new and needing recording gear....can you help?

[draktar]

Thanks!

I have continued the search online and am taking in what you all have been sending me. Of course one side wants to get something huge and just grow into it but I know from past experience that those ideas dont always...ok..so they almost never work out. The other side of me knows to take it slow and step up when needed. Now which side will win? HA! I think I will need to let those voices fight it out for a day or two but at least I have great advice and I can't say that no one told me so!

Jason

[playagibson]

I've only been recording with DAW's for less than a year. I have an apogee one and Logic 9 thru a dual core imac
I have Komplete 8 ultra, psp and amplitube plugins.
If your planning on adding these types of plugins to your arsenal and taking advantage of multi tracking
I would recommend you get at least a quad core with as much ram as possible.
Some friends may tell you a lesser computer will suffice but at the end of the day you won't regret having more a
more powerful computer.
As far as plugins go, UA satellite and komplete 8 ultra will cover most of the bases.
The previous advice given is all accurate and true. In my case I bought logic 9 and learnt from scratch.
It's an amazing DAW system and I'm still discovering new possibilities with it.
Regarding an interface I am planning on upgrading to a apogee duet for stereo mic ing.
Another important toy is a vocal preamp. I have a " pro mpa 11 " which for the money works really well.
There are many others on the market that work well. ( that's another forum )

[mazz]

If I were a newbie and committed to the Mac platform, I would march right over to my local Apple Store and have them give me a thorough demo of Logic.

Then I would consider how many inputs I would be recording at the same time and if it is one or two to start with, I'd take a close look at one of the plug and play Apogee interfaces or possibly even the new USB mic they just introduced at the NAMM show. You can't go wrong with Apogee partly because their stuff is designed to integrate closely with Logic and Mac computers. You will have a vertical learning curve anyway, so you might as well make some of the technical aspects somewhat easier. You'll need a decent pair of speakers as well, don't forget that. And if you are a keyboardist, or even if you're not, you'll need some way to get MIDI data into your DAW so budget for that as well. You don't need a fancy 88 key controller to start with, get something with 49 keys to get started and learn it inside and out.

IMO, if you get something like Logic, you won't need to add to it for quite some time because it basically has everything you will need to create music from the ground up. And as your skills and ears improve, you can make further purchases to enhance what you already have and your decisions will be much more informed because you'll have the experience to back them up.

Also remember that many of us posting here have been doing this for years and have forgotten a lot of the painful steps it took to wrap our heads around the basics of recording, not to mention writing a good song or piece of music to record!! So have patience because you probably won't be creating great sounding stuff for several months at least.

Go for it, but go easy on yourself if it doesn't magically make you a success overnight! The hype is one thing, the reality is another, have patience!

Good luck,

Mazz

[Len911]

More than likely, in the future, you will be spending the bulk of your money on vst instruments and effects, mics, etc. beyond what is bundled with a daw anyway, so keep that in mind. You don't really need a top of the line computer unless you are planning on a large orchestral ensemble with a gazillion effects and instances, and want them open at the same time. There are work arounds like "freezing instruments" etc. or rendering. It's like the difference between having one channel from an API or Neve console and overdubbing, or having to buy a whole console, or usually settling for something less with a lot of channels.

[mojobone]

Avid's new MBox line has the same converters as Apogee Duet, and most versions include ProTools native. This would leave some budget for a mic or monitor upgrade, and maybe a few cool plugins. I recommend you invest half your budget in monitors, it's THAT important to be able to hear what you're recording/mixing. If you have and use a MIDI keyboard and virtual instruments are important, consider Logic; it's hard to beat on price and comes with a good and useful set of pro-grade virtual instruments, and will work with the Avid interface or nearly any other, and the MIDI editing is much easier, better and more comprehensive than in ProTools.