Home recording

Paolo_M

Lads,
The more I look at the options, the more confused I am.

I have a Shure 57 mike, stand and XLR cable, a XP loaded laptop and loads of guitars and amps.
I wanna start making some decent sound samples, particularily of stuff I build/mod, to post. I'm also planning on doing some gear compare samples (eg. a V30 vs G12T-75 with the same amp, guitar and settings and stuff like that).

Problem is I can't figure out what to buy to do this.

Saw the MBox which ships with Pro Tools LE. Do I actually need Pro-Tools or can I simply get a XLR > USB interface box and have the sample store on the laptop as an MP3? I saw a T.Bone thingy that would do that for €30. Presumably then I'd have no post EQing options but I don't really need that as I want straight clips for tone samples. Do these things come with software/drivers for Windows XP?

What kinds of dB level can a SM57 cope with? I know condensers are limited, what about dynamics?

Any advice is welcome.

Seziertisch

A 57 can pretty much take whatever you can throw at it. It is a good choice for making electric guitar sound samples as it is used for this job loads. The only thing to remember is that it is has its own mid-forward sound characteristic (which works well in a mix) so as such it is not necessarily giving an accurate representation of the sound in the room. Overall, though, as a good, affordable mic for the job it is a good choice. The irony is a lot of what people consider to be classic guitar sounds could not be produced with just one mic on one amp so as such in many cases to be aspiring to get a tone like x had on y recording is kind of misguided. This isn't even taking into account the sonic signature that mics, pres etc. bring to a sound. For example driving the input of a Neve or API pre can add fullness and body to a sound that the source just doesn't have.

-=al=-

i got the mbox 2 mini, m-audio monitors and a mic loaded with pro tools and some plugins.. think it was 300 on musicstore... worth it for getting pro tools and an ok home setup.. its a good enough startup

depends what you wana do and how far you wana take it and what you may use it for in the future too


doesnt really sound liek you need to spend much for just making a few samples really

Paolo_M

-=al=- wrote: »

i got the mbox 2 mini, m-audio monitors and a mic loaded with pro tools and some plugins.. think it was 300 on musicstore... worth it for getting pro tools and an ok home setup.. its a good enough startup

depends what you wana do and how far you wana take it and what you may use it for in the future too


doesnt really sound liek you need to spend much for just making a few samples really

How did you find Pro-Tools?
Some of the reviews I've read said it doesn't really like Windows much, you need to disable virus scans, change bios settings, get a bunch of patches etc. to even get it loaded even on XP SP2. Mine's a work laptop and IT don't like me messing to much with the OS and would freak if they thought I changed any bios settings.

I still can't figure out what else I'd need to get that T.Bone USB interface to work. I don't believe it's simply plug and play for a minute. There must be some software involved to set up the device and initiate recording etc. I can't find any info on it.

Seziertisch, seems like the 57 is pretty hardy. Will it take close miking a cranked Marshall valve head without causing mike distortion (if there is such a thing?!?)?

Seziertisch

Yup, put the 57 in there and crank it, that's what its for. You won't damage it. Supposed most of the guitars on the Use your Illusion albums were recorded with a 57 (although these kind of stories can sometimes be a bit urban myth)

-=al=-

fine i use it at home so i can bring stuff into the studio easier, just do what i can at home and it will open nice and easy in the studio i like it and no i dont really disable anything, ive a 1.2gb ram here and 160gb hard drive xp sp2... nothing really changed at all i installed some plugins too, but if you have a big session with lots and lots of tracks you will jsut want PT open and most other resources or services closed it can get pretty mad with lots of plugins, automation and tracks, if you have dual core it will be even smoother my comps here a little old, it doesnt run as nice on vista though, so xp id fine with it, i like having it but i also like adobe audition too for quick and easy recording... but im used to pro tools from all the engineering jazz i done

Paolo_M

Thanks for the advice lads. Bit more confident of what I'm doing now.

-=al=-, mostly it will be a single tracks for what I'm using it for, possibly a second backing track if I wanna get fancy, it's just for sound samples, tone demos etc. From what you're saying it seems that the MBox mini is the way to go alright. Cheers.

Lands Leaving

A cheaper option than the mbox is the tascam us-122l and downloading reaper, which is €40 I think. I use that set up and I can get some great sounds. The tascam has 2 inputs, each with a line in (for guitar etc.) and a mic input for xlr, it has phantom power too for condenser mics.

The tascam is €200 new I think, but I got one used for €100.

Unless you're absolutely set on using pro tools there's no real need to pay the extra for a compatible usb interface. Only a few are pro tools compatible and they're way more expensive. Plus you only get pro tools le with the mbox and that may not have all the features you want... which means paying more.

Reaper for me, is fantastic, easy to use, easy to add plugins (like amplitube which is amazing) definitely beginner friendly but still does everything you could need and you can try the full version free for a month, unlike all the expensive daws which give you a limited demo so you never get a proper sense of whether is suits you or not.

Dord

Lands Leaving wrote: »

A cheaper option than the mbox is the tascam us-122l and downloading reaper, which is €40 I think. I use that set up and I can get some great sounds. The tascam has 2 inputs, each with a line in (for guitar etc.) and a mic input for xlr, it has phantom power too for condenser mics.

The tascam is €200 new I think, but I got one used for €100.

Unless you're absolutely set on using pro tools there's no real need to pay the extra for a compatible usb interface. Only a few are pro tools compatible and they're way more expensive. Plus you only get pro tools le with the mbox and that may not have all the features you want... which means paying more.

Reaper for me, is fantastic, easy to use, easy to add plugins (like amplitube which is amazing) definitely beginner friendly but still does everything you could need and you can try the full version free for a month, unlike all the expensive daws which give you a limited demo so you never get a proper sense of whether is suits you or not.

This is probably the best idea in this thread. Reaper should suit you just fine Paolo!

Paolo_M

Ah dammit.
I've already pulled the trigger on the MBox.

This reaper looks the job alright.

Does that Tascam job have any latency issues, that'd confuse me no end!!
Other than that it seems to be pound for pound with the MBox, though I'm a bit of a noob with this recording lark!!
Would the MBox work with Reaper instead or is it tied to Pro-Tools, kinda seems that way?

Must check the order cancellation policy, most are fairly ok within the first 24hours aren't they?

Dord

Paolo_M wrote: »

Ah dammit.
I've already pulled the trigger on the MBox.

This reaper looks the job alright.

Does that Tascam job have any latency issues, that'd confuse me no end!!
Other than that it seems to be pound for pound with the MBox, though I'm a bit of a noob with this recording lark!!
Would the MBox work with Reaper instead or is it tied to Pro-Tools, kinda seems that way?

Must check the order cancellation policy, most are fairly ok within the first 24hours aren't they?

If you've already bought it then you might as well just go ahead with that then. The Mbox should come with a copy of Pro-Tools, usually it's the LE version.

Eoin Madsen

I'd generally suggest avoiding protools for home recording unless you're getting the gear with the express intention of learning protools for the trade. For exactly what you're doing, it'll be fine, albeit more expensive with no corresponding advantages. If you want to upgrade later, you're pretty much tied to digidesign hardware and digidesign software.

I know Protools HD hardware can work with Asio compatible software (e.g. Cubase) if you get the right drivers, but my guess would be that you'll have a hard time getting the Mbox to run anything but Protools LE.

Paolo_M wrote: »

seems like the 57 is pretty hardy. Will it take close miking a cranked Marshall valve head without causing mike distortion (if there is such a thing?!?)?

You can clip a dynamic microphone by over-extending the diaphram, just like a speaker. But an SM57 can handle a cranked Plexi just fine at point blank range. You're more likely to clip the preamp and have to kick in the attenuation switch than to clip the mic.

Paolo_M

Dord wrote: »

If you've already bought it then you might as well just go ahead with that then. The Mbox should come with a copy of Pro-Tools, usually it's the LE version.

It does come with Pro-Tools LE but I heard bad reports of it if your not intending to give it a dedicated machine to run on. People say it :pac::pac::pac::pac:s all the RAM, doesn't like some settings on Windows, stuff like that. This Reaper seems a more straightforward deal.
I'm lucky in that I'm not too price sensitive, this is what I spend all my money on, but I want something that will work well and reliably. Don't mind leaving ProTools in the packaging if Reaper will also work and make life easier.
I guess I'll just install the bare bones of ProTools via a custom install to limit the amount of disk space it eats and see how it goes.

Eoin, knida figured as much with the DigiDesign stuff, we do the same thing in the automation business to tie people in.
Jeez these 57s are made of strong stuff, I'd visions of it flabbing out like an over loaded speaker when pressed too hard. Seems like you could close mike a 747 taking off if you wanted!!
Thanks again lads, will report back in a week or two

-=al=-

did u get the mbox package or anything!? yer gona need some monitors!

reaper isnt bad and pretty light on teh system, i use col edit pro for the quicker easier tasks and the mbox works fine with that sometimes i cant be arsed with pro tools

it is good software to have but theres lots of others cool too, but the mbox is a good start for getting your mic sounds onto your screen

Lands Leaving

Absolutely no latency with the tascam, thats why I bought it, the latency on my computer is insane.

Bit late now though...:rolleyes:

Paolo_M

-=al=- wrote: »

did u get the mbox package or anything!? yer gona need some monitors!

reaper isnt bad and pretty light on teh system, i use col edit pro for the quicker easier tasks and the mbox works fine with that sometimes i cant be arsed with pro tools

it is good software to have but theres lots of others cool too, but the mbox is a good start for getting your mic sounds onto your screen

Got me a set of studio grade isolation headphones instead. I figured they'd act as good monitors but also reduce the sound levels I'm hearing from the amp itself, so I'm getting a truer picture of what's actually being recorded. They claim to reduce outside noise by 25dB, we'll see...