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Recording Equipment

#21
Hm... which soundcard would you recommend with no pre's then? I'm thinking that I shouldn't start with a mic pre, I prefer to sacrifice that area, since my room doesn't offer great acoustic soundscape, recording direct would be the best bet, bet on the instrumental in this case..

For example, imagine the Avalon U5, would it only be good for home/studio recording or could it be used live as well?

Sorry for all these questions but I don't have much experience with DI's/pre's .. :l
 
#22
I'm also waiting to hear about high quality interfaces with no preamp. I'm not sure I could name one that is currently in production. Maybe the suggestion was for something like one of the Apogee converter boxes, but you will need a compatible preamp. $$$ If your put a cheap preamp in front of a world class converter you will have a world class recording of a bad preamp.

The original issue was that you didn't like the tone of the bass through the FTP's instrument input. If you were expecting it to sound like you are playing through and amp and cabinet then you are setting yourself up for a lot of hardware chasing only to find out that it is not supposed to sound like playing through an amp and cabinet. Like it or not, that sound that you are recording via the instrument input is what the signal coming out of your bass sounds like. The frequency response of this class of interface is pretty flat. I practice through devices like a Cafe Walter or a Raven PHA-1, so I have a really good idea about how my bass sounds. I will use that as a reference if I think that something is going wrong with my signal chain.

You can get a preamp and play through that, feeding either the line input or the mic input. If the preamp has a digital output you could use that also. Your interface has S/PDIF I/O.

You could get a DI and drive the mic preamp on your interface instead of going in through the instrument input. That might fix it right there.

I kinda said this already, but if you are recording your bass direct then there is an expectation that you are going to do some post processing, even if it is just EQ, comp, and level. The signal that you are recording is a raw ingredient, not a finished dish.
 
#23
Hm.. yes I totally understand that, I'm obviously not looking to get a class A sound right from the start, that would go against the logic of recording/mixing etc, but instead I'm interested in getting a richer, clearer sound, a different perspective when recording, because the sound that I get from the FTP doesn't really give me a lot to do, I can improve it obviously, but it seems that if I had a better pre/di it would help improve it... and could also be used live.
 
#24
fretlessrock said:
I'm also waiting to hear about high quality interfaces with no preamp. I'm not sure I could name one that is currently in production.
Click to expand...

If you want to talk high quality I can't think of a single high end system that DOES bundle mic pres in to the audio interface. A professional system will have mic pres, AD/DA conversion, and computer interface in seperate boxes. As for me, at home I use the M Audio Delta 1010, 8x8 balanced line level ins/outs. Not amazing but functional with a decent pre.
 
#25
hunta said:
I had a DMP-3 and thought it sounded like junk but YMMV.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I didn't say it was great (operative words in my post being "decent" and "excellent value for the $$$", but it doesn't completely suck. I've definitely heard a bunch of stuff that sounds far worse, and even costs much more. There's definitely nothing close for 2 channels @ $120. Plus it does offer a pretty good amount of gain. As projectMalamute suggested, these things are all relative (and subjective). Do my Audient pres sound a lot more open/clearer/better? Certainly. But they also cost about 12x's more.

Obviously, I have no idea what level your background or recording history/know-how is at (in regards to the OP), but to a degree, this sounds like some level of inexperience to me. I think what I'm trying to say is to rely less upon what equipment you're using and figure out how to make what you have work the best it can first. Many times people get bogged down in that I need better/ more gear loop (I've been there) only to be on an endless hunt. Work to develop your ears and recording/mixing skills/technique, much like you did for bass.

I find it hard to believe that with most any interface available these days you can't make a passable recording. As in bass playing where a lot of it is in the fingers, in recording/mixing it's all int he ears. I've been blown away by people who've made very impressive recordings with stuff that a lot of people claim are crap. If you have the $$$ to go out and buy mid-to-high-end pres and convertors, then go for it... but to get the most out of them you're still going to have to do some work.

Good luck.
---
c
 
#27
Right, I assumed that you were talking about a pro installation. I didn't think we were on pace for a multi $1k experience, but I could not agree more. In the same way you could make a single channel system and emulate that kind of setup and keep the price reasonable. If I took price out of the equation (for me, off the shelf stuff, not the moon), I'd say get a Distressor, a Summit MPC-100A (ok, a pair), and an Apogee MiniDAC with Firewire card and call it a day. I would never resolve the benefits of an upgrade from that. Throw in a pair of Neve strips and you have the ability to record everything from a Tympani to a pennywhistle in shocking detail.

If we are still talking entry level gear then my opinion is that the current setup has potential if you get down with gain staging and post processing. Unless the device is broken you can record a good direct or mic'd track without much outboard. We never talked about what platform or DAW here. For instance, I use a product called RAX to set up effects chains in plugins, and to handle MIDI, and set up effects chains in that, previewing them as a work. Just the effects in the base GarageBand install beat most rack effects units by a mile. If I like the setup I save it, then I route the audio to Audio Hijack and sample it. I have a full blown DAW but this setup is a lot easier if I am not specifically multitracking. I can save effect presets and then load them in the DAW later.

I use Live and I'll use it if I need Live's tools, or am working on a multitrack. I love it, but that overhead can be a drag.

Not to rant, well, to rant, I keep in mind that most of the world class recordings we hear were recorded on the audio equivalent of the bronze adze, and in some cases I'm being generous. Apply that level of 'do the most with what you have" and the sky is the limit.

My rig: MacBook pro, NI AK-1 Interface, MOTU 896HD, Rubicon 5a Monitors, Live7, Gllyph GT050, GBand, RAX, Audiofinder, Stuff....
 
#30
I'm going to record and later I will post some clips of both guitar and bass recorded direct to Logic with the FTP with no virtual amp modeling or post eq or anything, just pure raw.

Btw, I was earlier today trying guitar rig 2 on logic pro 8 with my brother's guitar and playing or recording some hiccups we're happening, like at a random time, but very subtle, the problem is that when you hear the track recorded those hiccups can be heard... what the hell is that? Is it the soundcard or what?
 

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