Home recording

[Buschman]

I need to start writing some songs again. What kind of home recording to you guys use. I am looking at the Boss 864, 600 8 & Micro. Is this a good way to go or should I dedicate a computer to the task?
I am mainly interested in ease of use for composing. I of course would want it to sound good but that is a whole different art form I do not care to master.

[benoit]

If you can dedicate a computer to it that's the way to go. In general a computer interface is going to give you flexibility in terms of the amount of software available, and will probably be easier to work with. On a stand-alone unit with a limited number of hardware controls (and no software buttons like you have on a program such as protools or digital performer) it can be awkward trying to do certain tasks.

[tele_player]

The computer doesn't need to be dedicated. I have a MacBook I use for everything, and it works perfectly well for recording with ProTools, Logic, GarageBand, etc.

I use a Focusrite Saffire Firewire audio interface. Two inputs, mic preamps, a bunch of outputs, two separate headphone outputs. Very handy.

[gearhead]

Are you looking at putting down song ideas or for something to demo out? How many tracks?

I have tried numerous small, portable, recorders over the last 5 years. If the former, then the Micro BR is hands down the best. It is truly easy to use and recording quality is pretty dang good. If you want more than 4 tracks, you can do the bounce thing, I believe.

[Buschman]

Thanks for the input.
I am mainly wanting it for grasping ideas & the refining & production that can turn them into good songs.I can come up with great ideas & riffs but forget them very quickly. The best ones come out of thin air & vanish if I can't record them somehow. I am hoping to make myself sit down & write on a scheduled basis. A sort of disipline thing. A recording station would help push that along. I would expect to do rough demos only. The micro looks fun but tedious. I might like the bigger displays & knobs of the other units.

[gearhead]

The micro looks fun but tedious. I might like the bigger displays & knobs of the other units.

Your call. IMHO, they actually got it right wrt the balance of displays, accesible menus, etc. on this one. I also own Korg and Zoom units, but have demo'd a bunch of Boss and Tascam units over the years. Have found that the larger units tend to have more features that you have to set (input vol, track vol, effects on/off) -before- recording at all. Got tired of my ideas floating away while I was trying to pound thru the setup menus.

[HeeBGB]

I use a computer with Cubase SX and Reason software. I have a cheap dedicated audio card a Mia from Echo audio. 2-input, 2 output hooked up to an older Mackie CR1604 mixer. It's very flexible and yields excellent results. Just remember that you can do a LOT with very little. You don't have to spend tons of money. A decent audio interface and some audio software will get you a long way. Cakewalk Sonar and Cubase both have lite versions that are still probably way more featured than you will need for cheap. Add a $99 audio card and a MIDI controller and you can put down drum and synth tracks as well! Also some of the breakout boxes from M-audio, Digidesign, and a few others will come with software and usually yield good results.

Here is a site that has tutorial video's (for a price) for lots of the more popular software out there http://www.grooveboxmusic.com

You might consider going with a software package that there are tutorials readily available for to help you get going faster!

Let us know how you make out!

[dartanion]

You don't even have to pay money for great recording software. Just download a copy of Audacity. I have made some great recordings using the audio input on my MacBook using this software. I just used the line out RCAs on my soundboard (doesn't have to be a fancy one) straight to the MacBook.

[oldhousescott]

Let me toss another option out there. How about the Zoom H2 recorder. Battery (or AC adapter) powered, one-button recording with built in microphones. If you are really trying to capture licks in the heat of the moment, you don't want to be waiting for your PC to boot, or to hook up a bunch of cables for your porta-studio. You just want to hit the red button and go.

It does double-duty as a PC audio USB interface so once you've refined your tune, you can play it into your favorite audio app for overdubbing, tweaking, etc.

Just my .02

[HeeBGB]

That's IF he has a mac. If he has a PC most likely he will run into latency issues, regardless of the software, if he doesn't have a higher level sound card. I am actually thinking about trying to run the Mac OS on my PC. A buddy of mine has a copy of it for me to try. If my hardware runs it.....I'm giving up Windows for good. If I am not mistaken the Mac OS has everything you need to do basic audio/video editing no?

[benoit]

MacOS does not have everything you need for audio/video editing out of the box. The iLife suite has garage band and a video editor as well, I think but costs extra. It doesn't really matter a ton which OS you use as long as you have the right hardware and software. As far as hardware goes, you need to make sure you've got enough processing power to handle the number of tracks and plugins you want to run, and that you've got decent preamps and D/A A/D converters in your audio interface. Software can be whatever you like. Garage band is nice and simple but lacks the flexibility of digital performer or others. Ableton Live is really nice for the creative things just because of how the interface is set up. The latency thing is going to be an issue on any system with no hardware acceleration (i.e. protools HD or similar) of audio processing, regardless of OS.

Bottom line is, use the OS you're comfortable with, or pick the software you're comfortable with and use the OS that supports it, if it doesn't run on both. Personally I'd recommend the presonus firepod and digital performer, or Ableton live, though there are cheaper ways to get by.

Tele_player is right in that you don't have to dedicate the computer to audio. That said, it is good to do so if you can afford to.

Good luck whatever you end up doing.

[lastwinj]

boss br864. cheap and easy to use. only bad thing, somewhat difficult to turn off the reverb for outboard line out (when i record from line in on puter..) and the mic inputs have no headroom.

germ

[dartanion]

iLife comes on all Macs except the Pro models, which in that case it only costs $79. The Mac OS has some of the best audio capabilities built in as well as great hardware. Anyway, I have recorder on both PC and Mac, and I'll stick with my Mac. Too many frickin' driver issues and such on Windows. You can actually plug your guitar directly into a Mac and start recording through GarageBand in a few seconds. I spent a few months with my PC trying to get it setup as an Audio workstation. I gave up after having installed and reinstalled the software (Cakewalk) and all the associated drivers probably a dozen times. Even after buying one of the recommended sound cards, it was still futzy at best.

Took me about an hour total getting my wifes old power mac setup as an audio workstation. Most of that was the time running down to the Apple store to by an iMic usb interface ($29). After that it was a breeze.

[LeftyStrat]

MacOS does have vastly superior latency figures than windows. I can get 1.3ms turnaround, which makes it good enough to use as an fx processor live (as John McLaughlin does).

To approach these latency values on windows requires a ring zero driver specific to each sound card, so you are at the mercy of the skills of the driver writer.

I use a Intel Macbook and an Alesis IO|26 and love it. Alesis also makes a version with less inputs, IO|2, that is USB based rather than firewire.

The iLife suite comes free with new mac purchases, you just have to pay for subsequent releases.

The nice thing about Garage Band is that you can lay down some backing tracks very easily, which can help sometimes to get the creative juices flowing. I play bass and keys as well as guitar, but I suck as a drummer, so having a lot of good drum tracks comes in handy.

If you go the computer route, regardless of the Mac/PC war, remember that if you only plan on recording one instrument at a time, USB interfaces are sufficient, but anything more than about four tracks require firewire. Some claim USB 2.0 is as fast as firewire, but fail to realize that is only in one direction. USB is synchronous, firewire is provides the same speed both directions simultaneously.

The other thing if you go the computer route, is try to avoid devices that have specialized drivers. Get a USB or Firewire interface that says "native" support. Otherwise you are at the mercy of the vendor to provide updated drivers every time you upgrade your computer (Damn you Digidesign).

The other thing about laptops is you can take your mix with you. Get a nice pair of headphones and you can work on your mix while riding the bus or sitting in a coffee house. Or at work, in between reading amp garage

[dartanion]

There is a great online seminar pertaining to using your guitar with a Mac on Apple's website. You have to register on the site to see it, but I have been watching it while working on some documentation and I have learned a lot that I think I'll trying out soon. I had no idea that GarageBand came with virtual amps built in and supports all 3rd party amp plug-ins. This is great as then when I'm up at the wee hours, I won't wake my wife while laying down some ideas.