sounds like a microphone would do you well at this point.

I'd buy a vowel.

Sorry, I should have explained myself a little better
I have some OK mic's, and a couple of mic stands. If i needa new mic what kind of mic should I get. I have around a $200 budget. Im kindof new at this so keep that in mind.

How about something better than a 1/4" input?

Get a decent ADC.

What mics do you already have? It's hard to tell someone what mics to add to their arsenal without knowing what is already in the arsenal...

Alright I have some mics from the 70's I think they are condencers but I could be wrong. Whats an ADC?

Fireheaddrummer wrote: Alright I have some mics from the 70's I think they are condencers but I could be wrong. Whats an ADC?

Need.........more...........information..........

Seriously - this doesn't help much. We'll gladly pitch in, but we need to know everything. What brand? What model? Do they actually work? What other gear do you have? What's your intent with the gear?

Share. We like it that way.

Analog to Digital Converter
ADC

I Have 2 AKG D190E's I really dont know much about them. I cant figure out how to start recording. I guess I need a mixer. But I dont know how many channels it should be.

I'm not meaning to sound like a jerk (even though I'm good at it.)

If you don't have any clue how to record, then why would you want to get into it?

$200 isn't enough money to get you anything that's better than a tape recorder at Radio Shack.

I know the Extreme Basics but I'm in love with the music part of it. I just need the tech. part of recording. I have more than $200 but that was just for the mic. But in all Actuallity I have about $1200.

Fireheaddrummer wrote: I know the Extreme Basics

Seriously...not trying to be a jerk, but I would contend that you don't.

If you're not sure whether you need a mixer and/or what its function might be and the fact that you have dynamic mics not condensers, it seems like you're stabbing in the dark.

The only thing I could advise would be to first buy a book on recording and then get to understand the components as well as the signal chain and all of the essential elements.

Then and only then would I suggest anything for a purchase.

Sorry - I'm not trying to be mean, but getting into recording without having a clue as to what you're doing is one of the quickest ways to waste an ass-load of money.

Thanks for your advice. I dont take it personal. Im pretty good at taking advice. But do you know of any good books or referances I could use. But this is the reason I came to this place I was pretty sure I could Find Someone that would be willing to help me learn a little bit.

We're all here to help you learn (though we aren't all what you'd call teachers).

It's a lot easier to help with specifics as opposed to generalities.

There are hundreds of ways to build even the most amateur of 'studios'.

I stand by the fact that at a bare minimum if you're looking to get sound into that software you need to get an ADC.

Nobody here can say with any authority how many channels you personally need in a mixer, you might not need one at all. Do you want to do electronica (keys, samples) with vocals, or are you looking to do a whole band at one time?

Anyway, welcome to the board, [[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.recordin…"] here's some books to get you started.[/]="http://www.recordin…"] here's some books to get you started.[/]

Who did you let talk you into making a software recording purchase sight unseen?

Sonar 6 pe...thats some heavy cash for a 1970's stash.

Well he has been stashing things away since 1970 :P

Ok I Downloaded the sofware. And I was unfortunatley lucky with the mics. Long story short my uncles dad died and he used to Own a church. Uncle got the house I got the mics he found. So I got 2 AKG D190E's and One Electro-Voice Model 664 Dynamic Cardioid Mic. I've seen the last one in a couple of music videos. But it needs some work. When I record with it there is alot of noise. Anyway I'm in a metal group so I figured that would be the easiest place to start recording.

An idea is to decide how you want to record. With some apt mic placement and the aid of a mixer you could record the band-at-once, or with the aid of an interface instead of a mixer you could record each part separately and mix them on the computer.
Mixer means doing the song again if don't like it, interface means doing just, say, the guitar track again.

I personally would go the interface route as it offers you a little more flexibilty in the future (and helps avoid buying Behr***er mixers)

Cool, I looked at a Lexicon Omega Interface. It said that it had 8 inputs that are assignable in pairs to any of 4 simultaneous record channels. Does that mean it would record 4 seperate tracks?

Sorry - I stepped away for a bit...had to make some money after all...

Anyway - don't take it personally, I wasn't trying to blow you off. As Bent put it, there are many people here who are willing to help, but we can't teach people from the ground up.

There are, however, thousands of posts on this board which will answer almost any question you could ever have if you have the patience to search and read.

The books he pointed out are a great step in the right direction.

Again, as he stated, you'll need that ADC (Analog to Digital Converter) and the Lexicon interface (as with all other interfaces) will do just that.

Personally, there are several strikes (IMO) against the Lexicon. However, they are strikes in my opinion and not necessarily in others. Some examples:
1 - too low of input impedence on the mic inputs
2 - too limiting on sample rates (not a big deal for recording as 44.1 is just fine in my book, but if I ever need to mix or listen to something in 88.2 or 96 or higher...well, you're screwed).
3 - Well, 1 and 2 would be enough for me. Again, I'm not you and you're not me, so these might not be a big deal at all for you.

The advice I would give you in this case is to define your requirements first, define your total (initial) budget second and then search products that meet those 2 criteria.

If you start by searching for gear and then building your requirements and budget around that, you're going to end up miserable and broke.

Let's flesh out the requirements here.

Tell us exactly what you hope to do, exactly what you have so far (down to the last mic cable and mic stand) and we'll guide you (or bitch slap you depending upon what's necessary at that moment) the rest of the way.

While many people (myself included) will make gear recommendations and issue stern warnings against the purchasing of other specific gear, it's ultimately your money and your recording, so it's up to you. Don't let others' opinions talk you out of something. (On the other hand, don't let facts go by unnoticed or unheeded either.)

Cheers-
J.

Its a sad small list but here it is...
2 AKG D190E's
About 5 XLR to 1/4'' Cables
1/8" to 1/4" adaptor
and 1/4" to 1/8" Adaptor
My former band mate used to do all of the recording for the last recording we used my computer. We had a behringer mixer with like 2 XLR in's and 4 1/4'' in's. We put them into my computer with the AUX out from the mixer into my AUX in. That worked ok, but It was only one Channel and I dont know how to make one Channel sound good. I was thinking about getting the Lexicon Omega because it said that it could run 4 simultaneous record channels. Does that mean Tracks on the program? I just need to know if I would be wasting my time getting the Lexicon Or if you know anything else you could suggest.

I wouldn't think that the Omega would be a complete waste, but there's bound to be better for similar price.

Bear in mind, while there are 4 inputs and 4 discrete channels (meaning you can record to 4 tracks simultaneously) there are only 2 mic preamps (the device which takes the mic level signal and amplifies it to line level signal. These are included on all mixers and many interfaces have more than 2. All microphones - well most microphones - require a mic preamp.)

These interfaces are considerably more expensive (but you did mention there is more money overall...) but they offer far more channels to start with and the ability add later on:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/FireStuProj/

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/US1641/

While I'm generally not a fan of Tascam, you're probably not going to find much else in this price range with its capabilities.

These units or ones similar to them will allow you to add many more mics to the equation and will provide you tons more flexibility.

As for the cables and adapters you have, put them in a box and hide them in the top of your closet. One day when you're looking around for some funky adapter, pull out the box and rejoice that you don't have to make a last minute run to Guitar Center. Other than that, they have limited applicability in your situation at the moment.

Generally, I stress that the monitoring is a very important part of the equation. However, the budget you're looking at, there's no chance of taking that into the equation at the moment. So, whatever you're using to monitor on currently will have to do. In the future, you're going to want to save up for some good monitors since your recorings will only be as good as you can make them based on what you hear...

FWIW, the NHT M-00 at Listen Up in Colorado just went down $100. As they were (at $499) they were the finest monitor anywhere NEAR their range. At $399, they're just stupid cheap. They're not just a good inexpensive monitor, they're a damn fine monitor that I would easily match up against $5000 monitors (with the exception of the missing bass easily made up by a decent subwoofer. Did I mention that the NHT Classic 10 is down to $299!!!!!!!! If you go with their dark red finish, which, IMO looks damn nice. BTW, I just bought 2 more pair of M-00s and a classic 10. 6.1 monitoring here I come!)

Anyway - You'll probably be fine starting off with just a couple mics and a few instrument inputs, but as you want to record more (drums, guitar, voice and bass all at the same time) you'll want to expand.

The ubiquitous mic is the Shure SM57 or SM58. Find a reason and enough money to buy these soon. You'll thank me.

Avoid them on EBay as there's a whole slew of fraudulent ones wandering around now. Well, if you can trust the seller, go for it.

Anyway - we're now talking about a beginning here. What I would add to this is - as you think of more questions (and there will be tons), search on the forum first, but then open a new topic and ask if you can't find the answers you were looking for.

Ok I unfortunatley have to go with only 2 of these 3 things:
Tascam US-1641
Sure SM57
NHT M-00
I have the two AKG D190E's.
The speakers im using for moniters are just some Logitech 5.1 surround speakers with a Sub.
I have a Cab that my band uses as a bass cab with 2-15" speakers Im not sure what brand but there Quality. I've been hookin them up along with my Logitech to give a little Extra.