newbie help (a lot of questions!)

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woody777

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Hi Guys!

First post on this fine forum - finally a place where I can post my newbie questions and not feel like a total idiot :)

My friend and I are looking at building a small studio. Our goal is to be able to record excellent quality demos with a full band - lead vocals, backup vocals, guitar, bass and drums.

Here's what we have:

a decent PC (probably needs a memory upgrade)
a decent laptop (definitely needs a memory upgrade)
an 8 channel powered mixer (not sure of brand)
a 16 channel Carvin powered mixer (access to at least)
an assortment of mics and cables (an SM57, nothing else special)
Sonar (not sure which version)

So, to my understanding all we need now is a soundcard to start recording, right? Can you guys suggest some?

We've done some recording in the past by basically micing every piece of equipment (kick, snare, tom, tom, tom, hat, 2 overhead, vocals, backing vocals, guitar amp, bass amp) through the Carvin board, hooking that into a laptop and pressing record. Pretty decent results, but everything recorded on to one track. Tell me if I understand this correctly - the reason we could only record onto one track was because the soundcard was only one channel, right? So, it doesn't really matter how big of a board you have, it only matters how many channels you can record at one time. So, say we want to lay down the rythym tracks in one take but on seperate tracks - what would we need to buy to accomplish this?

As far as budget, we're thinking cheap, but looking longterm. We don't want to buy crap, but we don't need pro quality. I figure since all we need right now is a multi-channel soundcard (I think) just throw out some options - $100-$1000.

Also, what mics would you recommend for a newbie? Same thing as the soundcard - not crap, but not pro. We already have an SM57.

And what about a seperate tube preamp? Or using the mixing board as a preamp? Do outboard soundcards have built-in preamps? Do we still need a mixing board if we have a soundcard with multiple channels?

Sorry for so many questions and such a long post - thanks!
 
There are alot of options out there. You would do well to use the SEARCH facility and just run the words 'best soundcard' through the Newbies forum. What type of mixer you currently own is an issue, as is how many tracks you need to record at the same time as well as what type of room you have.

Do a search, have a read, and come back with more detailed questions.

Nathan
 
Check out stuff by MOTU, RME and Digidesign to get an idea for what is out there. The DELTA 1010 is a popular sound card.

I'm not sure what your quality standards are but you may end up being dissapointed with your budget. There is a reason that a modest studio cost over $30-50K just in gear and not including great sounding rooms.

If you want to learn audio engineering and make some okay demos then buy some gear. If you want to have a professional sounding demo then go to a good studio. If you want to record your own professional sounding demos then come up with another $20k and you will be in the ballpark.
 
An M-Audio Delta 44 will let you record 4 tracks at once for $199. If you need to record more tracks concurrently, spend another couple hundred and get the Delta 1010. The good thing about the delta series is the A/D D/A convertors are reasonably good quality and the cards are reasonably priced

You'll also need decent monitors to hear what you're mixing. They will soak up the rest of your grand
 
Delta 1010lt soundcard
3 Audio Buddy preamps
AT ATMPRO25 for kick
2- Marshall MXLv67's for overheads
3- Sennheiser e604's for toms
1- Behringer ECM8000 for hihat

should be around $1000

record the drums first....isolate the rest of the band but have them play along to get the vibe......this will give you 8 separate tracks of drums.....go back and overdub the rest of the band once you get the drum keeper......

you can cut alot off that budget by either going with cheaper tom mics or not micing them at all.....

the v67 will double as a good vocal mic

the pro25 will do good on a bass amp, though id record it direct

some decent monitors down the road is a good idea.......
 
Thanks Gidge,

I'm leaning toward the Delta 1010lt. If I get the 1010 instead of the 1010lt, would I still need the Audio Buddies? And wouldn't I need 4 Audio Buddies to record all 8 tracks simultaneously? What about using a powered mixing board instead? We have access to a brand new 16-channel Carvin board. Is all of that compatible?

8 mics -> mixing board -> soundcard -> PC

How would you hook everything up?

And the Delta 1010lt is an internal soundcard, correct? Can it be installed in any laptop or desktop? Does it replace your existing soundcard or does it require an extra slot for installation? Does it double as a normal soundcard?

Thanks!
 
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