I know this question has been asked a couple of times in various different formats but I thought I would ask anyway.
I've recently set about setting up a recording space for our band and I am currently using 2 soundcards to record with 2 mics, but what I would really like to be able to do is record everything to their own tracks whilst all playing together.
I'm an IT consultant so I'm not really looking for technical information, I'm fully aware of how to use the software I have to achieve what I'm after the difficulty I'm having is with the hardware.
So to cut a long story short I'm looking for something that can ideally take 8 channels and put them onto 8 seperate channels on my PC (Doesn't have to be 8 as we only really need 4 but I'd rather be prepared :P). I can't be the only one who would like this setup can I? I read a little about an Alesis mixer with USB in one of the other threads but it appears this outputs a standard stereo track via USB which isn't what I was aiming for.
Anyone got anything that they are using or that they could possibly suggest or shall I just get 8 soundcards :P
are you looking for something like this?
http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.aspx?ObjectId=702&ParentId=114
#4491....
Yeah thats the kind of thing I'm looking for!
Just found an Alesis firewire one that does the same thing as well, so all hope is not lost. Now I'm off to read review, after review, after review!
Thanks :)
Or something like this?
http://www.ramelectronics.net/HTML/delta1010lt.html
Oh here's an 8/8 - http://www.zzounds.com/item--MDOD1010E
Mother of the Unicorn has some of the best interfaces around!
Their A/D converters are top flight.
As an aside, if you want good results, get yourself some stand-alone quality mic pre-amps. There are very few interfaces out there for under $1,000 who have pre-amps that are worth a damn. And the one's on sound cards are just crap. They don't give you the headroom or the signal/noise ratio needed to succeed.
And your pre's are a lot more important than most people realize for getting good quality sound.
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." -- HST
Cool thanks for the suggestions guys, just gotta try and get the other band members to pony up some money now :P
Not looking for anything particularly spectacular at the moment, really just something to make my life easier and to get something that doesn't sound like its been runover by an elephant.
Cool thanks for the suggestions guys, just gotta try and get the other band members to pony up some money now :P
Not looking for anything particularly spectacular at the moment, really just something to make my life easier and to get something that doesn't sound like its been runover by an elephant.
Something I see a lot of people do is say "Well, I don't want something great right now, I just want to get the job done ..."
Say they're saying this around pre-amps, so they buy a cheapo sound with a built in pre for $75 and are happy for 3 months.
Then they start reading some recording blog, and decide they want to step up to the next level, so they go drop $300 on something like a PreSonus Firebox for the better pres.
After a year, they figure out that those pre's still are limiting but they don't want to spend too much, so they go pick up an ART Gold for another $400.
A year later, they are listening to to a friends recording and they're asking how they got the sound, and it turns out the friend is using all the same gear, except they have a $700 Focusrite single channel tube pre. So they go out and buy the best single channel tube pre they can afford, but that's only a $400 pre.
All told they've now spent: $75 + $300+ $400 + $400 = $1,175
Had they started out and purchased studio quality gear to begin with, insteaad of consumer grade stuff, they'd could have had a $500 pre and a $500 interface -- and would be have been getting better audio quailty all along . . . and would have saved nearly $200!
Now, I know that it's hard to know you're going to stick with it. And everyone wants to start out as inexepensively as possible. But be realistic about future expectations as well . . . if you're a proven dedicated musician and are likely to stick with thish recording stuff, it's often a lot cheaper in the long run to pony up for the higher end gear.
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." -- HST
Now, I know that it's hard to know you're going to stick with it. And everyone wants to start out as inexepensively as possible. But be realistic about future expectations as well . . . if you're a proven dedicated musician and are likely to stick with thish recording stuff, it's often a lot cheaper in the long run to pony up for the higher end gear.
Yeah Ill probably just stick with the cheap stuff.... we suck anyway :P
In all honesty this band started out of nothing and we don't really expect to go anywhere, its more of a hobby than anything else.
Of course I understand what your trying to say but given the fact that I've only just gotten round to buying myself a half decent guitar, I'd hate to spend more on recording equipment than I did on my axe. If I had the money I really would go out and by the best stuff I could as thats the kinda thing I do even if it wasn't something I was particularly serious about. (I like to have the best stuff for the job) If it becomes more serious I can always by a new pre amp and run it through the existing mixer anyways I guess so it wouldn't be a complete waste of time and money.
Hi Mooseh
I know that this is not the answer to your question, but "cheapest" way to do a multi-input recording is to use an analog mixer with several mic and line inputs in front of your PC soundcard. An intelligent use of the mixers level and panning settings will give a fairly good 2 channel stereo recording of the whole band playing together.
Behringers Xenyx mixers will do the job http://www.musiciansfriend.com/rec/navigation/behringer-live-sound-unpowered-mixers?N=100001+304609+201184+7&page=1
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'll second the motu. I have the ultralite and it's great. Just connect via firewire and you can take it and plug it in anywhere. The sound is great.
Dave
Sometimes in life you get shown the light,
In the strangest of places if you look at it right.
Something I see a lot of people do is say "Well, I don't want something great right now, I just want to get the job done ..."
Say they're saying this around pre-amps, so they buy a cheapo sound with a built in pre for $75 and are happy for 3 months.
Then they start reading some recording blog, and decide they want to step up to the next level, so they go drop $300 on something like a PreSonus Firebox for the better pres.
After a year, they figure out that those pre's still are limiting but they don't want to spend too much, so they go pick up an ART Gold for another $400.
A year later, they are listening to to a friends recording and they're asking how they got the sound, and it turns out the friend is using all the same gear, except they have a $700 Focusrite single channel tube pre. So they go out and buy the best single channel tube pre they can afford, but that's only a $400 pre.
All told they've now spent: $75 + $300+ $400 + $400 = $1,175
Had they started out and purchased studio quality gear to begin with, insteaad of consumer grade stuff, they'd could have had a $500 pre and a $500 interface -- and would be have been getting better audio quailty all along . . . and would have saved nearly $200!
Now, I know that it's hard to know you're going to stick with it. And everyone wants to start out as inexepensively as possible. But be realistic about future expectations as well . . . if you're a proven dedicated musician and are likely to stick with thish recording stuff, it's often a lot cheaper in the long run to pony up for the higher end gear.
Can I ask you what you have for equipment? I was thinking of Firebox as the top end of what I was going to get :) (Sorry to resurrect such an old post)
Just curious "Mother of the Unicorn" that was a joke right. It's Mark Of The Unicorn. Anyhow for the sake of convenience my vote goes to the Mackie Satellite, firewire interface and Tracktion softwarein one package.
I am curious why you want separate tracks?
if you merely want to record your band practice for later reference you could use a mini disc recorder, up load to computer, use Audacity to create a WAV or MP3 file and then burn to CD or just use the files for playback.
