Multitrack recording

[sbuter]

Multitrack home recording (no PC)

Hi there,

Here's the thing: I got a PC at home with cubase to edit/mix/etc. recordings. But most of my gear is in a shed about a mile from where i live.
What i wanna do is record drums, guitars, bass, vocals, etc. separately in that shed on a (HD?) recorder, plug the recorder in my PC at home and start editing and putting pieces together in cubase.

Question is: What HD recorder is recommended for multitrack recording? I got about 4 mic's so i would need 4 tracks i'm guessing...? Also I prolly will end up recording about 6 different tracks for a song (drums, vocals, backing vocals, guitar 1, guitar 2, bass) I do own a simple 4-track mixer to put all mics in if necessary.

I've been looking at the Tascam Portastudio DP-01FX HD Recorder but i'm not quite sure if that fits my needs.
What i do need is: metronome built in, playback of a recorded track through headphones so i can record the next track and it shouldn't be too heavy cause i need to carry it around on a bike

Thanks in advance!

 

[Minion]

What not get a Small 4 input Recording interface and a Laptop then you can record your Drums and Guitars and everything in the shed and then take the Laptop back home and do the Mixing ect....

You don"t need to have a Very Fast Laptop to record 4 inputs at the same time and it would probably be smaller and Lighter and easier to use than a standalone recorder and maybe even cheaper.....

You coupld probably get a 4 to 8 input Firewire interface (FirePod??) and a Cheap older Laptop for under $1000 total that will enable you to do what you want to do....


Good Luck

 

[sbuter]

thanks for your reply.

The recorder i mentioned is 477,- euro, so a laptop would always be more expensive i guess. I do have an old laptop though (about 1ghz, 256mb ram, i'll try 2morrow if it'll run cubase sx 3).

But, if i connect the 4-track mixer on the Line-in of this laptop, i would get the same result as using a standalone HD recorder? If so, it would be crazy to buy such a thing.

 

[ssscientist]

I've been looking at the Tascam Portastudio DP-01FX HD Recorder but i'm not quite sure if that fits my needs. What i do need is: metronome built in, playback of a recorded track through headphones so i can record the next track and it shouldn't be too heavy cause i need to carry it around on a bike

The Tascam is a good choice because it's easy to use and is nice and light. You won't have much trouble finding a good shoulder bag or backpack that suits a two mile bike ride.

It has a USB port to transfer tracks to your computer, and if you have a CD burner in your computer already and are planning to do all of your mixing and editing there you could get by with the plain vanilla model linked HERE.

If you're going to carry it on your bike in varying weather conditions, you might want to consider at least a bag if not a case of some description for it.


.

 

[drewz0r]

Keep in mind that even though you only have 8 tracks, you can always bounce them as one. So if you have stuff on Tracks 1, 2, 3, and 4... you could combine them all to 1 to free up more tracks. Of course this means you can't edit them anymore (so make sure they are PERFECT!).. but hey, more tracks!

Theres just something to make you feel a bit better about buying it if you decide to.

 

[sbuter]

Thanks for your replies. I tried my laptop but it doesn't even have a proper Line-in. Only Line-out and MIC-in.

about those 8-tracks: that's per song right? I mean: i can record up to 8 tracks for 1 song, create a new session, and have another 8 tracks to record a new song?
Or is it: record 8 tracks, go home, put them on your PC, go back, record another 8 tracks for a different song, go home, etc...

And 1 more question: i don't need those extra XLR-phantom-powered connections (no clue what they're for ) on the DP-01FX version?

 

[Bill Furnett]

I would get the phantom power model, because chances are you'll want to be able to use a condenser mic at some point soon after getting the basics of recording under your belt. There are many kinds of condenser mics for various uses and they range in quality and price from maybe $50 to thousands.

Most likely when you envision a recording studio or have seen one in a video the singer is probally standing in front of a very expensive condeser mic. When you see a video of a band playing live, the singer is most likely NOT using one. I can't really think of a way to describe the difference between a condenser mic and a non condenser except a condenser tends to be "Fuller" sounding and much more "sensitive". To learn more use the search feature on this site and be sure to read the mic sticky in the the mic forum.

XLR is the type of jack/plug.

Phantom power means the machine has the feature that allows a small amount of electricity to be sent through the mic cable to power a condenser mic, that is not to say all mics need this and it doesn't mean you can only use the type of mic that does. You can also get a seperate phantom power unit to do the same thing, but it's just one more thing to carry and plug in.

The concept of phantom power at first might seem strange, but it can be roughly likened to when you plug a device into to your USB port and the light comes on on the device.

 

[ssscientist]

about those 8-tracks: that's per song right? I mean: i can record up to 8 tracks for 1 song, create a new session, and have another 8 tracks to record a new song?

Yes.

The Tascams have HUGE hard drives capable of storing several albums worth of material.

If you do intend on getting one, be sure you're not carrying precious tracks inside the machine. Settle on a backup strategy right away, and use it religiously.


.

 

[sbuter]

Thanks for the info all.

The last two days i've been searching the internet (these forums, other forums, google, etc.) like mad, and i decided to first try things with my rather old laptop. I already installed Cubase on it with ASIO4ALL and recorded from my PC into the MIC-IN (cause it's lacking a Line-IN ) of the laptop: the sound was quite allright.
But i guess the main thing is that it's so easy to redo recordings, adding new tracks, cutting, editing, etc. with the laptop right on the spot in cubase than with any other standalone recorder, as it's going to be imported in cubase anyway.

So i'm going to a large shop in germany (www.musik-produktiv.de i live in the netherlands btw) tomorrow and am getting at least (don't you start laughing now ) the 3-pack behringer xm1800s mics, an AKG K 55 closed headphone and a Behringer FCA202 firewire audio interface. I already got a 4-track AMP and a 4 track mixer to put the MIC's in, so that should be all I need atm.
This will cost me only about 150,- euro's... That's the kind of money i don't mind losing if the recordings turn out to noise only

From there I'll probably learn what stuff to get in the future, what to do, what NOT to do, etc.

Anyway, thanks for all your help so far...

 

[ssscientist]

a Behringer FCA202 firewire audio interface.

Be sure you have a firewire port on your laptop.

If you do it's probably a 4-pin which requires a different cable than the 6-pin desktops.


.

 

[sbuter]

Well, got the FCA202 up and running. In it's own control panel it says default 8ms latency. In cubase sx3 Input is @ 38ms and output @ 17ms! ...
I tried the Asio4all driver: puts latency for both @ 13ms but no OUTPUT sound whatsoever... so that ain't gonna work either.

Think i'm gonna return it and get the Edirol UA-1EX and see if that one's better.

One question though: Why does the FCA202 ASIO driver have non-synced latencies while the ASIO4ALL driver does? Maybe there's an option to fix this?

 

[sbuter]

Well, it's 3am here, and i just recorded 3 songs with my new gear...
As you all have been very helpfull, i'd like to share these recordings with you cause i think the quality is not all THAT bad (i'm not saying it's decent, it's just not only noise... )
I didn't edit anything yet like the loads of noise. (i think my pre-amp produces that )

Well, here we go (rightclick / save would be best...):
Radiohead - The Bends (- very bad synced bass, I blame it on the vodka...)
Nirvana - Lounge Act
Smashing Pumpkins - Cherub Rock (- adding solo later when i figured it out)

I know i'm not the best bass -drum or guitar player or singer, but i'm learning...

Anywayz, hope you appreciate it.

 

[sbuter]

I re-recorded "The Bends" from Radiohead and "Lounge Act" from Nirvana (see my links above, they're updated) cause the first recordings could improve alot.
I did a mixdown in Cubase and did a "noise restoration" in Adobe Audition 2.0 (man, that tool is amazing!)

I know there are still a few messups in the songs due to my playing/singing, but i think the quality off the recordings have improved alot. One thing i did (which i read on this forum) is to put all bass/middle/treble on the pre-amp to zero for the instruments, i think it really did improve the sound of them.

Any suggestions on getting the sound/quality better are very much welcome.

I still need to get my latency in cubase fixed tho: input says 38ms, output 17ms. So that's a 21ms difference and i think that's too much to get things really tight or am i wrong?