Acoustic Demos

**SupaNova** · 02-11-2007, 03:29 PM

Hey guys, I've been thinking about recording my own music again and I'd appreciate some recommendations on what kind of mics to look into, what kind of software might be helpful, what kind of gear is absolutely necessary, etc. If you couldn't tell, I am not a tech head by any means and I only have a very basic understanding of audio engineering. I'm not interested in professional sounding recordings at the moment, right now I'd just like to create some decent sounding demos with just acoutic guitar and vocals, and possibly some keyboard/piano too. Ideally, I'd like to spend under $100 but I could probably stretch that out to somewhere around $200 if necessary.

Let me know if there's any more info I could share that would be helpful to know, and thanks again.

**Rainer.** · 02-11-2007, 10:31 PM

For $200, I'd look into getting a rudimentary USB interface and a large diaphragm condenser mic of some sort, which should get you pretty professional results. Though there are many ways in which you can do this.

Soap · 02-11-2007, 10:32 PM

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/C03usb/

No interface needed.

For keyboard, get a cheap 1/4" to 1/8" cable and plug it into your line-in jack.

**Gustin** · 02-11-2007, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoapbarII

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/C03usb/

No interface needed.

For keyboard, get a cheap 1/4" to 1/8" cable and plug it into your line-in jack.

If you're looking for any kind of quality and minimal latency, I'd stay away from the second half of that.

A simple interface and mic like Jon suggested would probably be a good solution.

**SupaNova** · 02-12-2007, 12:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoapbarII

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/C03usb/

No interface needed.

So you basically just hook that mic up through a USB port and you're ready to go? Have you had any experience working with this mic or something similar?

And suppose I decided to go the interface route, is there a certain brand or model that typically gets recommended above the others or does that kind of vary depending on what the project is?

Soap · 02-12-2007, 07:19 AM

The first response people usually give to that question is the MBox...but there are much cheaper solutions that most of the time can do more (they just dont come with ProTools).

This would be my choice (If i need a preamp, which you will): http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TonePortUX1/

**Gustin** · 02-12-2007, 09:33 AM

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Alpha/
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Lambda/
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LinkUSB/

Are good choices as well. They all come with decent preamps (two channels on the last two), good recording software (the Lexicons come with Cubase I believe and the Link.USB comes with Tracktion), and all of them have some good plugins bundled with it (the mackie plug ins on Tracktion are great, as is the Lexicon reverb).

Soap · 02-12-2007, 05:11 PM

^ Those would be my next choices if I had the money.

**SupaNova** · 02-13-2007, 12:19 AM

Hey, thanks for the suggestions guys. I'm kind of leaning towards the Tone Port but I will definately take a closer look at each of them in a day or so when I have some more spare time to do so.

Out of curiosity, do ya'll think that those Naiant mics would be a wise choice to start off with? And yes, I'm mainly asking because of the great sale they have going on right now

**Gustin** · 02-13-2007, 09:33 AM

I've heard less than good things about the preamps on the toneport. If you plan on doing a lot of acoustic type stuff with a condenser, I'm not sure if the preamp will be up to it. Check some reviews though as I've never actually heard the preamps.

Soap · 02-13-2007, 12:55 PM

Honestly, if you want a good preamp...as in professional quality, you're going to pay. Presonus has award winning pre's, but the 2-pre interface is somewhere around $300-400. That is one of the cheaper ones.

**Gustin** · 02-13-2007, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoapbarII

Honestly, if you want a good preamp...as in professional quality, you're going to pay. Presonus has award winning pre's, but the 2-pre interface is somewhere around $300-400. That is one of the cheaper ones.

Not really. The Tapco I posted has very clean Mackie designed preamps, and the Lexicons are pretty decent as well.

Now obviously there's a difference between these preamps and those of say a Great River or a Presonus ADL , but for what he's looking for, a simple clean preamp with phantom power will be just fine.

DreamChaser · 02-13-2007, 03:50 PM

Heya,

I suggest getting an audio interface like the Presonus Inspire, which cost me about $200. I bought it for the vocalist in my duo, and it works fantastic for the higher-than-the-typical-demo quality we're going for. After that, I'd get a mic for around $100. I don't have any perticular suggestions other than a low-end MXL brand mic. I've been using an MXL 2001 for quite a while, and it works fairly well.

That'll be a hundred over your proposed budget, but honestly, an interface for under $200 is going to be difficult to reach, while stil retaining some quality.