Cheap Recording Gear

[exaN]

Hey, I want to start recording some guitar stuff but... all my cash goes into gear to play and not to record. So now I need a cheap solution. It doesn't need to be amazing, just better than my gaming headset mic :doh:

My friend has one of these for sale for about $80, he never used it:

.

Should I consider this or is it total crap? I'd say my budget is under $200 if possible.

 

[tfarny]

No, it's really good and convenient. I have the step-up version of that with phantom power and it's all I've needed for years. The modeling is the same as Pod, or you can just mic your amp and be done with it. The kicker is all the vocal pres, bass amps, and effects in the software.

 

[elfro89]

ive ventured down this rout myself.  

Get yourself some kinda of external sound card and then just get hold of some software. a decent set of studio monitors to plug into your soundcard is a good idea.

then i use programs such as guitar rig 4, superior drummer, trillian bass module. These are a must if you cant find/afford real musicians and are the next best thing.

most of the external soundcards come with like a light version of cubase or ableton live or protools of whatever. This is a great starting point that wont rob your bank acount. for around £200-£300 you can have a very good sounding strong starting point for getting great sounding songs and guitar tones.

below is an example song using the stuff i record with. Just an £80 sound card, and some software, nothing special but it does what i need.

 

[Panthur]

I had the line6, exact model as you have there and it was great, very convenient.
I've done the guitar into soundcard thing as well, and as long as you've got good drivers (i.e. ASIO and stable) then it's fine, but the more budget stuff (i.e. what you'll get for $80) might struggle to behave or give you too much latency. When you consider the cost of software on top (Guitar rig 4, amplitube etc) it aint so cheap. I say go for it 

 

[tfarny]

The toneport IS an external soundcard, also an audio I/O, also software modeling of everything in a pod and more. It is very useful. Get it, download audacity, get yourself a decent dynamic mic (SM57, whatever), and you're golden. That UX1 version doesn't have phantom power, so don't get a condenser mic for now.

 

[exaN]

Alright I'll buy it, thanks :headbang:

 

[AprioriMark]

I have one of these M-audio USB pre-thingys.  I'm about to wipe a quad core machine with a 500G HD and 4 gigs of ram.  I have a copy of Windows 7 to install.  Is this USB audio interface good enough if I'm single tracking (i.e. guitar, bass or vocal at once), and what else should I download to make decent demos?

-Mark

 

[Rouse]

I have one of these M-audio USB pre-thingys.  I'm about to wipe a quad core machine with a 500G HD and 4 gigs of ram.  I have a copy of Windows 7 to install.  Is this USB audio interface good enough if I'm single tracking (i.e. guitar, bass or vocal at once), and what else should I download to make decent demos?

-Mark

I run Pro Tools LE through a M-Audio USB. My computer isn't as near as good as yours and it can handle one tracks pretty well. Its running Windows XP with 1 GB of RAM and a single Intel processor, it used to be a gaming computer (Alienware).

 

[AndyG]

I have one of these M-audio USB pre-thingys.  I'm about to wipe a quad core machine with a 500G HD and 4 gigs of ram.  I have a copy of Windows 7 to install.  Is this USB audio interface good enough if I'm single tracking (i.e. guitar, bass or vocal at once), and what else should I download to make decent demos?

-Mark

This has been discussed in a few different threads, but here are the basics:
1 - the drive you record to should be the fastest one you can find ... and avoid recording to the system drive, have a dedicated record drive.
2 - RAM is more important for mixing than tracking.  Most software needs the RAM for processing (EQ, reverb, delay, etc)
3 - Optmimize your computer for recording.  Turn off anything unnecessary (WiFi especially).  In fact, on my recording computer at home, I have a seperate boot-up profile for recording.
4 - Any latency issues you are bound to have will be due to your sound card.  USB is good, firewire is better (more bandwidth).
5 - the software you choose is really a personal choice ... they all pretty much do the same thing and in similar ways.  Where software choice becomes important is in 3rd party plug-in compatibility.

 

[OzziePete]

I have one of these M-audio USB pre-thingys.  I'm about to wipe a quad core machine with a 500G HD and 4 gigs of ram.  I have a copy of Windows 7 to install.  Is this USB audio interface good enough if I'm single tracking (i.e. guitar, bass or vocal at once), and what else should I download to make decent demos?

-Mark

This has been discussed in a few different threads, but here are the basics:
1 - the drive you record to should be the fastest one you can find ... and avoid recording to the system drive, have a dedicated record drive.
2 - RAM is more important for mixing than tracking.  Most software needs the RAM for processing (EQ, reverb, delay, etc)
3 - Optmimize your computer for recording.  Turn off anything unnecessary (WiFi especially).   In fact, on my recording computer at home, I have a seperate boot-up profile for recording.
4 - Any latency issues you are bound to have will be due to your sound card.  USB is good, firewire is better (more bandwidth).
5 - the software you choose is really a personal choice ... they all pretty much do the same thing and in similar ways.  Where software choice becomes important is in 3rd party plug-in compatibility.

I just wanna expand on some of these points raised by Andy, having recently upgraded my home studio. I hope this helps you, tho a good small USB system can get you off to a good start.

1. DRIVE. For some reason, the magic figure seems to be about 7500RPM. That used to be only achievable by the older styled SCSI drives (which were expensive) and there's been a number of generations of new formats and upgrades happen since then. But if you can get a hard drive in any format (SATA etc...) that spins at 7500RPM, you are off to a good start.

2.RAM. The 4 Gb limit affects 32 bit Windows OS. The 32 bit OS will only recognise a maximum of approx. 4Gb no matter how much more RAM you put in. But if you upgrade to Windows 7 64 bit, you can end up getting some software non-compatibility issues. A lot of the music recording/audio software/hardware is still in 32 bit.....

3.TURN OFF UNNECESSARY APPLICATIONS. As good as your PC system may be, turn off anything that isn;t directly related to your recording set up when you work with the recording system. Nothing worse than having your Anti Virus suddenly start updating or worse still Win 7 updating, when you are already pushing your system hard with audio processing. Turn off Internet connection & Anti Virus..

4. If you can, try to get an external audio interface box that will have it's own bit of processing and give some relief to your PC's processor in crunching the audio. Also, having am external box will keep the internal PC noise away from where the audio is being processed. Folks have found internal sound cards to sometimes introduce noise due to it's proximity to all the electronics within the PC tower case.

5. SOFTWARE CHOICE. Most of the time, people will start out with whatever came with their first piece of hardware they bought to interface between their PC and their musical gear. A  lot of the time that will be a Steinberg Cubase light version, though nowadays there's also Ableton Live Lite. Cubase and Ableton will work with VST plug ins, which is software that acts as devices or instruments within the main software suite (called DAWs - Digital Audio Workstation). Steinberg invented the VST plug in concept so anything Cubase will work and Ableton also works with VSTs. Not sure about other types of software like Pro Tools or Logic, or whether they have their own format of plug ins. The reason I have mentioned VST is that there is plenty of VST freeware available to enhance your  DAW software suite and also a bunch to buy if you wish.
But be aware that Propellerheads RECORD, another recording software system, isn't compatible straight out of the box, with VSTs.

Propellerheads RECORD does have a reputation for being quite user friendly and you can get reording quite quickly without having to pre arm all the parameters and go through 5 pages of User Manual notes to get there, but RECORD does not work with VSTs in the sense that it will control them. You have to bounce the VST down to an audio track as an instrument, I believe.


Hope some of this helps you in your choices. There's a minefield of info out there and sometimes you feel like your head is about to explode with dealing with all the what-ifs and maybes...

 

[AndyG]

5. SOFTWARE CHOICE. Most of the time, people will start out with whatever came with their first piece of hardware they bought to interface between their PC and their musical gear. A  lot of the time that will be a Steinberg Cubase light version, though nowadays there's also Ableton Live Lite. Cubase and Ableton will work with VST plug ins, which is software that acts as devices or instruments within the main software suite (called DAWs - Digital Audio Workstation). Steinberg invented the VST plug in concept so anything Cubase will work and Ableton also works with VSTs. Not sure about other types of software like Pro Tools or Logic, or whether they have their own format of plug ins. The reason I have mentioned VST is that there is plenty of VST freeware available to enhance your  DAW software suite and also a bunch to buy if you wish.
But be aware that Propellerheads RECORD, another recording software system, isn't compatible straight out of the box, with VSTs.

Propellerheads RECORD does have a reputation for being quite user friendly and you can get reording quite quickly without having to pre arm all the parameters and go through 5 pages of User Manual notes to get there, but RECORD does not work with VSTs in the sense that it will control them. You have to bounce the VST down to an audio track as an instrument, I believe.


Hope some of this helps you in your choices. There's a minefield of info out there and sometimes you feel like your head is about to explode with dealing with all the what-ifs and maybes...

You bring up some good points, but I am going to have to disagree with your software statement.
I have always believed that you get what you pay for ... and if you pay nothing, then don't expect much.  I do use ProTools LE at home.  Now, I know a lot of people on this board pooh-pooh ProTools because of the cost, and the fact that thier gear only works with their gear.  However, the plus side of that is most semi-pro and pro studios are using ProTools, so if you want to record live drums, or a horn section, you bring in your project, record, and take it home .... no problems.
The other thing to consider is the interface getting the sound into your computer.  Once your music has become 1's and 0's, digital manipulation is easy.  But how your music BECOMES 1's and 0's is a function of the A to D converters.  That is something that should not be skimped on.
And BTW ... ProTools does have a VST "wrapper" that allows you to use some VST plugins with ProTools.  However, for the most horsepower, it likes to see RTAS plugins.

 

[OzziePete]

Hey Andy

You find much debate from me about what you have expanded on either, mate.

Freeware always comes with caveats, and those who are net savvy are aware of the risks downloading the feeware and those who find themselves here on this forum should also realise that there's probably a forum or two dedicated to the sourcing of the good freeware. I suppose it was remiss of me not to mention the possible pitfalls of using freeware when I mentioned this option.

However, the OP was looking at a USB pod to get started, and there was an emphasis on an economical way to get into recording. A lot of folks use freeware to economise.

Pro Tools is the industry standard in so many ways, however, even it's 'light' versions can be pricey when you factor in appropriate hardware. I'm not saying Pro Tools isn't worth the price they command, but it's market is often far away from the average person setting up a home studio.

 

[AndyG]

Hey Andy

You find much debate from me about what you have expanded on either, mate.

Freeware always comes with caveats, and those who are net savvy are aware of the risks downloading the feeware and those who find themselves here on this forum should also realise that there's probably a forum or two dedicated to the sourcing of the good freeware. I suppose it was remiss of me not to mention the possible pitfalls of using freeware when I mentioned this option.

However, the OP was looking at a USB pod to get started, and there was an emphasis on an economical way to get into recording. A lot of folks use freeware to economise.

Pro Tools is the industry standard in so many ways, however, even it's 'light' versions can be pricey when you factor in appropriate hardware. I'm not saying Pro Tools isn't worth the price they command, but it's market is often far away from the average person setting up a home studio.

Hey, its all good!  :glasses9:

I realise that not everyone can afford certain pieces of gear, and I will grudgingly admit that my personal standards are somewhat high because I do audio for a living.
Like I said, software is a personal choice.  But the people on this forum who go to great lengths to create that perfect guitar or bass can certainly understand that settling for second best isn't always an option.  :rock-on:

 

[OzziePete]

Hey Andy

You WON'T find much debate from me about what you have expanded on either, mate.

Freeware always comes with caveats, and those who are net savvy are aware of the risks downloading the feeware and those who find themselves here on this forum should also realise that there's probably a forum or two dedicated to the sourcing of the good freeware. I suppose it was remiss of me not to mention the possible pitfalls of using freeware when I mentioned this option.

However, the OP was looking at a USB pod to get started, and there was an emphasis on an economical way to get into recording. A lot of folks use freeware to economise.

Pro Tools is the industry standard in so many ways, however, even it's 'light' versions can be pricey when you factor in appropriate hardware. I'm not saying Pro Tools isn't worth the price they command, but it's market is often far away from the average person setting up a home studio.

Hey, its all good!  :glasses9:

I realise that not everyone can afford certain pieces of gear, and I will grudgingly admit that my personal standards are somewhat high because I do audio for a living.
Like I said, software is a personal choice.  But the people on this forum who go to great lengths to create that perfect guitar or bass can certainly understand that settling for second best isn't always an option.   :rock-on:

Correction to last post.. I type like an idiot at times... :tard: