# Starting home recording.



## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

I'm looking at starting a home recording studio using my computer. I'm looking at buying an M-Audio sound card a vocal recording mike and maybe the program cakewalk. I'm all new to this stuff so I'm wondering what others would reccomend as a good startup for home recording and what equipment I should be looking at? For hardware I don't want to spend more than 5 or 6 hundred. For software no more than 5 or 6 hundred. So I guess my starting budget would be $1,100 to 1,200.


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

a lot of it depends on what you want to do-
record acoustic guitars, or mic amplifiers, or direct input your electric guitar?
which m-audio card are you looking at?
i use this
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Delta1010LT-main.html
but one of these may be better for you
http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=products.list&ID=guitar

i use shure mics, sm58 and sm57- good mics, and i got them for about $100 each new- theres better mics, but these are good value, and pro quality.

to start with i wouldnt go too far spending money on programs, there are free ones and cheap ones that work good, and youre better off long term to put the money into hardware.
check these out-
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
http://www.reaper.fm/

from the reaper site-
"REAPER is available for download without technological limitations for evaluation purposes. Once you have evaluated REAPER, you should purchase a license."
you can buy a personal use liscence for $50 if you want- but its not necessary i think. its a good program, and does everything that i would use if i had the expensive stuff.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

fraser said:


> a lot of it depends on what you want to do-
> record acoustic guitars, or mic amplifiers, or direct input your electric guitar?
> which m-audio card are you looking at?
> i use this
> ...



To start with I want to direct input my electric and record my acoustic. I also want to record singers singing to kaoroke tracks.


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

something like this
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FastTrackUSB-focus.html
would give you a direct input as well as a mic input- it also comes with amp modelling software.

personally, for your budget, id aim higher- something like this-
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Audiophile2496-main.html
and something like this
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/DMP3-main.html
or this
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FastTrackPro-main.html

myself, i got my soundcard
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Delta1010LT-main.html
$250

a mixer
http://www.mackie.com/products/ms1202vlz/index.html
$400

and a few mics at about 100$ each. with this setup im really flexible- never need to unplug anything, just need to arm the inputs i want to use.

what you need really is a soundcard that handles 24 bit recording, asio compatible, and has the inputs you need.
then you need an interface, preamp, or mixer that has the inputs you need(you want 2 at least) and high quality preamps- the quality of your preamp is the most important thing here. crappy preamps make crappy recordings- its that simple. i cant comment on the quality of any preamps besides the ones on my mixer, but i did try a few before i got it, all under $150, and all were useless


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## darreneedens (Nov 13, 2007)

Looking for some good budget home studio mics try these. http://www.zzounds.com/item--AUTAT2041

I picked up the "pack" for $180, good deal for decent mics... and that way you have one for vocals and one for guitar. An sm57 is a diehard do almost anything mic, so it would be wise to have one of those in your arsenal at some point.

hope that tiny bit of info helps, I have been gathering up gear for probably the past 6 months working towards a nice home setup.

Might I also recommend getting an M-Box with Protools, more of a universal program from what I understand.


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## Vincent (Nov 24, 2007)

For recording I use mixcraft 3 (doesnt support midi yet)...they are coming out with mixcraft 4 soon however you can try the software before you buy...7 day free trial and under $50 to buy...has real live drum loops to get ya started.

Mixcraft is a decent program and super easy to use and beginner friendly.
http://www.acoustica.com/mixcraft/


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

guitarman- heres a good deal
http://guitarscanada.com/Board/showthread.php?t=10544


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