shbamac
81 posts
Jan 28, 2011
3:40 PM
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Looking to buy an audio interface. Prefer quality over quantity. Need at least 2 inputs. Don't need phatom power but I guess it couldn't hurt. Needs to be USB or Firewire. Was looking at the Zoom H4n. That way could have dual functionality. Portable recorded and a interface. Or maybe the Apogee Duet. Anyone have either of these? Or other opinions?
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MrVerylongusername
1538 posts
Jan 28, 2011
4:02 PM
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I hope they've improved it in going from H4 to H4n, because my H4 is almost useless as an audio interface due to the high latency
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waltertore
987 posts
Jan 28, 2011
5:02 PM
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I have been totally immersed in teaching myself how to make decent sounding recordings for the past 7 years or so. I have had the early zoom, mini discs, adat, dat, and finally a computer based recording system. One thing I can share is this is a journey much like learning any instrument. What you think you need today will probably change over time as you get better at it. If I had a crystal ball when I started I would have seen to buy the best possible gear I could right out of the gate. It has a much higher resale value as well as the quality component. But I learned a lot working my way through these various recording devices and also with preamps, interfaces, plugins, monitors, room treatment, etc. It is all about how far you want to go with it. My goal has always been to make recordings that sound good enough to make me happy and that means real close to my favorite recording by my heros. Like any instrument, 7 years just gets you on the ground floor. I got a lifetime to go and am enjoying the entire ride. One thing I would stay away from is the delta 1010 soundcard. I bought mine when it was the only one out there that would let you record up to 8 tracks at once and was under a few grand. It keeps blowing capacitors and I have found out via doing some research that this is a comon problem. Also get more channels than you think you will need. Then you are covered when you want to record with other musicians. If this seems of any help and you want specifics with preamps and whatnots let me know. Being in complete control of my music as I play is golden, and now being in complete control of how it sounds to the world is supreme. I have been in tons of reknowned studios and came out with products that sounded great but didn't feel right. Now I got that covered! Good luck! Walter
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walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
" life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
2,600+ of my songs
continuous streaming - 200 most current songs
my videos
Last Edited by on Jan 28, 2011 5:13 PM
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shbamac
82 posts
Jan 28, 2011
7:02 PM
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Basically looking or something with decent Pre's/DAC/ADC. Something that's a bit "warmer" with even bass/mids/highs. Less in the highs and more in the bass/mids. But will not color the sound to much. More of "true or clean" sound. I don't want more/need than two channels. This will be just for around the house recording myself for myself. If need be I have access to more high end gear and free studio time. I've been in the studio before and recorded at home. But that was over ten years ago now. Back then at home I used a cheap PCI card and a cheap $5 mic. But got very good results. Even impressed the studio guys. Software can be a beautiful tool... Just want to step it up a bit. Recently bought a iMac (old pc finally died). Haven't looked into recording gear in a long time. Just want to get some ideas/opinions to start looking. There's to many choices and not enought time to look at all of them.
Last Edited by on Jan 28, 2011 7:05 PM
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waltertore
990 posts
Jan 28, 2011
7:15 PM
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I can't help you out. I have been focusing on my own studio and the lower high end stuff. In about 5 years I will have at least 5 channels of top preamps and gear that will rival most quality studios. I am no longer interested in paying to go into someones studio. Too much of a crap shoot for the $. If you check out homerecording.com and gearslutz.com there will be a wealth of info for you. Walter
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walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
" life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
2,600+ of my songs
continuous streaming - 200 most current songs
my videos
Last Edited by on Jan 28, 2011 7:17 PM
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shbamac
83 posts
Jan 28, 2011
7:18 PM
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Cool, will check out those links.
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oldwailer
1530 posts
Jan 28, 2011
8:22 PM
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I got am M-audio fast track ultra last month when my old Alesis MultiMix8 Fire-wire went South--I like it very much. I made a CD of Xmas music for family that I liked a lot using this gear. I can just use my regular guitar cords and Shure mics directly into it--the FX is added in the mix. I use it with the Reaper software--but, if you're on Mac, you probably have that part covered already.
The M-audio has 4 inputs in the front--but you can get crazy with a bunch more inputs in the back--I've never needed more than two or three myself. . .
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Always be yourself--unless you suck. . .
-Joss Whedon
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