What to buy?

[Matthew]

what to buy? I am an experienced amature musician that has played out extensivly and now have been bitten by the recording bug! I just bought a KORG Triton and now.....an AKAI DPS24 or a Roland VS-2400CD? These are my current two choices .... any thoughts on which is better / why?. Other choices?

 

[Phyl]

No opinion on either unit, just wondering why you want to go with a standalone unit instead of a computer based system. Most folks already have a computer so all you need is some software and a good sound card or outboard unit.

 

[Matthew]

Interesting! Actually I had not even considered going software. Probably because I am used to stage equipment. Since I know little about the subject ....any suggestions? Since I will be using a KORG Triton for most of my work, that interface is obvious. However, I will be playing various guitars, and many multiple vocal tracks. Of course it is my understanding that the guitar and vocal mics are analog. Does most software accept this? What is the best amature software outthere? Computer requirments?

 

[Phyl]

The first question is how many instruments you will be recording at the same time. A lot of us are building songs up one track at a time so we only need one or two mike inputs. I often mention the audiophile 2496 because its got a few mike pre-amps, a midi interface, and ( I think) some line ins for stuff that doesn't need a pre-amp. I don't own one one of these units, it's just a good frame of reference when you start to look around. There are units by companies like Aardvark and M-Audio with more inputs if you are recording a whole band at one time. Any of these interfaces will work fine for vocals and guitar. The choice of mike you use to record guitar and voice is important, but is usually a very personal choice.

As far as software, there's lots of options. Hang around some of the forums here and you'll get plenty of advice. I use Cakewalk SONAR and it works fine, but there are a lot of other equally fine programs out there. I think N-track is the cheapest. I'd recommend at least a Pentium 4 or Athlon computer with as much RAM as you can afford. Older machines will work but get bogged down when you start to add more tracks, software effects, etc. Some folks swear by Apple computers (SNOBS).


BTW, there's nothing wrong with the stand alone units you mentioned, plenty of people swear by them. In a lot of cases they are far more portable than a computer based system which is important if you record at various locations.

Good luck!

 

[Matthew]

Thank You,

That seems to be very good advice. I will only be laying down one track at a time and I am building a small dedicated recording room. No portability required. However, my current computer has a P2 processor......but I needed to upgrade anyway. One of my old bandmates uses CakeWalk but it was my understanding that he only used it to clean up sequencing issues on his KORG. I did not realize that it could be used as a multitrack recorder. I will definitly put off buying stand alone until I learn more about the software.

Thx.

 

[OnTheBlackRock]

GO WITH A COMPUTER BASED SYSTEM!

I can stress enough to go with a computer based system... if you want quality sound... stand alone units do not sound good unless you are willing to fork out 2 grand just for the unit alone.. if I were you I'd get about 400 bucks and buy a used Digi 001 it comes with pro tools software (which is personally the best software available ...cakewalk, cubase, cool edit dont even touch pro tools) and I'm assuming if your in a band you already have a mixer and just run that into the digi 001 and your set... great quality recordings and it comes with some pro tools plug in's already so you dont have to buy rackmount gear right away