Doing Home Recording

[Zeckson]

Hello professionals,

Okay, I know I am going to be bashed up for this. I have a few questions to ask which I think this forum has been discussing over and over again. I tried searching for the answers but everything is in piece and bits here and there and I am tired of gathering information from various sources. So I am going to post all my questions here. Please bear with me.

Who am I?
I am just an average guy next door who has a regular job in a global IT company. I am currently located in Bangkok, Thailand and have been staying there for 2 years. I love singing and I am looking for ways to have my voice recorded so that I can assess myself on the techniques and skills at intervals of my "not so rugged, not so strict and not so often training". Lazy? Yes, partly but another part is being very occupied with other things.

What do I wanna do?
I want to do my very own vocal recording and listen to it. If they are good, I can send them to my friends and family back home. If there is a chance, I want to be able to take singing as a career.

What do I want to record?
Mainly only the voice. I don't do acoustics, drums, guitars, keyboards but only the voice. I have karaoke backing tracks obtained from VCDs and DVDs. Most of them are not so good at source quality but still make good audio.

What place do I have to do recording?
Only my rented room in an apartment which is just beside a not so quiet road (depending on traffic flow at different times of the day). I live on the 3rd floor. No sound insulation on the walls. The room is about 30 square meters. I am not too particular about the ambience noise because I know I can reduce noise through editing software.

What is the quality of sound I wanna achieve?
Close to what you hear from audio CDs and enough to make ordinary people say, "Wow!"

Questions:

1. What specific hardware is needed to do this?
2. What specifications?
3. What components I must have?
4. How "professional" should these hardware be (I am not so rich)?
5. What software is needed (I heard that the Adobe Audition 1.5 is pretty good)?

If there are things that I have missed out and you needed to know before answering the questions, please do feel free to reply to this post and ask me. I will provide as much details as possible. Thanks a million!

[dwill6413]

You don't have to spend a lot. If it were me I'd start out in the low range and as you progress, if you want too, go with more expensive equipment. YOu need a computer with a good soundcard (no intergrated/onboard stuff) a microphone and recording software. I have a laptop I use. The soundcard is integrated and useless, therfore I bought an external audio interface (usb) to plug my mic into. I use Audacity which is a free recording program that is excellent for the price (free). I have a ART Tube MP Project Series USB Audio Interface and a Behringer XM8500 microphone. Both cost me 119.00. They work fine for me as I do exactly what you intend on doing. Hope this helps.

[thesilentdrummer]

Hey, sounds like you know what you want. Thats good, its easy to help decisive people.

I would first check out the Soundcard Wizard. Really useful, especially. The sound card, assuming you have a halfway decent computer already, should set you back something like $100-$200 at the most. I would go for 1-2 inputs with preamps on the soundcard. since you will need software for recording, look for a card with software included. Next, you a microphone(s), with the appropriate cables and stands. try a bunch of different kinds. maybe the MXL 990/991 package and a Shure SM 57. Maybe a shure KSM27. The idea is to try different mics for your voice. if you can try mics out in a store and pick the one that sounds best. The idea is to get a mic that brings out the best of your voice. If you can do a test, that would be great. If you can't, I would recommend getting a few cheaper mics to start with, see if that fills your needs, then buy other mics if necessary. All together, mic(s) will cost you $200-$400 (unless you can afford a $3000 mic), plus maybe $30-$50 for cable/stand. Not as big a deal in this situation are studio reference monitors, which range in cost. I don't want to recommend anything on account of my little knowledge on the monitor topic.

So your questions, in recap mode:

Questions:

1. What specific hardware is needed to do this?

The soundcard, mic(s), mic cables, mic stand, monitors.
[quote] 2. What specifications?[/QUOTE[
not sure exactly what you mean here, but anything suggested is gonna meet and specification needs. On;y thing to watch out for is the specs of your current computer.

3. What components I must have?

the only things you "must" have are what I mentioned above. there are things like mic preamps, analog compressors, and other fancy stuff that you can get if you have money to blow. Recording software plugins take place of many analog effect units.

4. How "professional" should these hardware be (I am not so rich)?

Well, the difference between "unprofessional" and "professional" is getting very small. The differences between what home recording people use are insignificant for most home recording applications, especially for your purposes.

5. What software is needed (I heard that the Adobe Audition 1.5 is pretty good)?

No specific recording software is "needed". Just *having* software is ok. The main idea is to get something you are willing to learn. Many users here use Cubase. Others use Audition, Pro tools, Acid, etc. They are all good. Its just a matter of what you want to learn. Again, look for software bundled with the soundcard. thats your best bet.

[brandondrury]

I have karaoke backing tracks obtained from VCDs and DVDs. Most of them are not so good at source quality but still make good audio.

Hmm. I'm not sure that makes a lot of sense to me.

I am not too particular about the ambience noise because I know I can reduce noise through editing software.

Noise reduction software is trash in most cases. You are MUCH better off getting it right at th source.

What specific hardware is needed to do this?
What specifications?
What components I must have?
How "professional" should these hardware be (I am not so rich)?
What software is needed (I heard that the Adobe Audition 1.5 is pretty good)?

It sounds like you only need one mic, one mic stand, a 2 channel audio interface, and some headphones. Check out "Getting Started with Home Recording"

A "professional" setup like this could cost between $1,000 and $40,000. However, as long as you buy your stuff at a music store, you should be fine. You won't hear the difference between your rig and a $20k rig unless that includes a guy with tons of experience doing the engineering.

For software, Audition is fine. I'm a big Cubase fan. If I was in your position, I'd snag an audio inteface that had Cubase LE bundled.

[Zeckson]

Thanks for the prompt replies! Really appreciate that! Actually I have been running around the stores and doing a lot of research on the Internet on the topic on/related to home recording. There are many recommendations but those are posted on sites. I thought it could be link to some marketing gimmick as the site also promotes their products.

I want to get some real people opinions here. I do have in mind a setup which I think I can afford (or at least will save up enough money to meet that requirement) and wish to share this setup with you for your opinions.

Equipment I thought of are (maybe unrealistic):

1. Condenser microphone
2. Basic 4-channel or 6-channel mixer
3. Good home-use sound card
4. A damn solid computer
5. Recording software

Condenser Microphone:
I have read numerous about the wonder of the Rode NT1A condenser microphone. Comparing to the other microphones in the market, the Rode NT1A is very affordable on price and performance is very decent. In the past, I have tried some cheap microphones but the result is a very muffled vocal that sounds like speaking/singing with your hand covering the mouth. Using equalizers to adjust the signals helps but often not to the result I desire. Maybe I don't know how to do the adjustments on the software. I have come to realize that the quality of the microphone is utmost important. I need to capture all those tiny little noise, the soft low bass and those little "ssss" of my singing into the track. In other words, I need clarity. I need ti blend my voice into the mix. Previously my muffled voiced stood out, giving a feeling that the voice is in front of the mix. Adjusting the gain on the backing track will make my voice being more muffled at certain parts.

I have heard of the legendary Shure SM58 microphone. This microphone actually attentuates the 1K ~ 2.5K frequency when brought close to the singing mouth, giving a very smooth, low, **** sound that will bring out the very best of a man's voice. I myself had tried on the wireless version (I took part in many singing competitions before) and absolutely amazed with the performance. No rear feedback even right in front of the stage monitor speakers! But I am not so sure about this microphone when brought into use in a home environment.

Any comments on the Rode NT1A and the Shure SM58?

4-channel / 6-channel mixer:
I want to connect the microphone into a mixer so that I can tune my voice to the exact sound I want going into the sound card and eventually into the recording software. I hope to be able to do duets or group singing as well. I have walked some stores offering some decent basic mixers (sorry, I forgot the brand, not too well versed in mixers) and some used mixers as well. My motive is very clear -- link to the micophones and sound card and initial process my voice before going into the computer via a sound card (gain, echo, reverb, pan, EQ, etc.).

I have come across mixers that also provide a +48V phantom power pre-amplification to the microphones. Is this necessary?

Good home-use sound card:
Can Sound Blaster do the job? Any model to recommend? Or any other brand of sound card to recommend?

A damn solid computer:
Looking at a computer with at least the following specifications:

• At least a Duo Core CPU (AMD/Intel)
• At least 2 GB DDR2 RAM
• At least 160 GB Hard Disk space
• At least 256 MB graphic RAM video card
• A lot of USB slots

The rest are normal standard specifications not worth attention.

Recording Software:
I have been using the Adobe Audition eversince Cool Edit started out. Current version I have is version 1.5. Not willing to go into version 2 as it slows down my old computer by a lot.

What do you guys think?

[dannyman]

Hi, Zeckson, I think Cubase LE is probably the best all around program to get started recording with. I bought a Tascam US-122L interface, and I have been very happy with it. The bundle also includes Giga Studio 4.0, which has a lot of instrument voices and what not.

I take it you actually sing, not scream, so a condenser microphone may be a better choice than a dynamic, that isn't to say that dynamics are a bad choice. I would stay away from Behringer (very, very far away). Their products are very bland and dull sounding, and have a horrendous rate of repair. I'll let someone else recommend a microphone .

[Baron]

For your situation (the noisy environment) I would probably go with the SM58. You might get a better sound with a nice condenser, but the nice condenser will probably also pick up all the passing traffic better than the SM58.

The SM58 is a close proximity mic and has been the workhorse of the live audio industry for many years and, it is money in the bank. You can always sell it later if you find a quieter recording space.


Baron

[brandondrury]

Well hell, I just wrote a big long thingy and then I closed out the wrong browser window like a jackass.

Well, I like what Baron has to say.

I'd buy the 58 off of Ebay. 2 zillion humans per year buy new SM58s and don't use them. If you decide to sell yours, you'll get all of your money back.

Brandon

[thesilentdrummer]

Phantom Power: If you have a condenser mic, you WILL need phantom power. Condensers need to have some power source due to their design. Just to give you some more background on mic types: Ribbon mics (especially older ones) will fry if they get phantom power. Dynamic mics have some circuitry that bypasses phantom, even if it is active.

But in the end, condenser needs phantom, dynamic (SM58) does not. Also, the SM58 is a very solid live application mic. It is pretty much industry standard live (unless you have a fancy wireless). Its will work fine at home, but you can take advantage of really hot (picks up a lot of sound) mics in the studio because you don't have to worry about feedback and bleed (when recording vocals).

[Baron]

Originally Posted by thesilentdrummer

Dynamic mics have some circuitry that bypasses phantom, even if it is active.

On a balanced cable you have three connections, hot, cold and ground. The audio signal uses hot and cold and the ground is used for cancelling any difference between the hot and cold, ie noise. Your dynamic can still work with just the hot and cold (you just lose the noise cancelling and drop some level due to reasons I won't go into). So they put the positive of the phantom, usually 48V dc, on both the hot and cold and the negative on the ground.

What this means is that the capsule of the dynamic gets 48V +ve on the hot and 48V +ve on the cold. As voltage is actually a measurement of potential difference, the difference between +48V and +48V is zero so the capsule does not see any phantom.
Picture it like two 48 storey buildings right beside each other. To walk from the roof of one to the other is no problem (providing there is no gap of course!) as they are at the same height but, if you walk off one of the buildings to the ground, you will fall 48 stories.

The condenser is wired to allow it to actually use the 48V.

This is one reason why good cables are so important. A miswired cable can give the dynamic mic 48V difference across the capsule and this can fry it.

If you are using phantom you should never plug in or unplug any input whilst live as the pins don’t all make or break at the same time so you can, inadvertently but momentarily, apply phantom to them. Plus if you do this you will normally get a big pop through your system.

Baron