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What do I need.....?

bigboy_78

bigboy_78

Jun 1, 2011
1,362
2,089
Coraki, Australia
#1
Total newb at this. Hoping to get less than rough recordings of my band. Currently sit a Zoom handheld recorder in the room somewhere and hope for the best. It is rarely useful for anything.

I have an iRig which is great to record my bass, but what I want is something to record the whole band direct to my laptop and be able to mix it better later. Drums & Guitar mic’d, Keys, vox & bass direct.

I guess would need at least 8 mic inputs. Do the interfaces record 8 track at once, to 8 separate tracks in whatever DAW? Is it via USB or do I need something else.

Not even sure what I am looking for, so need a gentle nudge in the right direction to start my own research.
 
#2
bigboy_78 said:
Total newb at this. Hoping to get less than rough recordings of my band. Currently sit a Zoom handheld recorder in the room somewhere and hope for the best. It is rarely useful for anything.

I have an iRig which is great to record my bass, but what I want is something to record the whole band direct to my laptop and be able to mix it better later. Drums & Guitar mic’d, Keys, vox & bass direct.

I guess would need at least 8 mic inputs. Do the interfaces record 8 track at once, to 8 separate tracks in whatever DAW? Is it via USB or do I need something else.

Not even sure what I am looking for, so need a gentle nudge in the right direction to start my own research.
Click to expand...
Focusrite scarlett. I just ordered the 4 input one, for $300, but they have a bigger one for $500. 4 is all I need. They come with pro-tools, and the plug-ins for basically anything you could ever imagine. They work with just about any DAW program out there too. I'm pretty sure that that $500 one is an 8 input...or 16. Cant remember.
 
#4
JeezyMcNuggles said:
Oh, check out zzounds.com. no credit financing, and free shipping
Click to expand...
Before we have him start blowing his life savings and credit rating, let's find out what he wants to use the recordings for. If he's got money to burn and time to kill, by all means, he should go all in. To dip his toes in the water, you're right, the Focusrite stuff is a good place to begin. He should maybe start at the bottom, though, until he becomes familiar with his DAW of choice. Obtaining gear is the easy part.

OP, check out some of the info here to help get you started: Invalid Link Removed

Whatever your DAW or interface, their videos will offer more than you need. Good luck and I hope you can swim because this ocean is vast!
 
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#5
Just bought a Tascam US-16x08 -$299. Presonus has some great interfaces and even Behringer’s have their fans. But you’re best to look for at least eight mic pre’s, and USB connection will make it easier to connect to a variety of computers. FireWire is good, but generally favored by slightly older Macs-which is what I have been using for years. Your next question will likely have something to do with which DAW. They all have their own fan base, search is your friend here on TB!
 
#6
Cool. Now I at least now what I am looking at.

So Scarlett 18i20 is 18 in 20 out, does that mean I have 18 inputs, and they all go via 1 USB cable to my DAW, which then splits them back out to 18 tracks?

I was confused by all the “outputs” but that looks like monitoring outputs for headphones etc.

The quality of the interface will be fairly irrelevant, there are way more roadblocks before that – recording in a shed, using cheap mics etc.

Thanks guys. This could be the beginning…….
 
#9
bigboy_78 said:
Cool. Now I at least now what I am looking at.

So Scarlett 18i20 is 18 in 20 out, does that mean I have 18 inputs, and they all go via 1 USB cable to my DAW, which then splits them back out to 18 tracks?

I was confused by all the “outputs” but that looks like monitoring outputs for headphones etc.

The quality of the interface will be fairly irrelevant, there are way more roadblocks before that – recording in a shed, using cheap mics etc.

Thanks guys. This could be the beginning…….
Click to expand...
Yes, all in one USB. You just designate which line is which track in your program. Check levels, and hit record. The quality on focusrite stuff is astounding too. Especially for the price, and plug ins
 
#10
Spend some money and go to a studio for a few hours. They'll have mics, the room should sound ok, and you can ask questions, see how it is done. If you don't get something useful it will more than likely be the performance thats the problem, not the equipment or room. Then you can begin to think about whether and how you want to go about it yourself.
 
#11
I just bought a Boss BR1600...way more than I’ll ever Need, but I’m very excited about recording in the basement...a good-sounding room where the band practiced for years.

THIS is what kinda Newb I am...

I can only assume that I need to line this out to some form of amp, and from there to a pair of Bose 301s that almost stole at a local thrift store.

Would anyone be willing to walk me through the sequence?

The line out jacks on the back of the Boss are a pair of RCA jack.

From there......... ?
 
#12
With those Bose bookshelf speakers, I'd use a home stereo amp or very low wattage power amp (ballpark of 100 watts per channel at 8 ohms, but doublecheck your speakers' specs).

Run RCA cables from the BR1600's L/R line output into a stereo amplifier's aux input (or any of its line level inputs). Run the amplifier's speaker output (using whatever format connector is required on the amplifier side) into the Bose 301's stripped-wire inputs.
 

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