Need advice on buying better quality gear

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brainofj

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I am currently using a soundblaster live 1024 card, which i think only gives me 16bit recording. I want to buy a better soundcard, but not sure on what to get. I use a tascam 414 portastudio connected to my pc. I am looking for a more proffesional set-up, but probably only spend about 200-300 pounds maximum on a card.

Some advice from any experienced people would be much appreciated. Thanks J
 
Look at the delta series cards and or interfaces.
Good quality at a good price {within your budget}
If you only need a stereo input because you track into the tascam and transfer to the PC, the audiophile would be a good choice.

www.m-audio.com
 
Would it be better to get a card with a lot of inputs?? Do you get such a thing, are they within my price range? Say a 16-track card. Or is it the norm to use a mixer. Would i get good results using my 4-track into the cards you have mentioned. I have transformed my basement into a home studio and want to move on a bit from 16-bit recording.
 
in or around your price range- cards are gonna top out at 8 analog inputs- beware- manufacturers like to say ther card has for example 6 inputs- BUT one is midi and another is digital (spdif) so unless you are gonna use those you really only have 4 analog ins- its not that they're liers- what they say is true- but just maybe not what you need- i picked up a m-audio delta 1010LT for $250usd- not sure how that translates to british- thats 10 in, 10out- BUT that includes a midi in and out and a spdif in and out- so i really only got 8 analog inputs and outputs- Im diggin it though. most decent cards are 24 bit 96kHz- if you wanna record mics on each channel though you will need preamp(s) the 1010LT has 2 which leaves ya on your own for the other 6 analog ins- your tascam could provide a few more preamps- but eventually if you want to track on your computer you will need an external mixer ( or enough pres to run each channel simultaneously) all depends on what your tryin to record-

-hope that helps- what kind of music are you recording- rock and roll- hip hop?- how many tracks do you need or want to be able to do at once?

-jeff
 
There's really only one thing to say about the basic question in the title of the thread: "... buying better quality gear".

Buy it right, or buy it twice.

Examine your budget, examine where you want to be creatively in a few years, and buy gear that will truly serve your needs over the period that you can foresee. Nobody can really see the future, but the site here is littered with stories of folks who "saved a few bucks" getting a short term solution- and then later ended up buying what they really _needed_, and were then stuck with the short term solution (since nobody would buy it, there's not much resale value...). In short, they got to buy it twice.

And I'm one of them. I have gear here that I bought when getting back into this that has no value at all, and had to be replaced with what I _should_ have bought to begin with. Cost me a lot more that way. It's a hard lesson.

Buy the best quality gear that you can afford. Try and widen your focus to take in where you're likely to be in a year, or two years, and buy stuff that will still serve you once you're there.

Get educated, buy the best value you can afford, but never cut corners: it's your art, and you really don't want to spend your precious creative time having to hack around limitations of hardware that seemed like a bargain. Been there, done that, wear the T-shirt to change the oil in my car.

Having said that: Kremitmusic was right. What do you want to do, and what do you need to do it? Focus on where you want to be, not where you are...
 
I generally record myself playing guitar and bass, and my mate on drums. We are mostly into rock/heavy rock. This just started off as a hobbie kind of thing, but have found out that i really enjoy doing the actual recording and would love to do this as a full time thing recording other musicians. Would love to do live recordings of a full band. This is the set-up i have just now....Tascam414, PC with 60Gig Hard Drive, 128 memeory, 700 processor running Cubase 5 vst and a set of speakers and a cd writer. My p.c can be upgraded no probs. What kind of set-up would most suit me, and how much would i need to spend? bearing in mind that i am looking for a good quality set-up. p.s you can check out a little answerphone message i recorded at www.nowhereradio.com/milesy under the alternative section.
 
as far as simultaneous recordable tracks goes- the drums are most likey be your deciding factor- cause 2 tracks just aint enough in most all cases- for drumms you'll probably want at least 4 ins- maybe even go for 8- what i mlookin at now is 2 overheads, a kick and a snare mic- (still waitin for my mixer so i havent tried this yet)pretty much any decent card made for recording is gonna give 24/96 operation

-jeff
 
What set-up do you have? What type of mixer, cables etc.
 
-->delta 1010lt- 8 analog ins
-->gotta Soundcraft M8 on the way-should be here in a few days
-->cables are a mish mash of accquired cables from GC, Radio shack etc from over the years- hosa 13' 8 cord snake cable from the card to the mixer- make no dillusions- you WILL spend $100s on cables- maybe not today- but you will keep on needing more- especially as your set continues to grow- home recordist are adicts of sorts
--> oktava small diaphram condensors for overhead (2)
--> shure sm57 on snare (got a couple of those)
--> stick somethin in the kick until i get a *real* kick mic
--> the old behringer mixer is about to become the headphone mix
--> CEP 2.0
--> P3 933, 256 ram, 60gig, not much installed- my fast computer is on the network upstaris- it has the burner in it so files go over the network to be burnd - i realized the limitation of that yesterday- burner will probably be gettin moved

..that swhat i use just for drums- got other stuff for other purposes- but for instance- the 57 can end up on the guitar cabs- the bass rigs usually have direct outs so you dont need a mic there, ive gotten ok results with the 57 on vocals too- workin on gettin a decent vocal mic- ive got a few pieces of outboard stuff that probably wont get used once my mixer is here- compresors, 2 channel Art preamp

hope thats helps ya

-jeff
 
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