Hello to you all,
I am beginning to look for some hardware / software to record music on a computer (PC), on a personal, basement basis.
Does anyone has any suggestions ? I found this piece of kit on the web. Any comments about it ? :
Martin, Tascam is a pretty good brand (I think they used to be a submake of Teac).
If you’re interested, may I suggest you also check out Midiman: http://www.m-audio.com. They have a much wider range of products, and at all levels. I have been using their Delta-44 for a few years and have been very happy with it.
For software I am using Cool Edit Pro. This is so good that Adobe just bought it up and has re-released it as Adobe Audition.
Hope that helps,
djm
I also second the recommendation for M-Audio… I use one of their Audiophile 24/96 cards for recording on my system. Very nice card with analog in/out, digital in/out, and MIDI in/out for about $149 at Guitar Center. Works with all editing and audio multitrack apps I’ve tried.
M
Does that have optical I/O?
Royce
Royce, check them out at the link above. Firewire is an option, as well as USB or serial I/O.
djm
I second the 2496 as a stable cost friendly s/card. I use one at home, and it’s good for everything, though the midi is a bit laggy.
I must make the point that the mic is everything, though, better a good mic and a crap s/card than vice versa. Try Oktava, the Russian mic manufacturers..Value for money!
Alan
Alan is right, mic is a key element. I used to play with a tascam 8 track portastudio and used an AKG C 1000 condenser mic. I still use this mic and it does a quite good job. I don’t remember how much I paid for it though, it was a few years ago…
Royce, no it doesn’t have optical out, only S/PDIF.
For a microphone, I primarily use an Audio Technica AT3035:
http://www.audio-technica.com/news/press/reviews/Rec_AT3035.pdf
which goes for about $200.00 from places like Sweetwater music and Musician’s Friend.
Its received some excellent reviews and I’ve been quite happy with it.
Here’s a review:
http://www.proaudioreview.com/par/november01/audiotechnica_AT3035.shtml
Virtually all my recordings use the following path:
AT3035 → preamp in a Mackie LM-3024 → DigiTech Studio400 Effects → Mackie LM-3024 → Audiophile 24/96 → PC.
I’m running Windows 2000 with the latest service packs, and have installed the non ACPI HAL so that I could force the 24/96 on its own interrupt.
Ok, enough geekspeak, back to piping!
Cheers,
Michael