PC recording questions

[Ray K.]

Well, I'm spending this beautiful Saturday loading/configuring a spare PC that I have on hand. Just installed a brand new 1TB drive and I'm keeping this pretty much "bare bones" since it will be dedicated for recording only.

I've looked into software. I'll most likely try some of the freeware first, to see how I get along with it - Audacity, Reaper, etc.

I'd like some advice on a hardware interface. There's plenty out there and I'm a bit uncertain which way to go right now. :confused:

The more inputs, especially XLR, the better IMO. But, I am trying to do this on a short budget for now until I see how much recording I really get around to doing.

This will replace an age old Fostex multitracker that I've probably put about 5 hours total worth of effort into over the years. It works, but is a bit "clutzy" and outdated these days. Plus it's more trouble to convert the analog to digital, so I can share them in cyberspace, if I feel bold enough.

I've not used a DAW before, but have recorded a few times in a Pro Tools based studio. So, I know at least some of the many capabilities that it has.

Also, right now, it will probably be just me laying down my personal guitar tracks and vocals using backing tracks and drum loops. But, I would like to be able to expand in case I decide to bring in other musicians.

Any info or pointers would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Ray K.

[chriswhite]

I am using an MBox 2 and I love it, I also have an Alesis Multimix 8 USB. Both of these interfaces are fantastic. I'm not sure if you can get an MBox without ProTools tho. The Alesis Mixer was less than $100 and is pretty nice. I am also fond of some of the Behringer interfaces but they are a little more but not much.

As far as software is concerned; I use Audacity for very few applications, I used to host an online radio show with my friend and I would use audacity to rip audio from the internet for use in stories and what not. I use ProTools and Reason for everything else but since I am a guitarist and not an engineer its quite complicated and over my head most of the time. That and its pretty pricey. I recently switched to Record by Propellerhead (same guys that make Reason) and its much more user friendly does everything i need it to do but you cant use plugins with it like you can with PTs. Record is also about $150 but is absolutely worth IMO.

[bud]

Firewire based interfaces are handy and relatively inexpensive but can be really touchy when it comes to what firewire chipset is resident on your computer.

USB2 interfaces have come a long way and seem to be less picky than firewire. Roland Octa-Capture and the M Audio - Fasttrack Ultra get pretty good reviews. The Roland has more xlr inputs. You'll need to see what fits in your budget. Pre-sonus is another manufacturer to check out. If you want to go top drawer, RME is the "apogee" of the PC compatible world.

Pay attention to the number of analog inputs and outputs. You need to look at a sampling of online reviews for any given device. If you see a lot of people having trouble with something, stay clear of it. The more inputs, the more the price. Most devices will indicate the total number of inputs/outputs that include fiberoptic and/or spdif, which for many go unused, so the actual number is much less.

You'll need headphone amp(s) and enough sets of headphones for the number of people you expect to be tracking, including the engineer (unless you are blessed with a separate control room)

Find a really good all purpose mic. I use an Audix C111 for vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar at times, sax, (and on one occasion bag-pipes). Mic's are a money pit.

[Stys]

Purchase a couple external drives made by Glyph. Record your tracks to the external drive instead of your PC drive. Most Glyph drives have USB and Firewire ports so you can easily daisy chain if you want.

[mdrs]

Ray........I've just started up a home studio, but I'm using Logic and an iMac.

You might check in the "Home Recording And Song Writing" section of my forum, "The String Network";

www.thestringnetwork.com

http://www.thestringnetwork.com/viewforum.php?f=13

We're small, but have a number of members who are heavily into home recording stuff, and will be able to help you out.

Best of luck. Let us know how you do!!

[GuitArtMan]

When I was looking into this I asked over at TGP and I got more suggestions for the Apogee Duet than just about all others combined. They've just released a new version for USB (the previous one was FireWire). Apparently their converters, pre-amps and drivers are superior than the others in the low to mid-range. You don't get all the bells and whistles, just good sound and rock solid performance.

[Stys]

I am using the Apogee Duet. No problems or issues. It sounds great and is easy to use.

[bud]

When I was looking into this I asked over at TGP and I got more suggestions for the Apogee Duet than just about all others combined. They've just released a new version for USB (the previous one was FireWire). Apparently their converters, pre-amps and drivers are superior than the others in the low to mid-range. You don't get all the bells and whistles, just good sound and rock solid performance. Duet (as is apogee in general, I THINK) is a Mac only device, it is rock-solid and will yield stellar quality (I would have bought one if it was PC compatible). .

[oakridge]

The duet looks awesome
I have used Mark if the Unicorn (MOTU) 828 mk2
For many years
Multiple inputs ?18, very reliable, FireWire or usb2,
Low latency
Also may be worth checking out some of the line6 input devices as these often come bundled with awesome guitar amp sim plugins straight off amp farm/pods-- very usable sounds
But I must say after looking at the duet , I think I want one!

[Ray K.]

Sorry guys, I've been a little busy, but I really appreciate all of the replies so far!

My head was spinning for awhile as there seems to be so many ways to go with this. So many interfaces, not so much $$$...

I think I'm starting to narrow the list down to, in no particular order:

- Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 - preamps are supposed to be quite good. If I should decide I really need to go to Pro Tools 9, this will interface. There is one locally, $300 new. I have FireWire on my PC motherboard but don't know which chipset. I've never used it. I may need to get a better PCI FireWire card, but that shouldn't break the bank.

- Line 6 TonePort UX8 - Nice looking and seems well built. I'm a "sucker" for the VU meters. Has the advantage of POD Farm 2 Platinum for modeling guitar and bass. Can get one locally on clearance, $380, I think is what I was quoted?

- Alesis MultiMix 8 USB - I almost brought one home from the local GC, when I looked there Sunday afternoon. It is a nice looking piece of gear and seems to have ample features. The sales guy confused me by saying it would only output the L/R stereo channels via the USB (?). The information I've since found on the Net tells me different in that it is true multitrack plus L/R mixes. Price is quite nice!!

There have been other good suggestions, but I'm gravitating toward the above at the moment.

It's cool if you guys want to keep talking about the Apogee gear, but yeah, I've got a PC and it's not going to talk to anything except a MAC.

Don, thanks for the invite. I'll check your site out more thoroughly when I find the time.

Any comments or other suggestions are certainly welcome!

Thanks,
Ray K.

[bud]

- Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 - preamps are supposed to be quite good. If I should decide I really need to go to Pro Tools 9, this will interface. There is one locally, $300 new. I have FireWire on my PC motherboard but don't know which chipset. I've never used it. I may need to get a better PCI FireWire card, but that shouldn't break the bank.

I have a Saffire pro 24. Sounds great, and has been very stable. Bought a Siig firewire card on Amazon, was about $30. Make sure you get the TI chipset (check device manager, it should tell you if your onboard chipset is TI. you may be able to avoid buying the card). Focusrite has info online about confirming a compatible chipset

[mdrs]

I used a Motu UltraLite for a while, when I started out with home recording.......

I think it's a decent price for a good interface. There are usually a bunch on eBay.

[Ray K.]

Bud, Device Manager shows that I have a:
AGERE OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller

I tried to Google this and am finding conflicting information about the chipset. I suspect it is not a TI chipset.

If I go FireWire, I'll just see how well it works. I have the spare slots and can always get another card, such as the one you suggested. Though I just took a quick look and the Siig I found was a dual port for about $53.00. Still not bad, but would be nice to find a good TI based card for closer to $30.00.

Tanks,
Ray K.

[Ray K.]

Don, thanks for the suggestion!

Even though I'm relatively new to digital recording, I've always read good things about MOTU gear.

But, I'm just not finding what I consider really good deals on eBay right now.

Thanks,
Ray K.

[dannopelli]

Purchase a couple external drives made by Glyph. Record your tracks to the external drive instead of your PC drive. Most Glyph drives have USB and Firewire ports so you can easily daisy chain if you want.

VERY TRUE. You will burn up that 1TB in no time if you get some complex stuff going.

[dannopelli]

I used a Motu UltraLite for a while, when I started out with home recording.......

I think it's a decent price for a good interface. There are usually a bunch on eBay.

What I use. It is a breeze. High quality, lots of inputs, but only two XLR.

[bud]

Bud, Device Manager shows that I have a:
AGERE OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller


Thats the chipset I have in my HP Desktop that is in my studio and I had problems with it. Here's the siig card I got on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HDKVDQ it's $37

[Ray K.]

Bud, Thanks for the direct link! Yeah, that's more like it.

I actually decided I would go ahead and get the Saffire Pro 40 unit and went by the store during lunch to buy it. But, found out none of the software was in the box...

The unit was used, but didn't look it. The power and FireWire cables were included. They knocked the price down to $225, which sounds quite good for just the interface. But, I thought I had better mull it over and research a bit more. I may wind up going back to get it though.

I still like the idea of having POD Farm Platinum 2 which comes with the Line 6 TonePort. Alone, the software is $300 retail, but I've seen it on eBay for much less. My thinking was I would go with Saffire Pro 40 to get me going, especially if all of the software is included. Then, if I decide I want/need POD Farm, I could buy it used or buy their least expensive interface for $100 new, which includes POD Farm Platinum 2 also!

Hmmm, we'll see...

Thanks,
Ray K.

[Ray K.]

Guys, I've been pretty busy putting my new digital studio together the past few days. I'm now at the point were I'm trying to start putting it to use, though there is the usual bit of a learning curve.

I did buy the Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 on Wednesday It's in like new condition, but without the software. I think I got a good deal on it. I'm quite impressed with it now that I have it at home. Plenty of I/O's for now, phantom power, built in power supply, etc. The Saffire Mix Control software is pretty powerful, but fairly intuitive. It allows for all types of routing, monitor mixes and much more.

So now, I'm trying to decide on the right DAW. Currently I'm concentrating on Reaper by Cockos. I'm making some steady headway. There are a lot of written and video tutorials. I am getting input and output just playing around with my guitar plugged straight into channel 1. Took me awhile to figure out the headphone monitor routing, but that's taken care of now. I'm also using one of the dirty amp sim plug-ins that was included.

I'm looking for some free or reasonably priced drum and/or bass loops and samples. I know they're out there, but primarily I'm not quite sure who to trust when it comes to downloads. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Also, same for plug-ins. VST is what I need, I think? I downloaded one, an amp sim, from LePou, but it was a .rar file. Doh!...it just hit me, that is a compressed/zipped file. So, I'll give that one another try...

I'll probably have more definitive questions later, but right now since everything is relatively new, I'm not quite sure what to ask.

I would be grateful for any help/pointers.

Btw, I found some free software that so far has proven very useful. Input Director (http://www.inputdirector.com/), which is basically a virtual KVM switcher. I have my desktop/server (dual monitors) set up as Master and my studio computer (single monitor) as one of the Slaves. When I need to switch keyboard and mouse control from one to the other, I simply move the mouse past the edge of the monitor on one system to the other and I'm then controlling that system with the same keyboard/mouse. Really cool piece of software and extremely easy to setup! The systems will have to be networked, wired or wireless. If you haven't already, you might want to give it a try.

Thanks,
Ray K.

[Ray K.]

I downloaded the SoloCHead plugin from LePou (http://lepouplugins.blogspot.com/) again and unzipped it. I got two .dll files?

These are supposed to be VST plugins, so how do I get them into my DAW?

I tried moving the files into the plugin folder for Reaper, but it does not recognize them, of course.

EDIT: I found the answer. After unzipping the files, I needed to put them in the correct VST/FX folder. The one with the other dll plugins. Then open Options>Preferences>VST. Then click on Add.. and point to the folder and Reaper does a scan to find the new plugins. I'm not sure, but I "think" it would have auto detected the plugins if I had shut down Reaper and reopened it? I'll have to try that some time.

Thanks,
Ray K.

[Ray K.]

http://members.cox.net/curtiskband/100_5005.jpg

Finished, for now... :rolleyes:

Software -
Reaper v3.76 DAW (Registered)
Saffire Mix Control v2.2 Routing
Windows Vista (32 bit)

Hardware -
Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 interface
Mamba 16 Channel XLR/TRS combo patchbay
XLR Interconnects by kVConnections
KRK R6 G2 Limited Edition Nearfield Monitors (Active)
Cerwin-Vega SAT6 Reference Monitors w/ 10" Sub (Passive)
Furman PL-Plus DMC
M-Audio Axiom 61 MIDI Controller
Alesis SR18 Drum Machine

Computer -
PC w/ Intel Pentium E2200
Dual-Core, 3MB RAM, 1TB HD, Antec EA-500D Power Supply, Nvidia GeForce 9500GT video, Siig FireWire 400 3-Port PCI, Gigaware 2-Port USB 3.0 PCI Card
Dual Acer 19" Video Monitors
Atdec Visidec VF-AT-D Monitor Arms
Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk 2TB USB 3.0 External Drive
APC XS 1300 780W UPS
Logitech K800 Wireless Illuminated Keyboard
Logitech Performance Mouse MX

Mics -
MXL 990 Side Address Cardiod Condenser w/ Shockmount
MXL 991 "pencil" Condenser
(2) Peavey PVM 22 Cardiod Dynamic

Headphones -
Sennheiser HD 280 Pro
Sony MDR-V150

Desk -
Studio RTA Producer Station

Ray K.