Tired of spending money...

Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 10:49 pm

A mixer would still leave you with only two inputs unless it was specifically designed as a multichannel interface. A Digi 003 for example. But you don't need a mixer. You can get a multi i/o interface for less than half the price of a Digi 003. The FireStudio and FP10 are well spoken of. I would suggest a Mackie but they have been slacking in the driver department and have yet to come up with a driver for either Vista or Leopard.

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 12:45 am

Audio Interface.

The Presonus FP10 comes with multiple I/O. They run about 500 bucks, and comes with Cubase LE. I got the same advice from a lot of folks both at tweakheadz.com and here. They all said basically the same thing: Audio Interface.

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 1:53 am

as I said in the first reply
Cool

perhaps the second reply
as the first was aimed at really, really good monitoring ... and that still stands
... the mbox is fine for a soloist to record bass and guitar and vocal

but a metal drum kit, with only two inputs, is going to be difficult for a new-comer to nail

a mixer would provide more inputs but you would need to mix the drum kit correctly ... live ... to a stereo pair through the mBox
again difficult for a new-comer to nail

I suggest you stick with the mbox and find a friend with a 001, 002 or 003 set up with additional Lightpipe unit
OR
use a cheap studio with similar gear and the PT software so you can track the drum kit as individual tracks and take them home for further work

you will be able to prepare sessions to take to the studio and even have the drummer rehearse at your place with the session that they will be recording to at a later date ... at the studio

you have much to learn and there is no point leaping into a 003 with additional Lightpipe unit
....
until you are very confident with the workings of bass and guitar and vocal through the mbox

a big metal drum kit is not an easy record

you might find it better to use BOXed drums for the time being
BFD as an example

I know they can be cheesy
but it will allow you to work on your bass and guitar and vocal techniques
... the BOXed drums can be replaced later as described above

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 5:29 am

I see where you're going with this, Kev. If I can't do well enough with an Mbox, then how the hell am I supposed to drop a ton of cash on a mixer or something of the like and not still be completely lost. I guess the advice you're giving here is that I need to take baby steps.

So it's not impossible to record an acceptable demo using this interface. Drums would be a challenge, but you've suggested BFD and I've looked it up. It looks great.

So when I get back to the states, I'll be buy the SM57 and SM58 Mics and getting straight to work with what I have.

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 3:49 pm

yeah

I think that about sums it up.

I'll add one more thing.
Try to find a mentor.
It could be us here ... but some things in mixing and editing and mic placement and vocal delivery etc
can be hard to explain here in just words and short replies.

Being able to see and here your sessions would help someone to advise you.

So later when you do go looking for a studio to record some live drums ....
maybe you can strick up a freindship and try to learn from the things they are doing.
This is one of the BIG advantages of using the same software that your chosen studio is currently using.
I'm not just refering to the obvious recording program but to ANY of the current popular programs.

good luck
let us know how you go

Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 1:14 am

Thanks a ton. I will definately be around asking advice. Hopefully one of these days I'll be able to give some too.

Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 4:30 am

I would suggest you get a nice stand alone recorder. These make life so much easier, my old system was a 4 track digital stand alone unit, work great, easy to use, just used it as a recorder and mixed on a PC. Since I needed more channels I bought a fire wire mixer to get the most channels for a buck. I was worried about latency issues but was reassured by most that it is not a problem. I was also worried about getting all the bugs out. I went for this solution only to spend most of my time as I feared trying to get the damn thing to work properly. What a pain in the @)(. Now instead of spend what little time I have to record I spend more trying to get things to work right. I want to go back to a stand alone unit but now I have so much invested I am stuck trying to get things to work properly. Stand alone are the way to go no problems, easy to use, get to spend you time recording not trying to get the latency down to where it is half way usable along with other problems. I'm not trying to be a professional but this is my hobby and passion, it just sucks to have to spend so much time getting things to cooperate.

Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 2:20 pm

If you want to stick with Pro Tools, the 003 Rack would be the next step up from the Mbox 2. But, you only get 4 mic pres, so you would have to rely on 4 more pres, or an 8 channel ADAT pre. It could get costly.

If you don't mind switching from Pro Tools, there are quite a few options out there ... MOTU, PreSonus, M-Audo makes some inexpensive FireWire devices ...

I would certainly go FireWire over USB for multiple simultaneous tracking. And don't go with "Generic" monitors. Get a set that fits your budget, but also you can actually use well.

I realize that's a vague response, but when it come to finding which interface to purchase, to me it's like asking someone to tell you what your favorite color is.

Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 3:03 pm

I use a 001 and 6 external pre-amps (Kev DIY built)
and one of the lightpipe boxes

and old PC with enough drive for a few albums
and a DVD for backups and transfers

this is all racked up with a headphone sytem
... with talkback and a power amp (Kev DIY built)

add the screen and speakers and a mic kit and cables and stands
Very Happy

and this is my location set-up

I then use the HD system for mixdown.

cheap and cheerful and gets the job done
often is loaned out to musos
it's not designed to run plugs
and so without plugs the latency is manageable even for the picky

a simple mixdown with a few plugs can be done if required

the 001 and PC is stuck back at PTLE6.4 and so no more upgrades are required
life is simple and you just record

you have enough to worry about

let the mix specialist do what you chose them for

as you learn
then think about a 003 or the other newer systems

small steps

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