New to recording

[speeddemon279]

Hey there!


im pretty new to recording and i want to set up a home studio in my room
For a while i have been hanging out with a friend that has his home studio, ive learned a few things about monitors and interfaces, protools different plugins and all that good jazz. To start building my studio i want to know what it is i need to get very high quality recordings again i am new to this but i really want to learn and jump on the ball i from the bit ive learned i was thinking of getting the Digi 003 with , the yahamha hs80 monitors and subwoofer, im not sure what type of computer i need or if i need a midi controller or what mic i should invest on: if some one could please help me get started id greatly appreciate it

Thankyou

 

[Jeff_D]

What do you want to record?
How much you want to spend?
What gear do you have already?

We can go from there...

 

[speeddemon279]

I want to record metal/ screamo vocals and singing too aswell as some techno/ synth

i want to record guitar and bass and im

looking into using virtual drums, i have a budget of $10,000

and i have no gear yet whatsoever

 

[Jeff_D]

Do you have guitars/basses and amps? Do you have a synth or keyboard or whatever (thats out of my realm- I know nothing about midi or synths).

In order of source to recording, you'll need...
source (guitar or your mouth) --> microphone --> Preamp --> Computer Interface --> software --> monitoring


Also, gotta decide how many simultaneous tracks you want to record. If you arent doing live drums, then 4-8 is fine. If you want to do live drums, you'll quickly decide you want more than 8 ins.

MICS- There are plenty of options for mics. Check out the mic forum. For vocal mics, LD Condensers that come to mind would be Octava 319, of Studio Projects C1. LD dynamics to consider would be Shure SM7 or EV RE20. To mic a guitar amp, Shure sm57 or an Audix I5 is a fine place to start. Its pretty common to run the bass direct from the bass amp to the preamp/interface, but you could mic a bass too. Seriously, check the mic forum- LOTS of options.

PREAMP / INTERFACE The Digi003 combines the "preamp" and the "interface" into one box. It looks like the digi003 can do 8 simultaneous tracks, but it only has 4 preamps- so if you want more than 4 mics at once, you'll need additional external preamps.

SOFTWARE Of course, the "recording software" would be ProTool, which would come with the Digi.

-------------------------------------------
There are plenty of other viable options out there other than ProTools. In fact, the only reason I can think of for you to go that route is if your buddy already has a ProTools setup and you want to be able to take projects back and forth.
An alternative would be something like a Presonus FireStudio or MOTU 8Pre and Reaper.
------------------------------------------

Monitoring; You'll need a good set of monitors to mix with. I wouldnt spend less than $500 or get less than a 8" driver. I'd skip the subwoofer. In a well treated room with good monitors, you shouldnt need it. You'll also probably want a set of headphones for listening while you're tracking or overdubbing- I wouldnt spend more than $40 on headphones for tracking. All of your critical listening and mixing should be done at volume with the monitors.

ROOM; This is where most people fuck up. They buy thousands of dollars worth of really nice gear and they wonder why their mix sounds like shit when the listen to it in the car. No matter what you are recording, no matter how nice your gear is, DONT SKIP THIS STEP. Setting up and treating your room will cost you less than that Digi, fuck it'll cost less than a good vocal mic, but it'll make your life much easier and your new hobby much more enjoyable. Generally, you want your desk set up symetrically in the room, with at minimum treatment at the first monitor reflection points and and in the corners to tame bass. And forget about foam or Auralex. Rigid fiberglass framed in wood and wrapped with cloth is the only way to go.

$10,000 is a little ridiculous to get started in my opinion- I assume you were kidding about that. Get the basics set up, figure where your weakness are and buy more from there...

You could write a whole fucking book on this topic (and people have), so that above is pretty much my 2c in a nutshell.

Hope it helps...

 

[speeddemon279]

Thanks alot man all the info really helped and im glad i have an idea of what i could do and what i shouldnt do lol

i wont be recording live drums and i have 1 guitar and 1 bass and i was thinking of usuing virtual amp plugins instead of micing up amps

for recording with mics ill check out the forums

i just want to have high quality recordings, im really not to sure what preamps are and when it comes to the digi 003 does fire wire mean that its a firewire sound card connected from my computer to the digi 003? and in comparison to firewire does usb 2.0 give beter quality than fire wire or PCI? i was reading up on sound cards and some people dont use audio interfaces but they connect mixers to thier sound cards what gives better quality and whats the difference

ive also read up about the DAC's if i get the digi 003 does it have its own sound card that i hook up the computer and are the If the card has a great DAC and a crap driver it is a worthless?

and im kinda confused about the monitors if you could get more in depth with that, i went to guitar center and they told me the best mixing monitors they had were the yamaha Hs80s im not sure if i was being riped off or what but how do i make a decision on getting the right monitors?


as for setting up the room ill look into the Rigid fiberglass framed in wood and wrapped with cloth, but i got lost when you talked about placing the desk symetrical and the position of the the monitors, and if im doing virtual instruments would it really affect the recordings?

 

[Jeff_D]

Couple things...

a mic preamp is a device the amplifies the low signal from a microphone to a "line level" signal that a sound card would require. There are alot of types of preamps from the pres built into a cheap mixer to stand alone high end pres that go for thousands of dollars EACH. Alot of people like to use separate sounds card and preamps so they can use their different pres. Typically the pres built into an "interface" cant be bypassed.

You can use the preamps in a mixer to feed the line inputs of a soundcard. For instance- I have a Soundcraft M8 mixer- each mic pre channel has direct outs- I run a cable from each direct out to each input on my MAudio Delta 1010lt PCI soundcard installed in my computer.

Using an "interface" like the Digi or the Presonus FireStudio combines the preamps and "soundcard" into one box- that just plugs into your firewire port. Very easy to set up. The Digi has a bit of an advantage, because, although it only has 4 prea, it also has 4 line level ins that you can connect external preamps (of course, that means you'll have to buy more preamps lol).

So,,, your options...

mic--> mixer --> soundcard (installed in PCI slot in your computer)

or

mic--> stand-alone preamp--> soundcard (installed in PCI slot in your computer)

--or--

mic--> "Interface" --> connected to computer firewire port.

As far as quality, firewire vs usb will not affect the "quality" of the sound transmitted through it. Only the speed, and consequently the amount of tracks its capable of carrying. MOST interfaces are firewire.

ADC / DAC are digital to analog or analog to digital converters. These will typically be found in your interface or in your soundcard (some high end systems use separate converters like the Appogee stuff- VERY expensive stuff- not where I'd start. I think you'll find the sound you get out of a stand alone interface or mixer/soundcard to be quite good. For someone starting out, they DEFINITELY wont be your limiting factor lol .

I havent bought monitors lately- the set I have now are Event TR8s that I bought new for $500 about 7 years ago. The are "active" or "powered" monitors, which means they have amplifiers built in. So, each speaker has a cable to your interface or soundcard and a power cable to the wall. I'm not familiar with the Yamaha monitors that Guitar Center tried to sell you, but my general rule is to NEVER believe anything I hear at Guitar Center. Shop around, make a list of potential candidates and check around online for reviews and opinions. (Lots of opinions here @ HR )

Check the studio building forum for "bass traps" and "broad band absorption". As far as the symmetry comment- generally speaking, center your desk on the short wall of the room. If you put a trap on one side wall or in one corner, do the same in the opposite corner. Hope that clarifies...

 

[kcearl]

When it comes to bass and amp software (Ive tried them all) Id recommend Overlouds TH-1...by far the most realistic Ive heard so far..

Bass is more limited...seems to be a few presets on mainly guitar software...Pod Farm platinums got a few good ones in but in truth nothing beats my Korg AX3B..I picked it up very cheaply and it sounds great...may not be the sample rate you're looking for but costs near nothing

 

[darrin_h2000]

I got that Korg too...I dont use it as much since I got the Sansamp but it has alot of cool tones on it.

 

[kcearl]

I got that Korg too...I dont use it as much since I got the Sansamp but it has alot of cool tones on it.

Sansamp's I bit pricey for an instrument I don't really play, maybe when I improve..I'd imagine its much better but the Korg was a surprise..I really like it..I tried a Behri bass v-amp (I know ) and many said it was a good copy of the sansamp but I thought it was awful...their guitar amp modelling's far better

 

[darrin_h2000]

Some here liked the Behringer vamp bass...and it seems pretty cheap.

Actually Id advise the OP to stick pretty close to his buddy with the studio and get him to spend all the money involved and just show up with a fat joint so he will let you use his stuff.

 

[kcearl]

now that's the ticket