Newbie USB soundcard & interface questions

J

Joel Glassman

New member
Hi everyone
I’m an experienced musician, and have recorded
in studios but never to a home PC.
I was given a computer which hasn’t been used much:
HP A800n: AMD Athlon XP 2.2 GHz with 2 GB memory
[Windows XP installed].
Definitely not state of the art!
Would like to record acoustic instruments & vocals to Audacity
for demos.
Have condenser mics ie Sure SM 82 etc. and a Mackie board.
Looking for suggestions for a USB soundcard,
the best way to interface my mics and any other issues
a newbie might need to know.
Maybe USB is not a good way to go?
I could install a soundcard...
At the moment, I only need to record to 1 track [stereo?]
at a time. [The PC will be dedicated to recording]
Will also use it to dub LPs and cassettes to
WAV files.
Thanks—much appreciated
 
Last edited:
If you're doing vocals and acoustic, you only need a 2-channel interface. And USB will do just fine. Here's a list, start looking at around the $80 point and up. While you're shopping, be sure to look at what DAW program comes with the interface. Most interfaces come with a lite version of a popular DAW like Cubase, Ableton, Sonar, etc. These will be better than Audacity.

http://www.sweetwater.com/c695--USB_Audio_Interfaces/low2high

Sounds like your computer is more than capable. If you buy the right interface, you won't need the mixer, and I usually recommend people not use one to simplify their set up.

You should put some consideration into your recording environment. The room size and acoustic treatment, especially for mixing.

Have fun.
 
Chili
Thanks for helping me out here.
The Art Tube MP looks good, and I could
use it for other applivations, but comes with...
Audacity.
What DAW lite type program would you recommend?
Maybe I could buy one separately.
It would make sense to record with
2 mics at once. The MP seems to allow only one.
Just thinking-I'd be using the computer's soundcard
when burning DAW wave files to disc.
Would this degrade their sound ? Does it
make sense to use one of the M Audio sound
cards instead? So many questions :^)
I'm beginning to get educated here.
Thanks again
my best--Joel
 
Last edited:
I upgraded from a "stereo" soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS to "stereo" Behringer USB in the summer, and recently to a Tascam M-164UF USB 16 Channels Audio Interface / Mixer
But I also had the secret weapon, Art Tube MP, which could be used a DI box for guitar and a Mic Preamp.
So, even though I have 6 Mic Preamps on the Tascam, I still use the Art Tube MP on Channel 1.

The choice is how many simultaneous inputs do you need ?
 
Joel Glassman said:
Chili
Thanks for helping me out here.
The Art Tube MP looks good, and I could
use it for other applivations, but comes with...
Audacity.
What DAW lite type program would you recommend?
Maybe I could buy one separately.
It would make sense to record with
2 mics at once. The MP seems to allow only one.
Just thinking-I'd be using the computer's soundcard
when burning DAW wave files to disc.
Would this degrade their sound ? Does it
make sense to use one of the M Audio sound
cards instead? So many questions :^)
I'm beginning to get educated here.
Thanks again
my best--Joel
Click to expand...

So many questions....

There's a lot of discussion on the site about the Art Tube MP stuff. Search for it and see what the consensus is, I can't remember if it is a good buy or not. Regardless, if you need two inputs, just buy a USB interface with two mic inputs and be done with it. You'll get decent recordings with it.

I suggest you buy a real audio interface and not use your soundcard. They are typically geared towards gamers and use cheap parts. You may not notice it in one or two tracks, but if you have several in your song, you might see some degradation.

I use Cubase. Started out with the lite version a long time ago and upgraded to Cubase SE3, which is extremely old now. It does everything I need so I don't need anything newer. The Lite versions are pretty functional, so for simple stuff, you might not need to upgrade at all.

Gear Acquisition is a slippery slope. You start out with everything you think you need, except... well it would be nice if I had this one other thing as well. And hey, those plug-ins come highly rated. And Hmmm, they're right about treating my room, I should "invest" in my room. Oh, btw, those drum patches on my keyboard are lame, I really need something better.

And before you know it, you're hiding the bank statements from the wife. :D
 
Thanks Chili and Johnnymb
A stereo usb interface for mics & Cubase gets me started for acoustic demos.
One last question...I promise :^) I was thinking--
adding reverb to the tracks would be useful. Is there a
Cubase plugin for reverb you'd recommend,
or another better way to add it?
Much appreciated. Joel
 
Joel Glassman said:
Thanks Chili and Johnnymb
A stereo usb interface for mics & Cubase gets me started for acoustic demos.
One last question...I promise :^) I was thinking--
adding reverb to the tracks would be useful. Is there a
Cubase plugin for reverb you'd recommend,
or another better way to add it?
Much appreciated. Joel
Click to expand...

The reverb that comes with Cubase isn't bad. There are some free ones that are worthy. I like the Kjaerhus Classic series of plugs, especially the compressor. Google to find where to download them. There's another worth looking at, though I haven't used it, called SIR or something. You might do a search on this forum to read up on it.
 
Here's a good guide and tested suggestions that WORK: http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards_for_the_home_studio.htm

(you'll want to bookmark and read through all of Tweak's Guide while you're there...)

Another good article: Choosing an audio interface -
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep08/articles/audiointerfaces.htm


------ While I'm here ------------------------------------------------------

My obligatory standard reply-for-newbies that I keep in Wordpad so this is just a paste (I don't want to re-type this all the time):

First off, immediately get a good beginner recording book (spend $20 before spending hundred$/thousand$) that shows you what you need to get started and how to hook everything up in your studio:
Home Recording for Musicians by Jeff Strong - $15
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/04...mp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0470385421
(Wish I'd had that when I started; would have saved me lots of money and time and grief)
You can also pick up this book in most any Borders or Barnes&Noble in the Music Books section!

Another good one is: Recording Guitar and Bass by Huw Price
http://www.amazon.com/Recording-Gui...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215734124&sr=1-1
(I got my copy at a place called Half-Price Books for $6!!)

And you can get a FREE subscription to TapeOp magazine at www.tapeop.com

Barnes&Noble or Borders are great places to start --- they have recording books and you can go get a snack or coffee and read them for FREE! Don't pass by a good recording book --- this is a VERY technical hobby and you REALLY want to start a reference library!!!

Good Newbie guides that also explains all the basics and have good tips:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
http://www.computermusic.co.uk/page/computermusic?entry=free_beginner_pdfs
http://www.harmony-central.com/articles/
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/tips-techniques/168409-tips-techniques.html

21 Ways To Assemble a Recording Rig: http://www.tweakheadz.com/rigs.htm

Also Good Info: http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/directory.htm

Other recording books: http://musicbooksplus.com/home-recording-c-31.html

Still using a built-in soundcard?? Unfortunately, those are made with less than $1 worth of chips for beeps, boops and light gaming (not to mention cheapness for the manufacturer) and NOT quality music production.
#1 Rule of Recording: You MUST replace the built-in soundcard.
Here's a good guide and tested suggestions that WORK: http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards_for_the_home_studio.htm
(you'll want to bookmark and read through all of Tweak's Guide while you're there...)
Another good article: Choosing an audio interface - http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep08/articles/audiointerfaces.htm


Plenty of software around to record for FREE to start out on:

Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net (multi-track with VST support)
Wavosaur: http://www.wavosaur.com/ (a stereo audio file editor with VST support)\
Kristal: http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/
Other freebies and shareware: www.hitsquad.com/smm

Another great option is REAPER at http://www.cockos.com/reaper/ (It's $50 but runs for free until you get guilty enough to pay for it...)
I use Reaper and highly reccomend it...

Music Notation and MIDI recording: Melody Assistant ($25) and Harmony Assistant ($80) have the power of $600 notation packages - http://myriad-online.com
Demo you can try on the website.

And you can go out to any Barnes&Noble or Borders and pick up "Computer Music" magazine - they have a full FREE studio suite in every issue's DVD, including sequencers, plugins and tons of audio samples. (November 2006 they gave away a full copy of SamplitudeV8SE worth $150, November 2007-on the racks Dec in the US- they gave away SamplitudeV9SE and July 2009 issue they put out Samplitude10SE. FREE. It pays to watch 'em for giveaways...)
 
Thanks again Chili - I'm now ready to get started.
Tim-- A great list of resources- thanks.
This place is fantastic!
cheers--Joel
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top