budget drum recording.

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xIcarus

Junior Member
hey guys i joined this forum because i need some tips about drum recording. i'm raising a small amount of money (probably around 300 eur at best) and i kinda decided to get some recording tools instead of a good cymbal.

so far i'm onto a cheap set of mics, the t.bone dc 1500. i've seen some audio samples and they sound reasonably good for the price.

the problem now is with the audio interface. i do have a laptop so i need something with 7 (8) mic inputs. i was really staggered when the cheapest mixer i found is a behringer xenyx x2222 at 245 eur. that goes above my budget.

i've seen these little cables
http://www.thomann.de/ro/the_tbone_usb1x.htm
they are surprisingly cheap and would offer an extremely cheap alternative to buying a mixer. but i haven't found anything relevant on them. i saw some voice samples of those blue icicles, but i haven't found anyone using them for recording drums.

a little help please? it would be much appreciated.
 
that's not such a big problem, i can try usb hubs or even use my pc which has 10 usb slots in total if i'm not mistaken. I'm interested in the sound quality. the last thing I want is buying the whole thing and then getting noise or something. so, has anyone heard them at work? or at least should they theoretically sound good?
 
It probably won't work, using those cables.

When you use those cables, it registers as an audio device. It changes the software settings so that the cable is the audio input. That's not a problem in itself - the problem comes when you try to use more than one of them at a time.

Essentially, you'll have to have software that's capable of using more than one audio source simultaneously. I have no idea whether or not Windows can. I know that on a Mac you can create 'aggregate devices' and I've used that trick before but you will probably struggle to use more than one XLR-USB cable at once. Add onto that the fact that most of them can't send phantom power and that eliminates the possibility of using most condenser microphones with the cable - unless they're battery powered.

There's no substitute for money, I'm afraid. If you want worthwhile equipment, you can't take shortcuts. You can make an acceptable recording (with the right know-how) with a pair of overheads and a budget 2xXLR interface but you want 8-inputs. Unfortunately, you're asking the impossible to record 8 tracks on a budget.
 
I see. thank you very much for the reply. so as i had that feeling, the cables are a no-go. can you recommend some good mixers? does this behringer seem good?
http://www.thomann.de/ro/behringer_xenyx_x2222_usb.htm

also, i heard that some mixers don't always output 8 lines to the computer, so in the software i would have 4 indivitual microphones and such. can you point me in the right direction? i've pretty much decided to raise some more money and get quality stuff. i figure it would be pretty hard to get a great sound if i can't control each individual mic.

much appreciated.
 
The Behringer has a built-in interface. I can't tell by the specifications posted how many channels it would output into a computer but the 'mixer' part is totally unnecessary and you're better off buying a better-quality stand-alone interface and mixing in your DAW software (e.g. Cubase, Reaper, Logic). The mixer combined with the interface raises the cost and means that the individual components are of lower quality.

If you want an eight-input audio interface, then your best bet for a 'budget' buy is a Tascam US-1800, as far as I can see. It's been a long time since I've bought an interface.

http://www.thomann.de/gb/256918tascam_us1800.htm

The cost is slightly higher than the Behringer but the individual components and the pre-amps will be of much better quality. If you want to mix using a physical controller in the future, you can always buy a MIDI control surface after you've saved up some more money.
 
xIcarus said:
I see. thank you very much for the reply. so as i had that feeling, the cables are a no-go. can you recommend some good mixers? does this behringer seem good?
http://www.thomann.de/ro/behringer_xenyx_x2222_usb.htm

also, i heard that some mixers don't always output 8 lines to the computer, so in the software i would have 4 indivitual microphones and such. can you point me in the right direction? i've pretty much decided to raise some more money and get quality stuff. i figure it would be pretty hard to get a great sound if i can't control each individual mic.

much appreciated.
Click to expand...

As I play a lot of instruments in different fields I can say that Behringer is good with certain things like their effects pedals, some modelers, some select mics, and a very select few amplifiers. I would not recommend their mixers for recording. For live sound, maybe on a budget, yes, but not for recording.

What I bought 4 years ago and still happily use without fail today is a PreSonus Firestudio. I got the 'Project' model with the LED indicators for clipping and such which is a real help especially when recording other talents. The sound is crystal clear, perfectly digital and the limitations are only due to your ability to mix properly and your plug-ins. Zero noise, zero latency. It is the ideal interface for a musician on a budget. It has 8 mic inputs and several BUS outputs on the back for other things. You can chain the device as well.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/presonus-firestudio-project-recording-interface

I bought mine for about this price as a B-Stock in 2009, it originally was $499 so it came down some. Mine also came with Cubase LE4, the newer versions I think come with the Studio One Artist software, a little less capable in my opinion, but still a decent DAW software. There's a re-stock available there for $359 but there's only 1 left I think. That's perfect if you can jump on it. If you're good with eBay you can find one used for about $250-$300. Also know that this device is Firewire only so make sure your computer has capable firewire (aka 1394 IEEE) ports. Do a google search if you're not sure what they look like, I can tell you they are similar to USB in looks but vertical and are rounded off on one side.

With gear like this I find it's best to purchase once and use it till it croaks. You'll grow tired of the XENYX quickly; with the Firestudio you'll keep churning the music. When you find a piece of gear that talks to you, you don't look for anything else. I'm settled on this little guy.
 
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http://www.musiciansfriend.com/keyb...rt-4x4-anniversary-edition-usb-midi-interface
4 Midi in/out slots, so you can essentially get 4 mics through the same box...
Using 10 different USB slots means you will get a bunch of lag between the mics and the computer, plus you would have to have an extremely powerful laptop to be able to handle recording 10 tracks at once. With this, its basically all in one, and somewhat cheap. you could mic a 1 up, 1 down, snare, and kick, and then buy another 4x4 box or a 2x2 to record the cymbals, seems to be the cheapest way.
Also, all the big retailers will have their blowout sales around christmas and they usually have several mixers and interfaces on there.
Good luck!
 
TXC said:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/keyb...rt-4x4-anniversary-edition-usb-midi-interface
4 Midi in/out slots, so you can essentially get 4 mics through the same box...
....
Click to expand...


Just a 'heads up' for xIcarus. That's ^^^^^^ a midi interface, not an audio interface.
Midi is not audio. You could use something like that for a set of electronic drum pads that has a midi out, but you can't hook microphones up to it.

The PreSonus FireStudio in the post above that one would work though.
 
find one with phantom power + 48 v
otherwise you may have a problem with condenser microphones
unless you choose PGdmk6 shure where you do not have to use this power
 
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