MATTICUS

Hi, i am setting up a home studio and have so far purchased some KRK Rokit RP8 G2 Monitor Speakers, AKAI MPK49 Midi Keyboard and now need to decide on an audio interface to connect to my pc, my budget is about £250 for an interface. I have read some good reviews on focusrite interfaces and they seem to have good pre-amps too. I'm thinking of the Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP. I'll mainly be recording on my own using the midi keyboard, guitar, bass and vocals mostly seperately but occasionaly maybe i'll record 2 instruments at the same time for a jamming session. What are your views on this audio interface and do you have any other suggestions? Thank you

Thanks Prometheus, my dad uses Reason/Record and likes it and he said he'd used cubase before but found it too complicated. How do you find it? ease of use and features etc?

Ok, i'll add Cubase 6 to the mix. So which shall i go for and why? Reason 6, Pro Tools 9 or Cubase 6? Your thoughts please. Thank you

Hi, i need to get some headphones for monitoring in my new home studio setup, i've done some research and narrowed it down to these two in my price range of up to £150: Audio-Technica ATH-M50 or Sennheiser HD 25-1 II So i'm hoping to start a debate on which you feel are the best, the kind of music i will be recording is mainly electric guitar, Synth, bass and drum and vocal based music. I look forward to your views!

Thanks for your advice, but i think we've strayed a long way from the initial problem I've just purchased some krk rp8 rokit g2 monitors and an akai mpk 49 midi keyboard, so now just need to sort an audio interface, headphones a mic and the software. I've got a good idea of what i want with the harware so the software is the hardest decision at the moment. I think i've narrowed it down to Reason 6 or Pro tools 9 after doing some research, any ideas which way i should go?

Thanks, that's helpful advice. I'll only ever be recording one or two things at the same time as it's only me so it'll either be, guitar (non-mic'd), vocals (1 mic) or midi keyboard controlling synths in DAW or a mix of 2 if i have someone over to play along too. So i'd take from what you've said i wouldnt need a mixer then and the focusrite would be fine for my needs?

what will a mixing desk add? and do i really need a mixing desk as well as an audio interface? especially the focusrite saffire. i saw a pro music producer on youtube doing a live recording with a band and he had similar setup krk monitors, focusrite saffire pro 24 dsp, mic, laptop and pro tools, no mixer. what do u think?

Hi Coises, thanks for the suggestion, i'm not so sure about the cheaper or free programs. I've used mixcraft before and found that it lacks features and i just get frustrated with it. Really i want a program that has everything i need included. So i can put together a drum, bass and synth track in the program and then just record the audio for the guitar and vocal parts. So really it is a question of which software has the better drum loop creator & virtual instruments that can be controlled with a midi keyboard, but are also well suited to recording guitar and vocal audios and then has the ability to edit vocals etc matching timings & pitch correction. Ease of use is also important.

Thanks Prometheus, i should have been a bit more specific, around £350 was my budget just for software. My total budget is £2000 from which i plan to buy: KRK Rokit 5 G2 Monitor Speakers (£250) Focusrite pro 24 DSP audio interface (£240) Rode Nt1A Condenser mic (£150) Akai MPK Mini midi controller keyboard (£70) or Alesis Q49 (£80) Sennheiser HD 25-1 II headphones (£140) So just the software i need to decide on really, unless anyone has a suggestion to replace any of the other individual items.

i'd be willing to spend up to around £350 which is about the price of pro tools 9 i think.

Hi, I am looking to set up a home recording studio, i play guitar mainly and that will be my main instrument that i will be playing on tracks along with vocals, but i am looking for software that i will also be able to easily build drum tracks on, as well as some synth and bass as i dont have a drum kit or bass guitar but hope to purchase a midi keyboard. What is the best software out at the moment that will fill my needs? I've been looking at Reason/Record, pro tools, ableton , cubase, sonar & cakewalk but cant decide which will best suit my needs. Thank you