Newbe Audio Hardware Question

captdon wrote on 9/19/2004, 8:06 PM
I would appreciate a little guidance on buying inexpensive audio recording hardware. Here's what I've done so far: On a $500 PC (2g processor 1g ram 120g hard drive, generic dvd burner and Movie Studio ($100.00) plus a discontinued Shelf Model, As Is, Panasonic PV-DV102 mini DV. It took 10 months of self teaching but I ended up with a good DVD. My next step is to record local live concerts. With only one camera I'm shooting different angles on different days. I know I need mics, cables and a recorder to be able to make surround sound. I'll be upgrading to Vegas. Can anyone recommend a starter affordable audio recording solution. I also need a wireless lapel mike. Thanks! Oh, you know I'm new at this, right? (humor)

Comments

cosmo wrote on 9/20/2004, 7:42 AM
Huge question Captain. I don't do much live recording, in fact none, but I used to. There's lots of guys in here who do that too. Here's what you'll need.

First you'll need mics, of course. I'm not going to get specific with this. I'd advise going to a local store and talking to someone who can explain to you face to face about the different mics and uses for them. I have no idea what kinds of things you'll be recording so it's hard to say. You can also do some research online about the best live recording mics. Any way you go though, you're gonna need more than just one or two of them. And I wouldn't buy all of them until you know your system will handle the job. Read on.

That means you'll need a good sound card. I know several people personally, including myself, who have had a lot of success with the M-Audio card line. I'd say you should get a 10-input card, meaning you can record from up to 10 mics at once. You can search in this forum on soundcards and learn all about what cards others use. People in here use a lot of different cards.

Soundcards are very tricky mind you. You'll want to try recording through Vegas for a long period - like what you'll be doing live, that length. Let it roll and see how it performs. No two PCs are alike and you could have any kind of problem with any kind of card. You NEVER know until you try. After you have determined that your system will handle the task - then you could sink a bunch of cash into mics.

As for a "recorder" as you ask, I guess I've assumed you'd be recording to your hard drive. You're probably not thinking that way. You can do that though, it's an option. If you don't want to do that, and you want to do surround, you'll have to get a multitrack recorder like an ADAT or something like that(Alesis ADAT - 8 channel digital[via tape], chainable recorder). You can check out all that stuff somewhere like MusiciansFriend.com. You can also check out mics and sound cards there.

You have some research to do. Everything you need to know is online if you look though.
Cold wrote on 9/20/2004, 7:18 PM
Perhaps if your mainly doing video with suplementary audio, try posting in the video foum. Many folks here are audio only.

Recording true live surround means at least stereo front and stereo surround mics. a bare minimum of 4 tracks of audio. Normally at least a few spot mics and maybe a board feed as well are also tracked. You can track into vegas but you will need a high power laptop, a firewire interface such as the motu 828 , a mixing board with direct outs, multiple mics, etc.

You could sart with a good stereo pair and a dat recorder and create a fake surround mix with reverb....

To do it properly is money.
Steve S.