What do you record on?

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spectacle

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I was just wondering what people use for recording their takes.
And if you use PC , what software you use? Im getting tired of recording into Pc, thinking of getting some sort of multitracker, not to expensive though, any good tips?

Spectacle
 
Stick with PC

I first tried a Korg 16 multi-track Hard Disk recorder and it was a nightmare. I returned it for a refund. Computer is the only way to go because they are so much faster than a stand alone HD recorder. Plus you can do precision volume settings and editing a million times better too.

The Korg 16 took 2 hours just to optimize one stereo track, but my PC does it in about 1 minute. It's all in the Pentium Processor baby!

I've never used Apple, because they cost twice as much as a PC. And pentium chips are faster. You need at least 1.8GHz. Celerons won't do it, get Pentium.

I'm using a Pentium 4 with 1.8 GHz, Windows XP, Sonar 2.0, Echo Mona interface and it works fine. But you won't be able to buy a new Mona because they've been discontinued. And I'm using a Rode NT3 Condeser Mic. You only need Dynamic mics for live performance, but use a Condenser Mic for home recording. The sound quality and clarity is 10 times better than dynamic mics (but remeber that they usually need 48V phantom power). And make sure the frequency response range is 20Hz to 20KHz that is the range for human hearing.

I need to set up a second home studio and I'm thinking of getting an Echo Mia Midi Card combined with a mixer, but I need it to be quiet because I'm using it primarily for vocals. Any tips guys?

Joe
 
At least 1.8!?!?!
Joelegato man, I have to take exception with your specs you claim are needed.

My old 450 saw many a song produced through it's windows 98 OS and it never had any problem mixing 30+ 16 bit tracks.
Now I use a gighz Athalon with win 98 and get great results using 16 or 24 bit resolution.

Celerons won't do it? Gimme a break!
And what's this about the clarity of dynamic mics...you are a wealth of misinformation.

Spectacle, I would second the sticking to computer thing unless you are prepared to buy a dedicated HD unit like the 24 track Mackies or TASCAMs.
But then you'd need a 24 channel mixer and outboard pres or a 32 channel mixer.

I personally just stopped recording on computer as my main multitracker. Now I use an ATR60 16 track reel to reel machine and an M600 console to mix on, both are made by TASCAM. It's not that I have anything against computer recording, in fact I enjoy it very much. to my ears nothing in my price range can touch the sound quality/character of a good tape machine.
 
Joelegato, I have to disagree with you too. My first audio computer was a 400MHz AMD with 5400RPM drives and I could run 16 tracks with it (no plug ins though:D ). I would advise you to get as much computer as you could afford however. A lot of horse power ain't a bad thing.
Now I track into an Alesis HD24 and transfer that into a 700MHz PIII coppermine running Cakewalk9 through a MOTU 2408 mkII. All clocked with a Lucid GenX6. I mix and monitor through an analog console.
 
I track using the Tascam DM24 Console into a tascam Da78 and 2 Tascam DA38's, but it would be cheaper to go computer.
 
Thanks everybody for giving your opinions on stuff...

jake-Owa: Ive been wanting to get some sort of multitracker for quite some time now.
Thing is Ive got a 16 channel mixer wich I want to use. Actually Id like to avoid working with the computer as much as I can. Id wish to record on to the multitracker, take it trough the mixerboard into the PC for final editing and cd-recording.
 
i understand where joelegato is comming from saying at least a 1.8gig..
try and run waves plugins(reverbs, compressors, eq's) or timeworks eq's, psp master Q.. these plugins take a lot of power...
bottom line.. a machine under 1.8 gig really isn't gonna give you any power to run quality plugins..
i use a tweaked to hell xp2500+ and i also have a Athlon64 3200... i know if i get to 70% using nuendo 2.1 in a mix... a 400mhz machine couldn't simply playback my vox... actualy i took a mix to my partners studio and he has a athlon 1.1gig(slot athlon) he couldn't even play the mix back.. the cpu was at 100%... on my machine it was at 30%
 
Hmmmmmmm............I'm using a 700MHz PIII with 640 megs of RAM. I routinely run in excess of 24 tracks (24/44.1) along with Waves plugins (granted, only a few at a time) all the time and my machine never chokes.
 
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i'm running a 1.2GHz celeron with 512MB of ram and it handles 24 tracks (24/44.1) just fine. I use waves and timeworks plugins as well, although i don't tend to use a lot of them--i try to get the sounds right when going to "tape" so i don't have to use a lot of plugins.

i find that harddrive speed, the drive's I/O speed, your amount of ram, and most importantly, how well-tuned your machine is, makes a lot more difference than your CPU speed. fwiw, i was running 12 tracks with plugins on a 450mhz (192mb ram) machine prior to this with minimal problems.


wade
 
Aardvark Q10 > Sony 2.6gHz 512ddr on XP Pro

Thats it for now. I'm going to get a new computer and maybe some rack gear (compressor and such) and some nice mics.


Sorry for the poor blending in the picture....Each picture was slightly at diffrent angles.
 

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spectacle said:
Thanks everybody for giving your opinions on stuff...

jake-Owa: Ive been wanting to get some sort of multitracker for quite some time now.
Thing is Ive got a 16 channel mixer wich I want to use. Actually Id like to avoid working with the computer as much as I can. Id wish to record on to the multitracker, take it trough the mixerboard into the PC for final editing and cd-recording.
Click to expand...
Well there used to be a lot of good reel to reel machines on ebay but I think "A Reel Person" has bought all the Tascams. thanks Dave.:rolleyes:
 
you can get an alesis hd24 for between $1300 and $1500. killer machine! sounds great!!
 
24tracks.. 24/44.1
the reason you need at least 1.8gig.. lets see you run:
at least 2 rverbs
at least 16 RenEq's
at least 12 rComp's
a few S1's when needed or wanted

i know i can run this a A LOT more. i had a track the other day with 27 Timeworks Eq's.. they take more cpu power than waves when using the waveshell. not to mention 3-4 different reverbs, a bunch of compressors etc...

try running 48-56 tracks at 24/48 or 24/96 i can... and i usually do. i use an avg of 28-32 tracks

my xp2500 daw:
over-clocked to xp3000+
abit Nf7D MB(nvidia chipset)
1gig of pc2700 ddr
1 200gig 8mb cache drive
2 80gig 8mb drives
ATI 9200pro video card
Winxp pro ETC....

if i can get this machine to 70% there's no way at all a machine under 1.8gig could even load the mix with out pausing. i've been building computers, servers, networks for the last 8 years
 
spectacle said:
BORAY: How is your mic amp working? noticed u had a T1953 in your studio.
Click to expand...

I don't have much to compare with, but I guess it's okay... Except for that the meters shows way too much. Badly callibrated meters... I don't think I would have bought it today, but now when I have it, I think it's good enough for now. Listen to this:

Everything except the bass is recorded through it (with two ADK A51 type V mics)...

/Anders
 
jake-owa said:

Celerons won't do it? Gimme a break!
Click to expand...

I think the point here is that if you're building/buying a new PC to be used as an audio workstation, you would always choose a pentium over a celeron. What's the point of trying to save $50 or whatever by buying a celeron and sacrificing the performance you'd get from the pentium's bigger cache?

All else being equal, as your track and plugin count start to mount, the celeron will always hit the wall before the pentium
 
I use a stone wheel and bird with a long beak,like the Flintstones.
These two peices of equipment are great for location recording because of thier mobility.(one rolls and the other flies)
 
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