new to recording

Stark444

Stark444

New member
i want to set up some recording equipment, and im having difficulty deciding the next step. i bought the book that a lot of people on these forums suggest, "home recording for musicians for dummies." ive recorded a little in the past on a tascam us-144 http://www.tascam.com/products/us-144.html and id liked to stick with something similar since it allows you to make changes a little easier later on. so, i bought a new puter http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=5013689&sku=B69-0118 and im going to double the ram and get a secondary HD. id also like to upgrade from the 144 to something with more channels so i can record a drum set in a broader way. i was looking at 8 channels. this leaves me with this idea: http://www.tascam.com/products/us-1641.html ...this comes with cubase, which i have used before, but id like to make the switch to pro tools. im not sure if the 1641 is compatible with pro tools, because when i check out their site, it looks to me like you have to buy their interfaces. is this true? sorry if this should be posted in the pro tools section, but i also thought it was a bit newbish. if it is true, and i have to buy their hardware with their software, then im not sure where to go from here. it would seem that it would cost me more as well. i tried looking around on their site, but the only thing i could find that would fit my wants/needs is this http://www.digidesign.com/index.cfm?langid=51&navid=464 which is a bit pricey. is their another option? what do u guys recommend? keep in mind that i chose the switch to pro tools because it seems to be the standard meaning i will get more help. and keep in mind that id like 8 channels to record a drum kit close to its entirety.

thanks in advance!
 
see, im not sure how much more it offers. im going by what i hear, and what i hear is that PT is the standard. if its the standard, then im sure i will have better luck getting support and finding reading material/classes. is that a safe assumption?
 
every audio engineering school in my state uses friggin pro tools. so yes thats a very safe assumption lol.

im actually kinda disappointed that i have to start using it :/
 
well, do any of you know how similar Cubase is to PT? because, im thinking the right choice for me, right now, is to just get that Tascam us-1641 that comes with cubase. its only $400, and if i decide that recording will become a more serious hobby in the future, then i can make the expensive switch later on...when im ready. if/when that day comes, and if Cubase is pretty similar, then the switch shouldnt be too difficult. sound like the right move?
 
Stark444 said:
well, do any of you know how similar Cubase is to PT? because, im thinking the right choice for me, right now, is to just get that Tascam us-1641 that comes with cubase. its only $400, and if i decide that recording will become a more serious hobby in the future, then i can make the expensive switch later on...when im ready. if/when that day comes, and if Cubase is pretty similar, then the switch shouldnt be too difficult. sound like the right move?
Click to expand...


If you start with Cubase, I doubt you would want to switch to anything else in the future. You might want to upgrade to newer revs of Cubase as your needs increase. Pretty much all DAW's perform the same functions to the same level of quality. The Cubase that comes with the interface will probably be a Lite version of Cubase, but still very functional and will probably be all you need.

PT is expensive and requires propietary interfaces; Digidesign, M-Audio, or whatevers. I don't think it does the job any better than any other DAW out there. I have no experience with it, so I might be wrong. But I do know I've been using Cubase with no desire to run anything else. Acually, someone gave me Sonar 8 PE (yes gave, it's not pirated software) and I'm still using the same old Cubase SE3 that I've been using for years. :D

Don't let the "Industry Standard" phrase suck you into the marketing hype.

just my opinion....
 
Firewire

Maybe get a Fire wire Card (make sure its Texas Instruments chipset) and then you have many great options, Alesis io26 looks good but RME make some more expensive ones too.. They double as digital mixers and have ADAT expandability to add more pre's (up to 24 inputs).. they deal with all your monitoring needs too so maybe no mixer needed..
 
Chili said:
If you start with Cubase, I doubt you would want to switch to anything else in the future. You might want to upgrade to newer revs of Cubase as your needs increase. Pretty much all DAW's perform the same functions to the same level of quality. The Cubase that comes with the interface will probably be a Lite version of Cubase, but still very functional and will probably be all you need.

PT is expensive and requires propietary interfaces; Digidesign, M-Audio, or whatevers. I don't think it does the job any better than any other DAW out there. I have no experience with it, so I might be wrong. But I do know I've been using Cubase with no desire to run anything else. Acually, someone gave me Sonar 8 PE (yes gave, it's not pirated software) and I'm still using the same old Cubase SE3 that I've been using for years. :D

Don't let the "Industry Standard" phrase suck you into the marketing hype.

just my opinion....
Click to expand...

I love Sonar 8 and wish Id bought PE instead of Studio but I tell you what..I wish they'd stop adding things on and worked on what they already had..and I suspect many feel that about their DAWs..I mean have you seen the price of Ableton Suite? there's no chance its going to be your only go to for plugins..In fact I doubt you'll use most of them unless you've purchased nothing before

Truth is many of the programs were fine many versions ago...now its all about getting more cash than more stability
 
Stark444 said:
see, im not sure how much more it offers. im going by what i hear, and what i hear is that PT is the standard. if its the standard, then im sure i will have better luck getting support and finding reading material/classes. is that a safe assumption?
Click to expand...

There should be an easy way to explain this, but I know I'm going to go off on a complete tangent and waffle on, so bear with me :)

Any PT specific tutorials are only going to be specific in the sense of pushing buttons, the way things are laid out on the screen, PT specific plugins, etc.

In terms of recording or mixing, it shouldn't make much of a difference whether you're recording to tape, ADAT, Cubase, Sonar, Logic, PT LE, PT HD, etc etc. Once you have the technique (and there is no one mixing technique - its all down to how you percieve the mix and can work with the tools you have available) then you should be able to apply that to any situation.

So if you refer to reading material such as "How to Get a Good Drum Sound In Pro Tools" (which in itself is a silly idea) then that's the wrong reason for chosing PT, because in this example...

a) There isn't one "good drum sound"
b) There isn't one way to achieve something
c) Anything you can do in Pro Tools, you can do in something else


But if you refer to reading material that teaches you how to use Pro Tools in the sense of learning all the buttons, icons, menus, etc, then that also seems a silly idea to me for another set of reasons...

a) However scary a DAW looks, you can pick up how to use it surprisingly fast. Before you know it, keyboard shortcuts will be embedded in your head and you wont even have to think before clicking on that tiny cryptic icon which brings up the menu you know off by heart... you probably won't even have to look at any tutorials.
b) Once you've learnt the basic concepts of one DAW, its fairly simple to get your head around another. Might take a few hours of fiddling, but its nothing to lose sleep over.
c) All the big DAWs come with really comprehensive documentation that can help you out if you can't find something.



So far I have managed to write a lot but come to very few conclusions.

Basically, it shouldn't matter what DAW you have so long that it doesn't hinder you in what you want to achieve (this is where it gets very tricky to explain), and if someone told me that they found Cubase or Sonar limiting in any way, I would be quite surprised. And if you can't get a good mix in Reaper, then you certainly won't get a good mix in Pro Tools!

If a DAW offers you all the routing options, plugin compatibility, functionality, etc that you can expect (which they all pretty much do), all that sets them apart is: performance and stability (and most of them are very streamlined and stable), the user interface (which comes down to personal preference), and I can't think of much else. Of course they all try and flaunt their own tit-for-tat 'unique' features, but I can't think of any hugely unique selling points that sets one DAW way ahead of the others. The days have gone when you would chose a DAW because one could handle 10 tracks of audio and the other could handle 12! Nowadays its just given that whatever you pick up is likely to cope up to 192khz/24bit at whatever track count your hardware is capable. Now they just squabble over tiny insignificant MIDI features and plugin gimmicks...


Again I have reached a point where I look back and realise I've written a lot, but most of it is murmured ranting and pointless muttering.



My $0.02...

Pro Tools LE just seems like a waste of money to me. It wants to be PT HD... but it isn't.


I'd recommend spending the money on either Cubase or Sonar, paired up with a middle-of-the-line interface (RME, Motu, etc).
 
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mattr said:
There should be an easy way to explain this, but I know I'm going to go off on a complete tangent and waffle on, so bear with me :)

Any PT specific tutorials are only going to be specific in the sense of pushing buttons, the way things are laid out on the screen, PT specific plugins, etc.

In terms of recording or mixing, it shouldn't make much of a difference whether you're recording to tape, ADAT, Cubase, Sonar, Logic, PT LE, PT HD, etc etc. Once you have the technique (and there is no one mixing technique - its all down to how you percieve the mix and can work with the tools you have available) then you should be able to apply that to any situation.

So if you refer to reading material such as "How to Get a Good Drum Sound In Pro Tools" (which in itself is a silly idea) then that's the wrong reason for chosing PT, because in this example...

a) There isn't one "good drum sound"
b) There isn't one way to achieve something
c) Anything you can do in Pro Tools, you can do in something else


But if you refer to reading material that teaches you how to use Pro Tools in the sense of learning all the buttons, icons, menus, etc, then that also seems a silly idea to me for another set of reasons...

a) However scary a DAW looks, you can pick up how to use it surprisingly fast. Before you know it, keyboard shortcuts will be embedded in your head and you wont even have to think before clicking on that tiny cryptic icon which brings up the menu you know off by heart... you probably won't even have to look at any tutorials.
b) Once you've learnt the basic concepts of one DAW, its fairly simple to get your head around another. Might take a few hours of fiddling, but its nothing to lose sleep over.
c) All the big DAWs come with really comprehensive documentation that can help you out if you can't find something.



So far I have managed to write a lot but come to very few conclusions.

Basically, it shouldn't matter what DAW you have so long that it doesn't hinder you in what you want to achieve (this is where it gets very tricky to explain), and if someone told me that they found Cubase or Sonar limiting in any way, I would be quite surprised. And if you can't get a good mix in Reaper, then you certainly won't get a good mix in Pro Tools!

If a DAW offers you all the routing options, plugin compatibility, functionality, etc that you can expect (which they all pretty much do), all that sets them apart is: performance and stability (and most of them are very streamlined and stable), the user interface (which comes down to personal preference), and I can't think of much else. Of course they all try and flaunt their own tit-for-tat 'unique' features, but I can't think of any hugely unique selling points that sets one DAW way ahead of the others. The days have gone when you would chose a DAW because one could handle 10 tracks of audio and the other could handle 12! Nowadays its just given that whatever you pick up is likely to cope up to 192khz/24bit at whatever track count your hardware is capable. Now they just squabble over tiny insignificant MIDI features and plugin gimmicks...


Again I have reached a point where I look back and realise I've written a lot, but most of it is murmured ranting and pointless muttering.



My $0.02...

Pro Tools LE just seems like a waste of money to me. It wants to be PT HD... but it isn't.


I'd recommend spending the money on either Cubase or Sonar, paired up with a middle-of-the-line interface (RME, Motu, etc).
Click to expand...

very good post..Id only add that the one you pick first is prolly the one you'll end up using forever other than updates..they all pretty much have the same learning curve
 
well put guys. you have definitely helped with my decision. so, ill probably end up getting that 1641 that comes with cubase LE4. ill get another 2G stick of RAM and a TB hard drive. then all ill need is some new mics, and ill be good for a while...im hoping
 
Stark444 said:
well put guys. you have definitely helped with my decision. so, ill probably end up getting that 1641 that comes with cubase LE4. ill get another 2G stick of RAM and a TB hard drive. then all ill need is some new mics, and ill be good for a while...im hoping
Click to expand...

Well, good luck with it. G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) is an incurable condition and the only treatment is very expensive.
 
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