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Post by rickyguitar on Mar 21, 2021 0:27:05 GMT -5
Getting set up in the new room. I have an older Boss digital recorder that is kind of primitive. It lacks usable drums. I graduated to Cubase a few years back but the learning curve was a bit steep for me. Oh, and they always wanted more money for something or other. I am wondering if any of you can recommend a home recording setup. Most of my experience was in the analog days but I have trolled the digital side of the force as well. Thanks in advance.
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Post by ninworks on Mar 21, 2021 5:20:33 GMT -5
Cubase is a very powerful Digital Audio Workstation. Any DAW you get that is worth its salt will have a learning curve. I have not used it personally since about version 2 but FL Studio is highly regarded. It used to be called Fruity Loops. It is popular with a lot of Rap and Hip Hop artists. The earlier versions were simpler than something like Cubase, Pro Tools, Ableton, Reason, etc. I don't know if that still holds true or not.
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Post by Auf Kiltre on Mar 21, 2021 10:56:35 GMT -5
One thing to consider is if the software you settle on is a subscription package, like Pro Tools is now. I won't be going that route when my Win 7/Pro Tools 10 box gives up the ghost. I think my next box won't be a laptop, either. I've had mine for 8 or 9 years now and never had the occasion to take it out of the house.
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Post by rickyguitar on Mar 21, 2021 13:17:58 GMT -5
Is audacity any good
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Post by Auf Kiltre on Mar 21, 2021 16:22:54 GMT -5
I've used Audacity for ripping some reference material (2 track wav, mp3, etc.). I've never used it for multitracking but feel it's as basic as you can get. Depends on how serious your production intentions are. It certainly wouldn't hurt to try if its still free. I did notice that some of my plugins seem to populate in the program.
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Post by ninworks on Mar 21, 2021 21:05:15 GMT -5
I used the predecessor to Audacity for a long time. Adobe bought the rights to that software from Syntrillium. The program used to be called Cool Edit Pro. I used that one a lot before I moved to Pro Tools in 2007. I still have Cool Edit Pro installed on my computer and use it for converting audio tracks to different formats like, wav to mp3 etc. It has a 2 channel section and a separate multi-track section. For close up editing you can import a track from the multi-track section for editing and then work with the edited track in the multi-track section.
The two programs are very much the same but Audacity has some MIDI capability that Cool Edit Pro did not. I have used Audacity with some success but never did an entire project with it. The two programs are so similar I didn't have to figure Audacity out. It will do about anything you want to do audio-wise with some limitations. I can't speak to the MIDI capability of it because I have never used that. I believe Audacity can use VST plugins but don't know about the newer VST2 or VST3 formats. If you are used to a linear recording format such as tape then Audacity may do anything you want but, if you want to get into quantizing audio tracks and such Audacity will not do that where all the heavyweight DAW's like Cubase, Ableton, Reason, Pro Tools, Logic, Digital Performer, etc. will.
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Post by rickyguitar on Mar 21, 2021 22:20:03 GMT -5
I struggled with Cubase. It was an exercise in frustration. Not sure I am up for that level of aggravation.
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Post by ninworks on Mar 22, 2021 7:29:17 GMT -5
If Cubase is giving you grief be glad you didn't get Pro Tools. Their Help functions are ridiculously complicated and not very well thought out. I believe that is calculated to force you into paying for their support.
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Post by rickyguitar on Mar 22, 2021 13:04:05 GMT -5
Cubase support appears to be in Europe. Very. Very. Very slow to respond. I have version 6.5. New is 11, I think. I suppose I can reactivate, but I will have to buy another dongle, and that ties up a USB.
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Post by FlyonNylon on Mar 22, 2021 22:29:23 GMT -5
I used Audacity for a long time and while it was a good intro to digital recording, I wish I'd switched earlier.. no live plugin support, lack of professional quality comp/reverb/pitch modulation, etc x 100. It's great for what it is, and very impressive it has spectral editing, etc but upgrading has made me realize all the time I could have saved buying a better DAW to begin with.. a big reason I stuck with audacity was because it worked with the bare-bones laptop I had in my studio.
Current set up is: mic -> focusrite 2i2 -> mini desktop pc 1tb ssd 16gb ddr4 -> studio one 5 pro daw. Total cost not including mic is about $1.1k. Went cheap with the PC (hp elitedesk amazon refub) but has worked great so far.
Most important upgrade (other than fingers/voice) is the DAW. Just so much easier to do everything with a proper piece of software. I would definitely recommend Studio One although there's a learning curve.
If you know how to use Cubase and have a computer to run it, I'd spring for the software upgrade or another DAW vs downloading audacity unless your only goal is to record raw audio and leave editing/mixing/mastering to someone else.
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Post by roly on Mar 23, 2021 20:02:49 GMT -5
The current version of my software is Samplitude Pro X 5 Suite.
I'm still using Pro X 4 Suite.
It is very powerful software and is expensive, I prefer it to Pro Tools.
I think a fully functional demo is available.
Learning curve is steep but even a bass player (me) can figure it out so I doubt that you will encounter any issues.
I feel pretty strongly about cutting corners, why buy a Volkswagen when what you really need is a Camaro.
Can't hurt to try the demo.
cheers
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Post by Auf Kiltre on Mar 24, 2021 13:34:34 GMT -5
Since you're familiar with Pro Tools, would you say a working knowledge of P/T would put one a step ahead in learning Samplitude? |
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Post by roly on Mar 24, 2021 16:23:32 GMT -5
I think a background in any DAW would be helpful.
They all have the same primary functions.
What the DAW offers beyond the primary functions is what makes it distinct.
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