Just starting out, need help

  • Thread starter Thread starter MilanGuitar
  • Start date Start date
M

MilanGuitar

New member
Hey, just decided to start doing my own recording at home. I have roughly a £900 budget to spend on everything. I will be recording acoustic guitar, vocals, piano (electric, so probably will hook up to computer via USB) and maybe violin later on. I've been looking around the forums and other places on the internet, and have found a few things. This is what I currently am pondering over to buy. Need help / more recommendations if possible!

DAW : Still deciding, recommendations please!
Interface : Can't find one I'm happy with, looking to have atleast 3 inputs in at once, that can also take guitar leads, able to change eq etc
Speakers : Recommendations please
Headphones : Was thinking of the ATH-M50's after seeing a load of good reviews about them
Mic : Shure PG-81 - Saw recommendations for acoustic guitar
Mic : ???

I'm not too sure how many mics I'll need, I'm looking to achieve the best possible sound / atmosphere for the recording.

Thank you,
Milan
 
DAW; Reaper. it's dirt cheap and will do pretty much everything that every other DAW will do.

Interface; i may be wrong but i've not seen many interfaces with built in EQ's etc but, tbh, most in the box (ITB) eq plugins will do a sterling job. in terms of interfaces with at least three in's that can all take guitar leads as well as mics i'd say the Akai EIE or the Presonus Audiobox 44VSL. the presonus does have EQ, compression and reverb available for headphone monitoring but i don't think it records with the effects on (although it may be worth having a look)

Speakers; not my forté, i'll leave that to other members with more experience but i've heard good things about the KRK rokit 6 and i'm very tempted by the Adam A3X and RCA Ayra 6 atm

Heaphones; if you're using just for tracking, then go with something that's comfortable with good isolation. there was a whole thread on headphones on here recently so i'd suggest having a read. i've not tried any of the audio technica headphones so can't comment on the ones you've suggested i'm afraid

Mic's; it's a whole big can of worms that comes down to personal preference in the end. for what you're planning on recording i'd suggest at least a pair of SDC's and an LDC.

i've not tried/heard the PG81 but the SM81's get good reviews. i'm a huge fan of the Oktava MK012's and the sE1a's. the oktava's have something about them that makes me go "ooooh" but the sE1a's are just great solid workhorse SDC's. they've never "wowed" me but i've never had any complaints either.

in the LDC department, there are sooooooooooooooooo many and it's well worth just trying as many as you can to see what works best on your voice. without knowing what your voice sounds like it's hard to recommend specific to your needs but my standard list goes:

sEX1, sE2200a, sEZ3300a
Rode NT1a, NT2a, NTK
Neumann TLM102
AKG C214
Apex 460 (in the uk sold as Acltron HST-11a)
Avantone CK7, CV12
Blue Spark, Bluebird, Baby Bottle

Take your pick. they all have their own pro's and con's and some will work great on some voice but not another and vice verse. try as many as you can, and where you can't try, search the web for audio samples. there's plenty out there but do take them all with a pinch of salt and bare in mind that the samples are that mic on that source in that space and may sound very different in your space with your voice
 
I've used the Rode NT1a on an acoustic and vocals for a solo project and it sounded great. I'm sure it would also sound good with any stringed instrument as well, but don't have any experience there. For piano you should look into a good stereo pair of mics to get a stereo recoring of the piano rather than mono. Like the post above says, there are so many choices its all really a matter of opinion and budget.

Any interface should work as long as it has enough inputs for what you will be doing. My experiences with interfaces are the Mbox2 mini and the HD896. The mbox has always worked well for me. They make a few different sizes so it may be worth a look. Honestly I'd go with something cheaper than the mbox line and use the money you save on mics. Also, many interfaces will come with their own software so it wouldn't be something else you have to buy. You could also download audacity for free to record with if you need to. I've never used it but a lot of people do.

Your software will be able to do all of your EQ work and other dynamic processing so you don't need to worry about that on the interface itself. If you really wanted eq prior to entering the interface you could buy an outboard unit but it would really be a waste.

With recording a guitar I'd recommend getting a DI box. That will give you an XLR out that can go into your interface. You could also mic an amp. An SM57 would be a standard mic for something like that.
 
Why do you need 3 inputs at once? Are you recording more than just you at the same time?

In terms of mics, there's no "one size fits all" solution for all the things you want to record... and rather than getting a slew of budget mics to suit all occasions, I would get the best large diaphragm condenser I could afford and start with that, adding a small diaphragm condenser when you come into more money.

This is assuming you're not wanting to record amplified sources, like electric guitar, which you haven't mentioned.

Also agree on Reaper. If your electric piano has audio outs (why would it not?) you can run them into your interface, or you can get a MIDI cable and probably go via your MIDI-capable interface to the PC, or both. Avoid direct MIDI connection to the PC is my advice - can be problematic with USB interface connections (just repeating what I hear, no direct experience).

The editor in Reaper is fine for MIDI if you want to add other VSTis etc.
 
Reaper

Heil mics are always over looked and under appreciated.

The major difference between an expensive interface and a budget mixer is the interface will let you record multiple sources at once and route each source to an individual track in your software. A mixer will only (usually) let you route a pair of individual sources to your software, unless you get one that has sub groups or direct outs. How many individual sources will you be recording in one take?

No drums?
 
Judging by the £ i'm gonna guess UK hmm. If I had 900£ to start again,

DAW: Cubase Elements €100, doesn't give the sterling price on the page, but I'm sure its the equiv and you've always got the upgrade option
I/face: Lexicon Omega Studio orTascam us600 but both of these come with light cubase and you've got the option to upgrade just as with elements
Speakers:These
Headphones: These
Mic: WARNING NSFW

And that should leave you nicely broke :P
 
If two mic and two line inputs wil serve you for now look at the NI Komplete audio6. You also get Cubase LE5.

Remember, you can always turn line inputs into mic inputs with a 50quid mixer at a later date. If the Humour (and cash!) comes upon you for a really tasty mic pre amp the Audient Mico has S/PDIF out and so that gives you 6 mic lines all told.

Mics? For acoustic guitar the small D capacitors are favoured. I have a pair of AKG P150s (now the P170) and I find them excellent tho' Son prefers the sound of the SM57 on AC! The mics pres on the KA6 are good enough for that (although he generally goes thru an A&H ZED10 into a 2496, nothing in it AFAICT).

Monitors? MINEFIELD! I am very happy with my Tannoy 5as. Cans? Sennheiser HD448 we find nice but then Sennys don't make any BAD headphones!

Dave.
 
RE: DAWs - I would recommend, if you're starting out, that you download various trials of different DAWs, play around in them and see which one makes the most sense to you. The thing I've discovered with DAWs, is that most of them have equal capability, but only a few of them (for me) fit my workflow style and allow me to just create without the frustration of the DAWs individual quirks.

I've used FL Studio, Ableton, Sequel, Cubase, Audacity and finally settled on Studio One 2 because SO2 was the first DAW I used where I didn't have to go searching for functions and troubleshoot 15 different clunky interface quirks whenever I wanted to do something specific.

IMO, while suggestions from others about which specific DAW to use are great, only YOU will be able to figure out which one is for YOU.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top