Hello again,
I'm very thankful for all of the replies I got on my topic on the best in-home recording studios and have looked into all of what you guys told me. But now, it has come down to it.
My older sister, serving in the ARMY in Germany, wants to know one of the hardest questions in life.
What do you want for Christmas?
So..
I started looking through Musiciansfriend's products. As we know, I want an in-home recording studio which you use by plugging your guitar into a device(on of the processors in my list) then from the device, into your computer. Also, I'd like for the product to come with software that was programmed for the following:
1. Recording guitar and being able to make songs consisting of multiple guitar parts and maybe bass and maybe drums, yes a drum machine too by the by.
2. The ability to lay out tracks for a song and have the ability to add effects such as Delay, flanger, Chorus, Reverb, Black Phaser, etc.. to the guitars sound.
3. Uhh, I don't want anything over $300.
Now, here is my information, (hopefuly it helps you in helping me decide which one of these to pick)
My computer is a HP Pavilion xt993.
1.3GHz processor
I've upgraded the hell out of it. so the rest of my specs are custom: 615mb RAM, 256mb video, I do have a soundcard, its a very new one, but its not installed on my computers motherboard at the moment, so if theres one of these you think is the one I should get, but requires a good soundcard, just remember that I DO HAVE ONE.
Uhhh...
I dont really know if this will help, but just in case..
My guitar is a Peavy Preditor, Bridge p-up - EMG85, everything else stock.
Amp - 5150 Halfstack
Ok..
Finally, here's my list.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/rec/navigation/hardware-recording-gear-guitar?N=100001+306383
the link above is for those of you who just want to look at them on their website instead of reading my info on them.
ok to the list..
1.M-Audio Black Box Guitar Performance/Recording System
Co-developed by M-Audio and Roger Linn Design, the M-Audio Black Box Guitar Performance/Recording System is the first creative tool for guitarists...
Price: $199.99 Item Ships Free!
List Price: $329.95
2. Line 6 TonePort UX2 USB Recording/Modeling Interface
The Line 6 TonePort UX2 USB Recording/Modeling Interface features the pro amp, cab, and effects models from the TonePort UX-1 with 2 XLR mic inputs...
Price: $199.99 Item Ships Free!
List Price: $269.00
3. TASCAM DP-01 Digital 8-Track Portastudio
The Tascam DP-01 Digital 8-Track Portastudio features the one-knob-per-function design that has made TASCAM cassette Portastudios the choice of...
Price: $299.99 Item Ships Free!
List Price: $499.00
4. Line 6 TonePort UX1 USB Recording/Modeling Interface
The Line 6 TonePort UX1 USB Recording/Modeling Interface features the pro amp, cab, and effects models from the Bass PODxt; high-quality vocal preamp...
Price: $129.99 Item Ships Free!
List Price: $175.00
5. ToneWorks Pandora PXR4 4-Track Digital Recording Studio
Capture those great ideas on the spot and flesh them out musically with this amazingly compact yet capable tool. Features REMS modeling effects (amp,...
Price: $199.99 Item Ships Free!
List Price: $500.00
After reading and understanding all of the things that I want my in-home recording studio to be able to do, which one of the above 5 do you think I should go with.
Sorry to keep posting all this stuff.. im just trying to hurry up and decide.
Any help is ALWAYS appreciated guys!
Thanks
Marshall
"You're a God among insects. Never let anyone tell you differenately." -Magneto, XMen
Hi Marshall
What type of soundcard do you have ?
A Creative SoundBlaster XiFi or Audigy type or a "pro" recording soundcard as the Creative E-MU (i.e. 0404) ?
You can do recordings with all nearly whatewer PC soundcard there is, but the more expensive a soundcard the better recordings it will give.
As long as you will use the recording results for your own and for your friends you don´t need a high-end soundcard. Even a low-end soundcard can record with 24 bit resolution and 96kHz sampling frequency wich is neccesary if you want to have the final mix in CD quality ( 16 bit/44.1 kHz).
You can probably connect the line-out from you amp and connect it to the line-in port of the soundcard and then be able to record your guitar.
Doing the recording and mixing work you describe you can use the free recording SW Kristal Audio Engine together with all free VST Effect (FX) Plug-ins.
Saying this, you will be able to start doing what you want without any more costs...
In the beginning, it will not be the limitations of your HW/SW that set the quality of your recording work, it will be you own ability to learn how to use the HW/SW you have, that set the limits.
Tanglewood TW28STE (Shadow P7 EQ) acoustic
Yamaha RGX 320FZ electric guitar/Egnater Tweaker 15 amp.
Yamaha RBX 270 bass/Laney DB 150 amp.
http://www.soundclick.com/kalleinsweden
I've recorded with a SB card and a Prosumer card. There is a huge difference in headroom. I have owned M-audio and currently use a Line6 UX1. It's a great sounding interface but you will need to buy some other recording software if you want to do more than 4 tracks. It comes with Abelton Live lite. Only 4 audio tracks and you can't save your work. Other products ship with Cubase LE which is a great entry level program. I'm a huge fan of Cubase with all it's bugs. It works fantastic when it works.
On another note, as far as interfaces are concerned, I think the best value is the Mbox 2. It ships with Protools LE and at $450 street, it's a bargain. Comes with a multitude of plugins and exports projects which are compatible with 99% of all the Pro studios out there.
Then there are the Mackie Onyx mixers which ship with a full version of Tracktion 2. Great program. Great interface. People have complained though because the eq is wired Pre fader/ pre eq. So you can't realy make use of their newest EQ section.(a mod can be bought for this).
I'm no pro but I ain't no newbie either. At any rate, you could settle for your internal soundcard or an SB card. I'll never look back. Some people say they're good enough. Once you move on to better interfaces though, good enough just doesn't seem good enough.
Just a note about your system: it's pretty inbalanced. For a music workstation you'll need MUCH more memory (atleast one gig, preferrably two), a faster processor and probably a better soundcard. Your system seems to be build around a videocard (you play lots of games by any chance?) which won't do much in this contest, and probably won't function near it's potential in other situations becausing of this inbalance. Depending on your mobo you could pick up an old 2.2Ghz cpu or some for #25 and an extra gig of memory for $40. A pretty minor investment but will do wonders, when using your pc as DAW or for other things.
Just my 2c.
