Home recording

[fulltone1989]

Hey all,

Ran into some cash to spice up or should I say kick-off my home recording setup. I have Garageband as an interface on my computer but I am looking for a USB preamp/interface and a microphone however I don't know what's worth getting! I'd mostly be using it to record my guitar over looped chords as well as having a mic available for youtube videos. What do you guys use to record?

[Heady Jam Fan]

Along with GarageBand, I am using an m-audio interface, which I like for the money, second one I have owned from them, sometimes a little tricky to set up, but not bad overall. I also use an mxl2010 microphone, flat response and a lot of options such as dropping some bass if you are micing an acoustic, also directional vs cardioid vs ambient. I think it is better than an sm57 for vocals, but I would just get an sm if I were only micing my amp. I wouldn't buy a used mic though, mistreatment can alter the ribbon or whatever it's called.

[fulltone1989]

Along with GarageBand, I am using an m-audio interface, which I like for the money, second one I have owned from them, sometimes a little tricky to set up, but not bad overall. I also use an mxl2010 microphone, flat response and a lot of options such as dropping some bass if you are micing an acoustic, also directional vs cardioid vs ambient. I think it is better than an sm57 for vocals, but I would just get an sm if I were only micing my amp. I wouldn't buy a used mic though, mistreatment can alter the ribbon or whatever it's called.

I'd be using it primarily for micing up my amp, seems like for $99 at GC the SM57 looks to be the best bet. Should I look for anything in particular in terms of the interface?

[Heady Jam Fan]

Phantom power for the mic is important. I sold the first one I had to get one with more inputs incase I want to record my band with each instrument on separate tracks.

[Stiles12]

I dont know what level you are trying to achieve, sound performance lab (SPL) has some amazing gear. I use some of there stuff in my rig now and also in my computer recording.

The transducer is an awesome mic'ing tool and speaker cab emulator, especially for a computer recording set up. i use mine playing out and also in my apartment, its been really good

http://spl.info/produkte/fuer-gitarre-bass/transducer/videos.html

also; like always, or at least in my opinion tc electronics makes the best sounding interfaces. I am using a kontrol now for bed room recording, to send some demo's to friends, and i have noticed a monumental difference between this and the lower end recording computer interfaces like m-audio or berringger.

by the way, your computer software does make a huge difference. I used garage band for a long while and moved first to logic, and about a year ago i switched to pro tools which i like better. although the studio still runs logic and they make it sound great.

good luck, much like your tone its a long money burning never ending journey.

[fulltone1989]

I dont know what level you are trying to achieve, sound performance lab (SPL) has some amazing gear. I use some of there stuff in my rig now and also in my computer recording.

The transducer is an awesome mic'ing tool and speaker cab emulator, especially for a computer recording set up. i use mine playing out and also in my apartment, its been really good

http://spl.info/produkte/fuer-gitarre-bass/transducer/videos.html

also; like always, or at least in my opinion tc electronics makes the best sounding interfaces. I am using a kontrol now for bed room recording, to send some demo's to friends, and i have noticed a monumental difference between this and the lower end recording computer interfaces like m-audio or berringger.

by the way, your computer software does make a huge difference. I used garage band for a long while and moved first to logic, and about a year ago i switched to pro tools which i like better. although the studio still runs logic and they make it sound great.

good luck, much like your tone its a long money burning never ending journey.

Haha yeah that's what I am afraid of! I'd just be using the Firebox for home recording projects, recording jazz standards and things like that onto Soundcloud more often.

The Garageband comes free on my mac and is easy-ish to figure out so that'd be my recording software for awhile.

Heady- the input and PP had crossed my mind, thanks!

[Heady Jam Fan]

Yea, I don't know a ton about this stuff, but I have used pro tools and liked it. Its also quite a bit cheaper than Logic IIRC and usually comes with an Interface I think. About 15 years ago I used Cubase and the newer versions are supposed to be pretty good - last I looked though, they only worked on PC, not mac.

My understanding was the Logic used a lot of the same algorithms as Garageband, but I never got to compare sound quality from one to the other. For Garageband, I tried from plugins and found some of the Audio Unit ones helpful.

I also think that software only goes so far, if I were going to put money into recording, I would probably get some rack units, particularly a hardware compressor and maybe reverb. But that is another story.

[fulltone1989]

Yea, I don't know a ton about this stuff, but I have used pro tools and liked it. Its also quite a bit cheaper than Logic IIRC and usually comes with an Interface I think. About 15 years ago I used Cubase and the newer versions are supposed to be pretty good - last I looked though, they only worked on PC, not mac.

My understanding was the Logic used a lot of the same algorithms as Garageband, but I never got to compare sound quality from one to the other. For Garageband, I tried from plugins and found some of the Audio Unit ones helpful.

I also think that software only goes so far, if I were going to put money into recording, I would probably get some rack units, particularly a hardware compressor and maybe reverb. But that is another story.

Yeah sadly the Firebox I am looking at is for the unit w/ Firewire cable only but at a discounted rate. I'd only be using it for the above purposes right now and hopefully it'll do the trick.

[webephishin]

Hey guys, thought I would use this thread instead of starting a new topic...I am looking into buying a new laptop to record music with and was wondering what you guys use or would recommend for me.  I'm gonna be mainly using the laptop to record demos (In Logic X) using built in drums.  I will be using the amp simulations, and sometimes live guitar, for guitar and bass tracks.  I will be getting a midi controller to play keys/synths/textures etc. and eventually getting some plugins (possibly NI Komplete). 

So I've been debating on what would suit my needs better, between MacBook Pro or the newer MacBook Pro with Retina Display.  I went to the Apple store, and of course, the guy I talked to was telling me to buy the MBP w/ Retina display.  He recommended that I upgraded from the standard MBP w/ RD to the one with 8GB RAM.  It was hard to tell if this guy was just trying to get me to pay more or if he actually cared about what I needed and what would suit me best.  He said the Retina Display MBP's have a newer processor than the regular MBP's.  Originally I thought I would be just fine getting the standard MBP (which comes with 4GB RAM) with doubling the RAM to 8GB as an upgrade to it.  My friend who I play music with has a MBP with 4GB RAM and it sometimes lags and takes a while to load tracks, etc...I would like to prevent that from happening to me.  So, what do you guys use?  What works?

Sorry for the long, ongoing post but any input would be awesome!

[tsbot]

Well....my wife got me a 15" MBP w/ retina display -Memory  8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3, Processor  2.3 GHz Intel Core i7.  I do love it - and it rarely ever lags, only once or twice have I messed things up with too many commands at once.  I use Garageband with the Scarlet 2i2.  I'm just learning the Mac and Garageband, coming from a HP in July.  I couldn't be happier, but with you using Logic, I would think at least 8G Memory would do you right.  Further - the Retina display just rocks, I know you're not using it for graphics, but wow - you WON'T regret it!

In summary I don't think he was steering you wrong - you'll have it for many many years and you won't be happier!

[No Nice Guy]

Hey guys, thought I would use this thread instead of starting a new topic...I am looking into buying a new laptop to record music with and was wondering what you guys use or would recommend for me.  I'm gonna be mainly using the laptop to record demos (In Logic X) using built in drums.  I will be using the amp simulations, and sometimes live guitar, for guitar and bass tracks.  I will be getting a midi controller to play keys/synths/textures etc. and eventually getting some plugins (possibly NI Komplete). 

So I've been debating on what would suit my needs better, between MacBook Pro or the newer MacBook Pro with Retina Display.  I went to the Apple store, and of course, the guy I talked to was telling me to buy the MBP w/ Retina display.  He recommended that I upgraded from the standard MBP w/ RD to the one with 8GB RAM.  It was hard to tell if this guy was just trying to get me to pay more or if he actually cared about what I needed and what would suit me best.  He said the Retina Display MBP's have a newer processor than the regular MBP's.  Originally I thought I would be just fine getting the standard MBP (which comes with 4GB RAM) with doubling the RAM to 8GB as an upgrade to it.  My friend who I play music with has a MBP with 4GB RAM and it sometimes lags and takes a while to load tracks, etc...I would like to prevent that from happening to me.  So, what do you guys use?  What works?

Sorry for the long, ongoing post but any input would be awesome!

If you're willing to get your hands dirty and use Windows or Linux, you could try building one.  You could get a really nice rig for a lot cheaper than if you bought a brand name one, and all you need to do is screw in some parts.

[TheSeeker]

I use an SM 57, with a presonus audiobox into my laptop.  I have a bootleg copy of Cubase, and it works just fine for me.  It's simple, yet effective.