Newbie to recording. Interface tips?

[b1j]

Ken, I’m not seeing much about what for me has been a very fine, inexpensive, multi-featured interface/DAW setup: Presonus AudioBox USB 96 and its free entry-level DAW, Studio One. Eighty bucks until New Years. The included Artist version keeps a beginner busy for quite a while, but eventually you might want basic pitch control and even mastering; for that you can upgrade to Professional for $300 (save $100). From there, the sky’s the limit (Superior Drummer 3, Melodyne Editor, Symphonic Instruments). But the stock plug-ins are many and of high quality. Don’t forget monitors and cables. Ouch. But I started with headphones, and you can, too.

If you want two inputs, the AudioBox is hard to beat. It’s still a USB-A connector, though, and that’s fine for me as long as I keep my current MacBook Pro. But I see that connector is getting a little long in the tooth. For $130 you can ride the USB-C wave with the Studio 24c, still 2 in, 2 out.

As interfaces go, the Presonus line has lots of competition. But Studio One puts it miles ahead of the others, in my opinion.

Presonus started over a decade ago by appealing to home recording hobbyists, so the DAW has always been easy to use and grow with. But the last two or three generations have placed Studio One on a par with nearly all the best DAWs, and even pros say it’s easier to use.

[jpmist]

Do you think that I should be able to get some decent quality recordings with this amateur set-up? What would be another wise purchase to step it up a notch? The hobbyist camp is where I would like to get to.

I am firmly in the hobbyist camp so welcome aboard! I just wanted to offer that one item that doesn't get mentioned much is your ear's learning curve. It's taken me a while to learn to discern flaws in recording and eq and I have a lot more to go. So I've always been reluctant to upgrade equipment past where I can actually hear a difference. That said, current starter stuff is pretty darn good so check out all those "Top 10" reviews and then select the price you want to pay. Then there's your end goal, are you recording for friends & family or that iTune/Spotify artist account?

Your next mixer really should be a USB input box. I've used a Behringer UMC404 that I was happy with. I rarely used all 4 channels but it was nice to have when I needed to. One advantage it has is that it doesn't use a proprietary driver to glitch with your MacOS, the Quicktime component of your Mac will handle it just fine.

Lastly, I've used GarageBand for well over 10 years and for my meager 4-6 folkie tracks it does all I need it to. Best of luck with it!

[dnf777]

Keep an eye and an ear open around shops or gigs…there is a deluge of decent, entry-level interfaces out there that folks who upgraded have no use for. I literally gave away one just recently to someone in your situation. In fact, if youre using an older Mac, an older USB-A interface might be a better fit than a newer one. Garageband is pretty good about recognizing hardware. Once you master GB and want to upgrade, I find it usually requires all around upgrades for compatibility, cables, etc…. Piggy bank can take a real beating, if you let it.

[phcorrigan]

Originally Posted by b1j

Ken, I’m not seeing much about what for me has been a very fine, inexpensive, multi-featured interface/DAW setup: Presonus AudioBox USB 96 and its free entry-level DAW, Studio One. Eighty bucks until New Years. The included Artist version keeps a beginner busy for quite a while, but eventually you might want basic pitch control and even mastering; for that you can upgrade to Professional for $300 (save $100). From there, the sky’s the limit (Superior Drummer 3, Melodyne Editor, Symphonic Instruments). But the stock plug-ins are many and of high quality. Don’t forget monitors and cables. Ouch. But I started with headphones, and you can, too.

If you want two inputs, the AudioBox is hard to beat. It’s still a USB-A connector, though, and that’s fine for me as long as I keep my current MacBook Pro. But I see that connector is getting a little long in the tooth. For $130 you can ride the USB-C wave with the Studio 24c, still 2 in, 2 out.

As interfaces go, the Presonus line has lots of competition. But Studio One puts it miles ahead of the others, in my opinion.

Presonus started over a decade ago by appealing to home recording hobbyists, so the DAW has always been easy to use and grow with. But the last two or three generations have placed Studio One on a par with nearly all the best DAWs, and even pros say it’s easier to use.

I'll second this. I started with this and only changed interfaces when I needed more ports. Studio One Artist is very capable, and as of version 5 (current version is 6) it supports third-party plugins. When you consider that the software by itself sells for $100, $80 for the interface plus software is a steal!