Laptop, USB 2.0, and the US-122

  • Thread starter Thread starter bellman
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bellman

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Hello All,

I'm new to the home recording stuff so please bare with me if some of these questions are a little remedial.

I just got a laptop (2.8 Ghz, 512MB, USB 2.0, NO firewire) and would like to do some recording. After some research here it sounds like the US-122 is a favorite for people who need a USB solution and are on a budget (under $300, like me). Is this a correct assumption? Are there any affordable (again, under $300) USB 2.0 solutions or am I just better off with the 122?

My goal is to record my band, preferably through multi-tracking but if I can only use 2 I'll live with it for now. (We are 5 piece, 2 guitars, bass, drums, vocalist)

Thanks for your help.
 
hmm i don't think you will be able to get all of your band recorded in one take with USB. The US122 is a solid sound card though. It has never given me any problems. When doing your drums you will probably need to rent/get a mixer. You will need more than 2 mics to the drums and the US122 can only handle 2 at once. One option may be to check out echo soundcards. They have a PCIMCIA (or whatever the hell the acronym is) and can be hooked up other than USB for a lap top. may be worth looking at.
 
Thanks, I will look into the Echo cards as well. Our drummer also has an electronic set that could be used as a MIDI input I guess, but I prefer the acoustic drums. Although I have heard some of the midi drum kits out there are pretty damn realistic. Any thoughts?
 
what computer software are you planning on using to record? keep in mind that even though those electric drums send midi, that is not actual sound. you will need a synth to take that midi data and turn it into a drum sound. programs like sonar and cubase allow you to use DXi and VSTi, which are softsynths. These plug ins take the midi data and produce an audio output. do a search and check out:
Drumkit from hell
BFD drums
These are a collection of drum samples to be used with a sampling synth. This sampler also comes with sonar Producer Edition.
 
I'm most likely going to go with Cubase. I've played around with that in the past (not much though) and I have a friend who swears by it, so..

Ok, I stand corrected about the drums. The BFD is AMAZING!!!
 
ya it is sweet eh...

i just wish i had 300 bucks to spend on something like that.... not likely right now though
 
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