Setup upgrade recommendations

  • Thread starter Thread starter Simon D.
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Simon D.

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Hello all. My first post here...am from Nova Scotia, Canada, and do some recording just for fun. I'm in my forties, and I've been playing guitar for about 5years now, mostly acoustic fingerstyle. Am trying my hand at singing, but it's coming along slowly...

I'm looking for some advice on my next purchase for my home recording setup, which I've been slowly building a piece at a time over the last 2 years. I'm a hobbyist only, and a newbie at recording, and I'm looking to spend a couple hundred (or more if needed, I just don't want to start buying things before I start knowing what I'm doing) on upgrades and looking for suggestions where I can improve my setup the most. My 17 yr old son also plays acoustic, and sings...so my rig is mostly for acoustic guitar and vocals. Eventually, I'd like to add a bit of percussion (drums, shakers, tambourine, etc). It's all for fun, so no record deals lurking here.

Here's what I have collected so far:
- I have a PC, 2.8 ghz dual core Intel, no firewire, with 2 GB RAM (noisy with lots of fans because we play video games on it and we have a high-end video card that needs to be cooled)
- I'm running Audacity on it, downloaded for free. I can do a bit of cutting and pasting, add some verb, some EQ, splice a track or two, but that's about it.
- M-Audio Fast Track Pro
- Alesis M1 Active 520 monitors (paid $300 Canadian for the pair maybe?...forget)
- A cheapish pair of headphones (Sony MDR-XD100...$50 bucks?)
- I have a Shure SM 58 Dynamic Mic
- I have a Apex 435 large diaphram Condenser Mic ($70?)
- mic stand, cables, etc. (don't own a pop filter)
- cheap electric guitar and Roland Cube amp
- a v-Amp effects pedal for guitar
- several acoustic guitars (2 Seagulls, Big Baby Taylor, Taylor 414ce, etc)
- I record in a 20x15 basement room with no acoustic treatment or sheilded areas. Has drop ceilings and carpet floor.

So, if I want to improve my setup to record mostly acoustic and vocals, where should I spend a few disposable ($200-$300) dollars?

Here's what's on my mind:
- Interface upgrade: Would upgrading my Fast Track Pro to a better model improve recording quality and input levels? I don't need more than 2 inputs, and don't have firewire (can you install Firewire on an existing PC?). Since some interfaces come with software, should I get a new interface and get the software as a freebie?
- Pre-amp: My gain on my Fast Track Pro needs to be cranked wide open when recording sometimes (because the signal from the mic is weak?). Should I buy a seperate pre-amp for it? Will it improve the quality of the recording beacuse I won't need to crank it wide open?
- another mic: Instead of buying a pre-amp, should I get a better mic? Will a better mic remove the need to crank the gain wide-open and hence ditch the need for a preamp? I can buy a used Rode NT1-A large diaphram condenser locally for about $150. Or, since I have a large diaphram already (albeit low quality), should I spend the money on a small-diaphram to record the acoustic guitar (I've read that the small-dia may be better than the large for this?)
- Headphones: Since my monitors are beginner quality and my headphones cheap, should I get a better set of headphones ($150-200) for mixing, etc?
- Acoustic treatment: What about acoustic treatments for the room? Foam for the walls or building or buying a small booth in a corner of the room?
- Software: Should I spend my money on better software? (I can buy Pro Tools m-powered 7.4 locally for $100 bucks) Will the quality of recording improve, or will I just have better features like plug-ins and effects?

Any other ideas?

Thanks a million.
Simon
 
Maybe the signal coming in your fasttrack is coming in weak because either the pad is on or you have it switched to line instead of mic.
As a general rule we dont use headphones for mixing.(not up for discussion)
I would improve on your mics or monitoring situation, And possibly recording program. A small condenser would be a good upgrade.
 
Thanks for the advice, ChickenMaster. As for my weak signal from a mic, my pad is off. Also, I don't notice a difference in levels between instrument and line settings. Does that mean that something's not working?

Simon
 
Looks like you've got a nice big room to record in. You can probably move your mics far enough away from your computer that the fans won't be a problem.

Is there anything wrong with the results you're getting now? What seems to be lacking that is calling for the most attention?

General wisdom says acoustically treating your mixing space will yield the biggest bang for the buck. This is not the same as soundproofing, btw. You want your room to give a flat response to audio so what you're hearing is what is happening in your mix. Because you have a nice size room, you can probably get away with treating only in the area around you mixing desk, monitors, etc.

You mentioned having to crank the mic pre all the way up on your fast track. Is this actually a problem? Are you not getting the levels you need from it?
 
Simon D. said:
Thanks for the advice, ChickenMaster. As for my weak signal from a mic, my pad is off. Also, I don't notice a difference in levels between instrument and line settings. Does that mean that something's not working?

Simon
Click to expand...

Are you using XLR to XLR cables for the mikes, and using the XLR inputs on the interface? If you are using 6.5mm jacks into the instrument or line inuts, that would account for low volumes.

Where should you spend your money? Spend it on what is going to give the greatest quality benefit. This is not likely to be the interface, nor in buying a pre-amp. Your PC also looks okay, but its noisiness sounds like something you may need to deal with. Perhaps you should consider a dedicated audio PC, so the requirements of gaming don't conflict with the need for quiet operation. Alternatively, you could look at ways of making the PC quieter: silent power supply, CPU fan and so on.

In my view, though, the biggest quality gains are likely to be in adding to your repertoire of microphones and improving your monitoring system. Room treatment has also been mentioned above. Your room may or may not be adding to quality woes, but it is impossible for anyone here to know that.
 
What don't you like about what your current set up is giving you in terms of results

If you love the SM58 on your material then why replace it?
SM58 does require a lot of gain if you buy an outboard pre you will still need to crankit.

A new audio interface isn't likely to make any discernable difference since you would be replacing a $200 interface with another in the same price range

If your headphones are fatiquing to listen thru or uncomfortable replace them if not why bother

My point is we have no idea what is missing in your opinion of your recordings, you should. If you don't then think about it. If you truely don't know what needs to be replaced then don't repalce anything and save the money until you reach a bottle neck that prevents you getting the results you want and then get what you need to get around that.
 
Thanks for the feedback. In response to the questions about what's lacking or problematic:
- I get some hiss in my recordings that I don't think is background noise. I was thinking this may be coming from my need to put my gain wide-open on my Fast Track Pro. My Taylor Acoustic (with ES pickup system) also seems to hiss or buzz when plugged direct, and I was wondering if a setup change could improve it. If the consensus is that the gain cranked 100% is not an issue, then that's one less issue for me to worry about.
- Not having used any other software, I'm curious if better software would yield improvements in recording quality (plus I'd like to get pitch-correction and the like) compared to a similar investment in a better mic.
- I am using XLR on both ends for mics into the interface.

thanks
Simon
 
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