Thinking of starting a home studio

I

Ichor

New member
Hi, I'm new here. I don't know much about recording. I've just messed around with an old 4-track, but that's not really enough for me. I'm thinking of creating a computer-based home studio and don't know where to begin. As I have many questions rolled into one, I thought I'd post in here. Feel free to focus on specific questions if my post is too long for you.

First, let me explain my needs: I don't have a band or anything...just me. I only need to be able to record one track at a time I suppose. I will probably be recording things such as electric guitar, acoustic guitar, maybe vocals, and possibly just random things I may get the urge to bang on, as I could get experimental. I'll need some sort of editing software. This stuff doesn't need to be professional. It's mostly a hobby. I don't need anything "top o' the line," but at the same time, I want at least decent sound quality. As far as price goes, I may be willing to spend several hundred dollars on all the equipment (aside from the computer), but I'd rather it didn't reach into the thousands.

Now, the computer: I don't feel my current comp is up to the task, and am thinking of getting a new one. Actually, I'm considering a laptop, as I like the idea of the studio being somewhat portable. First of all, is it feasible to use a laptop for a basic studio? Also, I'm very open here...what would be good to get? PC vs. Mac...any certain company...any operating system better than others? What is a necessary processor speed, amount of RAM, etc.? Can laptops come with CD-R burners?

Soundcard: Like I said, I just need to record one track at a time. Good sound quality, but doesn't need to sound really professional. I don't know where to begin, or what would work with a laptop, or how to connect it.

Software: Just needs to let me easily move around the tracks I record, maybe loop them, I guess some effects to play around with would be nice. I'm guessing most any program would work. Also, I'm thinking it would be good to have some kind of software-based drum machine. I guess that would either need to come with the editing software, or be a compatible separate program. The more realistic the drums, the better...not going for techno here (well, probably not).

Microphone(s): Should I have separate mics for instruments and vocals, or one mic for both? I may also use this to record voices for cartoons I make (again, just a hobby). What's a good mic?

And finally, is there anything else I absolutely must have?
Sorry for the huge post. I just want to be thorough.
 
From everything you said I would recomend a standalone DAW like one of the Roland, Yamaha or Boss units. A laptop for audio can be pretty quirky especially if you just want to do some recording and don't feel like learning how to be a computer DAW technician.
 
Ichor -

Welcome to the board! 2 questions:

What is your budget?
What are the specs of your current computer?

It actually doesn't take as much power as you might think to get something up and running. I started off with a Celeron 366 and 256mb of RAM (an emachines even!), and had no trouble getting 10 or so tracks -- you could probably even do a few more, I just never had the need.

I have also done some laptop recording, if that's the route you want to go. I used a Tascam 224 to run sound to the laptop, which is a USB device with 2 preamps, a few line-ins, and some actual controls to grab on to. It was completely USB powered, doesn't need a seperate power supply, and worked very well for mobile recording. I think M-Audio also makes some USB devices that are similar in function. And, to answer your question, yes, laptops can have CD burners.

For software, I'd check out N-track. It costs ~$50, and a lot of people around here (including myself) really like it.

If you're on a tight budget, you could pick up a SP B1 (~$70) to use for vocals and guitar, although you will need something to provide phantom power.

Hope this helps, good luck!

travis
 
Before spending money on a new laptop, (which is probably not designed to record and master a song, more for menial tasks such as surfing the internet) I would agree with road kill, for the same amount of money, you can get a stand alone unit like the roland or yamaha . You can record a single track at a time, and with virtual tracks on both these units, you have unlimited possibilities of recording several takes and deciding in mastering what parts you want and dont want. And an added bonus is protability. I made lots of money recording high school band concerts with my Roland. We made lots of Cd's and sold them to parents.
 
My current comp is 550 Mhz and 128mb of RAM. It's maybe 4 years old and has been acting up lately, getting pretty glitchy. I've been wanting a new computer anyway, and would consider a laptop even without the home studio aspect of it, so that's one reason I was thinking of a laptop studio. I think I could design a laptop that would be good for this if I knew what I needed. As for budget for a laptop, I'm thinking I want to shoot for under $2000. Preferably as low as $1500.

About standalones: one thing I liked about the idea of a computer studio was the ability to visually move tracks about in relation to each other on the screen. Do standalones have a display that can be used for this? Also, the more I think about it, I may also want to play around with some synth. Can this be easily done on a standalone? I don't know, maybe that's the way to go.

Thanks for the help everyone.
 
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There are 3 basic approaches to this:

1. PC based recording
2. Standalone multi-track recorder
3. Hybrid

One can get into PC based recording for little $. Software like the PG Music PowerTracks, which handles up to 48 tracks, costs about $30. You can buy an adaptor to get sound from guitars, bass, keys, microphones, etc starting from about $100. The result would support digital recording on multiple tracks.

The second approach is to forget the PC and just buy a standalone recorder. They start at about $300. If you want more than 8 tracks, it can easily run a few thousands for a good quality unit.

The third approach is a hybrid using both a standalone unit and a PC. Fostex makes the MR-8 unit which retails for $300. It can do 8 digital tracks and stores the result on an internal compact flash card. What really makes this work is a software utility that Fostex provides that allows you to move individual recorded tracks to the PC. Then you can record more tracks on the Fostex and use something like PowerTracks on the PC to mix the result. You effectively end up with a 48 track digital recorder for about $350.

Each of these had pros and cons:

PC based
1. Low cost
2. Easy
3. Flexible

One down side to PC based is noise. You are always recording near the PC, and sometimes this can be noisy and difficult.


Standalone based
1. Higher cost
2. Mobile

It’s hard to beat a good standalone unit, but getting enough tracks and capacity costs $.


Hybrid based

1. Low cost
2. Flexible
3. Mobile

The down side is that you are using both the mobile recorder and a PC. One has to move tracks between the two if you want to get more than 8 from the original or have longer recordings.

Ed
 
Ichor I wanted to answer your last Question about Standalone having the ability to visually move Tracks around on a screen. The answer is yes, the screen size is really more the issue, depending on the unit you buy the screen size won't be as large as Laptop screen or a computer Monitor. But There are several standalone DAWs on the market now that have SVGAXGA ports on them to allow you to use a Computer monitor or a flat screen if you require a large screen, Rolands 24 Tracks unit is an example. And Yes you can easily use a synth or any other musical device easily with a standlaone and probably easier then with a PC until you have bought all the stuff required to be able to input to a PC. The advantage of a standlaone is ou of the box it will come with everything you need right away to start recording , for example you mentioned Microphones earlier, most of today DAWS come with a least 2 or 3 XLR connections with Phantom Power if you are using a Condenser Mic. Most come with built in EQ & Effects and some with dynamics processors, they already several different types of inputs, and built in Pre-Amps, a mixer with faders and many of them automated faders. I personally do both, but I love me Standalone DAW the Yamaha AW4416 and the sound quality and mixing capability are really good. Yamaha introduced the AW16G (4416 little brother) 7-8 months ago, which is a 16 track standalone DAW, with 8 Virtual tracks behind each track, 4 band-EQ, Dynamic Processors (compressor,expanders,companders), Two on board effects units DSP 's, a sampler with a ton of samples Bass, Drum ,ect for about $1000, and it has received rave reviews, you might want to check it out.

Finnally to answer your Mic question, can you use the same Mic for Vocals and Instruments, Yes ..... but I would recommend to get several Mics, like SM57 for Instruments and a conderser for Vocals like A MXLV67 or a Studio Project C1 for vocals. Every Mic will sound different and expand the possibilities. If you go with one I would go with Shure SM58, works great for vocal for a dynamic Mic and you can take the wind screen off of it and then use it for instrument and it will be very close to SM57. Just food for Thought. Good Luck.
 
I use a laptop for recording for the portability and because it is so much quieter than a PC. But I do not use the built-in laptop sound interface. Instead I use an external USB unit. The one that I specifically use is the Edirol UA-5, but it is hardly the only one out there. As long as you are just talking about two inputs it is a fine solution.

From a cost standpoint it makes sense only if you already had some other need for having a laptop. Otherwise the hybrid solution works pretty good.
 
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