Please Set Me Up

[luther]

Forgive me, I'm sure this has been covered in an earlier thread but I didn't find it.
What basic equipment do I need for simple home recording, self release.
From affordable good sounding mics to digital tabletops, etc..
Again sorry if this is redundant.

[CMEZ]

You're going to get a lot of answers (I'd think), but let me be the first to recommend that you get a Digi 001 Pro-tools rig (you can find 'em on ebay these days for around $600. Hard to beat. You get some effects plug-ins with it, and a couple of mic-pres (that kind of suck.) But despite that, there are some advantages with this unit:
1)It's a pretty standard format. If you need to do some work somewhere else (like a real studio) your tracks will transfer directly back and forth.
2)the software (Pro Tools LE) is really very simple to figure out. No real learning curve here. If you've ever plugged a mic into a mixer and run your own sound at a show, you can run this.
3)You get either 24 or 32 channels (depending on which generation of Pro Tools LE it comes with) and 24 bit 48 khz sound. Pretty decent.

You'll need a better soundcard than the one your computer came with, most likely; there are several out there. M Audio makes some that are fairly cheap that people seem to accept. (I'm in analog these days.)Your soundcard and computer capability will decide how many tracks you can record simultaneously; the 001 will allow for 8 analog ins, plus has adat ins, spdif, ect.

It sounds like you're a one man show from your post; so I'll guess that's the case. You'll need a quality mic-preamp; here there are many choices of varying price, quality, and sonic texture. If you're planning on just recording your voice, and say, a guitar-you don't need a multi-channel mixer. You could get by with a one channel preamp. That could cost anywhere from $100-several thousand. Or you could get the RNP, from FMR Audio which is a stereo unit for under $500 that lots of folks like. That would cover acoustic guitar and vocal simultaneously with good quality sound. For $200, some people like the M-Audio DMP2 or 3 's (although this is a step down in sound from even the RNP.

For microphones, it's also dependent on how much money you want to spend and how good does it need to sound.

Hope some of that helps,
Chris

[tradershort]

Luther,

You can use this site to track down specific gear issues (Pro Tools vs Digital Performer vs Logic Audio, or Mic Pre's, or Mics, etc) by searching each issue seperately. It's been an amazing source of education, knowledge and research for me personally.

The software you go w/is going to be the most important choice for 2 reasons. So, ask yourself 2 questions:
1) How many friends do I have who use the software I'm buying that will take my calls tirelessly? and....
2) Do I want to use the hardware packaged w/the software I want?

Software choice will influence what hardware you use. ProTools (PT) uses it's own hardware. Performer & Logic can use other hardware. PT can of course can be used on other hardware but Digi seems to offer good deals combining their stuff. I personally don't care for their stuff but MANY do, and CMEZ makes a great point about PT being the most widely recognized format out there, w/out a doubt. I just have always liked the control of being able to mix and match gear - ALWAYS. Also, you can pretty easily move your files from PT to DP to Logic, it's not that big of a deal.

That said, most of us are in a continuous state of upgrading, or at least looking to upgrade. Here's what I started out using and what I use now in my humble but very effective home studio/DAW (Digital Audio Workstation).

STARTED OUT Nov 2001:
MAC G3 Blue & White (333 processor...) on OS9.2 ($375 at an auction)
Digital Performer 3 (DP3) recording software ($300 - in pkg deal w/next item)
MOTU 828 Firewire Interface and A/D/A converter($700 - in pkg deal w/DP3)
DBX 376 Mic Pre/Channel Strip ($500)
Rode NT2 Condensor Mic ($400)

I CURRENTLY USE:
MAC G4 Power Book (667 processor) ($2500 new)
DP3
MOTU 828
Amek/Neve 9098 EQ/Mic Pre ($1100 used)
ADK A-51TC Tube Condensor Mic ($500 new)

I got good sounds 2 years ago and I get better sounds now. Most of it is due to my ears as an engineer and producer getting better over that time. But gear can make a big difference. If you want to hear any eg.'s of what my stuff sounds like go to www.kaystory.com It was all done here on various stages of all this gear.


I hope this helps.

Damon

PS: I'm selling some of my gear as I've upgraded recently. Check it out if you're interested.

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[Jay Kahrs]

Originally posted by luther
Forgive me, I'm sure this has been covered in an earlier thread but I didn't find it.What basic equipment do I need for simple home recording, self release.
From affordable good sounding mics to digital tabletops, etc..
Again sorry if this is redundant.

If you don't know and don't have anything in the way of gear and your goal is a self release I would highly recommend calling some of your local studio and finding someone to record you. You need to decide if you want to be an AE or an artist. The two are mutually exclusive things.