What gear do you use for recording?

[jhmulkey]

I've recently got back into recording, and am trying to focus on the best balance of simplicity and quality. No outboard gear for signal processing beyond my interface.

• Computer: late 2012 iMac 27", 2.9 GHz Intel Core i5, 16GB RAM
  
• Audio Interface: Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
  
• DAW: GarageBand 10.2
  
• Mics: Rode NT5 matched pair (for guitar); Rode NT1-A (for vocals)
  
• Mic Cables: Mogami Gold with Neglex Studio Quad
  
• Nearfield Monitors: Yamaha HS8
  
• Tracking Headphones: Sony MDR7509HD
  
• Stage Piano / MIDI Controller: Roland RD700SX
  
• Sample Libraries: Synthogy Ivory II Grand Pianos; Vienna Instruments Special Edition; Sonic Reality Ocean Way Drums
  
• External HD for Sample Libraries: Glyph GPT50

[alohachris]

Aloha KFP55,

Here is my last rig:

Computer: 2016 IMac - 3.6 GHz, 16 gigs of RAM, 21.5" screen, Mac OS Sierra version 12.3

DAW: Logic Pro X DAW version 10.3

Interfaces: Apogee Duet 2 (fully integrated w/ Mac & Logic soft & hardware).

Vocal LDC Condenser Mic's: Microtech Gefell UM-900 multi-pattern LDC, Mojave MA-200 cardioid LDC's (2).

Guitar Condenser Mic's: Schoeps Matched CMC6 SDC's with MK41 (hyper), MK4 (cardioid), MK2 (omni) & MK8 (ribbon) capsules. AEA R84 ribbon. Mojave MA-200's for strumming tracks. The Schoeps 641's are my "go-to's" for fingerstyle.

Preamps: Pendulum Audio MDP-1a tube, Pendulum SPS-1, & the Duet also has great onboard mic preamps

External Storage HD's: Glyphs

Plug-in's: Waves Bundle (mixing, mastering), Altiverb 6 (convolution reverb). Logic Pro's plug-in's & FX are very good too

Monitors: Adam A7X (near-field), Custom Koa Daedalus 803's (mid-range), Alpine car stereo

Headphones: AKG Studio 240's

Cables: Mogami, Canare/Neutrik

Room Treatment: Essential for using mic's & all recording. 22 self-made, portable, 4"x2'x4' Owens-Corning OC703 rigid fiberglass broadband absorbers. I put them where I need them, creating a 'room-within-a-room' type of control of early & bass reflections.

I trap the four corners & wall-to-ceiling joints (in front), treat the room itself & also create a treated tracking space or vocal booth using the absorbers. The best part is I can put them away when not in use & it's not permanent or expensive.

Check out Fran Guidry's site for great tips on how to make your own treatment cost-effectively. It will increase your miking/recording options & definitely improve your acoustic recordings (off the soapbox again):

http://www.homebrewedmusic.com/2009/...-on-the-cheap/

New Gear I'm Lookin' At? : None. I can't imagine being happier with my home recording signal chain. More or better would be overkill. And, after 55 years, I don't record as often & am no longer very curious about recording gear. It looks like I've run out of G.A.S.!?!

Hey KFP55, you don't need all this stuff. Make 2-4 broadband absorbers for treatment- FIRST! Get an H-6 Zoom recorder, a coupla good external mic's & stands, spend some money on near-field monitors (cheap gives you ear fatigue) headphones & quality cables (Mogami Gold Quad's), & then run it all through Garageband or your PC at first. You can move up to Logic Pro later, when you get a bigger Mac - the iMac is perfect. Now, Get To Work!

alohachris

Final thoughts given your computers. IMO, iPad's have too many limitations & still are lacking a lot of power, memory, features, & routing options to make the best of home recording. For example, you can't run Logic Pro X direct on an iPad. It's more arduous than working directly on a Mac or PC. And the iPad does not accommodate many external plug-in's. The iPad is about convenience for everyday computing - & definitely not convenience for home recording.

IMO & experience, in the long-run Mac's are more stable for recording than PC's (it's all those updates that getcha eventually). Good Luck! -alohachris-

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by jim1960

This is my setup. The rack is two racks that I stacked and bolted together.
My LiquidChannel is out on loan but my Hammer 88 showed up early this morning.
The new keyboard probably makes my Yahama Motif expendable so that might go up for sale one of these days.

Hey I like the setup and the photo (a pic is definitely worth a hundred posts, )
So that is a dust cover on the mic ? (so you can leave it set up , pretty slick)

So here is a quick photo of my attic studio

[RRuskin]

Originally Posted by KevWind

So that is a dust cover on the mic ? (so you can leave it set up , pretty slick)

]

That's not only slick, it's safer for the mic. I just had to break the news to a friend that his vintage AKG 451 is now a paper weight because he left it in it's foam lined case for too long. The foam broke down and migrated into and destroyed the capsule. Another friend messed up his Neumann km 86 the same way some years back.

If you can't leave your mics covered on stands, put them in plastic bags to protect them from dust and other sources of crud. Throw the foam away.

[jim1960]

KevWind, nice rack. I've always wondered about attic setups. I know that for rooms it's good to have non-parallel walls. Does the pitched roof in an attic benefit the space in a similar way? I totally get that we sometimes have to use the space we have, I'm just wondering if that roof benefits the room.

Yeah, that's the Lauten Audio Atlantis on the stand. I've been laying down initial drum tracks and scratch vocals, so the cover is handy to keep the dust away when the mic isn't be used.

BTW, the mic stand is an Ultimate Support MC-125. It's a monster. The base has casters and it weighs a ton. The boom has a very hefty counterweight. There's very little chance this stand will ever tip over.

And for anyone that's in the market for a set of headphones, Massdrop partnered with Sennheiser to make a Massdrop version of the HD650 phones that they're selling for $199 (5 days left). They're sonically the same, the only difference being the color (midnight blue) and the cord being 6 foot long instead of 10 and having an 1/8th inch plug rather than a 1/4 (but it does come with an adapter). Last night I rolled the dice on a pair.

Also, anyone looking for a keyboard midi-controller, if you prefer a full size keyboard and don't need a controller with a lot of bells and whistles, the M-Audio Hammer 88 I just got is pretty nice. I've had a day to play with it now and the full size weighted keys feel as good as my Yamaha Motif keys. It's $200 more than their 88 key Keystation but I think the weighted keys are worth it.

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by RRuskin

That's not only slick, it's safer for the mic. I just had to break the news to a friend that his vintage AKG 451 is now a paper weight because he left it in it's foam lined case for too long. The foam broke down and migrated into and destroyed the capsule. Another friend messed up his Neumann km 86 the same way some years back.

If you can't leave your mics covered on stands, put them in plastic bags to protect them dust and other sources of crud. Throw the foam away.

That's good advice. I've never had it happen but it's an easy problem to avoid.

[KFP55]

Thanks to everyone here for all of the advice - this forum is fantastic...

So I've spent a few days with my iPad (free GarageBand + $100 Shure USB mic); the mic was a huge improvement over the iPad mic, but I'm not thrilled with the iPad touch screen (accidentally deleted multiple tracks last night because of the darn touch screen...)

So I think I want to get the most basic PC based setup I can. I've seen a lot of DAW recs thrown around out there, but are there 1-2 that really stand out, particularly for ease of use? Most seem way too complicated and I figure I'll only use 1% of the functionality.

I guess my new question is this:
If I already have a PC and a USB mic, what else do I need and what specific products would you recommend? I'm leaning towards the Scarlett 2i2 but got nervous reading some of the reviews on Amazon - I really just want something simple and basic that is PC based. There is a $220 bundle that looks comprehensive (https://www.amazon.com/Focusrite-Int...lett+2i2&psc=1) but I've found every bundle I've ever bought is not as good as the best of breed components. I'd prefer to keep it all under $500 but can be flexible if that's unreasonable.

Thanks!

[ChuckS]

Originally Posted by KFP55

...[snip]...
I guess my new question is this:
If I already have a PC and a USB mic, what else do I need and what specific products would you recommend? I'm leaning towards the Scarlett 2i2 but got nervous reading some of the reviews on Amazon - I really just want something simple and basic that is PC based. There is a $220 bundle that looks comprehensive (https://www.amazon.com/Focusrite-Int...lett+2i2&psc=1) but I've found every bundle I've ever bought is not as good as the best of breed components. I'd prefer to keep it all under $500 but can be flexible if that's unreasonable.

Thanks!

If you want to try your USB mic with your PC you don't need an interface (i.e. Scarlett 2i2). For a simple/limited/free DAW you could try Audacity. For a full featured, but not so simple DAW, you can try Reaper for free and if you like it pay $60 for registration.

If you want to be able to use more than 1 mic in your setup, then you'll need to get an interface (such as the 2i2, 2i4, 6i6, or whatever) as well as whatever mic(s) you feel are most appropriate. If you're open to used gear you should be able to get better stuff within your budget. I wouldn't get the package you linked to.

It really boils down to what are your expectations for the recordings (how good) and how much time and money you will spend. My rule of thumb is that if recording becomes a serious 'sub-hobby' to your guitar hobby you may eventually spend about as much for gear as you did for one of your nicest guitars.

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by ChuckS

My rule of thumb is that if recording becomes a serious 'sub-hobby' to your guitar hobby you may eventually spend about as much for gear as you did for one of your nicest guitars.

My "serious sub-hobby" has cost me a lot more than the price of my best guitar. I've got $7500 invested just in my four main microphones.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by jim1960

KevWind, nice rack. I've always wondered about attic setups. I know that for rooms it's good to have non-parallel walls. Does the pitched roof in an attic benefit the space in a similar way? I totally get that we sometimes have to use the space we have, I'm just wondering if that roof benefits the room.

Yeah, that's the Lauten Audio Atlantis on the stand. I've been laying down initial drum tracks and scratch vocals, so the cover is handy to keep the dust away when the mic isn't be used.

BTW, the mic stand is an Ultimate Support MC-125. It's a monster. The base has casters and it weighs a ton. The boom has a very hefty counterweight. There's very little chance this stand will ever tip over.

And for anyone that's in the market for a set of headphones, Massdrop partnered with Sennheiser to make a Massdrop version of the HD650 phones that they're selling for $199 (5 days left). They're sonically the same, the only difference being the color (midnight blue) and the cord being 6 foot long instead of 10 and having an 1/8th inch plug rather than a 1/4 (but it does come with an adapter). Last night I rolled the dice on a pair.

Also, anyone looking for a keyboard midi-controller, if you prefer a full size keyboard and don't need a controller with a lot of bells and whistles, the M-Audio Hammer 88 I just got is pretty nice. I've had a day to play with it now and the full size weighted keys feel as good as my Yamaha Motif keys. It's $200 more than their 88 key Keystation but I think the weighted keys are worth it.

Yes the pitched roof ? Non parallel walls are said to be beneficial But honestly I do not know the answer as I have not taken any measurements. Sound wise I have not noticed any glaring problems But that may have more to do with this particular situation. The rafters are 12" deep and there is 12 inches regular fiberglass batting, then on the bottom of the rafters there is no sheetrock or siding there is only thick ( 10 - 12 mil) visgueen so there is some absorption and some diffusion on each rafter face going on.


Here are the sketchup drawings I sent Amphion before I purchased them to clarify which model would be best suited to my room
In this one you see the pink is the insulation


this was just the basic floor dimensions

[KFP55]

Just placed an order for the following:

Interface: Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
Mic: AKG P220
Headphones: Audio-Technica ATH-M30x
Mic Cable: Mogami Gold Studio XLR-XLR [Is this the right cable? Can't find anything about the right cable on the mic's website...

Will run this into my home PC - only thing left is finding a DAW I can easily worth with. The simpler the better..

Would appreciate any thoughts on the above - thanks!

[jhmulkey]

Originally Posted by KFP55

Just placed an order for the following:

Interface: Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
Mic: AKG P220
Headphones: Audio-Technica ATH-M30x
Mic Cable: Mogami Gold Studio XLR-XLR [Is this the right cable? Can't find anything about the right cable on the mic's website...

Will run this into my home PC - only thing left is finding a DAW I can easily worth with. The simpler the better..

Would appreciate any thoughts on the above - thanks!

Yes, those are the right mic cables. Look forward to hearing how this works out for you. I've been very happy with my Scarlett 2i2 and that mic you bought looks like a big bang for the buck and even comes with a case!

I'm a Mac guy, so I use GarageBand, which obviously you can't run on a PC...but the 2i2 should come with DAW software (ProTools First). Not sure how "simple" it is, but I'd suggest at least giving the bundled software a try.

[KFP55]

Originally Posted by jhmulkey

Yes, those are the right mic cables. Look forward to hearing how this works out for you. I've been very happy with my Scarlett 2i2 and that mic you bought looks like a big bang for the buck and even comes with a case!

Awesome, thanks!

Would you start out with the DAW that comes with the Scarlett 2i2 or try something like Reaper? I'm so lost on the different DAWs....just want something SIMPLE to use!

[ChuckS]

Originally Posted by ChuckS

...[snip]...It really boils down to what are your expectations for the recordings (how good) and how much time and money you will spend. My rule of thumb is that if recording becomes a serious 'sub-hobby' to your guitar hobby you may eventually spend about as much for gear as you did for one of your nicest guitars.

Originally Posted by jim1960

My "serious sub-hobby" has cost me a lot more than the price of my best guitar. I've got $7500 invested just in my four main microphones.

Hey Jim,
The comparison I made was just my rule of thumb for how it's worked out for me. Since I'm not very concerned with vocals I can limit the variety of mics I buy to those I like for recording guitar. I'd guess the comparison might also have to do with which is the main hobby and which is the sub-hobby (guitars vs recording).

How is the pair of Gefell M295's working out for you?

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by ChuckS

Hey Jim,
How is the pair of Gefell M295's working out for you?

They're very good. They're taming my small room.