PLEASE HELP!!!!

PLEASE! ANYTHING!!?

Hey LA, There are many things that make up a quality recording and your DAW is only a small part of that. Accoustics play a huge role in the sound you capture, small or untreated rooms can contribute to a "home made sound". Mics and pres are another big part of it. Monitors (you didn't mention them) reveal what your mics capture so without decent monitors you don't know what you're really recording. Lastly and maybe most important are your skills. A newb in a great room with great gear will probably still make recordings that sound "home made", but a good engineer can make good recordings on some pretty budget stuff.

All that said I think you can make some very nice sounding recordings with what you have. First I would go to the accoustics forum and read, read , read. With a basic understanding of accoustics you can ask the appropriate questions and get help with treating your space. If you DIY your treatments it can be done for very little money (no canned tuna, well maybe a little). Next work on your skills. Read the forums, do a search for micing techniques, ask questions, train your ears and lastly don't expect to do it all overnight. Quality recordings come from years of practice and all of the above.

Good Luck!

Skills most of the time.

Hi big-d.
like 3 years ago a did record a demo for a rock band that had no amps at all either guitars or bass.

drums were recorded in the middle of an industrial parc, lot of noise with cheap AT drums mics. guitars, bass and keys were direct.

our first impressions were: it sounds bad.
But as we did work on the mix we realize that the more time you work on mixing the better it sounds, i'm not saying recording techniques and good pres or mics or isolated rooms are 'nt worth at all. but your skills make it sound better.

the only reason why our demo went bad it'is because the mastering guy did not do a good job it's horrible.

Skills.