Putting Together my First Recording Studio

[Crunch Master]

Anywho, I've got some new equipment that I have not much used yet, as I'm a total n00b...

Here's my modest lil' setup so far:

Focusrite - Saffire Pro 24 DSP
Line6 - POD HD500
AKG - K271 Headphones

I don't have any monitors yet, but will get some when I can afford them.

I have no real professional aspirations here. I'm just a guy that wants to record his guitar, program some drums, use some loops, some VST plugins, and create my own music.

I have a few questions that I hope you guys can help me out with.

1.)
I want to connect my POD HD500 into my Saffire Pro 24, and I'm wondering which connection I should use, XLR or SPDIF? What difference will it make, and way would you use one or the other?

2.)
I need some guidance on choosing my DAW software.

Maybe Reaper! lol

If I'm going to spend big bucks on a DAW it will be Presonus - Studio One Pro, but with my relatively meager needs and bank funds, I'd like to find something less expensive that will still allow me to grow, be creative, and produce a good quality finished product.

The lower cost DAWs I've come across that look interesting are these:

Mixcraft
Multitrackstudio
N-Track
Reaper

Any recommendation among these three?

Are there any others I should be looking at?

 

[Tommy Gun]

Ummm... just wondering... If you claim to need guidance when choosing a DAW, what makes you expert enough to shoot down Reaper? My main recording platform has been Pro Tools HD for years, but I find Reaper extremely useful, and use it a great deal at home and when editing.

 

[guitarguru777]

I have the same question. I hve been using Sonar since it came out and all variants there of, but Reaper is really awesome

 

[Crunch Master]

Ummm... just wondering... If you claim to need guidance when choosing a DAW, what makes you expert enough to shoot down Reaper? My main recording platform has been Pro Tools HD for years, but I find Reaper extremely useful, and use it a great deal at home and when editing.

I have the same question. I hve been using Sonar since it came out and all variants there of, but Reaper is really awesome

Reaper has become the new "CSB", "In!", or "First!" knee-jerk response to any person ever asking for DAW advice anywhere on the internet. I played around with it, watched a lot of vids, read reviews, and I'm just not interested, thanks. Is that ok? I'm happy for you that you like it, but please, I said "NO REAPER!" and I meant it, thanks...

 

[Tommy Gun]

Reaper has become the new "CSB", "In!", or "First!" knee-jerk response to any person ever asking for DAW advice anywhere on the internet.

Yeah... Because it's that freaking good. You claim yourself a "n00b" and come here for advice. A ton of guys on this forum use Reaper in some fashion or another. It's like having teachers and tech-support around 24/7... Dare I say "it's a win-win!"

 

[Crunch Master]

Yeah... Because it's that freaking good. You claim yourself a "n00b" and come here for advice. A ton of guys on this forum use Reaper in some fashion or another. It's like having teachers and tech-support around 24/7... Dare I say "it's a win-win!"

I hear you, and I'm not saying it isn't great and all, and may end up using it at some point. I know it's super powerful, much more than I need right now, but it just isn't as n00b friendly as some of the others I've played around with. People seem to use Reaper + something else for this or that, including mastering, why is that? Is not a complete DAW? Is it not designed for mastering and such?

 

[Tommy Gun]

I can see the interface maybe being tricky for a beginner. I didn't use Reaper until at least 5 years of Pro Tools and 3 or 4 years of Cubase before that.

That said... out of the 3 you posted, the Mixcraft seems to be the most bang for your buck, when looking at features. I've never used it. Maybe someone here has and/or does?

 

[Arsenu,]

1. studio one is a GREAT DAW and probably the best i ever encoundered.

2. just like you, i started out "I'm just a guy that wants to record his guitar, program some drums, use some loops, some VST plugins, and create my own music."
and now i'm spending more time with cubase than i spent with my ex-girlfriend...

so watch out

anyway, you really should buy monitors man! working with headphones is annoying and gives me a headache after an hour or so...

 

[Crunch Master]

Since my first post I downloaded and installed the Mixcraft 5 demo. Within about 15 minutes I had created a loop based track, added effects per track as I wanted, mixed and mastered it, and this is without reading anything or watching any training videos at all! I'm just saying that a n00b will not have that kind of experience using Reaper for the first time. Mixcraft is just natural and intuitive, and isn't presuming previous expertise as a sound engineer to some degree, and relying on that pseudo-pro-studio environment.

 

[zver]

from that 3 mixcraft is the best but why dont you try to get some daw for ebay or somthing like that you can find pretty cheep things there

 

[TheWinterSnow]

...and relying on that pseudo-pro-studio environment.

/facepalm.jpg

you should just used Windows sound recorder then.

 

[Crunch Master]

You Reaper fanatics are going to love this one!

So I've played around with Mixcraft some more, and then I launched Reaper, and immediately it made more sense to me! Using Mixcraft got me familiar with things enough to make Reaper a lot more understandable! lol

I think I'll give Reaper a serious try now, and I think I'll buy this video tutorial series to help me along the way:
http://www.groove3.com/str/reaper-explained.html

 

[gabriel g.]

cool

 

[setyouranchor]

You Reaper fanatics are going to love this one!

So I've played around with Mixcraft some more, and then I launched Reaper, and immediately it made more sense to me! Using Mixcraft got me familiar with things enough to make Reaper a lot more understandable! lol

I think I'll give Reaper a serious try now, and I think I'll buy this video tutorial series to help me along the way:
http://www.groove3.com/str/reaper-explained.html

Defiantly get it, made me feel like a pro before I even opened it up!

 

[Tommy Gun]

You Reaper fanatics are going to love this one!

So I've played around with Mixcraft some more, and then I launched Reaper, and immediately it made more sense to me! Using Mixcraft got me familiar with things enough to make Reaper a lot more understandable! lol

I think I'll give Reaper a serious try now, and I think I'll buy this video tutorial series to help me along the way:
http://www.groove3.com/str/reaper-explained.html

Glad to hear it

 

[Crunch Master]

So far so good with Reaper!

I haven't made any real recordings with it yet, but I think I will be able to today or tomorrow.

I have some routing to get figured out both physically and inside Reaper before I record.

One thing I'm not sure about is how I should connect my POD HD500 to my Saffire 24 Pro interface. I can do it with the SPDIF connector, or I can go into the XLR ins on the front. I wonder if I only go through the Saffire mic preamps if I go through the XLR inputs on the front, of if the SPDIF input does too? I'm not sure which is best and how to configure it.

 

[setyouranchor]

So far so good with Reaper!

I haven't made any real recordings with it yet, but I think I will be able to today or tomorrow.

I have some routing to get figured out both physically and inside Reaper before I record.

One thing I'm not sure about is how I should connect my POD HD500 to my Saffire 24 Pro interface. I can do it with the SPDIF connector, or I can go into the XLR ins on the front. I wonder if I only go through the Saffire mic preamps if I go through the XLR inputs on the front, of if the SPDIF input does too? I'm not sure which is best and how to configure it.

I'm pretty sure they're both gonna go through the pre amps, but I could be wrong so I'll let someone else chime in

 

[viggen666]

i would use the spdif connection, that's one conversion less. if your going in the spdif you are not using the saffire's preamps.

 

[Crunch Master]

OK, thanks!

 

[vaiman]

If you haven't bought the tutorial video yet, than I recommend you join the groove3.com site as they have lots of helpful tuts.