What do you think of this setup?

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solo.guitar

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After using an Audio Buddy, MXL mic, and SoundBlaster card I've decided to save up for an upgrade. After searching for awhile now, I've decided on a setup that would suit my budget.

I'll be recording acoustic guitar only, and only 1 or 2 tracks at a time, either mono, or stereo guitar recording.

Here's what I've decided on:

Soundcard: EMU 1212M soundcard
Preamp: M-Audio DMP3
Microphones: AT4040

Total: $660

I plan on starting with one AT4040 mic and maybe getting another one later on or getting a different type of mic for stereo recording, but I'm not sure which one would sound good along with it.

I'll also need to spend some money on treating my room, but I'm going to save that for after I get my gear so I can get it sounding good with my equipment, and also use it to test the room.

So, what kind of results can I expect with this setup assuming my room is properly treated?

Thanks. :cool:
 
That all looks good but you didn't mention a very important part of the equation, your room. You may be better off spending a bit of that loot on sound treatment.
 
solo.guitar said:
I'll also need to spend some money on treating my room, but I'm going to save that for after I get my gear so I can get it sounding good with my equipment, and also use it to test the room.
Click to expand...

:p

Is this not a good idea to wait until after I get my gear? I really have no idea what to do to treat my room other then put bass traps in the corners. I read an article by Ethan Something on room treatment but I'm still kind of lost as treatment needs vary from room to room.

It's just a small bedroom with not much in it, I don't know the exact measurements but it's almost square.

But as far as the equipment goes, with a well treated room, what kind of results can I expect?
 
Also, I noticed the Presonous FireBox is the same price as the EMU. Which one would be a better choice?

In the future I may want to get a dedicated A/D converter and would like to be able to bypass the interface's A/D conveter. I don't know what S/PDIF ports are exactly, but I know if the card has digital i/o then it would bypass the AD? Is that correct?

The website says this about the EMU 1212M

* Two 1/4" Balanced Inputs
* 24-bit/192kHz ADAT In/Out (switchable to S/PDIF)
* 24-bit/96kHz S/PDIF In/Out (switchable to AES/EBU)
* MIDI In/Out
* Firewire® Interface
Click to expand...

Is there anyway with this card to bypass it's A/D? If not, then I may go with the FireBox and just get a cheap PCI Firewire card.
 
Sorry about that, I should open the other eye occasionally.

You can wait on the sound treatment for sure because you'll be moving out of the bedroom anyhow some day. The equipment itself I can't say much about because I've never owned it. I saved some when I upgraded from my soundblaster and got a LynxTwo card. It cost around a grand but the converters are nice, really nice. I don't know where that leaves you with software but it's a thought. There's nothing worse than buying something today and growing out of it in 6 months.
 
If you are going to be recording solo guitar only I might take a second look at your choice of mics....I don't own a 4040 but if memory serves its a large diaphragm condenser, you might be better off with a small like the octava mc-12 (i think) or something similar, the other thing I saw ...."In the future I may want to get a dedicated A/D converter and would like to be able to bypass the interface's A/D conveter. I don't know what S/PDIF ports are exactly, but I know if the card has digital i/o then it would bypass the AD? Is that correct?" the converters are what sold me on that card, check out the specs on them..
As far as room treatment goes...do you want to optimize it for recording or playback? plenty of thing you can do to improve even a bedroom either way.
 
NYMorningStar: Unfortunately I can't afford to spend a grand on just a soundcard/interface, I'm just trying to get the best bang for the buck on my current budget.

StratKat: The room would be treated for recording, but I'd also like to be able to set it up so I can move things around as needed for monitoring, etc. I'm renting this house so anything that I do needs to be able to be undone.

I heard of some people installing rails on the walls and having 'sliding foam plates' that can be moved around or taken off completely for when mixing or recording. That's something I could probably do myself if it's even practical.

As far as the mic goes maybe I will consider an SDC, but I heard some sound samples of the AT4040 on acoustic guitar here and it sounds really nice and detailed which is what I'm going for.
 
I use an AT4040 for acoustic myself. I usually use the pad and the bass roll off for this situation. It's a nice mic but you will need two for stereo. You could use a small condensor to capture a little exta crispness and save a few bucks.

I have 12 auralex acoustic panels in my 2 room studio. Some are stuck direct to the wall others are on 1/4 panels. You could just tpins and hang them if you wanted.

I've never use EMU products so I have no opinion there. I do use a couple of the
Delta 1010LTs which seems to be a popular budget card. I also use a ART DPSII which has a decent A/D converter onboard worth the cost of the unit to feed the digital in one one cards.

The AT4040 is a very useful mic that will do a lot of things and has some very useful features. I have 4 different AT mics and they are all very useful.
 
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