I know there was a recording studio type thread somewhere but I can't find it anywhere. I'm looking to spend a little bit to buy a good digital recording platform that will interface with a PC. I've thought about Protools 002 and 003 but not sure if Pro Tools is the way to go right now. Something with some good mic preamps built in would be great, but just something that is solid for the price. Thanks for the suggestions The Wolf Web.

7/27/2009 2:51:28 PM

for the PC platform Pro Tools or Cubase would both be great. If you do a electronic/DJ'ey stuff you might look into Ableton Live. Ableton can also be used for standard multitrack recording but it feels kinda awkward used like that. Also look into Reaper (http://www.reaper.fm/) Its basically free and is quite slick. Its gaining a LOT of momentum.

The con to Pro Tools is that you have to use their hardware. Everything else is flexible.

Do you have firewire? That'd be preferable for recording more than a couple tracks at once. If its a desktop, i'd get a firewire interface for sure. check out harmony-central.com for tons of info. I recently bought a Presonus Firebox (firewire 6x10+MIDI, http://www.presonus.com/products/Detail.aspx?ProductId=4) and i've been really happy with it. We've been recording stereo drums from a electronic kit, plus the drum's MIDI output, my guitar, and sometimes vox all at once. I just got a MIDI controller keyboard so i'll be throwing that into the mix as well.

What do you plan to record?

7/27/2009 5:10:57 PM

Thanks for your help man. I plan on recording guitars, bass, drum kit, and vocals. Its mostly just for fun but I want it to sound great. I have a good PC with firewire so that would be fine. Didn't realize firewire was still the way to go with this.

I have a friend that uses protools and is pretty damn good with it that would show me a bunch, but just not sure I want to use that. I might though just because I've heard his stuff and it sounds great.

7/28/2009 10:51:10 AM

Logic Studio

7/28/2009 11:04:04 AM

If you need software and an interface I'd use Reaper and put your money toward the interface. ReAper is really looking good and you can't beat free.

I use Logic now but I used Cubase a good bit before I got a mac. I don't the software you use matters for much. They all work basically the same and the quality is in the interface. If you did a lot of soft intruments and/or needed a lot of good sAmples then you'd need to spend some bucks on something like Logic Studio or some packages for use with your DAW.

7/28/2009 1:22:11 PM

if you're having to ask the question, i don't think pro tools is the way for you to go. you're also confusing pro tools with the hardware that digidesign makes - the digidesign 002 and 003 are DAW interfaces. the preamps in those are better than most that come with those all-in-one units.

check out something like logic studio for the mac. the digidesign interfaces you mentioned above (as well as a shit ton of others) work fine with it, and it's a great piece of software for the money.

7/28/2009 1:42:18 PM

I don't want to get a MAC so I'm going to stay away from that. I'm really just talking about interfaces here, and what software is recommended. I think that getting an 002 or 003 would provide the best all around solution as it has some pretty good preamps and the software is good. But I didn't know if it would be better just to get something like a firepod and get my own preamps and use something like cubase, etc.

7/28/2009 3:36:24 PM

imo, the digidesigns setup, while nice, much more than most hobbyists need. If you're that interested in Pro Tools, get an M-Audio interface (compatible w/ Pro Tools if you want to go that route later) like a Delta 1010 or something and start with Reaper. Then spend the rest of your budget on mics.

7/28/2009 6:43:49 PM

^ is right. Reaper is pretty awesome from the little i've seen of it, and for $60 it's a fucking steal. go grab something like a presonus firebox and invest in some quality mics. if you really want a control surface, look at some of the m-audio ones.

also, i don't understand why people refer to them as MACs

7/28/2009 6:49:45 PM

^ Guess we're just used to referring to them as macs growing up in that era.

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm defintely going to check out Reaper and a couple of those interfaces. I don't think its going to be that necessary for me to have a control board. My only worry was getting a cheaper interface without good built in preamps was how much I would have to spend on good preamps. I don't know shit about shopping for a preamp.

7/29/2009 9:52:47 AM