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Old 10-08-2008, 12:00 AM
alohachris alohachris is offline
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Default Eh Matt - About Your Lexicon Omega Recorder?

Aloha Matt & Anyone else with suggestions,

Matt, I remember a few months back, you discussed how you used a Lexicon Omega to get into computer recording and then to completely record your most recent album, right? Your opinion was lost in that discussion, right?

You know that this past year, I put together my dream live rig, at a very great expense (for me). So I am saving up diligently to get a Digidesign 003R - Apogee Rosetta 200 - A Storage unit - some great tube vocal mics, etc. - all the stuff I've decided I need to get into the basics of Protools-based computer recording - about which I know little. I figure that Protools will be the one standard that will continue to grow as this current plethora of interface choices fall by the wayside one by one. My research affirms that.

But I am also very keen on getting into it NOW! So it occurred to me that if you're happy with the results you're getting by running your signals through your Pendulum SPS-1, through the $199 Lexicon Omega and into Cubebase LE on your computer, then that may be a cheap way for me to get into computer recording NOW. Especially since I respect and trust your ears, plus your analytical and practical approach to checking out equipment.

I've had small analog and early digital recording studios over the decades. Just for demos and fooling around with friends. But I haven't talked computer recording until recently. I'm serious about getting my music down and shared before the arthritis in my thumbs prevents that in the near future. It's now or never.

I'm not a complete recording neophyte, just on computers. I know how to treat a room, I have great matched and modded recording mics and know the configurations for recording my guitars and voice through them in stereo. I have a great large studio room with 20' high ceilings for recording in Blumlein XY, etc.

I can use the Daedalus 803's for mid-range monitors & I just got some Yamaha HS50M near-field monitors. My TC ELectronics M2000 has all the studio level effects I need. I have some AKG 240 studio headphones, all the great cables & stands, etc.. So I'm at the starting gate, with my eye on the prize. But it's gonna take a while of saving before I can get there (probably into next year).

Therefore, in the meantime, I've been looking at recording mediums that don't cost much (under $500) and that will get me into computer recording and sharing music online with my friends NOW! I've been looking at the Zoom H4, Fostex MR8 and the Lexicon Omega that you use. I know there are many choices, too many really. But it's your ear for excellent sound quality that I'm looking to hear from, Matt.

Of course, many of the Protools users are really down on the sounf quality of the Omega (check out Gearslutz pro forums). And everyone likes something else. Too many choices!

Matt, do you have any recordings you could share here so I could hear the sonic results of the Omega?

Any other words of encouragement, thoughts, affimations or information to help me in my quest would be most appreciated by ol' aloha.

What do you think?

Mahalo a nui,
alohachris
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  #2  
Old 10-08-2008, 09:00 AM
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open-road-matt open-road-matt is offline
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Default

Hey alohachris!
Good to hear from you! I have been quite happy with my Lexicon Omega. My first one lasted 3 years and then died on me so I'm now on my second Omega.

I consider myself very new to recording and I feel like I learn things all the time. I did do my whole last record on the Omega and I felt like it was a good first effort. Now when I listen to it, I hear a lot of things I don't like and I'm trying to make those corrections as I start this next project. But I don't think the things I don't like about that record have anything to do with the Omega!

The guy that did the mastering on my last record said it was one of the cleanest recordings he had ever worked with so I think that speaks well of the Omega. I find it very easy to use. I have a set of Tapco studio monitors and those plug right into the back of the Omega and there is a headphone jack in the front. I put the powered Tapcos on a separate power strip so I can switch quickly from headphones to speakers. There is a handy knob on the front called Monitor Mix that determines how much of the instrument you are recording that you hear vs. the rest of the tracks that are playing back.

The inputs are ver simple, just plug in, set the gain and go. There is a 20 db pad on the two mic inputs which can help when using the Pendulum. With the gear you have you'd certainly be all set to go. You just need something to get your signal from your gear to your computer and I think the Omega does a great job of that.

The only thing I can't comment on is the software that comes with the Omega. I have a Mac so I've always used GarageBand. I love GarageBand and I find it very easy to use. I upgraded to Logic Pro this spring but I haven't bothered to learn how to edit in Logic yet so I'm still using GarageBand. So I can't be of any help with regard to the software that comes with the Omega.

My take on it is that the Omega is an affordable way to send a clean signal from an instrument, mic, etc. So I think it's a great place to start. Others with more recording experience could chime in and say that it's awful. I don't have anything to compare it to. I just know that it's ease of use and sound quality was perfect for me to get going with home recording and since I don't know any better, it still works just great for me!

I'll get a song up here ASAP.

Hope that helps,
Matt
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Old 10-08-2008, 09:25 AM
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open-road-matt open-road-matt is offline
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Default Here's a Sample

Here is a sample:

http://www.mattwahl.com/soundsamples.html

The guitar is my Goodall CJ. I ran the Sunrise/K&K into channel 1 of the Pendulum and the Schertler Dyn-G into channel 2. That went into one channel of the Lexicon. I put a RODE NTK at about the 14th fret of the guitar about 6 inches away and that went into another channel of the Lexicon. GarageBand will let me multi-track and the Lexicon has a total of 4 channels. I could get even more creative and put the Sunrise, the K&K and the Schertler on separate channels but I try and get the mix I want first using the Pendulum and then send it all to one channel.


I put up a second sample too. I used the same guitar set up as above and also put my Zoom H2 out about 4 feet in front of me and recorded the guitar with that too. I then dumped the Zoom recording into GarageBand and lined it up with the Lexicon Recording. I used the finger snaps to line up the parts. I think it gives the guitar another dimension and part of what I love about home recording is messing with things like that just to see what happens.

Let me know if you have questions.

Again, I hope this helps.

Matt

Last edited by open-road-matt; 10-08-2008 at 09:41 AM.
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Old 10-08-2008, 09:54 AM
MikeTX MikeTX is offline
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Default Me Too...

Very cool and timely thread, my amigos!

I just bought a Zoom H4 - HOPE I can figure out how to do the simple things I hope to accomplish. I just want to do some simple recordings of live performances, solo and band, and also create some backing tracks for myself, so that my solo act can become a duo act on a selected set of tunes.

It's great to learn from and be inspired by my friends several steps ahead of me!

Best, Mike
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