Starting out in home recording - what to buy?

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surfdabbler

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My daughter is showing interest in songwriting, and recording. Now I've dabbled in this in the past, never got any great results, and most of my knowledge is out of date these days.

I'm looking into what to spend a little money on to make her life easier.

She has a Microsoft laptop which she has recorded some wav files on through the built-in mic, and is wanting to add extra vocal tracks, as well as do some MIDI work. I have a USB midi port, a decent vocal microphone ($250 microphone ten years ago), and various audio leads, decent headphones, and a licence for N-Track 5.0. I installed N-Track and struggled with latency issues for a while, and managed to get the software to a point where it won't even start... Not bad progress for one afternoon. :)

Now, I've been looking at other software, and cool external boxes with digital mixers, and balanced line inputs for microphones, and various bits and pieces like that, but I really don't know what to look for, or where to look, or what the quality of these things is like, or how well they work in reality. I don't want her to get frustrated with buggy software that crashes, or have to deal with latency issues. I just want her to be able to make simple recordings of good quality. Oh, and we'd like to stick with Windows, so please don't just tell me to get a Mac. I already know that GarageBand is free and easy, but it's got to work in Windows.

So, on a budget of around $200, what should I get? (software and hardware suggestions welcome)
 
What is she wanting to record? vocal? guitar? etc? how many tracks at one time? Reaper is a very good DAW, it is not a RAM hog, you can download and try it for free, the full personal license is only 60 bucks. you already have the laptop and a mic, you need an interface, which the mic or instruments connect to then interface with the laptop via USB. you need to decide on how many inputs you need, Focusrite makes some good affordable units, here is one, you can also find them used online.

Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 - Second Generation | Sweetwater.com

I am ignorant to working with MIDI so maybe someone else will chime in on that issue. Keep asking questions, there is a ton of knowledge on this site and people who are willing to help.:D
 
Atkron205 said:
What is she wanting to record? vocal? guitar? etc? how many tracks at one time?
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Vocals, acoustic guitar (no pickup, so that will be a mic as well), piano via midi, or I could do line out. Probably a two-channel recording would cover most of the needs, although maybe up to four channels could be handy in the future.

I had a quick look at the unit you recommended, and noticed it was 6-mm jacks. Some balanced line inputs would be nicer for the microphone inputs.

I'll also have a look at Reaper. I'm familiar with Cubase, because it was around years ago, but I'm not familiar with what DAW programs are the trusted names these days.

Thanks for the recommendations.
 
surfdabbler said:
Vocals, acoustic guitar (no pickup, so that will be a mic as well), piano via midi, or I could do line out. Probably a two-channel recording would cover most of the needs, although maybe up to four channels could be handy in the future.

I had a quick look at the unit you recommended, and noticed it was 6-mm jacks. Some balanced line inputs would be nicer for the microphone inputs.

I'll also have a look at Reaper. I'm familiar with Cubase, because it was around years ago, but I'm not familiar with what DAW programs are the trusted names these days.

Thanks for the recommendations.
Click to expand...

Those are 'combo' inputs. XLR and 1/4" line level inputs. Just hoping to make sure that is clear. :)

I also noticed you stated 'balanced line inputs' in your original post. There may be a conflict of terms here.
 
Oh, and what version of Windows? There are many things you can do to optimize performance for recording.

I'll shoot you a link when you state the OS version. :)
 
jimmys69 said:
Those are 'combo' inputs. XLR and 1/4" line level inputs. Just hoping to make sure that is clear. :)
Click to expand...

I've been trawling the web and looking at specs, and I've just figured that out! Haven't seen combo inputs before, but that's a really nice design.
 
Latency is only an issue until you fix it via adjusting a setting or two and then it'll never bother you again. Modern DAW software isn't buggy. Reaper and a Focusrite interface will do you just fine, personally I'd get one with MIDI capability to keep it simple.

The combo inputs have been covered - mic input and line input in one. I regularly record songs with 50ish tracks using only a 2 input interface, so unless you have a specific purpose in mind (like drums) 2 does most solo recordists.

The "simple/ good quality" will mainly come from techniques of various kinds, not the tools. Have fun.;)
 
jimmys69 said:
Oh, and what version of Windows? There are many things you can do to optimize performance for recording.

I'll shoot you a link when you state the OS version. :)
Click to expand...

She's using Windows 10. I did some playing around with the Audio drivers - N-Track seemed to come with some low-latency drivers for the sound, but playing around with the different output options coincided with N-Track completely falling over. The software MIDI tracks seemed to have the worst latency. Audio tracks only became apparent when recorded a couple of tracks against the metronome and played them back, and I'd classify it as "annoying". The software MIDI latency was much worse, and I would immediately classify it as "completely unuseable". I look forward to seeing your optimisation suggestions.
 
Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6 | Sweetwater.com

A tad over your maximum budget but hits all the points. The lower end F'rite AIs are er, ok, (if poor VFM IMHO) but not noted for low latency. The KA6 most assuredly is. It also sports two extra line inputs, that future proofing you mentioned, so another line level instrument can feed those or you could get a budget mixer and run 4 mics.

MIDI ports of course and a copy of Cubase, nowt better for MIDI and that has saved you $60 for Reaper.

And, I know it works on W10 cos I got one and "it" (hate it) and it does.

BTW, I assume that old mic has an XLR on the end?

Dave.
 
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