Help Me Plan a Recording Rig

Pine Apple Slim

Pine Apple Slim

Kick Henry Jackassowski
Criteria:
Adequate mic inputs to record 4-5 piece band live.
Ability to overdub without latency.
Adequate computing horsepower, memory, hard drive, backup etc.
Ease of use once configured. Hate fiddling with stuff instead of playing.
Portability is not really an issue.
Don't expect professional mastering, but decent demo quality.

My existing equipment:
Decent supply of mics
Peavey 12 ch and 4 ch mixers.

Budget-as low as possible, let's say 2 grand.

Thanks
 
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Spend about 1k on 2 interfaces (the Focusrite 18i20 is a good option), connect the two through their adat ports and go in with usb.
That way you'll have 16 mic preamps (and the Focusrite ones are quite good), which should cover most band situations.

Any decent new computer should do, just strip it of all unnecessary software, virus software and such. My recording pcs never go online, and that really helps.
I've often recorded 16 channels at once using a standard Lenovo laptop via USB without any issues.
The recording itself isn't the hard part for a computer, that's the mixing when you start piling on plugins. :wink:

An external harddrive or 2 for backup is always a great idea, and they're dirt cheap these days.

A good set of active monitors. Loads of makes to choose from (Yamaha, KRK, Genelec and so on, all have decent "budget" models).
Remember, it doesn't matter quite as much how good they sound, but that you learn them properly in your room.

Just my 2 cents, shouldn't land too far off the 2k mark there.

Hope that helps somewhat. :)
 
We use self-standing DAW with 16 tracks. During a session, we'll fill it up with takes. Then we USB everything over to a laptop with GarageBand. It's a little archaic, but it won't go obsolete nearly as quickly as a dedicated computer.
 
Chicken Man said:
We use self-standing DAW with 16 tracks. During a session, we'll fill it up with takes. Then we USB everything over to a laptop with GarageBand. It's a little archaic, but it won't go obsolete nearly as quickly as a dedicated computer.
Click to expand...

You mean a stand alone recorder like a Tascam or something? Since I have a laptop and a tablet w GB, this may be a good way to get started. What model recorder? Can you record 16 tracks at once?
 
Pine Apple Slim said:
You mean a stand alone recorder like a Tascam or something? Since I have a laptop and a tablet w GB, this may be a good way to get started. What model recorder? Can you record 16 tracks at once?
Click to expand...
I think ours is a fostex, but yeah. I think the model we use can do 8 tracks at a time, and we've sometimes run up against having the right XLR vs 1/4" inputs, but the strain of recording 8 tracks at a time on a computer (along with all the other computer stuff running in the background) would take an up to date, high powered machine with a fairly expensive external interface.
 
I'm not sure what model we use--it's one our bass player bought years ago. I'd hope newer ones would have the combined XLR/1/4" inputs that would simplify our process.
 
After some research I see that there are affordable ($600-1200) digital mixers with USB output than can be used as an interface/controller for your DAW.
Or better yet even record all tracks separately to a USB drive or memory stick for later transfer to your DAW/mixing/mastering software.
This seems like a good idea to me. Basically a stand alone multitrack recorder that transfers each track individually to your DAW for tweaking?

Anybody use something like that?
 
I've used a Tascam MX2424 which is a standalone, 24 track HD recorder. They're very stable platforms, so they make good mobile recorders. For a project studio, IMO, it's adding an unnecessary step with the transfer to your DAW. As long as you have a decent computer with some storage, you should be good to record direct.
 
our budget is higher than your requested range but not a lot higher and we truly can get Amazing results.

Apple Pro Macbook (did the reconditioned route save 1K) $1899
Steinberg ur824 - (they claim 24 input but really 8 xlr input combo) $659
 
I wound up with a new MacBook Pro running Logic 10, w a Focusrite Scarlett 18i8.
If I ever get good at using it I might expand to more than the 4 mic preamps.
This stuff is difficult for me, getting everything set up and then remembering how to do stuff from one session to the next.
But I'm learning, slowly but surely.
 
I'd just like to add that, if you're looking to save some dough, Reaper is fantastic open source recording software that only costs $50.
 
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