Basic Recording Setup Advice

RatcHeT-x · 19th July 2011, 10:06 PM

Hey,

I'm undertaking a Cert III in Technical Production (Music Technology) atm and I also play drums. I'm thinking of saving up and getting together a basic recording package more to play around with, for the experience.

So, am I right in thinking I need Mic's, Mixer, Interface, DAW?

I was thinking about a really cheap Behringer mixer, but seeing as drums will need like 6 XLR inputs minimum if I buy a mic pack, what's my best option?

What interface would you guys say for a low budget setup? I've seen some mixer/interface combos like the Yamaha Audiogram 6, but this wouldn't handle all my future mics.

Basically, I figure if I can manage a decent sound out of shit equipment I can probably go far with better equipment later on.

I'm sick of people assuming that you need to spend heaps on every single piece of hardware to get a decent sound and I want to prove this wrong in a way.

In terms of DAW, I'm deciding between Reaper, Ableton Live and Cubase. We use PT at school, but I'd rather not go the M-Audio way.

Cheers!

RatcHeT-x

jmannik · 19th July 2011, 10:54 PM

have a look at the presonus gear, they have the firestudio 8 input interface which should suit everthing you need once you get a mic pack. you just need to make sure your computer has firewire

RatcHeT-x · 20th July 2011, 2:34 PM

How much would I be looking at for on of those? Any suggestions on mixer? Do I even need one?

jmannik · 20th July 2011, 2:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RatcHeT-x

How much would I be looking at for on of those? Any suggestions on mixer? Do I even need one?

http://www.allansbillyhyde.com.au/pr...Interface.aspx

no mixer required as far as i can tell. has gain controls for each channel, everything else is done in software. you can get cheaper and smaller devices im sure but i know the software side of things is pretty nice with the presonus gear

http://www.presonus.com/products/Det...x?ProductId=43

rm -rp ./Matt* · 20th July 2011, 3:33 PM

depends how you want to record the drums, if you get a 6+ channel audio interface you don't need a mixer and can just use software vsts for eq, compression etc, note that your computer will need to be pretty fast and tuned for audio work if you want to record 6+ tracks simultaneously and hear them back in real time (<10ms).

The other alternative is buying a 6+ track mixer with on board eq and compression and setting up each mic then sending the stereo output into a 2 input interface. The limitation there is your drums need to be well mixed on the mixer because you can only modify the stereo sound once recorded instead of individual drum hardware, most computers will easily handle 2 track recording.

Obviously bad room and mic placement can't be fixed in either scenarios, but the second one does force you into making what's going in sound good, it's all to easy to record average stuff into a interface and think i'll fix it in the mix.

The second option will be a bit cheaper than the first but I'd chose the first option pending your computer is up to scratch, I'd go Reaper too as it's cheap and has all the vst effects you need for learning.

RatcHeT-x · 20th July 2011, 6:27 PM

I think I'll go with the first option you suggested. Look at my PC in my sig, it will do?

Yeah I think I'll get Reaper, with an 8ch interface, and then a mic pack?

Sounds good?

rm -rp ./Matt* · 20th July 2011, 6:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RatcHeT-x

I think I'll go with the first option you suggested. Look at my PC in my sig, it will do?

Yeah I think I'll get Reaper, with an 8ch interface, and then a mic pack?

Sounds good?

Yeh I guess just don't spend too much, I don't think tafe expects everyone to get a home recording set up for the course, don't want to buy all this gear and then find that the room is making your drum recordings bad, it's all learning but if you could hire/borrow some gear you could have a go at recording them. Don't forget you need mic leads and different types of clips and boom stands for the drum mics, it all adds up.

The comp will be fine but if you haven't already you might want to run XP on a partition, I recently upgraded my pc (2500K OC + 8GB RAM) and put on Win 7, fine for everything but audio work, using DPC latency checker I was getting terrible latency spikes, not to mention 64 bit driver and 64 bit reaper issues, some find it fine but my hardware and software does not play nice with it, plus the vst's I do have are written for 32 bit so they are installed in bridge mode, not sure if that affects performance.

Anyways install XP, get all your drivers and updates, install needed software, then google tweaking xp for audio, there's a few key steps to do. Then download DPC latency checker, disable any network ports and antivirus and anything running at start up that doesn't need to. Leave DPC running for a few hours to see if your latency stays in the green.

RatcHeT-x · 20th July 2011, 7:21 PM

Hey cheers for that, wasn't aware of that. I'll see how my hardware goes, but yeah XP is easily doable.

TAFE isn't making em buy ti, I'm actually at school and undertaking the course through school, and I just want it for the experience and I'm genuinely interested in it.

Cheers for your help!

nickeax · 20th July 2011, 7:27 PM

Neumann U-47 capacitor mics sound pretty nice and are easy to work with.

RatcHeT-x · 20th July 2011, 7:50 PM

-_______________-

19th July 2011, 10:06 PM	#1
RatcHeT-x Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Brisbane, AU Posts: 347	Basic Recording Setup Advice Hey, I'm undertaking a Cert III in Technical Production (Music Technology) atm and I also play drums. I'm thinking of saving up and getting together a basic recording package more to play around with, for the experience. So, am I right in thinking I need Mic's, Mixer, Interface, DAW? I was thinking about a really cheap Behringer mixer, but seeing as drums will need like 6 XLR inputs minimum if I buy a mic pack, what's my best option? What interface would you guys say for a low budget setup? I've seen some mixer/interface combos like the Yamaha Audiogram 6, but this wouldn't handle all my future mics. Basically, I figure if I can manage a decent sound out of shit equipment I can probably go far with better equipment later on. I'm sick of people assuming that you need to spend heaps on every single piece of hardware to get a decent sound and I want to prove this wrong in a way. In terms of DAW, I'm deciding between Reaper, Ableton Live and Cubase. We use PT at school, but I'd rather not go the M-Audio way. Cheers! RatcHeT-x __________________ OCAU // Drummer Club # [35]

19th July 2011, 10:54 PM	#2
jmannik Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Albury, NSW Posts: 479	have a look at the presonus gear, they have the firestudio 8 input interface which should suit everthing you need once you get a mic pack. you just need to make sure your computer has firewire __________________ [Logitech 'G' Owners Club Member #127] Guitars: Gordon-Smith Graduate, Epiphone Les Paul Standard, Fender Jaguar MIJ Amp: Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier Roadster 2x12

20th July 2011, 2:34 PM	#3
RatcHeT-x Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Brisbane, AU Posts: 347	How much would I be looking at for on of those? Any suggestions on mixer? Do I even need one? __________________ OCAU // Drummer Club # [35]

20th July 2011, 6:27 PM	#6
RatcHeT-x Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Brisbane, AU Posts: 347	I think I'll go with the first option you suggested. Look at my PC in my sig, it will do? Yeah I think I'll get Reaper, with an 8ch interface, and then a mic pack? Sounds good? __________________ OCAU // Drummer Club # [35]

20th July 2011, 7:21 PM	#8
RatcHeT-x Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Brisbane, AU Posts: 347	Hey cheers for that, wasn't aware of that. I'll see how my hardware goes, but yeah XP is easily doable. TAFE isn't making em buy ti, I'm actually at school and undertaking the course through school, and I just want it for the experience and I'm genuinely interested in it. Cheers for your help! __________________ OCAU // Drummer Club # [35]

20th July 2011, 3:33 PM	#5
rm -rp ./Matt* Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: in the computer Posts: 621	depends how you want to record the drums, if you get a 6+ channel audio interface you don't need a mixer and can just use software vsts for eq, compression etc, note that your computer will need to be pretty fast and tuned for audio work if you want to record 6+ tracks simultaneously and hear them back in real time (<10ms). The other alternative is buying a 6+ track mixer with on board eq and compression and setting up each mic then sending the stereo output into a 2 input interface. The limitation there is your drums need to be well mixed on the mixer because you can only modify the stereo sound once recorded instead of individual drum hardware, most computers will easily handle 2 track recording. Obviously bad room and mic placement can't be fixed in either scenarios, but the second one does force you into making what's going in sound good, it's all to easy to record average stuff into a interface and think i'll fix it in the mix. The second option will be a bit cheaper than the first but I'd chose the first option pending your computer is up to scratch, I'd go Reaper too as it's cheap and has all the vst effects you need for learning.

20th July 2011, 7:27 PM	#9
nickeax (Banned or Deleted) Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 1,047	Neumann U-47 capacitor mics sound pretty nice and are easy to work with.

20th July 2011, 7:50 PM	#10
RatcHeT-x Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Brisbane, AU Posts: 347	-_______________- __________________ OCAU // Drummer Club # [35]