self contained DAW...questions

2

2low

New member
I am looking to buy a self contained digital audio workstation (korg d16, roland vs1880, etc) and I have a few questions. I want to be able to produce a CD that is similar in quality to those commercially available. My covers a variety of styles but the instrumentations is generally vocals, acoustic and electric guitar, acoustic and electric bass, drum machine, and occasionally live drums and percussion. I usually work alone…sometimes 1 or 2 other players. I don’t like endless tweaking of parameters. I expect to spend a significant amount of time up front to learn the machine but then be able to operate it in a reasonably concise and efficient manner. Is this realistic?

I am a bass player and I use my ear to select basses and amps by A/B comparisons. Do you rely on specs when checking out DAWs? Will 2 brands, both with the same specs, sound the same? How do you get beyond the sales hype and really evaluate these things?

Lastly, I am hoping for 16 tracks, on board effects, and automated mix down capabilities for $3,000 (obviously less is better). Again, is this realistic?

This forum is great...I learned alot in the 24 bit vs 16 bit discussion. Thanks in advance for your help.
 
Do a search for Yamaha AW4416. It's quite a sweet little device from what I've seen. Getting beyond the sales hype means doing your research and going to your local music store. Whan the salesman starts spittin' out specs you just gotta say "Hey, look ya fuck I'm about to spend 3 grand here, I wanna see what this thing can do!!! I don't wanna hear specs!!!" I mean maybe you shouldn't say that exactly but you know what I mean. Hang out here and search around for questions you might have (many have been answered about this type of thing.) Consumers don't usually lie about gear, salesmen on the other hand...well, they probably will.
 
What do you have in the way of microphones? What about monitors? The quality of your recording is dependent on every single piece of gear that your music has to travel through to get to your ears and your listener's ears. You MUST have decent mics to capture your sound. You must have an accurate monitoring system to assure the quality you are putting to tape (or hard disc). I'm not trying to discourage you at all, but you should consider everything.
 
Thanks for the replies. I have a couple of dynamic mics (SM57 and SM58). I have a number of tube and solid state preamps for my guitars and basses. I am planning on initially spending another $1,000 for monitors (possibly events 6") and a condenser mic (AKG c3000?). I understand this is required with whatever type of recording tool I buy, whether self contained or seperates.

When I purchase an amplifier speaker, I use a preamp and bass that I know well and A/B a number of cabinets. I have 30 years gigging experience to draw from in evaluating the sound and I am able to easily change only one variable. There is such a big learning curve on these recording units that it doesn't seem possible to perform any kind of meaningful test in a store...how do I determine what has a better sound Korg D16, Roland VS1880, the new Yamaha...or do I need to rely on specs and features and assume that each machine will rival the other in sound quality if both records at 24bit / 44Khz? Are there differences in the effect quality and mixer quality? How do I evaluate these?
 
G'day 2low,

... just another little thing to consider when looking for all-in-one units is file compression. Some use it, some dont. And it will affect, to a certain extent, what you can and can't do with your finished files. I own a Korg D8, and FWIW I think it's great! From what I hear from most D16 owners, it's a good unit too.
Akai make a 16 channel recorder that might be more up your alley. I've also heard good things about the Yamaha, but I'm not sure if it uses file compression or not.
Most of all do your homework and check that the unit you're looking at will do what you want it to do. As for sound quality, if you're using good mic's and pre's etc. then it really comes down to what the unit can do as far as editing and file 'swapping' or transferring goes. Apart from that, it's mostly just a digital storage medium.

go for it!

Macca
downunder
 
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