Unsure as to what to do.. need wisdom

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keyz

New member
I'm doing a pretty "basic" recording project with some friends. We're on a very tight budget (who isn't?) and we need to do something that'll do the job. So I'm in charge of figuring out what we need and what will benefit us in the future. I have a m-audio firewire audiophile and then the pci audiophile version. I have a yamaha mg102 mixer that runs into the pci card. (i've had all this for a couple years now for live setup) I also have a decent mic, and I'm making most of the music in Reason. But reason doesn't record audio so I'm trying to figure out what I need and what would be best. So I am considering the m-powered version of pro tools for $300.

I also have heard Cubase is good too. Cubase SL is $300 I believe too... are there any advantages of Cubase SL over Protools m-powered? I realize PT is industry standard, but I'm still not sure about a lot. I think we do want to be able to transfer our tracks to other studios to get mixed if we wanted.

On the other hand, I was also considering get that presonus firepod (not firebox) and try using the Cubase LE version that comes with it and learn that. I am considering the presonus because I'm assuming the pres on the presonus are better than the ones on my yamaha mixer > sound device. Would I get better sound quality out of the presonus firepod? Would the sound quality be worth it even though the Cubase LE is limited? Really we only need to record vocals at the moment.. since most of the rest is done in reason or electric guitar. Would the presonus be a good investment incase we were to record multiple tracks at once in the future when we get more established?

I'm concerned about the protools m-powered stuff because if I'd ever expand my audio interface in the future to a motu, presonus, or anything except m-audio/digi I'd be stuck with software I can't use! But on the other hand I'm concerned about transfering tracks to other studios.. would other studios be able to pull up a song made in cubase rather easy?

My thoughts are very scattered and I get extremely confused whenever I think about this and it's time to be done with it. I got m-powered protools, cubase, and presonus all running through my mind but don't have any idea as to what to do! Can anyone offer me advice? I hope most of this makes sense. :o
 
Forget the ProTools LE based systems. Get Cubase instead.

I use ProTools HD and I love it. It's great. It was also about 60,000 bucks. The *real* benefit to ProTools are the DSP power available on the cards. The LE systems don't have that.

ProTools HD is great, but if you have to rely on native DSP stick with Cubase. The great thing about Cubase is that there are 100's of free VST plugins on the net, and many of them are excellent.

A killer combo is Cubase with a few Universal Audio UAD-1 cards.

If you lack the huge budget to get a REAL ProTools system definately look at someone other than Digidesign.
 
your audiophile products already give you 2-in, 2 out simultaneous recording, yes? You aready have a small mixer, giving you access to more inputs. Your question seems to be which software to buy or what interface to get. If you've already been recording for a couple of years, what software are you using? There are a million ways to record a decent demo with the simplest audio cards, mixers, and software. Yes, you could use Pro-tools Le because it's free. N-tracks is very reasonable too. Why do you think you need to upgrade?
All the products you mentioned will do the job, but it sounds like you already have the tools. Personally I recommend Sonar Home Studio ($150) to PC recording beginners. It's the Chevrolet of PC based programs and does almost everything pretty well. It's audi, midi, dxi, directX, and very configurable.
 
mikemorgan said:
your audiophile products already give you 2-in, 2 out simultaneous recording, yes? You aready have a small mixer, giving you access to more inputs. Your question seems to be which software to buy or what interface to get. If you've already been recording for a couple of years, what software are you using? There are a million ways to record a decent demo with the simplest audio cards, mixers, and software. Yes, you could use Pro-tools Le because it's free. N-tracks is very reasonable too. Why do you think you need to upgrade?
All the products you mentioned will do the job, but it sounds like you already have the tools. Personally I recommend Sonar Home Studio ($150) to PC recording beginners. It's the Chevrolet of PC based programs and does almost everything pretty well. It's audi, midi, dxi, directX, and very configurable.
Click to expand...

Well, my PCI card gives me a L/R rca in and then a L/R rca out.. so really it's a one in and a one out. And on my mixing board its only a one out. I don't own audio recording software. I've used my mixer for live playing and my firewire audiophile for running loops on my laptop. And the PCI audiophile is for sound on my computer and midi. So I'm softwareless.. so I need software no matter what. I'd also prefer something that is compatible on both PC/Mac. I have a feeling I'll be retiring my PC here for a Mac in the near future. Plus a buddy of mine has a powerbook..

I guess I'm just trying to find a balance between quality and crap and what I really need. I also can't record multiple tracks at the moment and there is no way for me to monitor what I've already recorded unless I have it come out of my speakers... but that's not very good when you are recording another track with the mic because the mic picks up what is coming out of the speakers.

It sounds like Cubase is a good option though... I keep hearing Protools LE is pretty hyped up..
 
keyz said:
Well, my PCI card gives me a L/R rca in and then a L/R rca out.. so really it's a one in and a one out. And on my mixing board its only a one out. I don't own audio recording software. I've used my mixer for live playing and my firewire audiophile for running loops on my laptop. And the PCI audiophile is for sound on my computer and midi. So I'm softwareless.. so I need software no matter what. I'd also prefer something that is compatible on both PC/Mac. I have a feeling I'll be retiring my PC here for a Mac in the near future. Plus a buddy of mine has a powerbook..

I guess I'm just trying to find a balance between quality and crap and what I really need. I also can't record multiple tracks at the moment and there is no way for me to monitor what I've already recorded unless I have it come out of my speakers... but that's not very good when you are recording another track with the mic because the mic picks up what is coming out of the speakers.

It sounds like Cubase is a good option though... I keep hearing Protools LE is pretty hyped up..
Click to expand...

Go to your local Best BUY and see if they have any old MAGIX software discs. They were a distributor a couple years ago. MAGIX is responsible for one of the world's best software suites, SAMPLITUDE. You can probably find ver.5 or ver.6 for about $30. It does it all, uses VSTI and DXI, has EQ on each Channel and widgets no one else even thought of. If you're going MAC, stick with Emagic, or EMU products.
 
You might also consider n-track. www.fasoft.com. Cheap but with *loads* of features.

Once you get that down you'll have a much better idea what you want to get next.

Pro Tools LE *is* rather hyped up. The 3 main advantages it has are:

1) Free software with the hardware
2) Rock solid hardware/software integration and stability
3) Session compatibility with other studios.

Beyond that... its pretty limited compared to the other software in its class. Cubase SX pretty much blows it away for functionality. Cubase SL have a few more features as well. The limitations of LE are quite frustrating in this regards, actually. Stay away unless the items above (particularly #3) are necessary.

I love Cubase. You pretty much can't go wrong with it in my experience- just look for review of Cubase and whatever audio interface you end up using.

Chris
 
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