Help Needed

OK guys and gals. My birthday is upon us, and my mom recommended she get me some new recording stuff. I thought this was brilliant so I could shake my famous crap tone that I always get.

Now, I'm looking for the whole shabang, and of course cheap....Yeah, I know, not possible. But I'll ask anyways.

I want to be able to do a line into my computer. I need software....Y'know what, I don't know what I need really. Perhaps you could tell me. I'm not looking for anything professional or great, just something that sounds better than my 20 dollar Radio Shack mic, recording on Cool Edit Pro (which I no longer have btw).

So what could I do?

Any suggestions, help, insults, or whatever you feel like saying is appreciated.

Griz

I use Adobe Audition (ex-Cool edit Pro). I upgraded when they got bought .. which was a mistake, I don't need most of the new features anyway. I've heard some great things about "Audacity" which is freeware. I know guys that uses it and they do amazing stuff with it. So I'de suggest taking time to look at that solution.

My rig is quite simple.

Guitar -> Zoom 2.1U -> Behringer Tubecomposer -> Alto mixer -> computer (line-in)

You could do without the Behringer but I love it. I use it has a compressor and I can add tube warmth to my tone. You can usually get them for pretty cheap. I got mine new for around 200$ CND.
http://www.behringer.com/T1952/index.cfm?lang=eng


The Alto mixer is a AMX-100FX.
http://www.directproaudio.com/product.cfm?directid=55513

Very cheap but has a built-in pre-amp and multi effects. I bought this one because I wanted to be able to use a mic if I ever needed to. Also, it's great when friends come to jam, I can hook them up and record the session.

Line6 toneport. $130 and you get everything you need to get a decent tone. Never used one myself, but I haven't heard anything bad about em. It's worth a shot. And anyways, ur rents are payin! :cool:

Originally Posted by: WeslabaLine6 toneport. $130 and you get everything you need to get a decent tone. Never used one myself, but I haven't heard anything bad about em. It's worth a shot. And anyways, ur rents are payin! :cool:

Shnikes, I didn't know they were that cheap....You may be onto something. Its quite obvious I'm willing to go into this in a half assed manner, but am quite aware of the consequences. In fact, I despise basically every piece I've bought to date. However, my tone can't really get any worse than it already is.

So Wes, I believe I'm going to try that. Thank you for the suggestion sir.

And Benoit, I will go down your route someday when I can afford a mixer and all that other jazz. Thanks for your input.

Don't forget some good monitors and a good set of headphones. I use M-Audio BX8 monitors (a little overkill) and Sennheiser HD 280 headphones. A good interface between your gear and your computer is very important as well. I use a PreSonus Firebox, which is basically an external soundcard. Don't forget about mics for recording your guitar (micing your amp or acoustic guitar), and vocals. I use the old standard Shure SM57, but have heard very good things about the Audix i5 mic. I use an MXL condensor mic (cheap) for vocals and acoustic and various other stuff. It's not great, but it gets the job done. As far as software goes, if you get a soundcard that is made for recording (no soundblaster crap), it will usually come with some recording software (typically Cubase LE).

Originally Posted by: WeslabaLine6 toneport. $130 and you get everything you need to get a decent tone. Never used one myself, but I haven't heard anything bad about em. It's worth a shot. And anyways, ur rents are payin! :cool:

I have the Toneport UX2. For the money it's fine, it has a couple of drawbacks ( may not apply to you ) that aren't apparent when you first start... It purports to support mike and instrument at the same time, but actually you can only record one at a time, not both. Also it wont work without Line6 Gearbox software. That's the thing that gives you the tones/effects (which are quite good) etc. You can bypass the tones/effects and record clean if you want to use Amplitube or similar(Gearbox still has to be running though), but the signal is way down and needs serious boosting, and if you do that, you can't monitor the 'wet' tones from the Toneport, you have to use the output from your recording software. Dont want to put you off, as I say its good VFM, it has digital and stereo outs, 2 phantom powered mic channels, you can download other peoples tone settings and amp models etc. but you just may want to look at other options also.
Also a GOOD soundcard is still necessary since your recording s/w will still use that to reproduce the sound.

Get FL Studio 7. With it's integrated multi-track live recording support, I hardly ever use adobe audition any more. And FL studio does WHOLE lot more. Not to say that Adobe Audition is bad though, it rules.

At the moment, I'm looking for something cheap and easy to use. I just need something better than what I have at the moment....well, substantially better, which I think I can get out of the TonePort. I've done some research, and it seems everything needed is included. If need be, I can always plug my cheap mic back in for vocals and such. So I'm definitely gonna do the TonePort and I'll be sure to post some samples and let you guys know what my take on it is. (Which will be an uneducated review because I'm recording retarded.)

Originally Posted by: WeslabaLine6 toneport. $130 and you get everything you need to get a decent tone. Never used one myself, but I haven't heard anything bad about em. It's worth a shot. And anyways, ur rents are payin! :cool:

I own a toneport. I suggest you get the rifftracker, so you can record also. Great tone, very easy to use, fast, drum-machine, it's got it all. I record vocals, guitar, bass, and drums, and even piano.
It's a great little toy.

The MBOX 2 audio interface that comes with a full version of ProTools 7 is what im using, there is a bit of a learning curve, but it is the best possible program for multi tracking as it is the industry standard. they will run approx $500 cdn. Pro Tools is amazing, along witha program like reason 3.0 (which is a crazy sampler/sequencer MIDI program) you can create demo (or better) quality songs from the comfort of your own home.

its worth the investment.

I can vouch for that. My friend owns the MBOX and he couldn't be more pleased with the quality of it. And yes, ProTools is the way to go. Too bad I have Garageband. :(