New To Computer Recording, Suggestions For Basic Setup

[mattjohnson]

I am new to computer recording so I'm not sure what I need as far as a basic setup goes? I have yet to purchase anything and I'm trying to figure out what would be a good setup to start out with. I was looking at PC DAWs like Acid Pro 6 because I heard that it was easy to work with. What kind of interface/mic pre would you recommend? Should I get a new sound card as well? I know all of these questions may sound elementary, but I am new to all of this so any suggestions or examples of basic setups would be great. Thanks.

[A.David.MacKinnon]

I'd jump right in and get Pro Tools LE and an Mbox. If you're going to do work that travels through different studios you're going to run into Pro Tools somewhere. You may as well learn it now.

[Phiz]

Are you new to computer recording, or new to recording in general? What type of projects do you envision yourself working on?

It is very unlikely that you will use your sound card once you have a recording interface, so don't spend any money on that. All of the interfaces except for the very high end have audio outputs. Thus you will use these I/Os instead of your sound card. I don't think I've ever enabled the integrated sound card in my computer.

[mattjohnson]

I am new to computer recording but not new to recording in general. I have always worked with portable digital multi-track recorders, and I want to get away from that and do computer based recording. What I am looking to record are full band recordings with multiple tracks and layers.

I did not realize having an interface would mean that I would not have to get a new sound card. What type of interface would you recommend me getting? Brand as well? I looked on Sam Ash?s website and there seems to be a ton of different type interfaces, and I am not sure what type I should be buying? All I know is that I would like to have at least 4 mic inputs so I could record 4 tracks at the same time.

Thanks for the advice given so far.

[8th_note]

I'll chime in here and give you a few very low cost suggestions if you want to go with a minimum investment. You're right, there's about a hundred different ways to do this and you can spend a modest amount of money or you can drop a large wad.

I'm going to assume that sharing files with other studios isn't a priority. ProTools LE has some serious shortcomings but if you are going to track in other studios or exchange files with them then ProTools is probably the way to go. If not you can get a better DAW program for less money.

For a sound card/interface you can pick up a used M-Audio Delta 66 with an Omni box for under $100. This is a PCI card that goes in your computer and has an external box with two preamps and two more line inputs. It will record 4 channels at once. Because it's a PCI card it has very low latency. The Delta 66 and Delta 1010 are workhorse interface cards with good stable drivers. I have both. The Delta 1010 has 8 channels so I can record a total of 12 channels simultaneously which is about all I ever need.

For a DAW program you should look at two low cost alternatives before springing the money for something like Acid Pro.

n-Track Studio is a powerful yet easy to use program that is really well adapted to recording and editing multiple audio tracks. It's what I use and I love it. You can dowload the demo for free and it costs $79 to register the program.

Reaper is another low cost yet powerful DAW program. It's gotten a lot of buzz lately and it has some interesting features. I downloaded and tried Reaper but I still like n-Track better. It could be that I'm just more used to it. You can download a full demo and the noncommercial license is only $40 ($200 for commercial).

Your portable digital unit had built in preamps so you will need a few channels of pre to go along with your card. This is another area where you can spend about anything you want but a few good low cost pres are the Electro Harmonix 12AY7, ART MPA Gold, RNC, and Presonus MP20.

If you really just want to simplify the whole digital interface process then getting a fire wire interface such as the Presonus Firepod (now called FP10) with 8 built in preamps may be a good way to go. Lots of people are using these and report good results.

Hope this helps....

[ashcat_lt]

I did not realize having an interface would mean that I would not have to get a new sound card.

Your soundcard is an interface. The dirty truth is you could just as easily, and much cheaper, install a soundblaster next to your onboard sound and have 4 ins and 4 outs. You would be dependent on outboard pres. You would need to observe good gain staging practices. There can sometimes be issues with noise from interfaces which are installed so closely to such large RFI producers as the fans in your computer. It's possible that the quality of the circuitry (especially in the area of the AD/DA, arguably the most important part) will be sub-par. I wonder sometimes, though, how anyone could expect that a low priced AD in its own box could be that much better than a higher-end AD on a PCI card...

[mattjohnson]

I'm going to assume that sharing files with other studios isn't a priority. ProTools LE has some serious shortcomings but if you are going to track in other studios or exchange files with them then ProTools is probably the way to go. If not you can get a better DAW program for less money.

Thanks for the advice. With recording I am not looking at taking my tracks to other studios I am looking to do it all at home. I will look into the two DAW programs you have suggested.

For a sound card/interface you can pick up a used M-Audio Delta 66 with an Omni box for under $100. This is a PCI card that goes in your computer and has an external box with two preamps and two more line inputs. It will record 4 channels at once. Because it's a PCI card it has very low latency. The Delta 66 and Delta 1010 are workhorse interface cards with good stable drivers. I have both. The Delta 1010 has 8 channels so I can record a total of 12 channels simultaneously which is about all I ever need.

I have heard M Audio interfaces mentioned before and everyone seems to be very pleased with them. I think I am leaning towards getting one of them but I am not sure if I should get the delta 66 or 1010, but that will be based on personal preference.

If you really just want to simplify the whole digital interface process then getting a fire wire interface such as the Presonus Firepod (now called FP10) with 8 built in preamps may be a good way to go. Lots of people are using these and report good results.

What do you mean by simplify the process? What is the difference between the Presonus Firepod and the M Audio interfaces?

[Phiz]

If you really just want to simplify the whole digital interface process then getting a fire wire interface such as the Presonus Firepod (now called FP10) with 8 built in preamps may be a good way to go. Lots of people are using these and report good results.

What do you mean by simplify the process? What is the difference between the Presonus Firepod and the M Audio interfaces?

Firewire is easier if your computer already has a port for it. The M-audio Delta line requires opening up your computer to put a PCI card in -- not hard, but some effort. Additionally the Delta stuff does not come with preamps (I think the Delta 66 may have pres on 2 of the channels. The 1010 has none.) So there are few components and cables to deal with if you go with a all in one interface/pres combination. However you'll probably pay more and have fewer sonic choices down the line.

[inverseroom]

I'd say

PC
Firebox
Tracktion.

And a cheap condensor or two. You'd be up and running in fifteen minutes.

[mattjohnson]

Firewire is easier if your computer already has a port for it. The M-audio Delta line requires opening up your computer to put a PCI card in -- not hard, but some effort. Additionally the Delta stuff does not come with preamps (I think the Delta 66 may have pres on 2 of the channels. The 1010 has none.)

Thanks for clearing that up what type of preamp would you recommend getting with the Delta 66?

So there are few components and cables to deal with if you go with a all in one interface/pres combination. However you'll probably pay more and have fewer sonic choices down the line.

Could you explain more? Few components and cables? I am a little confused by what you were saying. Sorry I'm new to all of this and trying to understand as much as possible.

[Phiz]

Thanks for clearing that up what type of preamp would you recommend getting with the Delta 66?

EH 12AY7 Tube Mic Preamp, Sytek MPX-4Aii, something Hamptone or Seventh Circle all get rave reviews around here.

Could you explain more? Few components and cables? I am a little confused by what you were saying. Sorry I'm new to all of this and trying to understand as much as possible.

Separate interface and pres means you have at least two boxes plus cables to go between them. An integrated interface-pre combo reduces all of that to just one box.

[mattjohnson]

Thanks, any suggestion on a mic preamp?

[Phiz]

EH 12AY7 Tube Mic Preamp, Sytek MPX-4Aii, something Hamptone or Seventh Circle all get rave reviews around here.

These are all mic pre-amps.

[mattjohnson]

EH 12AY7 Tube Mic Preamp, Sytek MPX-4Aii, something Hamptone or Seventh Circle all get rave reviews around here.

These are all mic pre-amps.

I did not even see that before in your original post I will have to look into them. Thanks.

[8th_note]

What do you mean by simplify the process? What is the difference between the Presonus Firepod and the M Audio interfaces?

Phiz pretty well answered this question but I'll add a general comment.

You came from an all-in-one recording solution where you didn't have to worry about preamps, plugins, sound cards, etc. Now that you're venturing into PC DAW recording things are going to get much more complicated.

You should ask yourself how geeky you want to get with equipment. Like everything else these days there's too many choices. I could probably name 20 decent options for low cost preamps, for example. Some people don't get very obsessed with gear and they just want to record. Others (like me) enjoy nerding out on preamps, upgrading parts like tubes and opamps, having a variety of microphones so I can see which sounds better on a particular voice, and trying different plugins to get that extra punchy sound.

If you are in the first category then a firewire interface with built-in preamps is probably the way to go. If you enjoy surfing ebay, reading endless forum threads about the subtle differences between this or that preamp, and you have an biological need to accumulate electronic toys then you should go with something like a Delta 1010 that forces you to buy 8 channels of preamp to go with it.