New to Home Recording Need Help

[Jerry Virden]

I am new to home recording and have and would like some advice on getting started. The things I have so far ar Cubase S4 and a Tascam US-428 and of course a computer. What else do I need to get started with some basic recording to get my feet wet?

Thanks Jerry

[Randy Reeves]

http://www.tweakheadz.com


check his site out. very informative.

[Dave Potter]

The things I have so far ar Cubase S4 and a Tascam US-428 and of course a computer. What else do I need to get started with some basic recording to get my feet wet?

Maybe some monitor speakers, and a pre-amp for the hi-Z instrument(s)?

I had software incompatibility problems trying to use a Tascam 428 with Adobe Audition, which is my software of choice. It is probably more compatible with Cubase. But many of the 428 functions simply didn't work with Audition, and at times, it would refuse to do simple things such as go into record mode on a track. The novelty soon wore off, and I wound up selling it to Sam Ash Music used.

I only record myself at home, and only need to do one track at a time, so I don't need multiple channels, with hardware sliders for each one. My only requirement is good quality analog/digital conversion. I've been satisfied with the Edirol UA-25, which has good specs, hi- and low-Z inputs, and is easy to use. Another thing to like about it is it gets all its power from the PC USB connection; there's no wall-wart. It has no volume sliders, but I do all the mixing and effects in the software anyway.

[Gary Shepherd]

If recording any vocals or acoustic instruments, you'll need a good condenser mic. I suggest the Studio Projects C1 which you can buy brand new for $200 or on eBay for less.

You'll also want (not need) at some time to add at least a small mixer. Behringer has some pretty nice ones for less than $300. The mixer makes routing different instruments and voices much easier. And you can monitor through the mixer - rather than through the software - which takes a BIG load off the CPU.

You'll want a 2nd hard drive to record audio on. You can get by with only one hard drive but having a 2nd one dedicated to the audio is a plus for speed.

Cables to connect all this stuff.

If you want to record full groups, you can get a MOTO 24I/O on eBay for around $1000. It has 24 ins and 24 outs. It's the one I use but I've never had a need for ALL of the connections.

There is lots of software that you can add. Effects plugins for your main recording program. Such as EQ, compressor/limiter, reverb, delay, flange, chorus, time/pitch compression/expansion.

Lots, and lots of optional stuff....

[Dave Potter]

You'll also want (not need) at some time to add at least a small mixer.

The Tascam 428 is a mixer.

The mixer makes routing different instruments and voices much easier. And you can monitor through the mixer - rather than through the software - which takes a BIG load off the CPU.

I've been running Adobe Audition 2.0 for a while now with as many tracks as I want to use on my laptop that only has a Celeron 2Ghz cpu/1GB ram, and it does well. All effects and mixing are done with the software, eliminating a lot of clutter. That's why they put all those sliders in the software GUI, afterall. An external mixer for home recording (the OP's question) only adds needless complication, IMO.

All those effects (and many, many others) you mention as add-ons are built-in to Audition, BTW - they're not extra. I'm sure that's not the case with some of the competition.

[Ron Randall]

Good microphones. Good preamps. Good monitor speakers.

[Tony Prior]

Jerry, if you have ZERO experience, you should acquire a small 4 track cassette unit first, get your feet wet in a very shallow puddle rather than the lake.

Once you can maneuver around with one of these small easy to use units without thinking about it, then it will be time to go to an advanced recording system.

We all learned to add and subtract before we went on to Algebra...

Some of us never made it to Algebra !

good luck

tp