Tape vs Computer recording

[mak]

DISCLAIMER: I'm a complete newb hobbyist at recording and don't know all the swandangle fancy terms etc.

For about 2 years now I've been mucking around with a four-track recording a few of lo-fi songs and also some jamming tracks etc. But as I'm improving and learning with what I'm doing, I'm also finding the limitations of my gear. At the moment I'm mostly using Valvetronix amp or Zoom MFX unit straight into the four track then playing back through a regular stereo. This has been OK for learning, but now I'm getting frustrated with the 'lifeless' sound and not being able to mix it after recording. So to get where I want I'm thinking I'm needing to buy:
-mixer with EQ
-mic and mic preamp
-monitors

I want to be able to start recording through a mic so I can get the real sound coming out of the amp and also acoustics etc. But I'm starting to see that to get to a good, useable analogue/tape recording set up I need more gear which means more $.

I've always been one of those stick-in-muds who's been averse to using a computer for my recoriding - but from what I've read, computer recording is becoming cheaper and better all the time. Would it be considerably cheaper to just scrap the whole tape-recording idea and just get set up on the computer? I'm thinking for a similar amount of money my recording options etc will increase a lot.

My current home comp has:
2800 AMD Athelon processor
1GB RAM
stock sound card
80GB hard drive

Would this handle basic home recording or would I need to upgrade some of the specs? (the soundcard is a given I guess)

[denden]

My current home comp has:
2800 AMD Athelon processor
1GB RAM
stock sound card
80GB hard drive

Would this handle basic home recording or would I need to upgrade some of the specs? (the soundcard is a given I guess)

Should be okay, latency might get a bit high though, who knows.

Are you much of a computer geek? We (originals band) use Ardour 2 on Ubuntu Studio. It kicks ass, some really funky stuff you can do with it. We are using a Dual CPU Athlon 2400, 2 gigs of ram and an M-Audio Delta 1010LT. Latency isn't an issue at all.

With Ubuntu Studio, there are some things to get your head around. Like jack, jacks great. Its essentially an interface for all your devices. You can get apps like JackRack, that gives you a rack of plugins that you can apply to seperate channels. And JackEQ, which is pretty self explanatory.

If your not much of a geek, you can always just get a decent sound card and then use something like cubase on winblows.

[Bg]

I ain't a geek then, I run cubase on winblows - on a lower spec machine than maks, though it has a couple of gig memory which improves things.

Outboard a/d convertor is a Pod X3 which has very little latency and the advantage of having mic/bass models as well as guitar - if I was recording just analogue I've had great results just using a Soundblaster Audigy, face it you aren't going for super high quality anyway and its going to keep the costs down until you want to spend more cash.

[IkeKrull]

If youre buying a new machine to do this, get a mac - Garageband is probably all you'll need for some time, and it comes with the machine. No messing round, just open the application, add a 'real instrument' track, and press record.

If you need 'pro' features, theres Logic Audio and other apps you can purchase separately, but Garageband will absolutely beat the pants off any 4-track.

You could mess round with Linux or Windows to and make magical incantations/sacrifice chickens to get good results, but for my money, the Mac is where its at.

[IkeKrull]

Oh, just read you already have a PC. Sorry, ignore me.

[Timi]

Computer recording is not "better", its just sonic and workflow preference, but if you want to upgrade from a 4 track while staying with tape it will cost you a lot. Consoles aren't too much for something ok, but tape machines and their maintenance are expensive, not to mention reel to reel tape which is getting harder to find.

I use Pro Tools on a Mac and have for many years with no problems. Check out the Digidesign website and see if your PC will run Pro Tools, or a cheaper but still good option would be using Cubase with a Focusrite unit.

[RUDENBARK]

(apologies in advance for reviving an old thread, but just noticed it and have my own cheap-arse questions on the topic )


Ok guys, what's the best/cheapest option for straight out recording and mixing, (more precisely, recording and playback-recording (so two channels?)). Don't need any fancy effects or the sound prettied up or anything, just volume adjustment for "mixing". Doesn't have to be top notch, would use a proper studio for that. But can't be too crap neither. Ideally something that I could rough demo's with, put them online etc.

Got an antiquated PC (still only running WinME!), and buying a new one isn't really a financial option anytime soon. Tried Audacity - could only record one track, whenever I tried recording a second track it would start jumping and everything would go out of time etc etc.......... yep yep, an antiquated piece of crap, lol. Might be alright for mixing pre-recorded track though, dunno, haven't tried it yet (I presume it'd be less of a struggle on the system). I assuming though that using this comp for recording is a no-brainer waste of time.

BUT!!!!! If anyone knows of some simple recording software I could try for what I want to do, that'd be much appreciated!


Aside from computer based options, all I could think of was looking around for a cheap 4-track. But not to keen really on the whole recording-to-tape idea, just because "what's the quality like?" and "how many recordings are the tapes good for?"

So I don't know, suggestions anyone?
It's one of those things I don't want to have to f*** about with too much. But I need to start recording some of my songs to work on them.

[Synchestra]

"Sound Recorder"

[RUDENBARK]

"Sound Recorder"

Feel free to laugh, but I've already actually tried that option! Lol.

[dc]

It's surprising what Audacity will run on;

System requirements for Audacity
Windows 98, ME recommended 128 MB / 500 MHz minimum 64 MB / 300 MHz

It might not be the system that's not up to it but what's on it. If you've got the time and the inclinination. Set up a dual boot system with 2 MEs on it, one of which has no innernet, Norton anti-everything, network drivers, clippy, office fast start and whatever else cripples a PC. A small investment in more RAM and you may be away.

In fact, someone has done an ME lite OS, - ME stripped of everything but OS.

[RUDENBARK]

Yeah I run this comp pretty tight, for what it is it runs pretty bloody sweet. Don't have any unnecessary apps running. Running at 400Mhz with 128Mb (though might nick some more out of the missus machine when she isn't looking, lol).
Truth be told, Audacity was about as basic as I could find. The machine is just too old is all.
Think I might just have to record everything separately and then mix them. Ah well.