Digital Recorder

[Peter]

Ok, here I go bringing back one of my old posts...

I have mentioned it abit here that I recently worked a battle of the bands, the problem was it was snowed out and has gotten pushed back 2 weeks. This is both a good thing and a bad thing.

For the orignal show, (and the rehersals which we did have ) I brought in 2 old computers (dontated by my Dad's work) and hooked the line ins of those computers to the aux outs of my school's sound board (yes, I know I should have probaby used the inserts, but I didnt have the right cables) and by ajusting each chanel's aux outs I was able to get 4 track recording (6 chanel the day my friend brought her laptop and let me record with that too). The idea worked well, and everything recorded fine. I was able to bring all the files into a really cheap audio editing program I have and line them up so they sound decent. The only problem is that was a PAIN to do and the quality stunk (way to much noise in the recording caused by a poor quality sound cards)

So, once again this has me looking at sound recording devices. This time I have been focusing much more on computer based options with the idea that since Best Buy has held my laptop hostage in their service department for just about a month and a half now, I might have the leverage to get them to give me or drasticaly reduce the price on a firewire PC card for my laptop.

Basicly it would be used for the same stuff as I have talked about earlier in this thread, (basicly needing a min of 8 XLR inputs). I have spent a good deal of the afternoon looking and I like the looks of the PreSonus Firepod (Here a zzounds.com) what do you guys think about it? The other (more expensive) option seems to be the ST Audio DSP-3000 M-port (here at zzounds.com) I just would like to hear any suggestions you might have or any observations about these (or other) devices. Suggestions as to other devices to consider would be apprecitated too.

Thanks!

 

[Peter]

Hmm ya, My dad was in a good mood tonight (he let me use his credit card!) and I spent most of the afternoon doing all kinds of research and made up my mind and made a serious purchase:

2x Mic combo kits (tripod-boom stands, cable, and mic) $40 (ya, there' cheap mics, but I realy wanted the stands, and geting the package was only a few bucks more and why not have the extra mics and cables)

1x Mic cable $3

1x Prosounds Firepod (8 mic inputs, 2 digital inputs, 10 outputs connected to my laptop via Firewire) $599

1x Audio-Technica AT2020 Larege Diaphragm Cardioid Condenser Microphone (a $170 value!) FREE!!!!

1x Cubase LE (Advanced computer mixing/recording software) (a $100+ value) FREE!!!



The nearest comprable package I could find that did all this was well over $1000, and in some cases I would have had to buy an aditional PC instead of being able to run it off of my laptop. I think this is a very good deal, and I cant wait to use it!

I'll be sure to let you guys know how it sounds and how it works out!

 

[Peter]

Really? Which firepod do you have? Do you have a url? I tried looking it up and the ones I saw only had two mic inputs too. I actually use the edirol in the opposite direction. I've got a seccond sound card installed in my G4 so I have 7 outputs on that plus the two chanels on the motherboard, and then the usb chanel. Each out put form the computer is routed through on of the chanels on the board. All the outputs except the ones on the motherboard are 24bit, so I use theose for the most part. That way I can have some dynamic sound effects (10 simoltanious) all with independant variables. What recording software do you use? I use soundtrack form Apple to record sfx and such. Works pretty well, but I am always on the lookout for soemthing better.

I just bought a Presonus Firepod (here) It has 8 mic preamps (10 chanel recording: 2 are sp/dif) and 10, 1/4" outputs (plus headphone outputs). I also have a Soundblaster Audigy 2 nx 7.1 surround sound (24bit) USB 2.0 sound card that basicly gives me 8 more chanels of outputs. I cant really even discribe all it does, so Here's the URL.

I run all this into my Toshiba P4 3.0 GHz laptop. I used to record with the software that came with the Audigy but the Firepod came with Cubase LE and I have just started to use it. (JUST is the important word here, I have only had the Firepod for 2 days now! )

 

[squashbucket]

Wow, what a setup! So basicaly you are using the firepod for imput and the Audigy for output? It makes sense to have in and out on seperate busses. Where did you end up purchasing all of this equipment? And what are you recording onto, the computer's hard drive? Internal or external? Are you recording live performances? I almost always record through only input at a time and then mix, but then again I mostly work with environmental reinforcement.

 

[Inaki2]

I do a lot of live recording...I'm sorry to jump in so late but I have had little free time lately.
Here's my down to the point view of things and how I would analyze your situation:

1) What quality recording are you going for?
2) What budget type are you going for?
3) Are you dead set on an "all-in-one" solution?

Personally, the most flexible and viable system today has to be computer based. I use the Tascam MX2424 for big recordings, but thats because its available to me. If I had to supply my own gear I would definetly go with something like the MOTU Traveler for mobility (its bus powered) and great quality. M-Audio is a good option, although since DigiDesign bought it it went down in quality a bit, but it will fit a tighter budget.
So the question is wether u're dead set on an "all-in-one" package, like the Korg or Roland units. Personally I hate these things, but I can see how home studios and musicians may benefit from them. I just don't consider them flexible enough to work in a professional environment. And the good ones are not cheap, not far and sometimes surpassing a good quality sound card.

 

[Peter]

So far, it is a sweet system for what I do! now let me try to answer your questions:

Where did I buy it:
Laptop -- Best Buy (great guys @ the store, have had problem with corporate and their warentte service changed from a "we'll replace it" mentality to a "let us keep it and try to fix it for two months" mentality (yes, they had my laptop for almost two months)

Audigy 2nx -- CompUSA i think, maybe Best Buy or Staples. Somewhere had it on a really good sale one day and I grabbed it.

Firepod, Mics, & Stands -- Musician's Friend great selection and prices (gave me a free Condenser mic, making it the best deal for the Firepod) Shipped in a box big enough to hold the mic stands, but they didnt put enough packing paper (like newspaper filler stuff they used) to keep the other smaller boxes from flying all arround in the bigger box and basicly self distructing during transit. Amazingly, nothing was damaged except the boxes (the condenser mic and Firepod were in foam in their boxes).

I am currently recording to my laptop's harddrive. I burn stuff to CDs and then delete it from the harddrive quite regulary. (lucky for me, when Best buy replaced my laptop yesterday, they upgraded me to a computer with a DVD burner too, so now I wont have to split my projects up onto as many CDs!) I am looking into getting an exteral harddrive at some point, but at this point in time, I am fine with my laptop's harddrive and need the price to drop before it really becomes practical. I also back up my files onto a few older computers I have on my home network.

Yes, I mostly record Live performances (which is why I need 8 mic ins) but might be doing abit more studio type work now that I have this equipment.

All by itself, the Firepod has enough outputs to do almost anything you could want, but the Audigy has sterio headphone outputs which means it is abit easier to use for headphones. as of yet, I havent been able to actually try using the Audigy and Firepod at the same time b/c my friend has the CD with the Audigy drivers b/c we were using her computer to record an event the other day (when mine was at best buy). However, I have been having trouble in Cubase LE being able to output sound from the Firepod to the headphone (main) output of my laptop's sound card. Does anyone know how to do this? I asume I would be a similar process to do it with the Audigy when I get that back up and working.

Ok, I think that was all your questions

Now, Inaki2

Question 1 Answer: As good of quality as I can get (question two is the limiting factor as always) I think I did end up with a good quality device; 24bit / 96K * 10 chanels

Question 2 Answer: Sub $1000 Goal reached (at least for the moment. (~$742 for 1 10 chanel recorder, 2 dynamic mics, 2 stands, 1 condenser mic, 3 20' cables, 1 Audigy 2 nx. (I already had the laptop, ~$1500))

Question 3 Answer: well, Would you consider what I got to be an all-in-one solution? It is abit more restrictive then other recorders b/c it has it's own preamps, but I couldnt find a recorder AND preamps seperatly for as good a price, and all the reviews i have read have praised the preamps in the Firepod.

I really think those are very good questions to ask yourself when you are looking into buying recording equipment! My other tip about buying recording equipement, be sure to take a good long time and read as many reviews of the product you are looking to buy as you possibly can find. Both reviews by reviewing companies/sites, but reviews from people who have bought the device at different vendors.

Hmm... Ok, there's my long post for the evening! However, if anyone else has questions, feel free to ask!

 

[Inaki2]

Congrats! Seems u did quite a good job there. I have to rely on either an amazing output card (like the MOTU or Apogee) or 2 cards. I also do system design, and that includes tuning and aligning systems, which require high quality measurement mics and high quality converters.
That said...I never carry gear of my own, it doesn't pay off, not quite yet.

 

[Peter]

What gear do you use then? the company you work for or... or...? You say you have to rely on an amazing ouput card, why is that? b/c of the quality of the stuff you do or the quantity? or...

(time for you to answer questions hehe)

 

[Inaki2]

Well, I've used everything from ProToolsLE to Mackie's HD recorder. Right now my multitrack is a Tascam MX2424, I also like the Alesis one. I'm mixing to and from a Yamaha DM2000, using mostly the internal processing, sometimes using an external FX unit. I also use a dbx DDP for CD mastering.
I need a good input card because of quality. Especially for system tuning, you need that extended range of frequency, level and detail. So if I had to buy a sound card I would like to start at 48/96 minimum, with good quality preamps and a truly wide frequency range. Apogee stuff would be a good choice for really nice quality cards.

 

[Peter]

Ah ok, ya, that's nice stuff. Too bad it's abit harder to find that stuff for laptops :-(

Does anyone know the answer to my question about routing signals through Cubase LE? Maybe I should make a new thread for that question.

 

[Inaki2]

Didn't get that question...Cubase is not my favorite but I may help ya.
As for good quality stuff for laptops, there's a bunch now. I moderate PSM's live recording forum, so I'm constantly looking for products. You'd be amazed the stuff I found!!!