Interface Recommendations

[rdm321]

I’m someone who has used GB for about 5 years. I began as a rank amateur, and after all this time I’ve progressed to slightly-less-rank status. I’ve never worked in a studio – in fact, I’ve never set foot in a studio (unless you consider my slap-dash setup in a corner of the basement to be a studio), so I don’t know much gear jargon.

Your first purchase should be a book on GB. Spend a few hours perusing it. Check out some of the online forums, and look at their FAQs. Lots of good advice there.

You can make recordings on the iMac, using only its built-in microphone. This will allow you to work with GB without spending ANY money on gear. Record an acoustic guitar track, then record some vocal while playing back the guitar track. Correction – when recording the second (or third, fourth etc) track, you should use headphones to listen to previously recorded tracks. If you don’t have ‘phones, you’ll need to buy a set.

Adjust volumes, EQ etc on your recording to see what GB can do. Experimentation can be fun, as well as a learning process.

[Joseph Hanna]

Originally Posted by The Colonel

Joseph:

What kind of improvements to the room do you suggest. For example, what is the best bang for the buck? Should one build a recording booth lined with soundproof panels?

Hey!,

It's unfortunately another "journey of a thousand miles". No I don't like the booth's I've heard here to date. I worked on a major television show a few years back that featured a lady who'll go un-named but if you think in terms of top models you'll get the point. She decided to pick up production in Los Angeles and move to New York for um....personal reasons. Since the actual post production remained in L.A. they had to run out and get a booth for her to ISDN her VO from New York to L.A. each morning.

When the head of production heard her VO from the first week in New York he blew a gasket and was yelling and screaming and bouncing up and down and flailing and waving his arms like an out of control skier (as head of production folks often do ) about how gawd awful her VO was and how it sounded like she was in a phone booth and how he was gonna fire the audio guy, Helen Keller. When he asked me why my audio sounded like she was in a phone booth I told him it was because...she was in a phone booth. Case in point.

You have two very broad umbrella's in which to work under. 1) You can (over time) create a good sounding room. It would certainly require the room was tuned (especially if you're both recording and mixing in that room). I'd hunt up a local sound design company you trust and get them to come out and take a look. By all means PLEASE do NOT confuse a calculated attempt at tuning a room with the biblical mistake slapping Auralex on the wall and calling it "tuning a room". Get some help. In the long run it'll money FAR better spent than splitting hairs over converters and pre-amps.

2) You can deaden the room so it no longer is a factor in the recording. I hate, hate, hate bad sounding rooms but honestly a dead sounding room ain't much better.

In the end I'd get some help from someone trained in the art...you'll never, never regret it!

[Joseph Hanna]

Originally Posted by rdm321

I’m someone who has used GB for about 5 years. I began as a rank amateur, and after all this time I’ve progressed to slightly-less-rank status. I’ve never worked in a studio – in fact, I’ve never set foot in a studio (unless you consider my slap-dash setup in a corner of the basement to be a studio), so I don’t know much gear jargon.

Your first purchase should be a book on GB. Spend a few hours perusing it. Check out some of the online forums, and look at their FAQs. Lots of good advice there.

You can make recordings on the iMac, using only its built-in microphone. This will allow you to work with GB without spending ANY money on gear. Record an acoustic guitar track, then record some vocal while playing back the guitar track. Correction – when recording the second (or third, fourth etc) track, you should use headphones to listen to previously recorded tracks. If you don’t have ‘phones, you’ll need to buy a set.

Adjust volumes, EQ etc on your recording to see what GB can do. Experimentation can be fun, as well as a learning process.

I like this!!!

[rdm321]

Thanks, Joseph.

PS - I wonder whether the OP is still following this thread......

[rhancox]

There is a ton of wisdom in what Joseph and Theo have said.

As a beginner, you just don't know what you don't know. But that's ok. That's what learning is all about.

There's also a lot to be said about the Duet on a Mac. It is a very good point about how the Duet is designed for the Mac, but for a beginner, that's as far as it goes. The audio quality of the Duet over other interfaces is likely minute enough that a beginner doesn't even know what they're listening for.

As far as cost goes, if you're running a ledger for the purposes of tracking profit and loss, then yeah, maybe the long run should be a big consideration. But as a beginner, if all you have is a few hundred dollars today with no long range plans for funding an expensive recording studio, then buy what you can and get started down the road of learning.

I'm still a beginner. I spent a few hundred on my stuff. I think I have a great baseline with which to start learning. No, it's not the best there is, or even the best I might be able to afford. But it got me started. I'm sure that once I learn to know what to listen for, I'll probably find that my mics are crap. At that point I can buy better mics. Was the $100 spent on them a waste? No, because I learned something. It was an investment in my education. Besides, it's all I had to spend at the time.

[Joseph Hanna]

Originally Posted by Steve Berger

I certainly could have purchased a (somewhat) less expensive interface. However I chose the Apogee Duet because it works seamlessly with Apple products. It is truly an elegant solution when used with an iMac. This is/was important to me as all I want to do is focus on my music and not the recording process or equipment.

Yea I get that Steve and you're right although I'd argue that very, very few audio interfaces who's drivers are written for the iMac these days are not every bit as seamless. Apogee does NOT have the corner on drivers. In fact on the Mac side poorly written drivers for the current crop of interfaces have gone the way of dinosaurs.

In the end however compatibility is not my issue here. My mission and passion is for those new to this medium to not fall into the vortex of expensive equipment=better audio. It does and can if a basquillion other ducks have been mastered and properly put in a row. To suggest to a beginner that his "audio" is gonna sound better with an Apogee over an M-Audio box is not only wrong but is doing a dis-service to someone who might go down the all to beaten path that say's "don't worry about hard work and talent just call Sweetwater and get an Apogee".

The OP deserves to know that his projects (for now and probably some years to come) will not sound worse on a lesser quality interface.

[rjames1973]

All,

Thanks again for taking the time to reply to my original post. I am happy to have received so many thoughtful replies and to know that there are so many great folks on this forum who are willing to help me. I'll keep you all posted on what I decide to do about my first interface. Right now it is between the Apogee Duet and the M-Audio Fast Track, although I'm really hesitant to spend $400-$500 on an interface as a complete beginner to home recording. Heck, what I really need is to get a copy of 'Garageband for Dummies' before I do anything else...LOL!

[Steve Berger]

Originally Posted by Joseph Hanna

Yea I get that Steve and you're right although I'd argue that very, very few audio interfaces who's drivers are written for the iMac these days are not every bit as seamless. Apogee does NOT have the corner on drivers. In fact on the Mac side poorly written drivers for the current crop of interfaces have gone the way of dinosaurs.

In the end however compatibility is not my issue here. My mission and passion is for those new to this medium to not fall into the vortex of expensive equipment=better audio. It does and can if a basquillion other ducks have been mastered and properly put in a row. To suggest to a beginner that his "audio" is gonna sound better with an Apogee over an M-Audio box is not only wrong but is doing a dis-service to someone who might go down the all to beaten path that say's "don't worry about hard work and talent just call Sweetwater and get an Apogee".

The OP deserves to know that his projects (for now and probably some years to come) will not sound worse on a lesser quality interface.

Well said!

[moon]

@Joseph

I'm not sure we really disagree all that much.

My first "DAW" was a Fostex X-15 which crammed four tracks into an ordinary cassette tape. I had a blast and learned a lot. Cheap gear can be a lot of fun.

What I didn't learn was how bad my mic was, or how to get a really great guitar sound.

To me, musicianship is about three things: tone, tone and tone. A rich, expressive sound is what draws you in to a piece, takes you to another world. If that's what you're chasing, you need a good instrument and a lot of hard work to learn to get the best out of it. You also need good gear to capture all the detail and richness of the sounds you're (hopefully) making - and that's what you get with Duet-level interfaces. The FastTrack, with its weak pres, just doesn't cut it by comparison. It won't sound terrible exactly (so long as you don't try to plug in an SM57...), and it will be miles better than my old Fostex X-15, but I couldn't recommend it to anyone. If cost is an issue I'd probably be trying to hunt down a second-hand Duet instead or, if that draws a blank, maybe look at a Mackie Blackjack.

[Sage97]

Originally Posted by Joseph Hanna

By all means PLEASE do NOT confuse a calculated attempt at tuning a room with the biblical mistake slapping Auralex on the wall and calling it "tuning a room".

Guilty!! Well... almost because I've never considered my room "tuned."

I did look at some videos from the Auralex site and others and learned a little about bass traps, absorbers and diffusers and where they needed to go and why ....... then I slapped them on my walls.

I think my room sounds different, much quieter now. I recorded acoustic guitars with the Auralexed room but with different mics (the old ones crapped out) so I unforunately, cannot compare before and after.

[Joseph Hanna]

Originally Posted by moon

@Joseph

I'm not sure we really disagree all that much.

Naw of course we don't. I respect and understand you and what your thinking.

In the end my point is 99.9% of folks that get into recording either as a hobby or as a career have their priorities way, way, way out of whack. It's partially the generation and it's partially the internet.

I think the internet creates and then feeds such enormous vortex's of bad information it's sometimes difficult to reach those that sometimes refuse to believe otherwise.

[Scriptor]

Originally Posted by rhancox

As a beginner, you just don't know what you don't know. But that's ok. That's what learning is all about.

But as a beginner, if all you have is a few hundred dollars today with no long range plans for funding an expensive recording studio, then buy what you can and get started down the road of learning.

I'm still a beginner. I spent a few hundred on my stuff. I think I have a great baseline with which to start learning. No, it's not the best there is, or even the best I might be able to afford. But it got me started. I'm sure that once I learn to know what to listen for, I'll probably find that my mics are crap. At that point I can buy better mics. Was the $100 spent on them a waste? No, because I learned something. It was an investment in my education. Besides, it's all I had to spend at the time.

I am learning a great deal just following the threads here ... I am a beginner as far as recording with all the stuff available today ... back in the early 80's I worked a little in a recording studio mostly playing guitar for other people's demos ... from then until now, I've been out of the loop as far as the current technology and tools for home recording ... due to a surge in instrumental writing in the last year, I have a renewed interest in being able to do some decent home demos ...

At any rate, my goal right now is to put together a setup that allows me to get respectable quality but knowing that for now, I'll be doing a lot of learning ... so, I understand what I have today will not likely be what I have years from now ... I want to have the tools that allow me to grow and learn without getting frustrated due to their limitations but at the same time, I'm not ready (and may not ever be) for top of the line equipment ... I figure that by the time I get to the point where my skills are pushing the limits of my current tools, I'll be ready to make an informed decision about upgrading ...

Thanks for the all the shared knowledge here guys ... I'll mostly lurk and learn being sorely unqualified to comment on anything right now ...

[The Colonel]

Originally Posted by Sage97

Guilty!! Well... almost because I've never considered my room "tuned."

I did look at some videos from the Auralex site and others and learned a little about bass traps, absorbers and diffusers and where they needed to go and why ....... then I slapped them on my walls.

I think my room sounds different, much quieter now. I recorded acoustic guitars with the Auralexed room but with different mics (the old ones crapped out) so I unforunately, cannot compare before and after.

How much did that cost you, and do you have samples with your current set up?

[Sage97]

Originally Posted by The Colonel

How much did that cost you, and do you have samples with your current set up?

Couple hundred at most.

I have a soundclip on Show and Tell called Bruno Mars cover. It's the song called "Nothing On You." The guitars were done pre Auralex and the vocals were done post. Very hard to tell the difference especially because I was having problems with one of the guitar mics (Studio Project C4s) so you can hear a hum or electrical noise. The vocal mic is an inexpensive Rode NTK.

At the end of the day, it was inexpensive for me and I don't have grandiose expectations with my recordings. Its a hobby that keeps me amused.

[alohachris]

Aloha rjames,

Since your choice is down to two interfaces, the Fast Track & Duet, I would go to a music store & actually listen to both units. They are both readily available. Trust your ears & make a decision. That's what I did when I chose the Duet.

IMO, the Duet's mic preamps ARE audibly & much better than the Fast Track.

Trust your ears, rjames.

I agree w/ Joseph re: room treatment. It's the most important variable for the quality of home recording. DIY, portable treatment can make a huge difference & will also allow you to maximize whatever signal chain you use. Don't save it for last in terms of investment or understanding it. Three links:

http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

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

http://www.uline.com/BL_7900/Moving-Blankets

alohachris