tell me more

Killjingle · Post by **Killjingle** » Saturday Dec 24, 2005

looked at the powertacks pro. I like what I saw.

I used to be so up on this shit, and then I fell away from it.

I want very badly to build a home studio, that I can multitrack, etc.

here's what I ultimately want to do... record any project I am involved with, but enjoy the confines of my home.

here is what I own... the pc

so I suppose the question is... I know a card is needed to plug into your mother board, and then how many channel board would you reccomend? I want to be able to have 16 channels minimum on the recording side. What is a reasonably priced board that will interface with the card that I will install in my pc, and then interface with powertracks pro. I have been in the studio multiple times, and that was the one question that I have never asked. I really dont want to just buy another portastudio or something of that nature. I would prefer to do it on my PC.

what is a good card to buy?
what is a decent board to buy?
other than compressors, EQ's, delay boxes, what are the rack boxes you have to have, other than letting the software doing the work?

the pc I recently bought is a compaq. this is what I have to work with, and I am not interested in buying another pc. specs are

Compaq Presario Desktop PC (SR1630NX)

•AMD Athlon™ 64 3500+
•200GB 7200RPM hard drive
•512MB of DDR SDRAM

thank you and merry christmas

lonewolf · Post by **lonewolf** » Saturday Dec 24, 2005

There are a lot of different ways to go with 16 channels.

There are firewire and pci setups under $500 that will interface to your computer from M-Audio, EMU, Yamaha and a few others. These have 2 to 4 mic preamps, up to 8 line inputs, stereo s/pdif i/o and an ADAT interface. You then need to get either a mixer or 8 channel mic pre with an ADAT interface to get the other 8 channels. A good mixer is the Yamaha 01V with ADAT card. The 01v96 is better, but there will be no audio standard at 96khz, so it doesn't do you much good spending extra bucks if you are doing this for a 44.1khz CD. Presonus, M-Audio, Behringer and a few others make 8 channel mic preamps with ADAT interface.

Another thing that you can look for is a dual ADAT PCI interface like Frontier Design, and a larger mixer with two ADAT interfaces. That kind of mixer will be at least a few thousand.

If you can deal with 10 tracks, M-Audio makes an interface for $200 called the Delta 1010. A stereo mic pre with s/pdif I/O and any good analog mixer with direct outs and an 8 channel dynamics processor would do the job.

If you want 16 tracks at 192khz, you will need to see your nearest mortgage broker.

Killjingle · Post by **Killjingle** » Saturday Dec 24, 2005

44.1 will be fine. I am without a catalog currently, 8 preamp mixer, what kinda buck for that? I am steadfast on trying to giving each drum its own track....

Kick 1
Snare 2
H Tom 3
m Tom 4
L Tom 5
Ride 6
High hat 7
Overhead (for color)8

bass 9

guitar left 10
guitar right 11
leads and other guitars 12

vox 13
vox 14
vox 15

I realize that lot of this can be done the second pass... but I would like to get the drums... bass... and vocal scratch so that makes 10.... my budget is kinda open on this matter... I mean I dont wanna spend 5 grand but I got something decent to invest into it... thoughts please

also define "8 channel dynamics processor"

or have I lost my mind... and should I keep buying the portastudios that I have always invested in.... I just hate the limitations... I loved my last 3 experiences in the studio, the first two were forgettable, and by far the last was over the top. I was so impressed with Bill Filer and his knowledge. I am hearing great things bout Dave Moses's last recording, and this is something I have enjoyed since I was 14 when I got my first portastudio and drum machine. Its something I have never had the money to do correctly.

lonewolf · Post by **lonewolf** » Saturday Dec 24, 2005

8 channel dynamics processor is a device with 8 channels of compression/limiting. Presonus and a few others make them.

The nice thing about the Yamaha 01V that they have built in dynamics for each channel. With the ADAT card, the 01V can give you 10 digital outs along with 6 analog outs. Match that up with a PCI card that has an ADAT, S/PDIF and 6 analog inputs and you have 16 tracks. Keep in mind that the S/PDIF and analog stereo outs will be redundant and good for scratch tracks.

Behringer also makes a low cost board that will do 16 ADAT tracks. I don't know how good the quality is. I know the Yamaha is drop dead quiet.

Since they have midi, you can use these mixers as a control surface as well.

The Yamaha 01V goes for around $600 used. I think the Behringer is under $1000 new if you can find them.

Killjingle · Post by **Killjingle** » Sunday Dec 25, 2005

ok.. I am interested in learning the nuts and bolts of this...

I just researched this

"S/PDIF
(Sony/Philips Digital InterFace) A serial interface for transferring digital audio between devices such as CD and DVD players and amplifiers. The consumer version of the AES/EBU interface, S/PDIF uses unbalanced 75 ohm coaxial cable up to 10 meters terminated with RCA connectors. It also uses an optical fiber cable with a Toslink (Toshiba link) connector"

"ADAT
Today, ADAT is simply a format for transport of (up to) eight tracks of digital audio at once. The format is no longer strictly tied to ADAT tape machines, and is utilized by AD converters, input cards to DAWs, effects machines, etc. One of the benefits of utilizing ADAT versus S/PDIF or AES/EBU is that a single cable can carry up to eight inputs, or tracks. Thus, a user can save eight tracks at a time with one ADAT computer interface.

ADAT is considered a professional format, and while it is slowly being replaced by the computer-based DAW, it is still a format widely used in the recording industry. Because of its high reliability, it is also still in use for scientific work, and to drive laser light shows"

So... is this correct...

you record into the mixer via the 8 channels, then that transfers directly to your pc via the adat? or is that incorrect. does it travel via the S/PDIF ? then to add to the orig 8 tracks, the computer does the playback, and you simply layer as appropriate? I am a beginner when it comes to the digital RECORDING side of it, but I am very eager to learn.

Also these ADAT cards... are they add on's to the board? I see some of them are pricey... there again from what I have read the options are limitless and look very promising... then these ADAT cards transfer files to the pc via firewire, USB2.0, and I assume there are PCI cards for my pc that will wire to them as well?

Killjingle · Post by **Killjingle** » Sunday Dec 25, 2005

so I can further sound stupid...

if you have ADAT and can transfer 8 tracks at a time...

using a 8 channel mic preamp with ADAT interface

is the limitation of powertracks 16 channel?

lonewolf · Post by **lonewolf** » Sunday Dec 25, 2005

Thats about right. I think Powertracks is limited to 48 tracks.

The 01V has 16 analog inputs...12 mic channels and two balanced stereo channels. These inputs are converted to digital as soon as they get thru the preamp.

With the optional ADAT expansion, you can assign mic channels 1-8 to ADAT channels 1-8 and send them to the ADAT input on the computer. You can also return those recorded tracks back into the mixing board on playback. There's 8 tracks.

The 01V also has 4 auxiliary busses that are output to analog. They are like any other aux in that you can send the signal from any or some or all channels to each bus. If you connect them up to 4 analog inputs on a pci card, you could send mic channels 9 thru 12 to aux 1 thru 4 and into the computer. There's 4 more tracks for a total of 12 discreet tracks.

The 01v also has a stereo s/pdif and analog stereo out that are both the main mix of the levels. If you connect the s/pdif to the pci board's s/pdif, you could probably use these as guide or scratch tracks.

Many PCI boards also have a pair of microphone preamps. There's two more tracks for a total of 14 discreet and a stereo scratch.

Your PCI or Firewire interface should have:

1 ADAT I/O
1 S/PDIF I/O
2 analog mic preamps
4 analog line inputs
Stereo output, or 6 outputs for 5.1, or 8 outputs for 7.1
Midi In and Out

Killjingle · Post by **Killjingle** » Sunday Dec 25, 2005

fucking A... now I am starting to understand what is going on.

I have been browsing for awhile for a board that would be similar to the 01v. Any more suggestions? My gf is gonna shit when I drop all of this cash... hahahha. I see so many options, and I understand you get what you pay for, but I havent seen a 01v for under 2000.

appreciate all your help so far... met you at the castle pub when my brother was playing(House of Cain)

Killjingle · Post by **Killjingle** » Sunday Dec 25, 2005

the hard question for me right now is...

do I make the investment into a home studio...

or do I buy another digital workstudio?

Tascam has made products that I absolutely loved. Yet I really enjoy PC based recording. I dont imagine myself ever having the talent to put something as audio-orgasmic as a Led Zeppelin album, but I want to be able to record and distribute CD's that are of a high quality. I want to have that magical kick drum sound, that defining thud that my fav artists use. I want to have clarity on the cymbals, and high hat, the meaty guitar riffing. I have been around long enough to understand that there are a lot of variables that go into making those things happen... but do you think those portable digital recorders are capable of that? I got to thinking today and Im not sure I have the space in my house to even build the studio I have always dreamed about as a kid. Maybe when I was house hunting I should have thought about that, but that being said, what is done is done, so it is what it is.

Probs....
I cant seem to find a portable with
8 xlr inputs
one that has a true 16 channel mixer(I hate when they combine channels)

I kinda dug the TASCAM 2488 , the Fostex VF160EX, and I kinda like this deal http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=h ... id/245014/

THOUGHTS?

lonewolf · Post by **lonewolf** » Sunday Dec 25, 2005

They are all 8-track-record machines, many with only 2-4 mic inputs--the Yamaha is a bit more impressive with 8. The Tascam 2488 is really meant for a midi setup with the SMF player doing rhythms. These machines are convenient, but nowhere near as nice as having a graphical view like using software on a computer.

BTW, you can't buy the 01V new at the typical places anymore. Those $2000 machines are the 01V96. If you look on eBay, you will occasionally find a few new old stock 01Vs going for around $600.

Mackovyak · Post by **Mackovyak** » Thursday Jan 12, 2006

I'll be honest, I only browsed this thread real quickly, depending on your budget, you'd be much better buying one of the new Alesis Multimix 16 Firewire mixers. 16 Channel Simultaneous, low latency, and it comes bundled with a home studio version of Cubase.

I'm actually thinking of getting one for a portable setup.

Of course this all depends on the power of your computer, but you'll be much more ahead of the game going this direction.

UnkleMartin28 · Post by **UnkleMartin28** » Thursday Oct 26, 2006

I'm with Mack on the Alesis, I have been using it for about 6 months now... Go with a mg16 Firewire and you can link multiple units together giving 32 tracks, Provided you have the pc powere and program to match... It comes with stripped down cubase software... SO youll be needing editing/recording software also.. BUT for a $1,000 for 2 units, might give you more bang for your dollar... I've found the quality to be pretty clean and consistent, and have had some comments by publishers on the sound quality of demos..