[RWP] buying new audio gear

[Chris Belle]

Saving money is good, but if you cheap out, and then later can't do a 
good job doing what you bought the gear for, you didn't save any money, 
but wasted it.

I would not recommend anything from sound blaster, unless they've 
totally come up in the world and have xlr inputs,
and fantom power, and proper line level inputs,
no offense to anyone here, but doing things with headphone splitters and 
such is well,
a southern engineered rigged way of doing things for getting more inputs 
and such.

YOu can't combine active inputs this way without possibly having issues 
from active electrical signals interfering with one another,
it can sort of work, but is not the right way to go.

Even an inexpensive mixer would do a better job and also give you signal 
isolation,
yes, the sound blaster may have asio drivers, but is probably lacking 
the essentials of an interface you'll want.

I would at least go with something like a lexicon alpha,
that's 60 dollars but you'll get a pair of line in-puts,
and a proper microphone input, no fantom power, but you could at least use
a conventional mic on it, with anything from the consumer level like 
sound blaster,
you'll be adapting and trying to match impedance, and well, like I said 
unless sound blaster
has really changed, it's more appropriate for just casual listening and
gaming and such.

Back in the day, I used to load sound fonts in the sound blaster cards,
but they're drivers were never that good,
now the big brother to sound blaster the emu stuff was pretty good,
but that's another story.

YOu don't have to go to the top of the mountain, but it's better for you 
to save up and get her something decent that she can use and add to 
rather than having to rig and make do, so what ever interface you get 
her, make sure it have the inputs she'll need to record her stuff.

I love the mackie onyx i line of stuff, but it clocks in at 400 dollars 
for the 820i, probably more than you want to spend.

But a lesser and good quality alternative might be the roland 
interfaces, the duo, and or tri capture.

Good luck.



On 11/27/2014 2:25 PM, Jim Noseworthy wrote:
> Jason:
>
> When you say Drums, I assume that you are not talking about Software 
> kits or Drum machines.  If you are recording real drums,
>
> acoustic guitar, and vocals, your main concern should probably be the 
> basics such as: a good mixer such as the Mackie Onyx 1220I,some good 
> microphones, perhaps, Reaper, and a computer that can handle the 
> load.  A controler can be added at any time when required.  Of course, 
> it's all about budget.
>
> Just some thoughts.
>
>
>
> On 11/27/2014 1:42 PM, Jason Fayre wrote:
>> Hi everyone,
>> I just subscribed to this list. I'm wanting to buy some audio gear for
>> my girlfriend for Christmas. Although I'm very technical, I'm not very
>> familiar with recording hardware and terminology, so go easy on me.
>> Here's what I'm looking for:
>> The recording she's been doing up to now is mostly acoustic guitar,
>> drums and vocals. No midi yet, but that is a possibility.
>> I'm leaning towards using Reaper for audio recording and editing as
>> opposed to something like Sonar. I like the cost and I'm having a hard
>> time justifying the cost of Sonar and cake talking, especially since
>> it doesn't work with latest Sonar.
>> I'm looking at purchasing a control surface. At this point, I'm
>> looking at the bcf2000. Any thoughts on that?
>> I'll also need an audio interface. What interface would people
>> recommend? One person told me to go with something like an Onyx 820i
>> as the audio interface. I've also heard good things about the m-audio
>> stuff.
>> As this setup is for home, I'm looking to save money where I can.
>> Any help or guidance would be appreciated?
>> Thanks!
>>
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>
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