new recording equipment
looking for advice on some new equipment for my studio. Any thoughts on the new onyx board from Mackie...Im an old analog man trying to ease into digital..it aint easy
# 1
Well want do you want to do (i.e. how many simultaneous inputs etc) and how much do you want to spend as this is only part of the puzzle?
Mackie make very nice kit however:
1) is not the cheapest
2) the blurb written about this desk is spurious to say the least. Do the 12 pres compare with an Avalon or a Great River or even a Focusrite ? If they did I'd be very I'd be surprised, especially considering the difference in price as you are paying between 1 and 2.5 k for the stand alone pres per channel !
3) You will need additional software (like Logic or Cubase or Sonar etc) and plugins (like auto tune etc) etc to use this puppy and whilst it will do multiple channel simultaneous recording, as far as I can see it doesn't have midi capability.
4) You will also want a powerful dedicated computer.
If you are very computer savy then the computer (vs the standalone digital all in one studio) is certainly more powerful and versatile, however it also take quite a lot of user knowledge to set up and use.
If you are hip to analogue recording and not so hip to computer (and don't care about midi), Id have a good look at stand alone Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) like the Korg D1200 or D1600 (check out the korg studios link in my sig). You can pick them up for dead cheap second hand and they are reasonably user friendly.
If you are determined to go the computer rout then the MOTU 828 mk II comes with its own (Macintosh OS9 / OSX) recording software and has much better connectivity than the Mackie. Its Pres are probably not as nice however it is more than capable of doing the job. You can always attach a high end pre with a channel strip later if needs be !
It comes in at about 7-800 bucks.
I have just installed an 828 and think it is totally cool !
Mackie make very nice kit however:
1) is not the cheapest
2) the blurb written about this desk is spurious to say the least. Do the 12 pres compare with an Avalon or a Great River or even a Focusrite ? If they did I'd be very I'd be surprised, especially considering the difference in price as you are paying between 1 and 2.5 k for the stand alone pres per channel !
3) You will need additional software (like Logic or Cubase or Sonar etc) and plugins (like auto tune etc) etc to use this puppy and whilst it will do multiple channel simultaneous recording, as far as I can see it doesn't have midi capability.
4) You will also want a powerful dedicated computer.
If you are very computer savy then the computer (vs the standalone digital all in one studio) is certainly more powerful and versatile, however it also take quite a lot of user knowledge to set up and use.
If you are hip to analogue recording and not so hip to computer (and don't care about midi), Id have a good look at stand alone Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) like the Korg D1200 or D1600 (check out the korg studios link in my sig). You can pick them up for dead cheap second hand and they are reasonably user friendly.
If you are determined to go the computer rout then the MOTU 828 mk II comes with its own (Macintosh OS9 / OSX) recording software and has much better connectivity than the Mackie. Its Pres are probably not as nice however it is more than capable of doing the job. You can always attach a high end pre with a channel strip later if needs be !
It comes in at about 7-800 bucks.
I have just installed an 828 and think it is totally cool !
My instructors page and www.studiotrax.net for all things recording.
my toons Brought to you by Dr BadGAS
my toons Brought to you by Dr BadGAS
# 2
Thanks for your imput. I should add that I have been using a Tascam 388 (circa 1980's) quite a collectors item, with outboard effects, and haveing a pro download and final mix on a Mac G5 with pro tools. Like I said I want to upgrade. I write folk/ country, Dylan, Beatles type stuff. I looked into a Yamaha AW4416, A DAW like you recomended but the reviews were from poor (to complicated and/ or outdated) to the best thing since sliced bread. 1) can these machines show real time recording on a dedicated computer? And what is a "Simple" software program to work with? What do you think of the G4 cube ..Thanks ....kirby
# 3
Do you already have the computer and how essential is it for other things ?
If you already have a G4 cube Id say it is nice.
However, the mini-mac is a cheap and very powerful big bang for your buck computer which will ship with garage band 2 installed on it.
Garage band is a bare bonus program and should not be compared with ProTools as it is in another world however if the bare bones are what you want it may be all you need and it will happily run a bunch of midi stuff. It interfaces with iTunes to export material as an mp3 etc. You may also want to have a look at Logic LE (~300 off the shelf or 200 bundled) or even Logic Pro (Im using logic pro at the moment, and it comes in at a cool grand). Logic is not the most intuitive interface but is very comprehensive and comes with many different plugins from pitch correctors to compressors to EQs.
There are a million audio interfaces (thing that you plug instruments etc into which will then digitized the signal and send it off to the computer where it can be processed and written to the disk) on the market and the exact spec of what you want to do will determine which one is or you.
If you need multi-channel simultaneous in / Out (I/O). Id have a look at the MOTU 828 mk II fire wire interface (up to 20 simultaneous I/O). It comes with a bunch of whistles and bells and free multitrack recording software (audio desk). If you go with the Mac Cube you will probably want some sort of firewire I/O even if it only allows two channel simultaneous recording.
Or you could look a the all in ones. I have owned both the D1200 and a D1600 and can recommend both. They are very nice machines. The pres are a little week however with a little tweaking it is posable to find the sweet spot ! In terms of computer editing you have to export either:
individual tracks to a computer for editing in the program of your choice
or
mix and master using the unit and export as either a CD (wav files which play like a regular CD) or to a computer via USB for MP3 encoding).
Unlike the Rolland VS systems they don't have a mouse / monitor port. Unlike the Rollands the Korgs don't use any form of data compression when writing to the disk. Many people will tell you that this means that the Korgs sound nicer.
Have a look at some of the material by a dude known as Gospelsinger (Tommy) over at www.Korgstudios.com. He uses nothing but a D1600 and has had some very nice results (and an endorsement from Carvin !!).
Best of luck
Simon
If you already have a G4 cube Id say it is nice.
However, the mini-mac is a cheap and very powerful big bang for your buck computer which will ship with garage band 2 installed on it.
Garage band is a bare bonus program and should not be compared with ProTools as it is in another world however if the bare bones are what you want it may be all you need and it will happily run a bunch of midi stuff. It interfaces with iTunes to export material as an mp3 etc. You may also want to have a look at Logic LE (~300 off the shelf or 200 bundled) or even Logic Pro (Im using logic pro at the moment, and it comes in at a cool grand). Logic is not the most intuitive interface but is very comprehensive and comes with many different plugins from pitch correctors to compressors to EQs.
There are a million audio interfaces (thing that you plug instruments etc into which will then digitized the signal and send it off to the computer where it can be processed and written to the disk) on the market and the exact spec of what you want to do will determine which one is or you.
If you need multi-channel simultaneous in / Out (I/O). Id have a look at the MOTU 828 mk II fire wire interface (up to 20 simultaneous I/O). It comes with a bunch of whistles and bells and free multitrack recording software (audio desk). If you go with the Mac Cube you will probably want some sort of firewire I/O even if it only allows two channel simultaneous recording.
Or you could look a the all in ones. I have owned both the D1200 and a D1600 and can recommend both. They are very nice machines. The pres are a little week however with a little tweaking it is posable to find the sweet spot ! In terms of computer editing you have to export either:
individual tracks to a computer for editing in the program of your choice
or
mix and master using the unit and export as either a CD (wav files which play like a regular CD) or to a computer via USB for MP3 encoding).
Unlike the Rolland VS systems they don't have a mouse / monitor port. Unlike the Rollands the Korgs don't use any form of data compression when writing to the disk. Many people will tell you that this means that the Korgs sound nicer.
Have a look at some of the material by a dude known as Gospelsinger (Tommy) over at www.Korgstudios.com. He uses nothing but a D1600 and has had some very nice results (and an endorsement from Carvin !!).
Best of luck
Simon
My instructors page and www.studiotrax.net for all things recording.
my toons Brought to you by Dr BadGAS
my toons Brought to you by Dr BadGAS
# 4
