Setting up and understanding a home recording studio

[Kondrath]

Hello, all. I know that this is more of a computer tech place, but it's very helpful to say the least, so I thought I'd try my luck here...

I'm interested in making music recording a hobby. I've only got 500$ to spend on cheap equipment, but I'm not sure what I need exactly to make everything work. I have an OK understanding of mixers, mics, etc. But I'm very confused about how to connect each of them to my computer.

I'm thinking of getting an SM58 to record vocals. I heard it's the standard for that, and it has pretty good reviews.

For a mixer/pre-amp, I'm not sure what to get. I'm thinking of getting a small Behringer mixer, but I don't even know if I need one of these. I could probably just buy a pre-amp and be fine, but I have idea where to look or what to look for.

Now... is that all I will need for the bare minimums? I could care less about monitors/headphones at the moment.

A friend told me I'll need a firewire interface for the mixer to connect to, and then I'll be set.

Also, I have a really horrible soundcard (Realtek 97'), so I'm thinking the Emu 0404 will be enough. But I don't know.

Besides that, I'm wanting to know how to connect this equipment to my computer. I think the mixer I'm thinking of getting uses those red and white RCA cables to transfer the audio... How would I go about connecting them to my computer? A converter, or the firewire interface? I'm sure the converter would make me lose some quality...

I'm a complete noob when it comes to this kind of thing, so any help would be really appreciated.

Thanks in advance

[xithium]

I'm thinking of getting an SM58 to record vocals. I heard it's the standard for that, and it has pretty good reviews.

It is a standard for live and stage use, but you might possibly do better for your money. The SM58 is a dynamic mic, so it's not as sensitive as condensor mics (the type most suited for the studio), and it doesn't pick up high frequencies well. If you plan to use this mic in live situations as well as at home, than an SM58 (or similar model from Sennheiser) should be fine, but if you only plan to use this at home then mics from the likes of sE Electronics, Rode, Samson, M-Audio and others will give better results.

I could care less about monitors/headphones at the moment.

I assume you mean you couldn't care less about monitors or headphones, which I think is a big mistake. The way you hear what you recorded is your only real reference to how it sounds. You could spend thousands on Neumann mics, Neve equipment and an acoustically treated studio, but if your speakers can't reproduce that, all the editing/mixing decisions you make won't be based on what the recording actually sounds like, but the poor quality your speakers are producing.

Take your recording or mix somewhere else to listen to it and it won't sound good.

A friend told me I'll need a firewire interface for the mixer to connect to, and then I'll be set.

Also, I have a really horrible soundcard (Realtek 97'), so I'm thinking the Emu 0404 will be enough. But I don't know.

Besides that, I'm wanting to know how to connect this equipment to my computer. I think the mixer I'm thinking of getting uses those red and white RCA cables to transfer the audio... How would I go about connecting them to my computer? A converter, or the firewire interface? I'm sure the converter would make me lose some quality...

It sounds to me, that your best bet is an audio interface with everything built in. This should make things easier and more intuitive, and help preserve as much quality as possible.

Firewire interfaces are preferable to USB interfaces generally, but if you're only going to record one or two tracks at a time, then there's not much between the two formats.

Companies like E-MU, M-Audio, Focusrite and PreSonus all make good products that might be useful to you. If you get one with mic preamps built-in and hardware monitoring capabailities, you can dispense with need for a mixer altogether.

If you also need some software, most interfaces come with some kind of sequencer package, but you may wish to investigate the products from Digidesign such as the MBox 2 which has everything built in and includes a highly capable version of Pro Tools (which for better or worse, is none the less the standard in the industry for pop and rock genres)

[jokeripa]

Hey man, a nice cheap setup would be

Reaper for the DAW. Its very lightweight, loads of feature, never expires, but the license only costs $40 if you buy it.

The SM58, as you stated, get a pop screen though.

The Fast Track Pro, as a USB interface for your mic. You don't another preamp. it also has phanton power. Cheap, but with loads of features. Low latency also.

To be honest mate, if your only using one mic and a USB interface theres really no point in getting a hardware mixer just yet, as it doesn't really give you much advantage with just one mic, especially when its going into a USB interface.

What exactly are you trying to record, you say vocals, singing?