I know everyone hates these questions

[FireItUp]

but alas, here i go
Me and my band have $500, MAYBE we'll stretch to $700 (if the change is dramatic in quality) and we want to do some decent recording stuff. Ive done some reading and what do you guys think of this setup, if you can think of a better setup for the $$ advice is appreciated.

-2 SM-57's
-1 SM-58
-condenser mike for drums- suggest a brand no more that $120
- beringer mixer
-external harddrive
- mike cables
-audacity
- apparently my friends dads computer is like $3000 and has a good soundcard

yay or nay?

[Moseph]

What is the makeup of the band?

That won't cover an 8-piece ska band, but if you're trio you might be alright.

I'd also recommend getting a DI box or something that's not a 57 for any sort of bass guitar. You can grab a reasonably inexpensive DI and bass drum mic for about the price of a 57.

Since budget is also a stronger factor than quality, consider also going with less expensive mics in general. You can get a PG58 for much less than an SM58, and I'm betting you'll never notice any real difference (especially based on the other gear you've listed- the mic probably won't be the weakest link in your chain). For condensers, check out MXL mics, which are a pretty good find at a very cheap price.

That should help you make budget, and may even give you a little left over for a mixer or sound card upgrade (those would be the weak points in your chain, if you were curious).

[FireItUp]

4-piece metal band
ill check out a DI box and cheaper mics, and a better mixer and soundcard
Whats a good soundcard, external soundcard preferably, to use?

We know were not gonna get an proffesional studio quality sound but we wanna make some good recordings without breaking the bank as we're only in high school.

Before i informed my friend otherwise, he was considering getting one of those $400 recording things rather than using the computer, and i said that at our budget, using the computer. Am I right or would useing a little 8 track recording studio thingy be better(which i doubt, but im just making sure)

EDIT: and what about pods, would that be better than micing our amps... id be miking a Marshall TSL with an attenuator( dont worry about the neighbors their usually cool with me playing). I heard That Audacity was a bit noisey and maybe using a pod would be the better route. And not that its essential but im curious, how are the cleans on a pod?

[Moseph]

The thing about the standalone hardware is that you often can't record more than 2 tracks simultaneously, and you're often limited to 8 tracks total (and that's if you know how to use it, which most owners don't really learn to do).

With a computer, it's pretty easy to overdub, edit, mix, and get more tracks out of it (say for instance, to add backup vocals or a guitar solo) which can be used to help promote a "pro" sound.

As for the pod, that's a matter of personal choice. If you already have one, and you can get it to sound good to you over headphones (without your amp in the way) then I say save the money on the mic and use it as a line out device (which means you wouldn't need a DI so long as the pod was in the chain). As for how good the pod itself sounds, I couldn't tell you, since I don't have one. I do happen to have an RP200A and a BP200 (both by Digitech) and if you take the time to tweak them, then you can get some good sounds out of them. But be warned, there was a lot of work involved (though it's not different than tweaking a pedal board/amp combo, I guess).

Audacity being "noisy" is not really based in fact. Software has very little to do with the audio as it is being recorded, that's largely dependent upon the hardware. Now, it's entirely possible that whoever was using Audacity for editing/mixing was stupid and made it sound bad.

One problem with using the pod as a direct device is being able to hear yourself during the take: adding a headphone monitoring system to your budget will easily make it jump another $160 (and that's for the pretty cheap stuff). However, if you have headphones anyway, and only one of you will be tracking at a time (which I don't recommend), then any decent mixer will have 1-2 headphone jacks ready to be used.

In your case, it's probably cheaper to get a mixer with 8 mic inputs and run that into a USB soundcard. You can cut costs by avoiding MIDI and mic preamps in the soundcard. The Lexicon Alpha and M-Audio Fasttrack are both about $100 I think, and should have the features you need.

[FireItUp]

thanks for all the help moseph

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/PreSonus-FIREBOX-24bit96kHz-FireWire-Recording-System?sku=184133
could this be used instead of the computers soundcard or is this a completely different thing. And do i need something like this to connect to the computer.

yea im still a noob at this, but im currently reading up online and i dont know all of the basics or recording yet. If im missing anything essential from this setup, someone please tell me. And if anyone has good websites to read up on, i would appreciate them and rep will be given.

[The Chemist]

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/PreSonus-FIREPOD-10Channel-FireWire-Interface-with-Cubase-LE?sku=184131

[FireItUp]

thats a bit out of my budget, but i just put out a link on my previous post of the smaller model of that. What are your thoughts on it?

[The Chemist]

24 bit, 96 sampling. not too bad.

[FireItUp]

+rep

anyone have advice?

[The Chemist]

Recording is different between people. What I do is different from what Mos does.

[FireItUp]

ya i know that, but im just curious whether or not there is a better setup for the price, or if theres something im missing, or if someone has a really good website about recording bookmarked on their computers and would give me the link.

[Moseph]

There's nothing you get using the Firebox that you don't get using a cheaper interface and USB. It's only 2 channels, so to do a full-band setup, you're still locked into a mixer+mics.

On the other hand, a nice inexpensive setup would consist of two matched mics (such as the MXL 990) acting as a stereo room pair, picking up the whole band at once. You can either overdub unamplified parts (such as vocals or hand percussion) or you can make use of a PA if you have one. The quality is minimal, but so is the budget:

$150-200 for USB interface (like Lexicon Lambda, Tascam US-122L, or E-mu0404).
$130 for MXL 990x2
$40 cables/stands

The existing computer should be capable of this setup already.

[FireItUp]

we have cables already and stands, and a really good set of headphones
right now i think i changed my setup im thinkin

-1 sm-57 for guitar and snare
-we have a bad vocal mic already but i can always borrow a sm-58 from a friend
-akg bass drum mic
-mxr condenser mic for overhead drums
-the firepod to connect to the computer + it comes with cubase so ill use that to record one person at a time
-beringer mixer just to bring the signal of the drums to one input
-external hardrive

and thats approx $700, not bad, whaddya think
o and + more rep

EDIT: oops i cant give you more rep today, it wont let me

[Moseph]

we have cables already and stands, and a really good set of headphones
right now i think i changed my setup im thinkin

-1 sm-57 for guitar and snare
-we have a bad vocal mic already but i can always borrow a sm-58 from a friend
-akg bass drum mic
-mxr condenser mic for overhead drums
-the firepod to connect to the computer + it comes with cubase so ill use that to record one person at a time
-beringer mixer just to bring the signal of the drums to one input
-external hardrive

and thats approx $700, not bad, whaddya think
o and + more rep

EDIT: oops i cant give you more rep today, it wont let me

If you're going to record one person at a time, you won't need the mixer for anything. The Firepod can handle multiple inputs, and Cubase will let you mix them however you like with the ability to change it later, which the mixer doesn't offer.

[FireItUp]

the firebox im getting only has 1 input so im using the mixer for the drums

[Moseph]

the firebox im getting only has 1 input so im using the mixer for the drums

The Presonus Firebox has two inputs (possibly 4, looking at the picture). It sounds like you're using "firebox" as a generic term, which isn't really done because it causes confusion.

What device are you talking about specifically?

[FireItUp]

the first link i put up.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/PreSonus-FIREBOX-24bit96kHz-FireWire-Recording-System?sku=184133

[Moseph]

That has 2 inputs, probably 4 (though if so, only 2 have mic pres).

Also, consider purchasing a USB device like the Lexicon Lambda/Alpha, M-Audio MobilePRE, or Tascam US-122L instead: they have the same basic functionality you seek in the Firebox, and are also $100-200 less expensive (you're paying a lot more in the Firebox for firewire connection and also D-Sub MIDI connections).

[FireItUp]

the tascam looks right up my alley, and it cuts down my costs to $515, so that works out wonderfully. The only thing, is that the Firebox came with cubase, so i guess ill end up using audacity. Thanks