Which DAW and soundcard to choose?

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matt301273

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Hello good people,

I have been playing guitar for years and now I want to start recording stuff. I want a multitrack DAW that allows me to record audio (acoustic/electric guitar, voice, and maybe some other instruments) and which also allows me to play virtual instruments (e.g. strings) and plugins (e.g EZdrummer) by filling in a grid with a pencil tool (like in FL studio which I already have). I can't see myself laying down any more than two tracks at a time. I already have a PC (3GB RAM, Core Two Duo, 7200 RPM hard disk) which I want to use for recording.

2 questions:

1. What is the best DAW for PC to do what I have outlined above as simply as possible?

2. What is the best soundcard/audio-interface to buy to get warm,bright guitar tones? (I already have the Alesis IO/2 audio interface but the guitar sounds lifeless, dull, muddy and clinical no matter what I do to it). My computer does have 2 PCI slots.

Thanks for any suggestions

Matt
 
a little more info about what you want/what your options are would help. how much are you looking to spend? do you already have other outboard gear that you want/need to integrate into your recording environment?

it sounds like you're looking for something pretty simple, and usually there's no need to spend too much for simplicity. mackie's tracktion is a great, affordable piece of software that should do everything you're looking for. it's midi interface is intuitive and flexible. it works with vst plugins (as does pretty much everything these days). it doesn't have the horsepower under the hood or as many gauges on the dash as say cubase, ableton, acid, etc., but that certainly makes it quicker to get up and running with. a lot of these programs are offered as demos on their company's websites--download some and play around with them to see what you like.

as far as the interface is concerned, it's all about how many channels you want (sounds like two is good?) how concerned you are about latency issues (if you're doing all the recording/overdubs yourself you should be able to work around these) and how trained your ears are at picking up the nuances of different hardware's analog-to-digital conversion quirks. also how mobile you want your setup and how concerned you are about future compatability matters--basically whether you want: usb (arguably the most latency and most likely to bog down, usually cheapest, probably fine for two channel recording) firewire (a lot more expensive, arguably higher latency and better for multichannel work) or pci (supposedly dead but not really, arguably the fastest of the three options, not as cheap as it should be for something that's supposedly dead and prone to noise issues in its cheaper incarnations.)

then you just need to pick a brand. m-audio and presonus are the big players in the tug-of-war for entry level audio interfaces, you can get equivalent hardware from smaller players for less (or get more options/quality from them for a comparable price)--like tascam, em-u, roland, echo and alesis, but since most comparable interfaces will be just that, at least on paper, it's really up to what options are most important to you, and how it sounds. alesis has a reputation for exactly what you describe--sounding 'clinical'--but, and this is the case with all of these interface, this probably has more to do with the preamps than with the a/d/a section of the box. you may want to consider keeping the alesis io2 that you have now and spending on a warmer preamp like an m-audio dmp3 or a sp vtb-1... of course, this all goes back to how much you're looking to spend. some of these audio interfaces also come bundled with software, so you may be able to solve both of your problems at once for the same or better price (for instance, the echo audiofire4 is about $300 and comes with tracktion... which is less than buying an m-audio dmp3 and tracktion by themselves)

and this doesn't even begin to consider what kind of microphone setup you're using, which will have even more of an impact on your sound. not to mention what kind of guitar you're playing, when you last changed your strings... etc.

hope this helps!
 
Matt,
I'm no expert, but you probably can't expect a great guitar tone from any audio interface. What you really need is a good guitar amp, or perhaps a good amp simulator, either hardware or software. Adding a dedicated preamp for your guitar may also be a way to go, but this is over and above my pay scale!
You should be able to get buy with your Alesis interface - but remember it is an entry-level piece of gear.

Your computer sounds like it is way more than you will need, but all depends on software you use and effects/plugins/samplers, number of tracks, etc...

I get by with a 1Ghz with 384MB ram...because I have to!

Cheers,
-Rich
 
Audio Interface

Hi there,

Thank-you for taking the time to offer your advice.

Man this bewildering array of interfaces is making my head spin.

All I want to do is create virtual instrument tracks in a DAW (drums, bass, strings whatever) and then record electric/acousitc guitar tracks, mix and master.

I don't (at this point) want to record any more than two tracks at once (guitar and vocals). I just want an interface that gives a great guitar/mic sound (I understand that it has to be a good mic) and not the shitty sound my Alesis IO/2 is giving me. (I don't really care whether it's PCI, USB or Firewire). I can't tolerate any discernible delay either whilst recording or listening back to the recorded guitar track. That's all I want. Just to plug my guitar into my amp and then into the interface, record and listen without delay and listen back without delay. Surely this is a fundamental requirement when recording?

Best

Matt
 
matt301273 said:
Hi there,

Thank-you for taking the time to offer your advice.

Man this bewildering array of interfaces is making my head spin.

All I want to do is create virtual instrument tracks in a DAW (drums, bass, strings whatever) and then record electric/acousitc guitar tracks, mix and master.

I don't (at this point) want to record any more than two tracks at once (guitar and vocals). I just want an interface that gives a great guitar/mic sound (I understand that it has to be a good mic) and not the shitty sound my Alesis IO/2 is giving me. (I don't really care whether it's PCI, USB or Firewire). I can't tolerate any discernible delay either whilst recording or listening back to the recorded guitar track. That's all I want. Just to plug my guitar into my amp and then into the interface, record and listen without delay and listen back without delay. Surely this is a fundamental requirement when recording?

Best

Matt
Click to expand...

Describe in detail how you are tracking everything. The room you are in. The amp you use. The settings. The mic use you. Where its at.

I don't think the interface is the issue. For the most part, gear is only a polish.
 
I always recommend reading up on Tweak's Guide. It's a good start to helping you sort out your needs and what is available.

http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm

I record everything myself and use the Phonic firewire mixer and Cubase. The reason I like the phonic mixer is it has built-in effects for realtime monitoring, but the signal going to the computer is dry. This is a big plus because you can add some reverb to help with your singing or liven up your acoustic guitar which extracts a better performance from you, but you don't necessarily want the effects included with your recorded tracks. You won't know how much effects you want to add to your mix until you have all your tracks recorded and you are ready for mixdown.

The other nice thing with this setup is no latency issues, you're monitoring in realtime with real effects through your headphones.

Peopple might knock the phonic and claim it is worse than a behringer. I haven't found this to be true and have had good success with it. YMMV.

I also use a guitar amp sim instead of an real amp. I do this for two reasons; 1) I record mostly at night while my family is sleeping and with the amp sim I won't wake them. 2) I have a much larger range of tones to choose from.

I use ezdrummer and love it.

Cheers,
 
while the i/o2 aint all that... at the same time alesis gear is generally cool and i doubt it is guilty of any direct suckage... if you're going direct to it then you'll want to check into amp sims... if not then it's a mic choice /placement or an amp issue...
 
Thanks for the advice

Hey Guys,

I really appreciate you guys taking the time and effort to help me out here. Cubase LE4 came with the interface so I am just going to learn to use that and stop stressing out with deciding on which DAW to choose. I find I am getting more sucked into the 'getting the right gear' obsession and sucked away from just being creative with music enjoyment that I get from plinking away on my acoustic. I was laying down a few funky riffs over a disco beat imported from Fl studio, and with a bit of experimental equalisation and it sounded ok. The timing seemed bang on when I listened back which I assume is due to the 'automatic delay compensation' in Cubase (does Cubase know how much of a delay there is and nudge the recorded track forward a few ms accordingly?).

I think amp sims are the way to go because although they can't replicate pushed air they seem to come pretty close. I was drooling over guitar rig 3 today. Quite expensive though. Anyone use this with Cubase?

I will want to get a better audio interface soon though. Do the guitar inputs have pre-amps as well as for the mic inputs? (sorry if this sound naive!)

I agree about that tweakheadz site. Very well put together and thourough explantion.

All the best

Matt
 
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