Will this best suit me?

K

keyz

New member
Hi all.. I'm new but I have some questions about getting set up for recording to my computer. Right now I have a keyboard and some guitars I would like to record. And then possibly lay down some vocal tracks in the future if I ever get a mic. I would also like to hook up my keyboard as a midi controller for software synths. So basically I'd like something that would allow me to do all this for as cheap as possible, but at the same time, I want nice quality. I'm just beginning with all this stuff so I don't need a 2000 dollar set up. :)

From what I hear, you can't go wrong with the m-audio stuff. What caught my eye was the Omni Studio with the Delta 66 card. I think you can get it new for around $220.00 bucks and I thought that was a pretty good deal. It's got the mic preamps, and enough inputs for what I'll be doing, I believe. I'll probably only be able to record 1 instrument at a time and vocals maybe so the inputs shouldn't be a problem will they? The only thing is that it doesn't have MIDI in or out. What midi interface should I be looking at then? Am I on the right track?

Right now I have a Soundblaster Live! 5.1 and I figure it can't do much for me. :) Any other recommendations? The Omnistudio really caught my eye but I'm concerned about the MIDI situation. The thing I like about the omni is that it has got the box and not a million cable coming out of the back of the card. My computer desk is a pain to get behind so I kind of want to avoid a card with a zillion cables coming out of the back.

Another question is.. can I use my 4 creative speakers and sub or do I need to get monitors? My friend said I could probably just plug them into the phones output jack. I dunno if it will work so I wonder. They are great speakers and I'd hate to discard them. Like I said, I don't think I will be cutting professional recordings but I want that flexibility.

I just wondered if I'm on the right track and if anyone can point me in the right direction, or if there are any comments on the Omni. I appreciate the help! It's so confusing.. Thanks. :)
 
hi keyz, welcome to the board.

I agree, the omnistudio is a neat little piece of gear, it it weren't for it limited number of I/O, i would consider it as well. One option that i am going to suggest (i'm sure there will be some disagreements but...) is the tascam us122. I started my recordings on it and it has definately served me well. it has 2 mic ins or 2 line ins, MIDI I/O, heaphone out, RCA line out and 0 latency direct out. It is a very nice package that has a lot of features taht you would find useful. The disagrements will come with the issue that USB does not have the bandwidth necessary but it is not an issue for you since you only want to record 1 or 2 tracks at once. I have used to record 2 tracks at once and there were no problems. It also has WDM and ASIO drivers which is important.

As for your speakers, monitors would work better when editing music as they pcik up thiings that consumer speakers do not. That said i still use my computer speakers for editng since i cannot afford a good set of monitors right now. If you want to use your speakers, do what your friend said and plug them into the headphone out, or if you have the tascam you could use headphone in the headphone out and plug thsoe speakers into the line out on the unit.

Well hope that gets you started.
 
Another option would be an M-Audio Audiophile 2496 which has analog,digital,and midi. Connect a small mixer such as a Behringer UB802 and you will be good to go. The whole setup would cost about $160.
 
mino,

Thanks for the reply. Yeah the omnistudio does only have 2 analog inputs. Would the omni studio be capable of running my keyboard in stereo using L/R? If I did that I would be using up all my inputs wouldn't I? I just realized that. It also doesn't have midi which is kind of disappointing. For the Tascam US-122. That's a pretty cool device. I was just looking at it awhile ago and kind of blew it off because of the USB. I read a review and the review recommended it but they said the software that came with it was pretty crappy. Any thoughts on that? Should I go out and buy some other software for it if I went with Tascam? I also just read that it only records up to 48khz.. wouldn't the omnistudio sound better because it goes up to 96khz? I just dunno.. it looks attractive but I want good quality also.

Yeah I was looking at the monitors and those are kind of pricey. I might have to do get those down the road if I decide to go any further. :)

And ocnor.. That crossed my mind to get a card and just get a mixer. How would I connect the mixer to the sound card? Would I need some type of adapter? (I'm stupid.. sorry) Are there any benefits from doing it like this?

Thanks for the help. :)
 
You would need RCA>1/4 adapters that can be found at Radio shack. The benefit is that you can run your keys and mics into the mixer and monitor with headphones or speakers without having to buy extra gear such as a headphone amp. I have an Audiophile 2496 card myself and I'm very pleased with it.
 
I see. Do the mixers have mic pre-amps or would I have to get one? And for the software.. does the recording software come with the Audiophile?
 
Thanks for the help. And how is the sound quality. I'm looking at the UB802 Behringer right now. Will it sound better than the omni or no? That's one heck of a savings if I could do it through a mixer but I want to make sure my sound quality will be good or any different. :)
 
If you need the extra preamps then the Yamaha would be a fine choice. After checking the specs I don't think that you would notice a difference between the two as far as quality. The Behringer actually has a lower THD+N spec. I also don't believe that you would hear much of a difference between either of those mixers and the Omni Studio preamp.
 
The more I think about it the more I'm thinking the UB802 will be just fine. It's nice price tag will do just fine for now. If I ever get reallly serious I can upgrade in the future. Plus I don't think I'll be recording more than 2 instruments at a time. And I can probably just run my speakers out of the Audiophile card right? That shouldn't be a problem? Thanks for the help everyone. :)
 
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