Raw Beginner

[John Sargent]

I am a raw beginner. I have Sony VAIO laptop running Audacity. I am recording through my Yamaha PA system, using an RCA plug to the laptop. I have generic mic and pickup cords. Audio Technica M8000 mics.

Most of my songs are simplistic folky things that I play in public. No need for drum tracks (yet).

I do use the multitrack feature. I use some Bose IPod ear plugs for head phones.

All of my recordings have considerable dirt in the sound that I use the Audacity noise filter to remove.

So, I have not spent any money on recording specific gear.

Questions: What should I upgrade first?

Quality cords?

Better mics?

Replace the PA system with something like presonus 22VSL or ?

Replace Audacity with ?

Edited February 22, 2012 by MrEWorm

[Retrosaurus Rex]

If you have a specific place you record your songs in, you might first look at how to make that more friendly for recording, audio treatment, that sort of thing. Gear-wise I think replacing the PA with a dedicated audio interface would get you the most bang for your buck. Don't believe the hype about expensive cables... as long as the connectors don't crackle you'll never tell the difference...

[John Sargent]

Thanks for your replay. Is the Presonus 22VSL ($199) decent or should I look at another product?

[Retrosaurus Rex]

I don't know that product, but I think there are probably a number of good ones in that price range.

[John Sargent]

Would expanding the budget yeild significant results. I would hate to buy too cheap and then want better quickly? I suppose that I am trying to avoid the learning curve, but it's only money.

[john]

i would think the pa is contributing a good bit of the noise... so might your environment. I would invest in a decent sound module and decent monitors and headphones... as decent headphones tend to be cheaper I would suggest a decent pair of them befor your monitors.

environment wise common culprits for adding noise are mains hum an fan noise from your puter and other gear.

on your sound module there are several goid ones and in this market price really will affect the results. For a serious beginner i would recommend about $400-500 as that would give you a good quality AND room to grow. much cheaper and i think you will come up against the limitation a lot lot sooner and that is just a pain in the ass.

a reasonable upgrade path for a hime studio fir you would be

sound interface

headphones

microphones

monitors

.

.

.

leads and cables

if that is a price range you can afford i will happily give some recommendations. if not i am sure i could recommend something close to your original price... just be aware of my comment about limitations

i hope this helps

[John Sargent]

I can spend about $1000 on the project right now but will not be able to throw more money at it for six months or so (Mrs Worm wants a vacation).

[John Sargent]

i would think the pa is contributing a good bit of the noise... so might your environment. I would invest in a decent sound module and decent monitors and headphones... as decent headphones tend to be cheaper I would suggest a decent pair of them befor your monitors.

environment wise common culprits for adding noise are mains hum an fan noise from your puter and other gear.

on your sound module there are several goid ones and in this market price really will affect the results. For a serious beginner i would recommend about $400-500 as that would give you a good quality AND room to grow. much cheaper and i think you will come up against the limitation a lot lot sooner and that is just a pain in the ass.

a reasonable upgrade path for a hime studio fir you would be

sound interface

headphones

microphones

monitors

.

.

.

leads and cables

if that is a price range you can afford i will happily give some recommendations. if not i am sure i could recommend something close to your original price... just be aware of my comment about limitations

i hope this helps

Please advise me. I have a budget of $1000 for interface and DAW. I stopped at Guitar Center but the guy there did not seem to know much beyond calculating commissions.

One of the things I do it use my PA system for groups where people give speeches. For this I use an inexpensive set of Nady wireless mics. To record the speeches I run the rca plug back to the laptop and use Audacity. Again, lots of dirt in the sound.

With a dedicated interface would I run the mic receiver into the interface, USB to the puter for recording and use the monitor jack to run the PA system? If that is the flow, I'll need a system with a very low latency.

Come to think of it, That's how I would record live music performances too, isn't it?

[John Sargent]

I broke down and bought a presonus 44VSL and some AKG head phones. The Presonus has prety good reviews , 4 iputs with 4 preamps. It's all Greek to me so we'll see how it works out.