Originally Posted by: KRAZYTRUKER[QUOTE=Bluesman143]There would appear to be a veritable plethora of alternative options on this sort of gear these days and so an experienced un-biased view would be most welcome.
As I understand it, pre-amps are used to boost the signal from the mic before it goes into the mixing desk. Some add effects, pitch correction and harmonies these days but I don't like gizzmo's that artificially enhance the true performance. So does anyone have any advice and/or recommendations to make? Are these useful for both recording and live performances?[/QUOTE
There are so many choices it is hard to know where to start. I am building a home recording pc for a band and the research is enough to make your head explode. Pre amps are good and can even be found on the sound card itself. Also you need to know if you are going to use a condenser mic as you will need phantom power too. M audio makes some nice usb boxes as do others which work great and have all these goodies. If you are only going to record guitar you can get by pretty easy and cheap. If you are recording multiple instruments and tracks now it gets more tricky and expensive. I am using cakewalk home studio software and m audio products. They have good support and ease of use. It really depends on your use and budget.Good luck in your endevor.
While this is an older thread, I'll still put my 2 cents worth as I've been the route being discussed. I started recording in the early 90's using a stereo cassette recorder and now have a portable recording studio using a laptop and an Alesis 16 channel USB 2.0 mixing board. For shows where someone else is doing the mixing, I use a Korg MR2 recorder to capture the live performance from the record out jacks from the board. I recommend for people just starting out to take their existing computer and an interface like the Alesis MultiMix 8 USB. This will give you the multiple inputs for several instruments at once, and surprisingly quiet preamps (until pushed really hard). This unit will use the USB on your computer as an interface. I personally use Adobe Audition 3 as my recording program, but that's a personal preference because I've used the product since it was Cool Edit. Adobe Audition 1.5 may be the easiest to set up and use initially and as you get more comfortable and perhaps upgrade to USB 2.0 connectors to be able to record multiple instruments on their own tracks, then go up. I do more straightforward multi track recordings, eg, Drums, Bass, Guitar, Lead Guitar and Vocals with little in the way of fancy or exotic effects and found this was the easiest setup to get up and recording with. Also the best FREE computer recording program is probably Audacity as it is Open Source and did I mention FREE?.....lol If you have microphones already, then you only need the interface....the Alesis MultiMix 8 USB mixer is around 120 used on ebay, the same price as some of the less capable and IMHO, less musical sounding interfaces out there. To give you an example of the sound, go to this and listen to the audio........... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhzEbVojB8w
Recorded using a laptop, Alesis MultiMix 8 USB, and Cad Condensor mic. It will give you an idea to the potential of something like this. No overdubs, no tricks...just as it was recorded. Good luck! It's a heckuva lot of fun doing this.
