Home studio gear questions

[Sly_D]

Hi Guys,

Man, it's been a while, hell most people probably don't even know me here! lol

I got a small budget to build a home studio. I will use a reasonably recent laptop with 4G of memory. I have a Fender Pro Junior and some pedals , should I want to mic an amp.

I'M just wondering the way to go next. Should I buy something like the line 6 UX2? Or go with a Boss GT-10/Vox LE/Line 6 HD? Or a USB audio device with some other gear? What would give me the best results?

I like the Pod X3 Live cause you can also use it for bass and vocals. But they are being discontinued.

What's your take on this? My initial budget is about 500$ and I can probably dig another 500$ by late spring.

This is to create some tracks of hard/classic rock, blues and jazzy stuff.

Any suggestions will be more than welcome...

Cheers!

 

[RobSoundtrack]

Re: Home studio gear questions

You will need an interface. not my expertise and there are hundreds to choose from but

digitally, amplitube is pretty good stuff. I use it when its late at night and go direct.

if you love your amp, then a great speaker and a seinheisser 609 will be a great start.
ain't nothing like the real thing...

 

[MojoMonster]

Re: Home studio gear questions

I'd say start with M-Audio and then look around to see what you like.
They used to make something called the "Mbox" which was Pro-Tools compatible, but it seems to be discontinued.

Avid, the maker of Pro-Tools, also has something called the MBox (probably why the M-Audio is disco'd).
Prices run from $330 to $750.

When I was shopping for an interface, I got an earlier version of the Emu 1616M. I was looking for PCIe and a breakout box with multiple inputs including XLR and MIDI, as well as the ability to record at a higher than usual sample rate.

Since you're using a laptop, I'd stick to USB boxes, preferably ones that can run on USB power, as well.

I'm thinking just dig around at Sweetwater or Musician's Friend to see what is currently available and then work from there.
That'll help you winnow down the criteria for what you are looking for.

Throw in a Shure SM57 and an SM58 and you're good to go.

Good luck.
MM

 

[Lazarus1140]

Re: Home studio gear questions

Since you are already familiar with Line 6 gear the UX2 is a good option for an interface as it comes with a POD plug-in. It may be a basic version, but you can always upgrade.

You haven't mentioned recording sofware. There are countless people on the forum who know more about this than me, but I find Reaper to be a great choice as you can download it free and try it for a month. If you decide to keep it a license for continued use is ..... I think about $70.

For $500 you can easily get the UX-2, recording software and a decent set of monitors or headphones.

 

[75lespaul]

Re: Home studio gear questions

I'd say start with M-Audio and then look around to see what you like.
They used to make something called the "Mbox" which was Pro-Tools compatible, but it seems to be discontinued.

Avid, the maker of Pro-Tools, also has something called the MBox (probably why the M-Audio is disco'd).
Prices run from $330 to $750.

When I was shopping for an interface, I got an earlier version of the Emu 1616M. I was looking for PCIe and a breakout box with multiple inputs including XLR and MIDI, as well as the ability to record at a higher than usual sample rate.

Since you're using a laptop, I'd stick to USB boxes, preferably ones that can run on USB power, as well.

I'm thinking just dig around at Sweetwater or Musician's Friend to see what is currently available and then work from there.
That'll help you winnow down the criteria for what you are looking for.

Throw in a Shure SM57 and an SM58 and you're good to go.

Good luck.
MM

All good advice, but you may be able to pick up a used Tascam FW-1804 firewire interface pretty cheap. The firewire cut out the latency which was heaven for me. I have the Tascam USB interface, I think the US-428, and I just couldn't record with the latency.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Home studio gear questions

You will need an interface. not my expertise and there are hundreds to choose from but

digitally, amplitube is pretty good stuff. I use it when its late at night and go direct.

if you love your amp, then a great speaker and a seinheisser 609 will be a great start.
ain't nothing like the real thing...

I used to mic my Carvin VE212 cabinet with an SM57 but could never get the bass frequencies to show up on tape like they should. My drummer put one of his Sennheiser e604 tom mics on the cabinet instead and got everything the 57 did, plus transferred the lower range to tape accurately.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Home studio gear questions

Nothing to add here, just wanted to say hey, Sly! Nice to see you're still kickin'!

 

[Reload in 5]

Re: Home studio gear questions

Pod ux2 $169
Reaper $40
mic $100-$200
that still puts you way under $500. If you go to $1000 you should be able to get a decent set of monitors, drum software if needed (ezdrummer is $100)

 

[Sly_D]

Re: Home studio gear questions

Nothing to add here, just wanted to say hey, Sly! Nice to see you're still kickin'!

Hey TO, great to see you're still around! Two kids later, I'm still alive! I just wish I had more time for music. I'll try to post again with my new kit.

To all the guys: Thanks a lot for your answers. I fianlly went to my local store, and there was litterally a wall of recording gear. I finally bought the PresSonus 1BOX kit. It contains the Audiobox ASIO audio interface (USB), an M7 high-definition condenser microphone, the Studio One Multitrack Recorder (well made and easy to use) as well as headphones. For 279.99.

You can check it out here.

It also contains Guitar Rig 3, a software modeller that I don't like much. I also have a copy of ezDrummer, so I'm covered for drums, although I still suck big time at creating a good drum track.

So now for recording - cranking a tube amp being out of the question - what I'd need is a good modeller. I still hesitate between buying something like a mutli-effects or going software or buying a Vox VT amp. Am I gonna get better sounds out of a Vox Tonelab than a Vox VT amp?

That's my logical next steps... I'm leaning towards a VT amp cause I like to crank an amp once in a while. Maybe I'll go with both...

 

[innerdreamrecords.co]

Re: Home studio gear questions

Hey TO, great to see you're still around! Two kids later, I'm still alive! I just wish I had more time for music. I'll try to post again with my new kit.

To all the guys: Thanks a lot for your answers. I fianlly went to my local store, and there was litterally a wall of recording gear. I finally bought the PresSonus 1BOX kit. It contains the Audiobox ASIO audio interface (USB), an M7 high-definition condenser microphone, the Studio One Multitrack Recorder (well made and easy to use) as well as headphones. For 279.99.

You can check it out here.

It also contains Guitar Rig 3, a software modeller that I don't like much. I also have a copy of ezDrummer, so I'm covered for drums, although I still suck big time at creating a good drum track.

So now for recording - cranking a tube amp being out of the question - what I'd need is a good modeller. I still hesitate between buying something like a mutli-effects or going software or buying a Vox VT amp. Am I gonna get better sounds out of a Vox Tonelab than a Vox VT amp?

That's my logical next steps... I'm leaning towards a VT amp cause I like to crank an amp once in a while. Maybe I'll go with both...

I have owned almost all of the modelers and to me the Vox ST is the best bang for the buck. You'll need to make your own patches to get the most out of it but it's worth the effort.

 

[Sly_D]

Re: Home studio gear questions

Good to know... it's not the most expensive one... I was wondering if it was as good as the bigger one. Thanks inner(...)!

 

[innerdreamrecords.co]

Re: Home studio gear questions

Good to know... it's not the most expensive one... I was wondering if it was as good as the bigger one. Thanks inner(...)!

Vox just came out with the next version of the ST which has more foot switches for live work. Don't quote me but I think the bigger one and the ST have the same sound engine.

 

[StillLearnin']

Re: Home studio gear questions

The best piece of advice I can offer up (in addition to everyone elses suggestions) is to get a decent set of nearfileld monitors to mix with. Then, before you do any mixes of your own, listen to plenty of other music without any added EQ (completely flat) to train your ears to the way the monitors sound with professionally mixed music pumping through them... You'll then have a pretty good baseline for a mix that will sound good regardless of what it's played through (iPod, car stereo, etc...) Headphones are a b!tch to mix on IMO.