I'm worried about running out of available input channels...which brings me to the meat of my questions.

Do I have, with the 8 ins, enough channels to do a scratch workaround for backing tracks for the drummer if I'm using up 6 ins for the drums? If not, would it be more appropriate to look into an ADAT unit like the Octopre for more inputs via ADAT or would I be better served in spending almost 4 times as much on something like an RME fireface UFX?

The reason I bring up the UFX is that I've got 5 external standalone mice pres ranging from a Neve 5017 to a Presonus Eureka channel strip (that I can't get rid of for some reason:) ) and I would like to make use of them without going through 2 gain stages when setting them up (external pre->pro40->DAW is how they currently are). Would a standalone converter be a better option? ADAT the saffire into the converter, line in the other pres into the converter? I feel like I'm going in circles but I'm stoked to have some "clients" haha.
 
No brainer to me! Go RME. I once toyed with the idea of buying a UCX since I had the money but not really the need. I now have neither!

The UFX will take all of your present pre amps (so would the UCX if they are all mono?) and still give you the expansion capability of ADAT. Add in the flexibility of FW or USB connection plus a very well respected unit that has been "out there" a while with no adverse reports as far as I am aware and you are hot to trot?

Fork! You even get remote control!

Dave.
 
If you've got the cash the UFX is a good bet. It's coming straight out of any income you make in the short term, but it'll probably be worth it in the long term for the good converters and flexibility with the inputs.
 
8 ins will be tight. You could do it using a four mic drum set up. 1 on kick, 1 on snare two overheads for the rest. Lot of people are micing this way. That leaves 4 for the other instruments. Vocals to get recorded later, which is a better practice.

You could do the drums with two or one for scratch, then come back and lay them down after everyone has recorded. I think more than 8 is for recording a complete band at once. 8 is plenty for a single drum session.
 
You could do it using a four mic drum set up. 1 on kick, 1 on snare two overheads for the rest. Lot of people are micing this way. That leaves 4 for the other instruments. Vocals to get recorded later, which is a better practice.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more. For a mostly acoustic band it will most likely be more than sufficient, for electric YMMV.
 
I may just try with the 4 mic setup on the drums to get the whole band (more or less) recorded as a scratch track and then have each do his/her own part to that - unless the drummer is opposed to it/can't play along with his own stuff it shouldn't be a problem...hopefully. I've got some MD421s, SM57s, i5s and a few options on overheads so I would be able to mic up the kit properly if it works for the bands.

The unfortunate part is that I'm not making enough off either one (unless they end up here for a week or two, which isn't going to happen) to afford an RME unless I dig the majority out of savings. It's on my list of things to reward myself with once I get my degree but, until then it's just eye candy - according to my wife :D. I guess, if I end up in a bind, I can just get an Octopre or similar and ADAT it into the Saffire.

But, here's something I was thinking about that I haven't really dealt with. At the moment I've got my external pre's routed into the Saffire via TRS. According to focusrite, doing it this way is supposed to take their preamp circuit out of the loop so the signal isn't colored at all by them. But then I'm left dealing with setting the gain on the pre and doing my best to keep unity gain through the saffire and in the DAW. Isn't difficult but sometimes if I push, say, my Warm TB12 too hard, it clips at the saffire. The TB 12, and the neve 5017, just sound really good when they're pushed so it kind of stinks having to tinker with the gain control on the saffire just to keep it under control. Would an RME (or any other higher end converter) have the same kind of issue?
 
Input level for 0 dBFS @ Lo Gain: +19 dBu
Input level for 0 dBFS @ +4 dBu: +13 dBu
Input level for 0 dBFS @ -10 dBV: +2 dBV

You can set the line inputs for the three different levels shown above. One is going to be right?

Dave.
 
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