Mac Recording Help - Experienced Gurus Chime In

[Duolos]

I am getting a G5 and wanting to get the goods on recording. Is Logic the way to go? What else do I need to get a very nice dialed system going? I am fine on mics. What else do I want and how much juice do I need in the G5? Any help would be appreciated

 

[Junior]

Well the basic (pro) setup is mic > preamp > interface > computer / monitors / headphones.

It depends on your budget, how many and what kind of tracks you'll be recording.

No advice for Macs, sorry.

 

[thindave]

The more RAM, the better. Also, you should get a 7200RPM disk drive (if you don't have one internal already) to record to.

As far as Logic goes, I find its interface pretty cluttered and "un-mac-like" but it's been getting better since Apple bought them a few years back. The good thing about it is that you don't need to have a hardware interface connected to use it (just the usb dongle for the pro version - logic express doesn't use the dongle).

I still find pro tools to be the better interface for audio and logic is better for midi. The main downside to PT is that they require you to buy and use their interfaces when you record/mix - so you wouldn't be able to say, take your mix with you on the road on a macbook without bringing along your audio interface as well.

 

[tristan]

just get an RME or MOTU soundcard and of course logic pro....when you need audio only pro tools rules, but to work with both midi /audio logic is really easier.

 

[tristan]

for the rest, run for a macpro, and you have a lot of choices for preamps...ARTS makes good ans affordable stuff.

 

[Duolos]

I am willing to spend some money on it so without going insane, I can spend some cash. I just want to do it right one time and get it dialed in proper. I guess I need to know Everything I would need. I have some mics, plenty of amps and guitars but nothing else. If somebody would tell me exactly all I need to do the job that would be helpful for me. I am a mediocre guitar player at best and even worse as an engineer....lol. I am lost on recording lingo and computers for the most part. Like I said, I want a REAL nice home studio. I want to be able to be effective, efficient and have great quality stuff. It doesn't need to be PRO stuff but cost isn't as much of an issue but I don't want to go silly insane either if tht makes sense. Thanks again for all your help thus far.

 

[uvacom]

Nobody can really give you the one magic list that will make you happy. Besides, no matter what your budget, I assure you it can be exceeded. "Some" money doesn't say much. In the recording world, terms like "affordable" and "reasonable" can mean something very different from what a layman might consider affordable or reasonable.

You will probably want an audio interface. Even though you can use the built-in input, the ADC is not designed for pro recording duties, (lots of inherent noise, crosstalk issues, poor transient reponse, etc.) and real audio interfaces have dedicated DSP which will give you much lower latencies and lower CPU utilization. Trust me, you want that.

For software, I would agree with others, Logic is slightly arcane unless you like to use a lot of MIDI and/or virtual instruments. For just recording, it's not that great. ProTools is much more friendly for multitracking/audio editing stuff. You could get a full-blown HD system if you have the budget (hint: you probably don't), but if you just want to do basic stuff any of the MBox or Digi003 systems will do fine. Those comes with an interface which is decent. Not the best, but certainly it's a good practical solution if you don't want to mess around with this stuff a lot. The DIGI003 is obviously the nicest, it's got a control surface with some faders and such. Digital Performer is another contender from MOTU, but it's fallen out of favor a bit. Nonetheless, it might be just perfect for your needs. Only you can say...software is a very personal thing, I'd say try as much as you can first.

I think just about all of those (except maybe a few of the cheap MBox systems) have built in mic preamps, but you might want something a little nicer - I'd suggest the RMC RNP(really nice preamp) or if you're feeling really spendy, an Avalon. There are actually lots of preamps in there and I don't get into the fetishism, but at places like gearslutz.com they're happy to tell yuo all about it.

That's pretty much it there. I'd say first decide which software you want to use (Logic Pro, ProTools LE, ProTools, Digital Performer, Samplitude...there are many others), and that will partially dictate which audio interface you go with. Then you need to decide how much (if any) controllability you want, how many analog inputs and outputs you want, how many and what type of digital I/O you might want (SPDIF, ADAT, AES/EBU, etc.) how many built-in preamps you need, and so forth. Then if you decide you need a mic preamp, figure out how much you have to spend and do a little more research.

 

[uvacom]

Oh - if you are doing any serious recording, you'll want some reference monitors (speakers tailored towards recording). I use Dynaudio BM5As, the Adam A7s and Event ASP8s are also very popular right now. Either of those are about $1k a pair, they're both active monitors which means the amps are built in. Of course, you can spend a lot more, if you want. But you won't get the most out of even a modest pair of monitors if you don't properly set up your listening environment (which usually means proper speaker placement and some strategically placed bass traps as a minimum).

If nothing else, you should at least get some good headphones, if you shop around you can get AKG K701s for about $250, and they're excellent studio headphones. If you don't want to spend that much, ask the folks at headfi.org. They know headphones. Headphones aren't as good as studio monitors because they necessarily distort the stereo image somewhat, but they are cheaper and they do simplify things somewhat since it doesn't much matter what the room is like acoustically.

 

[Duolos]

Thanks for the feedback. I am going to do a room up right and so forth. When I said I have some cash to spend I was hoping to be between 12 to 18K for everything. I can spend more if needed and if I could get away with less tht would be a blessing obviously. I don't need the most elaborate, just very good at what it does and such. No need for me to spend 100K for example. I want proper monitors, pre's, etc. I biy quality stuff from my amps, cabs, guitars etc. and this will be no different. Thanks again.

 

[thindave]

Well, for that money, you should buy logic & pro tools! I think everything has its place...

 

[technomancer]

For that money WHY are you buying a G5 and not one of the new Intel based Mac Pros. The new ones absolutely smoke the older G5s. Also, I'd wait a bit as rumor is the Mac Pros are going to be refreshed with dual quad-core processors soon.

As for software, personally I love Ableton Live.

 

[SteveB]

How many live mics will you need to record simultaneously?

If you can get by with recording one or two tracks at a time, you can get a smaller interface around $300. If you need more, you can get bigger interfaces like the PreSonus FirePod or FireStudio for $500 to $700 which can record 8 mics simultaneously. (You can chain them together for more, or use ADAT lightpipe to add more inputs.) The interfaces usually have mic preamps, but they vary in quality. A guy who used to live up the street from me had some FocusRite preamps that he recommended highly.

Headphones are handy, but do NOT mix via headphones! The resulting mix will generally not hold up on larger speakers at various volumes. For this reason, I don't buy into spending a lot of money on headphones. Comfort is the key, because a lot of them will start to hurt your ears (physically, not from volume) after wearing them for several hours.

You can create amazing recordings on relatively cheap stuff these days. Since you've got a really nice budget, you might look into a control surface (it looks like a mixing board, but it's mainly used as an input device for your mixing software) and you'll want one with motorized faders. This allows you to grab a few faders/knobs on the fly while mixing.. a stunt that's hard to accomplish with a mouse and on-screen mixing board. The motirized faders will be moved by the software on playback to follow the maneuvers that you made while mixing.. plus they're just fun.

Probably my best home-recorded effort to date can be heard if you click the link on my signature. The song ("love you forever") was recorded on my Fostex Vf-16, which was the precursor to the Vf-160 which sells for about $700. It's a dedicated 16-track hard-disk multitrack recorder. The song was recorded and mixed with that unit and my Samson ReSolv 80a powered monitors which cost about $500/pair. I think the results are pretty good for the money. No outboard effects were used, just some onboard reverb and delay from the Fostex. Everything was recorded direct except vocals, which were recorded with an AKG D880 dynamic mic plugged into the Fostex (I did utilize a $140 Behringer Multicom-Pro XL compressor via the Fostex's insert path for the vocals).

Hopefully, myspace will play it back without chopping it up for you.

 

[Duolos]

Thanks Steve.....I really appreciate it (thumbs up)

 

[Duolos]

For that money WHY are you buying a G5 and not one of the new Intel based Mac Pros. The new ones absolutely smoke the older G5s. Also, I'd wait a bit as rumor is the Mac Pros are going to be refreshed with dual quad-core processors soon.

As for software, personally I love Ableton Live.

My mistake, I am looking at what you said. The dual 3.0's. With the adds I am looking at about 8K for it, I trust that will suffice.

 

[Colin]

Pro Tools gets my vote.....

 

[Duolos]

Pro Tools gets my vote.....

Why? Not that I am arguing with you.

 

[Colin]

Why? Not that I am arguing with you.

it is the industry standard, you can record something in PT and take it to any professional studio in the world as they would have it in some form or another. I personally love it but you will get people here that disagree and of course it's only my opinion. One plugin you must get is Ozone by IZotope, that is like the swiss army knife. You can get into PT fairly cheaply and it is easy to use if you're not experienced with audio. If you are heavily into midi then PT may not be your cup of tea. I use Sonar for that.

 

[Duolos]

Cool, thanks for the heads up there. I am doing more digging.

 

[Devnor]

You might want to look at the Apogee Ensemble interface and Logic 7.X. A new version of Logic coming sometime (my plans are on hold for that). I've been very happy with RME Fireface 800 but I'll probably flip that interface for the Apogee once the new Logic is released.

Protools LE is a nice little package but you can get more bang for your buck going the Logic + interface route. You'll get higher quality hardware with better convertors, higher efficiency plugs and higher track counts. You can still port Logic sessions into Protools should you need to use a pro studio. Good luck!

 

[Duolos]

Thanks Devnor. I really appreciate it