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WanderingKid posted:Reverbs Thanks, I'll check out those convolution reverbs and see how they sound. I've tried a couple software reverbs but wasn't really satisfied with the sound, and I've heard that hardware reverb really is worth the money. As far as what kind of reverb I'd like, well...I'd prefer all of them. That's another reason I was looking at a hardware reverb processor, so I would have the option of any kind of (emulated) reverb I wanted. WanderingKid posted:I'd do all of this processing digitally and after the recording is in your DAW - I'd rather not perform the extra AD/DA conversion stage and ship a digital signal outboard and back in. But I'm fairly certain most of these units have digital I/O so it should all be good. This was my concern, going from digital to analog then back again. I wasn't sure what kind of problems that might cause with the re-sampling and what not. So I guess I would want one that had a digital I/O, so I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the info.
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Jul 13, 2007 17:18
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Current Setup: Dell Dimension 9100 M-Audio Axiom 25 M-Audio Fasttrack recorder FL Studio 7 I mainly want to use this setup for music production- mostly in the vein of chiptunes (well... emulations thereof) I know my setup is utterly bare bones. Right now I'm just wondering what I should start saving up -for-. Right now I think a pair of good reference speakers is in order? Also, my dad is getting me a laptop for college, which I'll be off to in about a month- what's a good decently priced (my dad is a thrifty man, very) laptop that won't weigh a ton but would still be good for music production? MagneticWombats fucked around with this message at 22:09 on Jul 13, 2007 |
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Jul 13, 2007 19:55
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The best deal out there on high-end reverb processing is powercore + the VSS3 and DVR2 plugins from TC Electronic. It's the exact same two reverbs that are in the system 6000, but without the $10,000 pricetag.
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Jul 14, 2007 00:34
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I'm beginning to think about recording some classical guitar and I need some advice. After reading the FAQ and both versions of this thread, here's where I stand. I want to step up from the "gaming microphone bought at CompUSA" level of home recording, hopefully into "semi-professional sound" range. I am currently armed with my notebook computer (USB capable, no firewire) and some classical guitars. While I am initially thinking of classical music for guitar as well as Spanish classical stuff, I would like any equipment I purchase to let me do some singing, too. I read this thread from top to bottom and it has been most helpful in clarifying my needs and options, and now that I have some idea of what I want I want some opinions and general advice. According to the microphone FAQ, instruments like classical guitars are better served by condenser mics. And the style of music I want to record requires two to four inputs, at the most (and it would be a rare situation that I'd use four inputs, I think). So I'm looking for an appropriate condenser mic and an audio interface that'll groove with my notebook. I went to my local Guitar Center (after reading this thread of course) and asked what they recommend for recording acoustic classical guitars. The sales tech recommended the MXL 990/MXL991 Condenser Mic Kit (also available at musicians friend). I kinda like this little mic kit, and from the specs I've read through it seems to be a pretty nice kit for the price, which is nice and affordable. I think the thinner mic is supposed to be used close to the middle of the guitar (12th fret proximity) and the other near the sound hole. Has anyone had experience with these mics, or, alternatively, am I completely on the wrong path here? Are there other mics you recommend for my purposes? As for an interface, since I will be using at a maximum four inputs and my computer currently does not have firewire capabilities, USB seems to be clearly indicated. The Guitar Center tech seemed to want to steer me away from the Digidesign MBoxes due to ProTools being Protools (having used no professional stuff I have no preference for software yet), though the MBox 2 seems to fit my parameters. The M Audio Fast Track Pro also seems to match my needs. Both are 2-4 input USB interfaces and both are recommended in the first post. Also, if that Fast Track Pro and the MXL mics are a good idea for my needs, that's less than $500 for a classical guitar recording setup, which I keep thinking is too cheap and I must have therefore screwed up in my assumptions or reading somewhere. So I guess my basic questions are have I done my reading and understood what kind of hardware I need and is the hardware I've researched appropriate for my needs? If not what do others recommend?
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Jul 14, 2007 06:33
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Laws posted:As for an interface, since I will be using at a maximum four inputs and my computer currently does not have firewire capabilities, USB seems to be clearly indicated. The Guitar Center tech seemed to want to steer me away from the Digidesign MBoxes due to ProTools being Protools (having used no professional stuff I have no preference for software yet), though the MBox 2 seems to fit my parameters. The M Audio Fast Track Pro also seems to match my needs. Both are 2-4 input USB interfaces and both are recommended in the first post. Also, if that Fast Track Pro and the MXL mics are a good idea for my needs, that's less than $500 for a classical guitar recording setup, which I keep thinking is too cheap and I must have therefore screwed up in my assumptions or reading somewhere. ProTools gets a lot of flack, most of which it deserves, but there is a reason it's the standard today. Basically, it's got a simple, clean, and bright interface...it's easy to learn and easy to use. I use it because I learned on it, and while I have tried other DAWs, and realize that they are better in many ways, I just don't have enough reason right now to switch. It can be glitchy and stubborn, among other things, but for your purposes I would recommend it. Since you will be using it for very simple purposes, you should be fine. If you get an MBox, though, you might look into getting some dedicated Pre-amps for your condensers.
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Jul 14, 2007 07:35
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Swivel Master posted:Samples. Please. This sounds so cool. poo poo. I'm on a grand tour of the far east for the rest of the month. I'll put something together when I get back.
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Jul 14, 2007 07:59
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I've finally decided I'm going to suck it up and get a Firepod. I'll be out of town next weekend to a place where there's a Guitar Center, so if they have it there I'll get it. If not, I'll Musicians Friend it. I'm sooo stoked.
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Jul 14, 2007 18:13
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nigga plz posted:I've finally decided I'm going to suck it up and get a Firepod. I'll be out of town next weekend to a place where there's a Guitar Center, so if they have it there I'll get it. If not, I'll Musicians Friend it. I'm sooo stoked. Well, I was doing some Googling and found this on a forum (I use Adobe Audition 1.5): "The one thing that you have to watch out for with Firewire devices and Audition is that the drivers are WDM multichannel ones - otherwise you will only be able to record two channels at a time." Since I'm not a user on that forum, I'm posting this here. I'm not really sure what WDM multichannel drivers are. I looked it up and am still a little confused. And I can't find what kind of drivers the Firepod has. So my question is, can I record 8 simultaneousness tracks using a Firepod and Adobe Audition 1.5?
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Jul 14, 2007 20:46
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nigga plz posted:Well, I was doing some Googling and found this on a forum (I use Adobe Audition 1.5): Every modern DAW I can think of uses ASIO drivers, so I can't imagine AA doesn't. WDM is the Windows standard driver format for everything I think, not just audio gear, and so pretty much every DAW that runs in Windows supports those drivers as well. It's kinda like plug-ins where VSTs are like ASIO and are pretty cross-platform, while DirectX (WDM) is Windows-only and Audio Units (Core Audio) is Mac-only. I'm relatively certain you can find WDM and ASIO drivers for most hardware. You should probably just use ASIO instead, assuming AA1.5 supports it.
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Jul 14, 2007 21:10
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From another forum - "AA 1.5 uses the new WDM drivers while AA 2.0 uses the ASIO drivers." So I can only record 2 tracks at a time using WDM?
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Jul 14, 2007 21:27
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nigga plz posted:From another forum - "AA 1.5 uses the new WDM drivers while AA 2.0 uses the ASIO drivers."
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Jul 14, 2007 21:52
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Elder posted:It can be glitchy and stubborn, among other things, but for your purposes I would recommend it. Since you will be using it for very simple purposes, you should be fine. If you get an MBox, though, you might look into getting some dedicated Pre-amps for your condensers. I thought the MBoxes come with built in focusright preamps. Are the condenser mics I'm considering better served by outboard preamps? Also, what about the M Audio Fast Track Pro? It seems to also fit the bill for me, but I'd like confirmation or denial of that based on what I've written here if anyone has any experience with that unit.
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Jul 14, 2007 23:41
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Laws posted:I thought the MBoxes come with built in focusright preamps. Are the condenser mics I'm considering better served by outboard preamps? I agree with Elder though about Pro Tools being a fine place to start. You can use Pro Tools hardware with any other software if you decide you absolutely can't stand it, although it will cost you more since you basically paid for a copy of Pro Tools with the price of your interface (unlike some cheaper interfaces that will give you a $100 version of Cubase rather than a $250 version). But with Digidesign hardware and software you don't have to worry about things like conflicts or making the software compensate for the delay inherent in the interface or anything like that, because Pro Tools LE only works with a handful of interfaces that are all owned by the same company. I think Pro Tools is much more plug and play, and not having any experience at all I don't think it's going to be any harder to dig into than any other software. Also, before you get too worried about not spending enough money, think about mic stands and cables as well. Even just for 2 mics that could easily be another $150-$200.
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Jul 15, 2007 00:28
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wixard posted:Well, they don't come with Focusrite anymore (the original MBox did, the MBox2 stuff does not because Focusrite went and made their own interfaces), but they come with decent preamps. I think you'll be fine with the onboard preamps for a while, but it's an option you can upgrade later. quote:I agree with Elder though about Pro Tools being a fine place to start. You can use Pro Tools hardware with any other software if you decide you absolutely can't stand it, although it will cost you more since you basically paid for a copy of Pro Tools with the price of your interface (unlike some cheaper interfaces that will give you a $100 version of Cubase rather than a $250 version). But with Digidesign hardware and software you don't have to worry about things like conflicts or making the software compensate for the delay inherent in the interface or anything like that, because Pro Tools LE only works with a handful of interfaces that are all owned by the same company. I think Pro Tools is much more plug and play, and not having any experience at all I don't think it's going to be any harder to dig into than any other software. Apparently, the M Audio Fast Track Pro comes with Ableton Live Lite 5, which I know next to nothing about. Any thoughts on that bundle? quote:Also, before you get too worried about not spending enough money, think about mic stands and cables as well. Even just for 2 mics that could easily be another $150-$200. Good thought. I was eyeing the BlueMic Kiwi cables for the condensers I'm considering.
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Jul 15, 2007 00:40
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Any program that has "Lite" in its name is probably going to be crap. Try the software, and if you like it, buy the full version.
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Jul 15, 2007 01:12
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wixard posted:What you quoted seems to imply you should look for WDM drivers that are specifically labeled as "multichannel." It seems like WDM isn't limited to 2 channels, but some drivers only allow 2 inputs at a time. I'm really not sure because I've always used ASIO instead. And is this downloadable for free or do you have to pay?
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Jul 15, 2007 02:16
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nigga plz posted:And is this downloadable for free or do you have to pay? Plus you'll get ASIO drivers with the interface.
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Jul 15, 2007 04:15
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Well, ASIO isn't supported by Adobe Audition 1.5, which is what I use. Can I download the WDM drivers somewhere?
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Jul 15, 2007 04:34
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Christ you need a new DAW. ASIO is the industry standard for multi-track recording and you will be missing out on the full capability of your firepod without it.
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Jul 15, 2007 06:06
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nigga plz posted:And is this downloadable for free or do you have to pay? I'm not really sure if you lose functionality or not with WDM drivers instead of ASIO. I want to say you don't, although there may be a slight difference in latency or something.
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Jul 15, 2007 07:59
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After reading lots of reviews of the hardware I'm considering, my proposed setup for recording classical guitar is as follows:
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Jul 15, 2007 11:05
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Laws posted:After reading lots of reviews of the hardware I'm considering, my proposed setup for recording classical guitar is as follows: Looks good to me!
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Jul 15, 2007 13:52
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What do you guys think about KRK RP-5 monitors?
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Jul 17, 2007 21:19
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I have a question regarding USB soundcards on behalf of my brother. He's using an Edirol UA25 USB sound card with a Novatech laptop (XP). Whenever he has his external hard drive plugged in, the audio skips and stutters, even if it is played directly from his laptop. I think this is to do with a latency issue over USB (had a similar thing with my PodXT) but that is where my knowledge ends. I've tried searching for help and came across ASIO4ALL, but this seems to be in reference to latency issues when trying to record and monitor at the same time, which isn't the case here, just playback. Would installing ASIO4ALL help, or am I trying to solve a different problem?
Slimchandi fucked around with this message at 23:24 on Jul 21, 2007 |
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Jul 21, 2007 23:06
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RivensBitch posted:The best deal out there on high-end reverb processing is powercore + the VSS3 and DVR2 plugins from TC Electronic. It's the exact same two reverbs that are in the system 6000, but without the $10,000 pricetag. That looks pretty sweet, how does it compare soundwise to a good convolution reverb?
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Jul 22, 2007 01:04
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Slimchandi posted:I have a question regarding USB soundcards on behalf of my brother. He's using an Edirol UA25 USB sound card with a Novatech laptop (XP). Whenever he has his external hard drive plugged in, the audio skips and stutters, even if it is played directly from his laptop. I think this is to do with a latency issue over USB (had a similar thing with my PodXT) but that is where my knowledge ends. I've tried searching for help and came across ASIO4ALL, but this seems to be in reference to latency issues when trying to record and monitor at the same time, which isn't the case here, just playback. Would installing ASIO4ALL help, or am I trying to solve a different problem? The Edirol device should come with its own ASIO drivers, so assuming you're using those ASIO4ALL probably won't help. Check your ASIO buffer sizes, i have an Edirol FA-66 and the configuration utility is in the control panel. Smaller ASIO buffer size = lower latency but is more CPU intensive. I generally work with the lowest setting, but as I add in more stuff and the CPU load increases I have to increase the ASIO buffer size so I can get skip free playback. See if anything else is chewing up CPU. Also, I've heard that using a USB hub can impact on performance, as you get 2-4 devices using 1 usb port which means the USB bus gets too busy to handle the load leading to skips/stutters. So if you're using a USB hub, see if eliminating that helps.
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Jul 22, 2007 03:48
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hey I'm a complete newbie to music recording. I've read the original post but most of it isn't too applicable since I don't plan to spend too much. I already have a microphone, so I'm thinking that all I need to record music onto my computer is a preamp? I looked on musiciansfriend and found this one: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ART-Tube-MP-Project-Series-Tube-MicrophoneInstrument-Preamp?sku=180643 Nice and cheap and it gets good reviews, but I can't for the live of me find out whether it plugs into the computer via USB or what. Or am I just completely wrong about how to record?
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Jul 22, 2007 06:22
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LetoAtreides posted:http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=1280460
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Jul 22, 2007 17:47
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o, hey, thanks, I understand now. Don't know how I managed to missed that thread.
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Jul 23, 2007 05:58
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unixbeard posted:The Edirol device should come with its own ASIO drivers, so assuming you're using those ASIO4ALL probably won't help. Check your ASIO buffer sizes, i have an Edirol FA-66 and the configuration utility is in the control panel. Turns out he hadn't installed the driver correctly, and the Control Panel option to adjust the latency hadn't appeared. Reinstallation solved the problem, thanks!
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Jul 23, 2007 12:31
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Elder posted:That looks pretty sweet, how does it compare soundwise to a good convolution reverb? Apples to oranges really, I like convolution reverbs but to my ear they are not a "classic" reverb sound so I think they have different applications than i'm used to.
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Jul 23, 2007 18:14
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Anybody want to listen to a recording and tell me what's wrong with it? Vocals were through an MXL 990 into an M-Audio Firewire Solo into an eMac running garageband. Guitar through the 1/4th instrument input on the M-Audio into garage band. Why doesn't it sound "right"? edit: of course tindeck goes down right when I post this, it's also on my myspace but i loving hate linking to myspace on the forums. It's the first one on the playlist Engine Fortegue fucked around with this message at 00:44 on Jul 24, 2007 |
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Jul 24, 2007 00:39
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i guess it depends on what you mean by "right". It totally sounds like something done in garageband with the equipment you're talking about. Considering your means it sounds fine, maybe soften up the vocal and drums w/ some eq but other than that it's just fine as a rough sketch.
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Jul 24, 2007 02:54
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Oh, well great!
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Jul 24, 2007 04:42
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RivensBitch posted:Apples to oranges really, I like convolution reverbs but to my ear they are not a "classic" reverb sound so I think they have different applications than i'm used to. Wha? Obviously the results of convolution based reverb will vary depending on how well recorded the impulse response is and the means by which said impulse is generated. But to suggest that the process is somehow not capable of 'classic' reverb sounds is misleading. A convolution reverb can really sound like any reverb - spring or plate or reverberation from real enclosed spaces - it depends on how the impulse is generated and in what acoustic space it is recorded. There are some Lexicon PCM91 reverbs on noisevault.com and those are well recorded impulses. Many of the plates sound almost exactly like their hardware counterparts in practise sans the $2000 pricetag. So go and get SIR 1.008 and these free impulses and see for yourself. But even then you don't get to the real meat of convolution processing until you are working with 4 to 8 channel convolution processors. Voxengo Pristine Space is the one I use since its not that expensive and can operate at 0ms latency. Chaining impulses allows you to decorelate the left and right channel outputs by mixing in varying amounts of several different impulses and you can pan a 100% wet signal and it wont sound weird. I am so consistantly impressed with the results that when I get home, I'd like to throw some soundclips your way to demonstrate just how awesome chain convo plugins are. This post isn't even going to take into account that you can use convolution processing for much more than reverb - you can import loops of any length (though longer = bigger CPU killer) or any sample in wav format. And you can convolve that with the incoming signal and impart certain properties of the sample onto the original sound. This makes convolution absolutely the best value for money out of any signal processor cable of generating reverb. There simply isn't any contest. You can SIR + great impulses from classic hardware like those EMTs, the System 6000 and the PCM91 for gratis. A chain convolution processor like Pristine Space will cost you about 120 bucks. The impulses are still free. Not to mention you can create your own impulses and deconvolve ready made ones. WanderingKid fucked around with this message at 11:18 on Jul 24, 2007 |
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Jul 24, 2007 11:07
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WanderingKid posted:I am so consistantly impressed with the results that when I get home, I'd like to throw some soundclips your way to demonstrate just how awesome chain convo plugins are. I'd really love to hear these samples, I've been playing around with Convolution reverbs and it's a really neat thing. But I haven't gotten into chaining multiple impulses yet.
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Jul 24, 2007 17:31
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hmm, perhaps I wasn't very clear in what I meant. A lot of the "Classic" reverb sounds that I think of when creating space with verbs involve a bit of adjustment that I haven't found in convolution verbs. Now to be fair I haven't been looking very hard at the reverb market, I have two PCM81 verbs and a clark technic DN-780 in addition to the DVR2 and VSS3 verbs at my studio. And even with all those boxes I'm using verb less and less on my sessions and delay more and more. So maybe the newer convolution plugs are offering more adjustment than what I found 3-4 years ago, but my impression then was you basically got an impulse either from a real space or from a classic box that's dialed into a given setting and then that's all you get. I'd love to hear some samples of a single impulse and how easily it's attributes could be adjusted. Because when all is said and done, real reverb is easy to find it's all around us. Just put up some speakers and a mic and mix in that "REAL" verb. What makes those million dollar verb boxes so useful is that you can tailor verb to your needs and make what is artificial sound realistic. The good boxes sound great when adjusted, and the bad boxes sound worse. This is also why verb presets are useless, because if it doesn't fit the space that the rest of your track is creating then it sounds artificial, no matter how "Real" the verb actually is.
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Jul 24, 2007 21:43
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Is 180 bucks a good price for a matched pair of NT5's? If so would they be useful for recording things like mandolin and violin? EDIT: I know they are mainly for drum overhead/hihat/splash cymbals but I don't have a set and if I can use a great deal on mics I am all over that. The Huntsman fucked around with this message at 23:23 on Jul 27, 2007 |
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Jul 27, 2007 23:21
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The Huntsman posted:Is 180 bucks a good price for a matched pair of NT5's? If so would they be useful for recording things like mandolin and violin? I like NT5's, hell I like Rode (at least their stuff under a grand, the classic is a ripoff). Considering the price, they are Rode's entry into the matched stereo pair small diaphragn condenser for the project studio, which probably means that they intend for this mic pair to be fairly good at almost everything. They might sound a bit grating on a violin (too much shrill high freq stuff), but proper mic placement should fix most of this. I have never miked a mandolin so I have no idea.
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Jul 28, 2007 00:46
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Engine Fortegue posted:Oh, well great!
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Jul 28, 2007 08:50
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