newbie help with basic system

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bedbi

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i have to make a basic setup for recording vocals and piano
(got this blusey song on mind) and yes maybe some acoustic and
electric guitars.

first the mic
since i never had a decent mic in my hands i was thinking
something in 150$ range,and i found akg1000s on discount
in about that range.i basicly need an all round mic
so if there are some other suggestions on what should
i spend my money, please dont hesitate :)


now the preamp
i was thinkig about audiobuddy or presonus bluetube
now i have a question about balanced I/O, i read something about
it on the NG but how can i find out what gear uses it
lets say this audiobuddy preamp, or my yamaha synth.
is it a big difference balanced-unbalanced, I have never been in
contact with real gear

coz
i've come up with either echo mona or midiman audiophile 2496

now i have SBlive, could i still use its midi port, in combo with
Mia???

oh and if someone could give me some adresses of shops in
calgary canada, i'm coming there in about a month, maybe do some shopping
because here in east europe i'm lucky if i find prices as in the states

thanks
 
thanks for the advice

could you tell me te difference between audiobuddy and dmp-2 in terms of sound quality, and could you compare dmp2 - omni-box - presonus bluetube
coz they all cost the same at least where i live

and i think i might go delta 44 because audiphile is only 20$ cheaper
now i considered purchasing the omni box to go with the delta???

and unfortunatelly i can't find that marshall mi anywhere in stores here, so could you suggest something else, rode,akg,AT,senn or something for an allround mic

tnx
 
the Omni Studio is a package that has the Delta66 PCI card and the Omni add on...it goes for about $389 and if you can spring for that, it is awesome...the same 2 preamps as the DMP2 that are awesome....

other contenders for mics are the Studio Projects C1 and the Behringer B2....both go for about $200.....
 
thanks alot

but the voice of reason has spoken to me and said that i was maybe too excited about getting all that new gear,
now, whe i think about it, i dot't think that it would be a wise descision to buy all that
nice stuff coz it would be like getting drivers licence and buying a ferarri :)
i was thinking that i should use my sblive to it's full potential

so I've come up with this
I've got this maranz deck that i could use as a preamp, and record with my sblive
now all i need is a decent mic(for now)
question- i don't know what kind of preamp i have on that deck, so if i get condenser
mic should it be on batteries so it could provide phantom power???
and there are two mic 1/4 inputs one for R and one for L??? shouldnt it be only one??


i use programs like fruity loops and gigasampler - dealing with already recorded samples - does it make a difference which soundcard i use, if those samples
stay in the digital domain????
basicly is the difference between sblive and lets say echo mia only when trying record,
input sound into my soundcard-system

could someone explain that 48000 oversampling on my live, why is it bad,
if i only use samples to make a song and then record it on cd

basicly i'm trying to put some of my musical ideas onto paper-computer
using above mentioned software with cakewalk, maybe make some demos
now if someone said that my sblive setup would really bad regarding quality of sound
i would spend my money on omni setup, but dont think that i could be using it to full extent at least for a while, but that omni setup is basicly best buy system, regarding
i/o, preamps.... at least on prices i've have

and yes, for monitoring im using sennheiser HD500 earphones,
should i first invest in some decent monitors coz why buy better equipment if i cant
hear it???

what would you do, where would you put your money
 
almost forgot

could you recomend which books are must have when it comes to digital music, recording, mxing...

something with basicss, like alphabet but for audio
or some webpages

a lot of questions, arent I annoying :)


thanx
 
I've got this maranz deck that i could use as a preamp, and record with my sblive
now all i need is a decent mic (for now)
question- i don't know what kind of preamp i have on that deck, so if i get condenser mic should it be on batteries so it could provide phantom power???
and there are two mic 1/4 inputs one for R and one for L??? shouldnt it be only one??
Click to expand...

I am assuming you mean a consumer Marantz cassette deck. The preamps almost certainly do not provide phantom power. As almost every cassette deck I've ever seen is a stereo deck (not counting 4-tracks or $30 tape recorders), I would expect it to have two mic inputs, one for each channel.

i use programs like fruity loops and gigasampler - dealing with already recorded samples - does it make a difference which soundcard i use, if those samples stay in the digital domain????
basicly is the difference between sblive and lets say echo mia only when trying record, input sound into my soundcard-system
Click to expand...

Basically correct -- but the outputs are also not as good. That is, the DACs on the SB Live are not as good as those on better cards.

could someone explain that 48000 oversampling on my live, why is it bad, if i only use samples to make a song and then record it on cd
Click to expand...

You stumped me on this one. Do you mean the 48,000 Hz sampling rate of the Live card? Converters are often described as, for example, "8-times oversampling," but I never saw one labeled 48,000-times oversampling...

If that's what you are referring to, I think the only sampling rate issue with the Live is that its S/PDIF i/o (the digital connectors) is locked at 48kHz, which might be an issue if you are using any external gear that is also equipped with S/PDIF i/o.

... what would you do, where would you put your money
Click to expand...
All in all I'd say that the Live card will give you plenty of capability to work with while you're learning, especially if you are not using the Line In, just samples and loops... use it, develop some recording chops, and then you can better decide what to get to improve things in the future. Good monitors are really important for your finished product, when you mix everything to stereo -- if I were in your shoes, that would be my next purchase.

could you recomend which books are must have when it comes to digital music, recording, mxing...
something with basicss, like alphabet but for audio
or some webpages
Click to expand...

Not many books I can recommend about purely digital PC recording per se, but lots on recording, and all the same basic concepts apply. I like Hot Tips for the Home Recording Studio by Hank Linderman. Also I'd recommend that you subsrcibe to a magazine like Recording or Home Recording or Electronic Musician. Websites? You're on one. See the non-forum part of the site for some basic stuff. Also try here:

http://www.pcrecording.com/

http://www.crmav.com/articles/

http://homerecording.about.com/mbody.htm

http://music.multimedian.com/index2.html

http://www.soniccontrol.com/

http://www.prorec.com/

That should get you started...
 
I love the drivers license/ferrari analogy...im glad to see the voice of reason coming into play....

so ruling out condensers, a Shure SM57 will take you a long way and will only set you out $79...or if budget is more of an issue, Radio Shack has some cheaper ripoffs, but id intense recommend the Shure.....

as far as a preamp, if you have a guitar amp, effects pedal, anything, youmay be able to get away with that....or once again, Radio Shack has some cheapy little mixers that can get you thru.....if you can swing $89, Art Tube MP is da bomb....
 
thnx both of you

the 48000hz issue is all about not being able to connect my spdifs to any dat's or similar digital equipment which require 44000hz

more questions, if i buy some passive monitors i would have to power them trough my
AMC 3050 amp (which i heard unlike rotel and nad amps, has little coloration)
now would it be wrong to amp those monitors trough that???
and yes i've been planing on buying some good pair of speakers for music listening
and come up with the idea that i might spend my "speaker" budget on monitors

now about my 600&$ "souncard-mic-preamp" budget -- havent decided what to do with it coz over next months - cristmas and so on- that budget could easily be transfered(by accident) into my "whiskey-and wine" budget :)
i ll think it over :)

ill check the sites

thnx
 
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