so many ways to blow money

[pdadda]

I was thinking of buying a delta1010lt. I want to record drums using 4-6 separate tracks, so I thought this would be a good choice. In less than a year, I am probably going to buy a Mackie ONYX mixer (I don't have a mixer now), so I don't want to spend too much on a soundcard now (the ONYX can send the tracks separately via firewire). I heard that recording drums directly into the soundcard is a bad idea (without a mixer first). I use Mackie Tracktion as my recording/mixing software, so I am not fully sure of the problem. I understand that the mixer would allow me to add compression before the sound hits the soundcard. How big a deal is this?
I need to get a soundcard now though. My soundblaster blows, and I can't use the ASIO4all or kX drivers on my computer. I am hoping to keep my cost under $300. I don't trust Creative (E-MU), so it seems that its either M-audio or ECHO in this price range. Any suggestions/help would be awesome.

 

[wheelema]

I heard that recording drums directly into the soundcard is a bad idea (without a mixer first).

Who told you that!?

 

[pdadda]

http://studio-central.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=10958&highlight=1010lt

 

[crankz1]

As long as you aren't clipping any during the recording you'll be fine going straight into the soundcard.
I do it all the time, I just keep my peaks at -6db.
We are in the digital world here. We can bring levels up during mix-down and mastering. Specially when we've got 24/96 and better gear.
Of course you can't just plug a mic into the soundcard and expect decent levels unless you are using an outboard pre-amp, or the soundcard you use has the pre-amps built in.
Good attention to input levels will allow you to dry track and process during mix-down and mastering. Just pay close attention to your gain structure and avoid clipping.
You'll do just fine.
Check out gain structure here ......

http://www.mmproductions.co.uk/gain1.html

-Ken

 

[drstawl]

I was thinking of buying a delta1010lt. Any suggestions/help would be awesome.

First be totally convinced you don't want 2 much cleaner channels in exchange for the utility of the multitrack front end.

As in Ed's favorite card- The Lynx.

 

[DAFFYDRUNK]

If you're recording drums you're still gonna need some way to mic pre the line inputs you are using... So you either have to get some mic pres or a mixer. As far as I know the 1010lt only has 2 mic pres. Personally, I'd skip doing the 1010 lt and an analog mixer since you might as well get a stand alone unit with mic pres built in by the time you buy a mixer and a bunch of cables to hook it all together. The cheapest mixer I think would make a realistic companion to the 101lt would be the Behringer Eurorack UB2442FX-PRO. Has direct outs on 8 channels. I thought that sounded interesting, but by the time you get the mixer, 101lt card andall the cables, you're probably gonna be over $700 which is getting too close to something like an Aardvark Q-10. On top of that you might have noise/ground loops issues with all those cables, which make an all in one solution even more attractive...

 

[crankz1]

http://namm.harmony-central.com/WNAMM03/Content/SMProAudio/PR/PR8MKII.html .... Check it out, 8 channel pre amp with inserts on all 8 channels. Runs about $200 US.
http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--STOPR8MKII