What am I still lacking?

  • Thread starter Thread starter rch427
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rch427

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Standard disclaimer: I don't know what I'm doing; I throw myself on the mercy of the court, etc.

Now then:

I want to play some of the instruments I have (acoustic and electric), record them on my gear, and eventually make CDs of them for my own enjoyment. I've been accumulating instruments and gear for a couple of years, but haven't used much of it yet. Here's the "studio" stuff I already have:

TASCAM Portastudio 464 4-track cassette deck w/ punch-in pedal
1970s Sunn 8-channel mixer
TAPCO 2200 equalizer
TAPCO 4400 spring reverb
Behringer MIC-100 tube pre
Nady CL-5000 2-channel compressor/limiter/gate
Furman PB-40 patchbay
Oktava MK-319 large-diaphragm condensor mic
Shure model 51 dynamic mic
pair of E-V 623 dynamic mics
tube guitar amps by Danelectro, Gregory and Harmony
Kay solid state guitar amp
decent isolation headphones
good, new computer with CD-burner

(It's probably rather obvious that I like older gear. I would prefer to keep this process as analog as possible.)

Here's the stuff I'll be adding to it in the next couple of months:

small-diaphragm condensor mic (probably an Oktava)
rack-mount or pedal chorus, an echo or trem, an envelope generator
tube bass amp
powered monitors
audio processing software
and/or better CD-burning software
--and I'll be making a little isolation booth


I made the mistake of posting a similar question to a discussion group for audio engineering and basically was told that my stuff would never produce a decent recording; that I should sell the 4-tracker and go digital, etc. The only potentially useful response I got was that the Behringer mic pre wasn't very good and maybe I should look for a better, solid state one. I can live with that.

OK, now that I've gotten all that out of the way, what I'd like to know is--am I missing anything that would be really useful for such a recording scenario? For example, should I have an external pre-amp or amp for boosting the signal through the effects chain, or does the TASCAM provide enough power for that? Would a 2-track R2R deck be a good idea for mastering, before going into the computer for burning? Will I need some sort of analog-to-digtal converter to process the output before sending it into the computer? Anything else I should be looking around for?

Any advice or opinions would be greatly appreciated.
 
I think you can get your 4-track recordings to your computer, then a CD, without spending a single dollar. There's an open source audio program called Audacity you can use to re-record from 4-track to stereo wav file. And Windows Media Player lets you burn them to a CD. You should at least explore the basic capabilities of free stuff before you start throwing money at quality issues.
 
it seems that you have a lot of gear for recording just for your own enjoyment....maybe its just me...
 
rch.
if were me i would sell some of the older gear.
get a good soundcard like a delta for your pc, and a couple of nice mic pre's
like rane ms1b, and multitrack record on the computer.
youll have 40 plus tracks easy if a 2ghz plus pc with two fast 8mb cache hard drives and 512 ram.
you can always try the software i use.
search under my name back a few months.
clue ...its under 50 bucks and puts a complete software multitrack studio on your pc. including some pretty neat vintage guitar and other effects like rvb/echo/chorus/flanging etc. also - a slew of midi features and audio recording/editing.
 
I don't mean to come off as an asshole, but when people say analog with a hushed reverence, they aren't refering to cassette 4tracks. Cassette limit your recording in freq response, signal to noise ratio, number off tracks (losing quality each time you bounce), not having "UNDO" plus tons of other limitations. I'm not saying you can't make decent recording with the Tascam (that's where I started), but you are severely handicapping yourself. Real analog is EXPENSIVE, both the equipment and media. For home recording I would really recommend going digital (hey everything's digital if it goes on a CD). You can get one of the cheap or free programs mentioned above and a cheap interface and you'll be ready to go. You can still use all your analog outboard stuff, but the media capturing it all is much better and more flexible. Your to get list looks pretty good, consider some acoustic treatment too, at the very minimum enough to cover your first reflection points. check out this article if you don't know what I mean
http://www.realtraps.com/rfz.htm
 
some of you people are so typical. he says what he wants and you try to steer them in a completely different direction because you dont care.

u need monitors dude. anything other than a stereo or headphones. just get something that claims it was made to mix on.

and I agree with the above that you can mix down to whatever pc soundcard to audacity. i used to do it all the time. a 2-channel usb type input device might also be nice though, but def. not necessary.

why an isolation booth?
 
rch427 said:
I don't know what I'm doing;
Click to expand...
rch427 said:
I want to play some of the instruments I have (acoustic and electric), record them on my gear, and eventually make CDs of them for my own enjoyment.
Click to expand...
rch427 said:
Here's the stuff I'll be adding to it in the next couple of months:

small-diaphragm condensor mic (probably an Oktava)
rack-mount or pedal chorus, an echo or trem, an envelope generator
tube bass amp
powered monitors
audio processing software
and/or better CD-burning software
--and I'll be making a little isolation booth
Click to expand...
rch427 said:
Any advice or opinions would be greatly
appreciated.
Click to expand...
Typical :rolleyes:
I know he said he wanted to stay analog, but I am of the opinion (based on his own admission of not know what he was doing) that his reasons were flawed and that "analog sound" he's is after doesn't come from a portastudio.
 
Resph1's right ... four-track is fun and all ... but if you want to make real music you need something better. The most economical way of doing that is using any PC built in the last five years and getting a sound card for it for about £45. :)
 
Oh, I dunno. I built a 1Ghz Athlon system at the start of 2001, I think, and that was a very stable system up to about 25 tracks or so.

I guess it was an exaggeration .... all I mean is that you don't need a supercomputer. ;)
 
I wouldn't ditch the 4-track altogether. outfit the computer to record/mix on, keep the 464 around to track drums on or something.

I would maybe ditch some of that other outboard gear and start using the PC to mix. Even if you prefer an analog recording to a digital recording, mixing on a digital platform is much easier and cheaper than using a bunch of outboard comps and EQs.

I'll add another vote for monitors too...

Does a $200 M-Audio soundcard sound that much better than a cassette 4-track? Isn't really good digital gear pretty expensive?
 
Hi_Flyer said:
Does a $200 M-Audio soundcard sound that much better than a cassette 4-track? Isn't really good digital gear pretty expensive?
Click to expand...
Yes to the first question, and no to the second.
 
Well I should revise - the best digital gear is expensive in the way all top end gear is in any category. Good digital gear is cheaper than ever though, and far superior to an old 4-track recording to C90 cassettes.
 
Line Condtioner/Stablizer

You might consider yourself a good line stabilzer/conditioner for you power. Unless you have a clean consistent power supply.. you should have conditioner to not only protect your investment but also keep a consistent power flow to you system. Furman PL's and Tripp Lite LC series are examples.
 
Hey RCH. I ran a search for 464s and I ran across your thread. I hate to dig up a dead body but.....

I dunno if you are still havin ??s pertaining to this post, but it seems to me like your question wasnt answered fully.

To me, it looks like you have a really good gear setup so far. The 464 is a perfectly capable unit. You mentioned that you would be doing recording for your own enjoyment (and, no doubt, close friends and family). I see no problem with your current setup for making very good demo quality recordings. A good pair o' monitors should round out the package nicely. Your front end is pretty solid, with a good collection of mics (those 319s are nice). With a bit of time spent getting to really know your gear, and good mic placement, I have no doubt that you would be able to make some satisfying recordings after a while. Like everything, lots of practics makes perfect!

It seems like a lot of people here on HR are really closed minded as to what mediums can produce quality recording, which is fine. But good recordings can be, and always have been made on cassette gear. Look at Reel. Hes made some excellent recordings with his 424s. Its more the user's skills than the gear.

So, in closing, you have a good setup. I am looking at roughly the same setup, and for nonprofessional purposes, very satisfying recordings can be made. Computers are dumb and a pain in the butt anyways. Computers are for internet and games, not audio.

Have a good one!

Carl
 
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