Need help expanding my home-recording setup.

[Josh2000]

Lately I've been miking guitar and vocals through the small line-input on my soundcard into Cubase. I'm still getting the hang of it, but the quality so far is terrible, and from what I understand, there's not much I can do to improve it when I'm recording straight into a line input. So, I'm looking to buy some additional equipment to improve sound quality without breaking the bank. There are two main things I've been considering: Buying a 4-track tape recorder and/or getting an audio interface for my computer.

I've heard that many home recording artists use 4-tracks because they're cheap and provide a natural quality and "warmth" that you can't get by recording straight to your computer, and that's something I definitely want. And a new audio interface with a few mic imputs and MIDI in/out looks good too.

I have a few questions before I invest in any of these though:

1. Would the material I recorded on the 4-track's quality be reduced when I transferred it through the line-in into Cubase?

2. Would mixing and mastering the tracks inside Cubase take away from the natural quality and "warmth" that the four-track would provide?

3. Would the 4-track even be necessary if the external audio interface had as good/better recording quality?

4. Is there an easier or CHEAPER way I could record at a higher quality?

As you can see, I don't much about audio signals and whatnot, so I need to get a few things clear before I buy something. I'm also looking for recommendations on any of the equipment I may need, but keep in mind I'm on a really tight budget, so I'd like to get the best quality-for-price value.

Thanks in advace.

 

[Ronan]

Go the 4 track route!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4 tracks are fun, sound cool and you will learn a ton working with it. You can actually mix down to your computer with the line input if you want.

The 4 track and a couple mics and a cheap reverb should get you up and making music. 4 tracks sound good if you record to them really hot, so do not be afraid to let those red lights at the top of the meter see some action.

 

[chessrock]

1. Would the material I recorded on the 4-track's quality be reduced when I transferred it through the line-in into Cubase?

Theoretically, yes. In a 'real-world' sense, it shouldn't, as long as your sound card is of a good quality, and you're using proper gain-staging and recording at a high enough resolution.

2. Would mixing and mastering the tracks inside Cubase take away from the natural quality and "warmth" that the four-track would provide?

If you do a really sloppy, half-assed job of it. Which you probably will, since you're a beginner. Just kidding. Hey, no offense. We all sucked when we first started out. Anyone who says otherwise is lying.

3. Would the 4-track even be necessary if the external audio interface had as good/better recording quality?

Maybe / maybe not. If you feel comfortable recording with your audio interface, and you feel like you can get good results with it, then your four-track will probably start collecting dust. On the other hand, if you prefer something that's more portable, or if you're not really a computer person . . . or maybe you just like using the 4-track or like it's sound . . . then hold on to it.

4. Is there an easier or CHEAPER way I could record at a higher quality?

Probably not. 4-tracks are cheap. Hell, even studio time is cheap these days.

And nothing's easy if you want to do it well.

 

[evhwanabe]

Lately I've been miking guitar and vocals through the small line-input on my soundcard into Cubase. I'm still getting the hang of it, but the quality so far is terrible, and from what I understand, there's not much I can do to improve it when I'm recording straight into a line input. So, I'm looking to buy some additional equipment to improve sound quality without breaking the bank. There are two main things I've been considering: Buying a 4-track tape recorder and/or getting an audio interface for my computer.

I've heard that many home recording artists use 4-tracks because they're cheap and provide a natural quality and "warmth" that you can't get by recording straight to your computer, and that's something I definitely want. And a new audio interface with a few mic imputs and MIDI in/out looks good too.

I have a few questions before I invest in any of these though:

1. Would the material I recorded on the 4-track's quality be reduced when I transferred it through the line-in into Cubase?

2. Would mixing and mastering the tracks inside Cubase take away from the natural quality and "warmth" that the four-track would provide?

3. Would the 4-track even be necessary if the external audio interface had as good/better recording quality?

4. Is there an easier or CHEAPER way I could record at a higher quality?

As you can see, I don't much about audio signals and whatnot, so I need to get a few things clear before I buy something. I'm also looking for recommendations on any of the equipment I may need, but keep in mind I'm on a really tight budget, so I'd like to get the best quality-for-price value.

Thanks in advace.

If you recorded on the 4 track then mixed down to cubase, your soundcard would still be your weakest link. Yeah you can get decent results just using the 4 track, but it would be much easier going the interface route. Unless you bounce down to 1 or 2 tracks on the 4 track then throw it into cubase, you will never get the 4 individual tracks to line up correctly, because the tape never plays back at the same speed and over the course of a song you could be off a couple secs at the end. What I mean by this is that if you recorded 4 separate tracks 1-4. Then played back just track 1 and recorded it into cubase repeating this process for tracks 2-4, they won't line up.
Just something to think about......

If you are new to recording and can't afford an interface, then I guess I would go the 4 track route and learn everything you can about it and how to make decent recordings. It will only help you when you decide to step up to an interface.

hope this helps

 

[bchordjam]

Man, this is just me personally, I'd stick with the computer route if you want to have some good sounding stuff. I started off with a 4 track recorder, and I spent alot of time with it, and soon enough, my stuff started sounding pretty good on it. When I switched to the computer route, it was the same thing, not as good at the start, better now, so it just takes time to get used to everything. I'm only using the mic line in on my laptop and as far as I think my stuff is sounding alright. But if you still want to go the 4 track route, I have a Tascam portastudio 414 that i'll give you a good deal on

Thomas
twywrot@hotmail.com
www.thomaswywrot.on.to

 

[Josh2000]

Thanks everyone. I think I'll go with the audio interface now, as the 4-track doesn't seem to offer much that I'd use.

Can anyone recommend me a good one? I'd like it to have at least two mic inputs and MIDI in/out.

 

[REC]

Help set up

Do you know how to hook up a vs 840 ex to a lap top rechouse@yahoo.com

 

[cobaltblue]

I started learning on a Zoom MRS4, cost me $250, is essentially a four track but digital, has loads of inbuilt processors, compressors, limiters, etc etc and is great fun, great sounding and cheap! I started out importing individual tracks into cubase via an M-audio Transit USB soundcard which is 2in and 2 out for around $70 and provides 24bit resolution.

Once in cubase, regardless to what someone said earlier (sorry) I had the patience to manually line the tracks up by simply magnifying the wave and keep shifting it till it lines up, time consuming sometimes but once you get the hang of it you've got infinate number of tracks you can import into cubase and mix!

me two cents worth

 

[Josh2000]

Thanks cobaltblue.

I'm fairly experienced in Cubase, so I'm sure I could manage.

As for the audio interface, the Tascam US-122 seems popular for beginners, and pretty inexpensive for all that it offers. I'll do a bit more shopping before I decide on that, though.