What Do I Need?

[Snapperhead]

So we want to do some recording on our own and I know nothing (or less) about it. It doesn’t have to be professional or anything, but I'd like the ability to record as many tracks (mics and instruments) as possible and then of course edit those tracks individually.

Some have recommended the console units with the built-in hard drive and/or CD drives. Aome have recommended the Firewire and USB mixers so I can record right to my PC and then edit and do everything there. What’s the right answer? Will the console unit or Firewire mixer be all the equipment I need?

 

[scrouch]

How many tracks are you looking to record at the same time?

 

[Snapperhead]

At least 8, but more if I can. This is kind of a tough question for me as I know very little about this. I'd like us all to record the songs in as few takes as possible if that helps. BTW, it's a trio, lead, bass, and drums.

 

[scrouch]

Alright. I'm also new to this but I'll tell you what I know. My opinion is that the firewire/usb interfaces are the best deal if you already have a computer with enough power. I picked up a 4 channel firewire interface and Pro Tools for about $500 and that's enough to do some basic recording. A lot of companies offer both hardware and software (Digidesign for example sells the digi002/digi003 interface in a bundle with Pro Tools and a bunch of plugins) and there isn't a huge difference between most of them these days. Most software packages use the same plugin formats and there are a lot of interfaces that run 8 channels. You'll pay more for them than for ones that have fewer channels so it's up to you how much you're willing to spend to be able to record more at once. For basic recording, that's all you need. It starts to get more expensive if you want to add other hardware or software. Preamps, channel strips, plugin bundles, better mics, etc will all improve the quality but it sort of follows the law of diminishing returns. You spend a little to get something that's pretty good quality. For an incremental improvement in quality you'll be spending a lot more (you can spend $1000 on a pretty good set of monitors or $4000 on a set that's a bit better even though you might be able to get very similar results by using either).

A basic firewire setup will get you started and let you decide if it's worth it for you put more money into it. If you can get the tracks down with good quality you can always send it to a studio to mix and master.

 

[Snapperhead]

I was thinking about something like this. Good?

 

[scrouch]

That should really be everything you need to get started. I haven't tried the version of Cubase it comes with but it's inexpensive to upgrade to SE if you need to. I also haven't used Alesis stuff before so I can't really speak to the sound quality but this is basically the type of system you should be looking at.

 

[Snapperhead]

That should really be everything you need to get started. I haven't tried the version of Cubase it comes with but it's inexpensive to upgrade to SE if you need to. I also haven't used Alesis stuff before so I can't really speak to the sound quality but this is basically the type of system you should be looking at.

Can you recommend a system that you have experience with?

 

[scrouch]

Unfortunately I've dealt mostly with m-audio stuff before as I only needed a few inputs. I've never had any problems with it and think the sound quality is pretty good. A lot of people use the digi002 or other Digidesign products but the digi002 rack package is about 3x the cost of the Alesis sale price. There are also a couple of m-audio products in a similar price range to the digidesign. I'd be surprised if the Alesis didn't have pretty good sound quality but you might also want to check the m-audio and digidesign stuff to see what your other options are.

 

[Snapperhead]

scrouch,

Thanks for all your help. I think I'm going with this one.