Newbie needs help with setup

[goingoncetwice]

I am a total newbie to home recording and love reading everyon'es posts.

I play a steel six string acoustic with no pick-up. Recording will pretty much be limited to this instrument and vocals. I will be using an Audigy 2 soundcard on my Pentium 4 computer for recording. I also have one Firewire connections and multiple USB ports.

I would like recommendations on microphones, mic preamps/interface, and recording software for a beginner that won't break my bank ($300-$400 range).

A friend who always shops at Guitar Center recommended an MXL990, M-Audio Audio Buddy, and Guitar Tracks Pro as items that fall within my budget . That same friend also recommended a Yamaha MG 10/2 mixer as an alternative to an AudioBuddy. Any comments on any of these recommendations are also appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[manning1]

need to know one thing.
do you want to record lots of mics at once to their own tracks on the pc OR just one mic at a time.
search under my name . lots of tips to address your question posted in past year.
then if you have q's just ask.

 

[goingoncetwice]

need to know one thing.
do you want to record lots of mics at once to their own tracks on the pc OR just one mic at a time.
search under my name . lots of tips to address your question posted in past year.
then if you have q's just ask.

Hi! and thanks for your post. I've spent many hours looking at your previous posts two nights ago. You are a wealth of information. I'd like to record two mics at once for now. Me on guitar and perhaps a vocalist or two (my kids). A friend just recommended a Yamaha MG 10/2 mixer. Any additional thoughts?

 

[manning1]

you will be quite happy with the yamaha mg imho.
check out cad gxl mics as well. 50 bucks.
also cad m179. fine mic but more money.
try the multitrack audio and midi software i use.
49 bucks for 48 tracks. powertracks from pgmusic.com.
lots of audigy users use powertracks. (niote the user forum at pg is highly helpfull). just try the demo. the demo is usefull in that it will tell you how many tracks you can record on your p4.
you should be able to get the full 48 if your system is set up right.
heres your signal chain.
2 mics>>yamaha mg (2 seperate mic channels)>>>stereo out of mg >>>LINE INPUT of audigy. NOTE in audigy makesure line input is not muted and fader is up. turn off "what u hear".
any other Q's - just ask....also makesure dma is enabled on your hard drives and you have a minimum of 512 ram.
peace.
ps..you might also get off on band in a box from pg as well.
a fun piece of software that as the name implies sets up a back up band in software on your pc. highly addictive. loads of different song styles.
also check out the free hotstepper (google for it).
its great for quickie drum loops you then import into multitrack software like powertracks. then you just add your guitars, vocals etc etc

 

[minofifa]

i havn't had any experience with the mics manning suggested but i am sure they are pretty good ones. another alternative i would suggest for nice, well priced mics are the audio-technica series. I use the 3035 condensor mic and am very happy with it. works well on vocals and my acoustic guitar. it works ok on amplifiers but i would stick with my sm57 for aplifiers i think. i have heard that yamaha mixers make a good choice for preamps as well.