Need guidance for expanding the setup.

[CJ Mastering]

or i can buy a focusrite sapphire pro56 with built in 8 preamps but this unit's price is very close to babyface so i have doubts about conversion quality. (and weight but that's another story)

RME convertes are top notch. If your thinking you can get a better sound from another interface/sound card, your mistaken.

Cj

[Call_me_Switters]

I will put a +1 in RME.
Also a general advice,now that you know your needs and you go more seriously into making music don't buy cheap or mediocre with no future value staff.For example take 2 great preamps than a Focusrite Octa. Or don't through your money on an average condeser. With the same money grab a studio standard dynamic. Think for gear that will last and that will have a place in your setup no matter what, don't rush yourself with todays hype.

[jparis]

Originally Posted by alsa

hello gearslutz,
i am very confused about how to expand my system and need advice from someone who has his hands on gear.

first of all i will introduce a brief gear history of mine;

i started with an electric guitar (cheapest one) and a zoom processor plugged into a hi-fi system. i didn't need an amp in those happy days. getting sound out of the speakers was enough for me to shred....

then i bought an m-audio 192 with the advice of a good friend of mine who was attending a sound design course. he said "you need a souncard and a preamp to plug your guitar in, and everything else is already in the computer" and i was astonished by these digital sound tools. so i bought the soundcard, a behringer eurorack mixer with 4 preamps, and a pair of alesis prolinear 820's with my student budget.

working with different software effects, samplers, synths and daws, i learned a lot about what can be done with those tools. besides that, i learned how to play different instruments apart from guitar and bass. now i can program synths and play keyboards, middle east percussion (such as darbuka and bendir), reed-pipe (another turkish instrument called "ney"), sing... and the 3rd ring of my gear evolution arrived.

i had some money reserved for a quality guitar and amp. and this friend of mine convinced me again to invest in digital audio. he said "a sound card with quality converters is what you need to get the decent, flexible sound you want." i bought an RME babyface and a matched pair of Rode NT5-m's with the advice of the only pro that i know.

i don't have the experience to judge about the converters, so i can just assume that they are good quality. and i came to a point that my setup needs expanding.
i bought a DSI tetra which can be recorded as 4 mono synths from the 4 outputs of the unit. and a moog slim and virus ti will likely be joining this synth setup.
i started playing percussion with several street musicians and began recording the group outside my home studio (probably in some forest or up in some mountain or so : )

so i need additional input channels and mics. i don't have so much hesitation about mics but i have a few options about the inputs.

i can sell the babyface and buy a fireface 800. same converters (as far as i know), 4 preamps and 8 analog inputs. (4 for the mics-guitars and 4 for the synths) (+ dsp compressors which babyface lacks)
will need to buy extra preamps for extra mics later.

i can buy a focusrite octopre and get 2 inputs from babyface+4 inputs from octopre in 96k. that is 6 preamp'd channels but 4 of them will use focusrite converters.

or i can buy a focusrite sapphire pro56 with built in 8 preamps but this unit's price is very close to babyface so i have doubts about conversion quality. (and weight but that's another story)

which way shall i go? experiences and guidance about these gear are welcome and will be appreciated.

I am nearly in the exactly position as you are. Well I havent bought the Babyface yet but I was wondering about the Babyface + rode nt5 and 8 Preamps setup like focuswrite to record acoutic piano, vocals and even strings. Wandering what did you go for?

[alsa]

Originally Posted by jparis

I am nearly in the exactly position as you are. Well I havent bought the Babyface yet but I was wondering about the Babyface + rode nt5 and 8 Preamps setup like focuswrite to record acoutic piano, vocals and even strings. Wandering what did you go for?

Still undecided... I'm working on acoustic treatment of my listening room these days so i haven't been thinking about this topic for a while.

I live in turkey, and i'm checking out the second hand market here for a bargain. Babyface+octopre costs the same as a fireface 800. Both are like 1000 euros. If i add the portability option to the setup, another 500 euros would be spent for a laptop, or alternatively a fireface ufx can be bought for aprox. 1400 which can multitrack to external hard drive.

Also a general advice,now that you know your needs and you go more seriously into making music don't buy cheap or mediocre with no future value staff.For example take 2 great preamps than a Focusrite Octa. Or don't through your money on an average condeser. With the same money grab a studio standard dynamic. Think for gear that will last and that will have a place in your setup no matter what, don't rush yourself with todays hype.

Following this advice, it seems i will go for a fireface. Good conversion, less preamps. I will invest in quality preamps in the future. I am not planning to record a lot of mics simultaneously right now.

For the record, if you are planning to capture audio in 96k, think of octopre as a 4 track adat expansion to your setup (not 8). And you cannot add the second expansion unit to babyface if you need in the future...

If i had the urgent need of multitracking microphones, i'd go for a focusrite liquid sapphire 56. It seems like the best package in terms of immediate availability (price), feature and quality balance. Babyface+octopre is more high-end with less tracks (and features), fireface is the best quality conversion with less preamps so it demands further investment but offers

top notch

results. (also note that you will need a firewire interface on your pc.)

Nt5+Babyface is a very decent and lightweight stereo recording (and critical listening) solution. I am very happy with the sound i get.
A friend of mine suggested Oktava microphones instead of Nt5 (similar price range i guess) so i am planning to try those also.

Anyway i hope i could have helped with my thoughts and findings. I didn't give much valuable information but just thinking outloud can help sometimes.

I am sure you know that performance is the key component.

[jparis]

thats a great post. it will definetely help. the babyface + 8 preamps (focuswrite or RME) looks very exciting but it seems it limits in terms of expandability. so you are going for the fireface because of the expansion possibilities right?

[alsa]

Originally Posted by jparis

thats a great post. it will definetely help. the babyface + 8 preamps (focuswrite or RME) looks very exciting but it seems it limits in terms of expandability. so you are going for the fireface because of the expansion possibilities right?

And i love FPGA's

Focusrite also has 2 ADAT inputs as the fireface but their converters are from a different class. I was thinking more about the converters but expansion possibilities can also be definitive. Eventually, purchases are shaped around needs. I need detail and quality right now. Some may need complexity, flexibility, expandability or something else in their setups...

Just think about your needs in detail... Meditate, on your usage scenarios, and the gear will come to you by itself....
(of course everything has a cost)

[jparis]

Originally Posted by alsa

And i love FPGA's

Focusrite also has 2 ADAT inputs as the fireface but their converters are from a different class. I was thinking more about the converters but expansion possibilities can also be definitive. Eventually, purchases are shaped around needs. I need detail and quality right now. Some may need complexity, flexibility, expandability or something else in their setups...

Just think about your needs in detail... Meditate, on your usage scenarios, and the gear will come to you by itself....
(of course everything has a cost)

you are so right... dont see myself recording more that 4 mics at a time in the next 4-6 years. and really looking for high quality recording first. and the portability option is a bonus in case you want to record in particular places.

all the best