Another PC Recording Thread: Digidesign Mbox vs. E-Mu 1212\1880

DriftingByTheStorm

Hey everyone (ie. pacoma79,MIG ... lol)

So,
i hate my fucking tascam and the limitations of linear recording, and trying to stomp in my parts ... i can never get anything to line up, and rerecording is a biatch.

i want to get my computer setup to record ON THE CHEAP ...
i've searched the other threads and seen some good advice.

My specific question is about SOUNDCARDS

Ok,
so understand that this is not a question about a STUDIO, per se'.
i have no intentions of producing anything professional.

i just have a few friends that like to jam &\or rock out on occasion,and we would like to lay it down and fuck it up.

i don't need the best, and i'd actually rather not shell out the cash for the best, cause chances are someone will get drunk and plug something in wrong and it will all explode.

anyhow ... i have had my eye on either an
E-MU 1212 or E-MU 1818 sound card, but am not sure either is really what i NEED. just what i WANT. INFACT, if i could get away with something in the $99 to $150 range for right now, like the DELTA 77 of whatever the hell it is, that would be great also.

can someone break down the reality of what the difference is between the two, and what a guy like me would be doing with either. And then tell me why i wouldn't or would want a $99 soundcard instead.

as far as WHAT we are recording, mostly guitar and bass. I may take the 8 track over to a friends house and stick a mic on some drums and then dump the analog into the computer.

i seriously doubt i'll be fucking with much MIDI.
atleast that is to say i do not have any midi enabled hardware.
the only keyboards i have are an old Roland SH-9 (i think) monophonic bass keyboard
and a piece of crap yamaha that i wouldn't even think about using to record.

So this would be for guitar, bass, analog dumping, and vocals ...

as far as the vocals go, do i really need a preamp or can i be ghetto and dump it off the XLR input from my tascam? it has phantom power. is that enough or is a preamp necessary?

someone talk for a minute about getting the guitar and bass to the computer ... just stick one of my mics against the cabinet and dump it straight into the soundcard or does this also need some sort of preamp?

CAN SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT IS BETTER for all of this the e-mu cards i'm looking at or a Digidesigns MBOX ? ? ?

I am not familiar with the MBOX at all, but know it is protools based. Don't know much about ProTools either ... what i intended to use as a program was, i believe, CakeWalk Sonar Producers Edition ... which i have scored a ripped copy of off of Emule File Sharing ...

is protools and the MBOX really all that? If i get the EMU card does that prohibit me from using ProTools LE in the future if i want? But i think i saw somewhere that Delta is supported, but not the Emu ... huh ... so a $99 card will work with protools but not a $400 card?

Basicaly if you don't talk about anything else,
i'd like to hear peoples opinions on what a guy like me would need out of a soundcard, and which one has more of the stuff i'd like to fuck with. And how cheap i can go without cursing the piece of shit nightly.

That'd be suhweet.
thanx.

Pacomc79

most programs are fairly similar. (Cool Edit, Cakewalk, Cubase) it's all similar formats.

The main complaint with Digidesign (Protools) is that it's very hardware dependant. You have to have all the right stuff or it dosen't work right. That aside, Protools is THE industry standard. It dosen't use the internal soundcard so you don't get that infernal buzz like you do with Cool Edit for instance. Basically you'll always only be as pure as the weakest link no matter what you use. I personally will be going with the Mbox bundle soon, whenever I decide to begin my voice tracking and recording company. We have a Digi02 at school and I plan on wearing that out. It generally depends on what you like, I'm biased, but I don't have any experience with EMU. I'm sure you can make fine recordings on either. It all depends on your level of patience and creativity. I just love protools for the features and the format generally. It's also just good to know because generally any studio you go into will have something similar. Just my 2 cents, MIG's opinion far outweighs mine.

Berkley College of Music (Boston) offers online courses in Protools. If you're interested, you can check out thier website.

exhausted

i love my mbox. plug everything straight. no fucking around with external preamps, external phantom power etc. etc.

DriftingByTheStorm

so i could stick a mic against the amp cab and stick the other end of the mic in to the mbox as is?

how many ins does that thing have?
it looks so tiny.
sheesh.

is it basically an external soundcard or is there a component that you install to PCI as well?

i'm just confused over how that little white fin communicates with the computer.

its funny lookin.

exhausted

mic plug directly into it. phantom power is on a switch on the back if you need it. the preamps are very quiet.

the only thing that goes to the computer is a USB cable. nothing is PCI. there is another USB dongle for some of the software licensing but that might be specific to the bombfactory bundle that i have.

it's a 2 in, 2 out device. it's too limiting for band recording situations but for solo basement stuff, it's perfect.

DriftingByTheStorm

Wait,
I'm still confused on one thing about the MBOX ...

is it a soundcard as well?

If it is, here is my other question ...
why is it compatible with the Delta44 ad 66 ?

Why would a soundcard need to be compatible with a soundcard?

if it isn't a soundcard, exactly what hte fuck is it? just an in\out device?

whats inside that plastic damnit?


WILL I NEED A SOUNDCARD AS WELL !??!
argh.

exhausted

you don't need a soundcard in addition to the MBOX. all audio in and out goes through it.

i don't know about protools LE compatibility with any other hardware as i've never looked into it.

Pacomc79

The Mbox has focusrite preamps. They are very good for what you want to do. 2 ins gives you guitar and amp or what have you, 2 sources at once. It's possible to record a band, but it's not the prefered method. The benifit of the self contained nature is that you do not get the crappy 60 cycle buzz you get from using most internal sound cards it's quiet so you don't have to use a noise eliminator plug in which can harm the original recording, you just go strait through the USB quiet, and easy. Non-linear editing is a God send.

nick1977

I've been looking into buying some PC based recording equipment. After much study and reading, I've decided to go with the MBox. My recording will not have a band.....I'm it. I will play all of the instruments, and lay down the vocals, and perhaps enlist my wife to sing some. But, it is all I need and more. From what I've read, ProTools is the industry standard, and for home recording, it is perfect. If you want to record a band all playing simultaneously, you will need something with more inputs though. MBox only has two lines in. While you can record many tracks, you must to them separately. That is the only limitation that I've noticed with MBox.

exhausted

if a band situation ever did pop up, i'd imagine you could rent a digi 002 for a while.

KillerIsMe

love my mbox. had it for wow..2 years already.. time goes by too fast.

pretty much its only limiting factor outside of the fact that you need a good computer to use it to its potential, just like the rest of pro tools, the 2 ins and outs limit it also.

but then that can be evaded by creative micing.

plus its a small little thing and can fit anywhere you need it to.

nick1977

I just ordered an MBox off of e-bay!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to get it...it should work supurbly on my new comptuer. I will let you know how it works out!