audio set ups.

there are, as my granny used to say, a hundred ways to skin a cat. There are at least that many ways to set up home audio systems. i've seen lots of vids where it is clear that the maker has some kit, and lots where you can hear the after editing, i'm interested in how people have set up. i'm an amateur so try not to blind me with science

myself i went for an external maudio sound card(firewire), i go into this with analogue via a small 4 channel behringer mixer. this allows me to use voice, or guitar/bass or anything with a pick up, and i have my my digital piano hooked up to the midi on the same card.

I mostly do multi track audio in cubase sx3, which is cumbersome but versatile, and i occasionally edit in sound forge 9. I'm starting to use Vegas a little so Sound forge is becoming more prefered.

I use ampeg software as my bass amp and guitar rig 3 as my guitar set up. The latency is so low in firewire that i can do it and enjoy it.

i use alesis mk2 active near field monitors for nice clear sound, though the mid tones could be better on voice. and i use audio technica flat response headphones, which are the best hundred odd quid i ever spent to be honest.


seems like everyone i have ever met does it differently, what about you?

I keep it pretty simple. I have an M-Audio MobilePre as my pre-amp. I plug mics and instruments into it. It's got two inputs, and both have a 1/4 inch input and an XLR, soI can record two instruments at a time.

I have an M-Audio ProKeys 88sx that plugs into my computer via USB.

So far, I'm using GarageBand for all my recording. I plan to learn Logic next year.

I run everything through a Yamaha USB mixer and sometimes vocals through an ARC Studio Projects USB tube pre; record and mix in Krystal. Sometimes I run the bass direct in the Yamaha board and sometimes I pass it through either an Hartke HA2500 with 10 band eq or a Peavey TBRaxx tube preamp. Uke and acoustic guitar are miked with two mikes and electric guitar is always direct into the Yamaha board and FXs and modeling are post.

I strictly use Pro Tools as I've had many years of training with it (the only DAW used at the music school I went to and the primary DAW at the studio I worked at). So, I have a Digi003 which gives me 4 inputs. It also has an ADAT input so I use a Presonus Digimax LT for an extra 8 channels (giving me 12 total).

For mixing I primarily use plug-ins but I do have a Lexicon MX400 reverb processor which I get decent verbs from. I also use a Tascam FW1884 control surface for easy mixing.

For monitoring I use my Yamaha HS50m's or my Audio Technica ATH-M50's (which doesn't have as flat a frequency response as I would like but still nice headphones).

I don't have any video gear.

I record to an iMac via Presonus firebox using either cubase LE or GarageBand. I use 2 Studio Projects C1 large diaphragm condenser mics, there are 2 XLR inputs to capture a stereo image, I don't do a lot of fancy stuff in the DAW, rather just try to get the best stereo recording I can in one take. I also have some bass traps and acoustic absorption panels which I use to try to combat problems with my recording room.

Evenntually I'd like to pop for a nice preamp but I want to make sure I know what I'm doing before I spend $500+ for a nice 2 channel pre.

I'm the other end of the spectrum. I have no desire to setup a sound or video studio. Just looking for ways to get clear recordings of my playing so I can improve. I don't lay down multiple tracks or incorporate different instruments.

Mostly I use an old Sony minidisc with a mic input (with a built in mic pre-amp), and a relatively inexpensive Behringer dynamic mic. The setup works very well for my purposes. I used to use an omnidirectional condensor mic with this setup. I like the sound from the dynamic mic better.

I have a Blue Icicle XLR to USB preamp on the way to connect the mic into the PC. Will post how it works when it arrives.

I use Audacity on the PC.

I recorded an entire album with a Zoom H4. I'd import the tracks into Cubase and work with 'em there.

I use Pro Tools LE8 with M Box 2 Factory bundle, i bought it as LE7.4 but got the free upgrade to LE8. I'm using LE8 with a Line 6 UX2 and Pod Farm, all this to a pair of M-Audio Near field monitors.
cheers
Dave