Wanting Some DAW Advice

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cello john

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I have a VS880vx that has been very handy in doing some film soundtracks and random projects, but I've been feeling limited by the number of available tracks, as well as the limited useability of the editing functions. I play mostly acoustic instruments (cello, violin, guitar, bouzouki...) and would like to ba able to record more tracks without having to bounce as frequently as I do now.

I've been eyeing the 2480CD at my local music store, wondering if I can justify the expense as well as all of the many features that I would probably never use.
The VGA output alone, though, has me drooling and ready to sell my car (kidding) adn buy the thing.

Can anyone talk me out of, or in to buying this? The money's not so much the issue as- is it too much machine? What ore others' experiences with the user-friendliness and functionality of this (versus the 1880, Yamaha 4416, Akai units).

Sorry to ramble, just wanting to cover most of the bases in the first post...

Thanks in advance...
 
If you really want to take your audio to the next level you might consider getting a stand alone HDR like the Alesis HD24 or one of the mackie's and get an analog or digital mixer. The system will be much higher quality and give you greater flexiblity in the long run. You can also upgrade different components individually much easier than if you have an all in one box.
 
Can you recomend a mixer that would match well with the Alesis? 24 track would be plenty...need not be the greatest but good quality for clean acoustic tracking...
 
About the lowest quality I would use would be any Mackie or Soundcraft. Acoustic music is pretty demaning of the preamps and mix signal path.
 
I was checking out a few mixers today. Could you comment on the Yamaha 01v? I couldn't tell if it had channel inserts for ideal outboard preamp usage. Seeme like that would be important. Maybe I just couldn't find them...

I would put my entire budget (Alesis hd24, 2000$) at about
3,500$. What;s available for 1500$? The Yamaha seems to come in at about that.

Also, what should I look for specifically in the mixer? 24 channels seems plenty. Do I need to look at things like stereo channels, inserts (as mentioned), effects, multiple mix busses? I would be recording myself playing multiple instruments, string quartet (with other players, of course) Occasional larger acoustic ensembles...
I am committed building a very good quality home studio set up that I can rely on for many years.
 
The O1V is pretty popular but I have never used one. The main thing to figure out is how are you going to get 24ch in or out of the mixer/recorder. Make sure that you have the right i/o options. I would guess you can use TDIF or ADAT lightpipe to get the audio to/from the 01V and HD24.

The 01V is a digital board and they have a lot of advantages for internal routing, effects, channel count etc but they can also be expensive to add enough analog i/o as you need. Make sure you have enough inputs, aux sends, inserts etc for your needs. They usually give you a stock amount of analog i/o and the rest is available as add on cards.

Preamps are going to be very important for acoustic music so you might plan on getting some good stand alones now or in the future. Something like the FMR RNP for about $500 would give you two good channels and there is a lot of good stuff for about $1K+ per channel.

You might also check out the Mackie SDR24. As I recall they were selling for less than $2k and they even have USB data transfer to computer. If you really want the balls out best audio quality then get a Radar 24 Nyquist. I decided to get one and I've never regretted it.
 
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