Need help choosing gear for Home Studio

[wizardy]

Hi there rigtalkers
I need your advice on this one.
I'd like to buy a few things for my home studio
I'm not a professional but I'd like to record some guitars and vocal for a personal project.

I'd like to have the best tone for the buck.
My budget is around 500-600$
Which audio interface should I buy?
thanks (I'M a pc user)
Should I buy something like a M-Audio profire 610 (average preamp and good converters)
or I should rather buy a cheaper interface (like emu 0404) with a good mic preamp like the FMR Audio RNP ?


NB. I'M planning using a SM57 for guitar and an old PG58 for vocal.

 

[axemeaquestion]

Hi there rigtalkers
I need your advice on this one.
I'd like to buy a few things for my home studio
I'm not a professional but I'd like to record some guitars and vocal for a personal project.

I'd like to have the best tone for the buck.
My budget is around 500-600$
Which audio interface should I buy?
thanks (I'M a pc user)
Should I buy something like a M-Audio profire 610 (average preamp and good converters)
or I should rather buy a cheaper interface (like emu 0404) with a good mic preamp like the FMR Audio RNP ?


NB. I'M planning using a SM57 for guitar and an old PG58 for vocal.

Consider the Eleven Rack. It's got your daw software, it's an audio interface, and it makes guitar noises. Pick one up used for slightly more than your budget, but not much.

 

[wizardy]

well I already own a Splawn Nitro amp which I'd like to record
What will the eleven rack do for that?
I thought it was a digital amp modeling like the axe-fx?

 

[Jordon]

Mbox Mini with Pro Tools 8 or 9, a decent set of headphones, a used SM57 and you're set. That's basically my home setup when I can't get over to the studio.

Don't bother springing on high-end plugins until you really need them. Honestly.

 

[JakeAC5253]

I prefer the 0404 over the M-Audio interfaces. A SM57 and a pop filter will cover vocals pretty well. A PR-20 is a good mic as well, really tracks the lows and low mids well for a cheap dynamic mic. Not sure about the 0404, but PreSonus interfaces come with a lite version of Studio 1, which is getting great reviews.

 

[Jordon]

I also want to ad, it's more about how you mic the cab/use the equipment than it is about the actual equipment. Don't use shit gear, by any means, but make sure you know what you're doing when micing up a cab, eqing guitar in a mix and the like. Feel free to PM me for any questions/tips you may need.

 

[axemeaquestion]

well I already own a Splawn Nitro amp which I'd like to record
What will the eleven rack do for that?
I thought it was a digital amp modeling like the axe-fx?

Well, you can use its mic pre to record it. You could also record a dry track simultaneously and have some fun reamping. You can record your vox thru it as well.

Yes, it's digital amp modeling like the axe, but the axe lacks the audio interface and is considered to be ancient technology.

 

[Jordon]

well I already own a Splawn Nitro amp which I'd like to record
What will the eleven rack do for that?
I thought it was a digital amp modeling like the axe-fx?

Well, you can use its mic pre to record it. You could also record a dry track simultaneously and have some fun reamping. You can record your vox thru it as well.

Yes, it's digital amp modeling like the axe, but the axe lacks the audio interface and is considered to be ancient technology.

How is the AxeFX considered ancient technology, Mr Trollsalot?

 

[axemeaquestion]

well I already own a Splawn Nitro amp which I'd like to record
What will the eleven rack do for that?
I thought it was a digital amp modeling like the axe-fx?

Well, you can use its mic pre to record it. You could also record a dry track simultaneously and have some fun reamping. You can record your vox thru it as well.

Yes, it's digital amp modeling like the axe, but the axe lacks the audio interface and is considered to be ancient technology.

How is the AxeFX considered ancient technology, Mr Trollsalot?

What is it, half a decade old hardware, Mr. I Can't Find Anyone to Play With Even Though I Live in a City of 4 Million Peeps and Therefore the Music Scene Sucks There?

 

[wizardy]

I'll check the mbox mini
They cost like 350$
are the preamps decent?
Or I should invest in a separate Preamp module
like the Fmr Audio RNP or the True's P-Solo or Groove Tube bricks

Will it make a big improvement in final sound ?


After all, maybe I should start with a simple setup and see what I can get from it
like the Mbox Mini + SM57
I'll use Cubase 5 or Protools

 

[JakeAC5253]

The Mbox Mini's pres are some of the worst out there for included interface systems, but save your money until you are ready to really sink some money into a higher end outboard unit. Yes, good pres really help as far as clarity and quality of final product go, but not much more expensive is generally not much better concerning preamps.

 

[Jordon]

I'll check the mbox mini
They cost like 350$
are the preamps decent?
Or I should invest in a separate Preamp module
like the Fmr Audio RNP or the True's P-Solo or Groove Tube bricks

Will it make a big improvement in final sound ?


After all, maybe I should start with a simple setup and see what I can get from it
like the Mbox Mini + SM57
I'll use Cubase 5 or Protools

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about upgrading pre's right away. I've been content with the Mbox preamps for demo work. Great pres are definitely a good thing to have, but I've heard stellar recordings done on the stock DigiDesign/Avid preamps. What you need to do is figure out if you're just using it for demo purposes or for possible releases in the future. That should dictate what direction you go in for an interface.

I'd go with Pro Tool for sure, but that's just personal preference. I find editing and tracking much more intuitive, and with Pro Tools 9 (which you should get if you buy the Mbox new) you have an extremely powerful platform to work on. I find Cubase/Nuendo clunky to work with, but again, that's just preference.

 

[Jordon]

well I already own a Splawn Nitro amp which I'd like to record
What will the eleven rack do for that?
I thought it was a digital amp modeling like the axe-fx?

Well, you can use its mic pre to record it. You could also record a dry track simultaneously and have some fun reamping. You can record your vox thru it as well.

Yes, it's digital amp modeling like the axe, but the axe lacks the audio interface and is considered to be ancient technology.

How is the AxeFX considered ancient technology, Mr Trollsalot?

What is it, half a decade old hardware, Mr. I Can't Find Anyone to Play With Even Though I Live in a City of 4 Million Peeps and Therefore the Music Scene Sucks There?

You're seriously a complete fucking moron.

EDIT: Brother.

 

[Ventura]

M-Audio ProFire610 is
11 Rack's support sucks horribly
M-Box is in the same boat - Digidesign, horrible support
SM57 is the go-to recording mic
Not sure about your other mic choice...
Decent eargoggles are more important than monitors in my opinion

Maybe an Apogee Duet as an interface??

Providing you've already got the workstation, get something like Logic or Cubase LE or something along those lines.

This can be done for $600 give or take.

V.

 

[wizardy]

M-Audio ProFire610 is
11 Rack's support sucks horribly
SM57 is the go-to recording mic
Not sure about your other mic choice...
Decent eargoggles are more important than monitors in my opinion

Providing you've already got the workstation, get something like Logic or Cubase LE or something along those lines.

This can be done for $600 give or take.

V.

Ok .
I'll buy simple interface then with decent preamps and converters
I've seen new interfaces like the RME Babyface or the SoundDevice USBPre 2
They cost a bit more then the Profire 610 (like 200$ more)

Do you think I should invest a bit more for those or the Profire 610 will be sufficient for my needs.
thanks

 

[Ventura]

M-Audio ProFire610 is
11 Rack's support sucks horribly
SM57 is the go-to recording mic
Not sure about your other mic choice...
Decent eargoggles are more important than monitors in my opinion

Providing you've already got the workstation, get something like Logic or Cubase LE or something along those lines.

This can be done for $600 give or take.

V.

Ok .
I'll buy simple interface then with decent preamps and converters
I've seen new interfaces like the RME Babyface or the SoundDevice USBPre 2
They cost a bit more then the Profire 610 (like 200$ more)

Do you think I should invest a bit more for those or the Profire 610 will be sufficient for my needs.
thanks

for what it's worth, I paid top coin for the ProFire610 when it first came out. Seriously, it was $600 at that time. I've used it since then - ZERO problems. Excellent interface/preamp. Only thing is when connecting both XLR's (mics), it's either BOTH ON for phantom power, or BOTH OFF for phantom power. I use an SM57 as well as a RodeNT1000, the Rode needs juice, the SM57's don't...so I've needed to work around this, but man, seriously, if yer just starting out, the ProFire610 is choice. What prices are you finding them at??

I think you'll get this well sorted out. And just for the record, Digidesign's stuff has huge upgrade issues... I know M-Audio is apparently under the same roof now as Digidesign, but I've not had ANY issues with their firmware upgrades. I just had a friend - studio junkie - who was losing it over his M-Box's firmware upgrade brigning his entire DAW to a hault.

Peace,
Mo/V.

 

[Atropos_Project]

I am using the RNP preamp you mentioned, along with an SM57 / Senn 421 mics, through an ancient Tascam FW-1804 (which is going to be replaced with an RME babyface shortly).

I'd vote for going with the seperate mic pre, as a good one will be servicable through any interface, no matter what. Sort of a spend a bit more now, spend less later scenario.

 

[wizardy]

"..." What prices are you finding them at?? "..."

Profire 610 cost 400$ brand new , taxed and delivered.
RME Babyface cost 788$ brand new, taxed and delivered
USBPre 2 is like 650$ + taxes or so..

 

[Jordon]

The ProFire 610 is an awesome unit, for sure.

 

[lolzgreg]

Get a Profire2626, because you can't properly reamp with a Profire610, if you ever plan on doing something like that. The conversion on the 2626 is also ace, and worth the price jump.

The 2626 is a minimal upgrade from the 610, and you get 8 preamps, so if you ever decided you wanted to record your band practice, or a real drum kit, you could.

I know several friends with a 2626, and it's one of the only things I recommend aside from the Focusrite Saffire series, and the RME Firewire series.