what to use?

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authue

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i am purchasing a 424 mkII or mkIII and would like to get some tips on what would be good accessories to include with these units.

amps, monitors..etc. thanks.
 
Well, that's really a wide open subject, but...

-[2] Shure Sm57's, [2] cables, [2] stands. One will do, in a pinch.

-Headphones. Try to judge headphones for sound, not price. Some lower priced headphones might sound fine, like , like Audio Technica for ~$30.

- Good tape, like TDK CD POWER, C90. I've seen these, in a 6 pack, including zip up case, for $7, at Tower Records, recently. It's hard to beat that. Anyway, you need a good, high bias tape.

- RCA cables, a few extra, for mixdown & patching.

- Strings, picks, guitar cable, etc. No fun setting up for a session, and realizing you're short.

- Hopefully, you have a nice, home stereo, that you think sounds pretty good, and that music sounds pretty 'realistic' on it, because you will want to patch the 424 to the stereo for MONITOR. If you don't have a nice stereo for MONITOR, you'll need something for a MONITOR... sometimes headphones don't cut it, for judging your final mixdown.

Sometimes, people like to have one or two effects around, like compression and delay or reverb. I have those effects, but rarely use them any more. I think the half-rack size units are pretty good, as well as full size rack components, and stomp boxes.

The Jstation and Pod are really popular for effects and recording, these days. I don't have either, but I hear people like them.
 
use it all

Hey Man,
Reel has hit it on the head. If you are just starting out in this hobby then get what ever you can afford to get started. A mic, some cords, Headphones(don't want to bother anyone), and something to listen thru whwn you want others to listen. I used a boombox that had a line in on it for 2 years. If you play music then it won't take long before you will be hooked. You'll want to start upgrading stuff for the sound. If you have some cash to burn and you think this will be a good hobby, then by all means, buy some good mics and some nice recording monitors. This site will send you in the right direction for advice on gear and how to use it. My very basic recording gear ran me around 1500.00 not counting instruments, amps, etc, which I have collected over the years. I got the 424MKIII, Yorkville monitors(all ready had the power amp), Philips stand alone burner for mix down(used cassette for years), 3 each 57's, 1 each shure singing mic(?), 1 each Marshall 603s condenser mic, and assorted cords, plugs, and things for hooking all this shit up. Just my 2 cents worth.
Good Luck,
dtb
 
Nice post, dtb!

---> I agree with exactly what dtb just said.

My 2c, it doesn't come overnight. Guys like me & dtb have been doing home recording, playing, and collecting stuff for a long, long time.

F/I, putting together a MAJOR HOME RECORDING CD RELEASE, like THE DAVEMANIA COLLECTION, [my own cd creation, now available], also took years, and DAVEMANIA is just HOME recording... you know...

...Years to learn my chops. Years to learn how to record live sounds to tape. Years to practice, play, and jam, and whatever else I could do, day & night, and have fun w/music. Years to review, remix and dub MILES of ARCHIVAL tapes to WAV files, on the 'puter... [2 actual years for archival tape remix to WAV, on the DAVEMANIA project]...

Looking at it that way, the DAVEMANIA CD project was OVER 25 YEARS IN THE MAKING!! Wow, it adds up fast. [I'll turn 40 in weeks, but I don't feel too 'old',... yet].

I started learning to play guitar, 'seriously', when I was about 13, on what what was essentially a 'department store' electric guitar that somebody gave me, second hand, and for the first few years, it only had 5 STRINGS, [and 5 tuning pegs!]. I just played it that way, and I had to learn all over again, when I finally got a '6 string', HAHAHAH.

The first acoustic [classical] I had & played, at age 16, was also a department store clunker that was just given to me, but it worked!

I started out at 18, " pseudo-multitracking", with tape-to-tape kluges of cassette machines, which 'works', but sound quality is really awful. Try any more than 2 or 3 dub generations, and your primary tracks are lost in the hiss.

The first multitracker I got was a Tascam 244, when I was 21, which I still have to this day. It's a great machine, it still works great, and I've used it for many purposes: multitrack production, vocal/pa mixer, and submixer.

Anyway, enough about me.

We all start out as home recording NEWBIES, working from the ground up, and learn day by day as the recording process takes place. Recording & music is an art, as well as a science, and it's lots of fun, too..

Good luck w/your 424mkII/III. They are both great machines.
 
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