recording unit

[Jimmy_Who]

Im going to be looking into a recording unit however i know nothing about which is good or not and prices seem to vary. I know that i want to be able to burn straight on to disc.

Does anyone use these if so how good are they aswell as the backings etc??

[serpant]

BOSS and ZOOM do some nice units in 8 16 and 32 track varients,(this is where the price comes in the more tracks the more expensive) and the mid to top of range have burners and HDD the ZOOM MRS-1266CD retails in the UK for around £500 but IMHO the best device you have for recording is your PC, get some software like CAKEWALK (Guitar tracks,Sonar) or even the free stuff thats available, and a decent pre amp into your soundcard. you will have a nice desk top studio. you can import backing tracks into most soft apps

[leivaspelund]

I agree with Serpant. Why not just use the computer? Just get a free program like Audacity.

[Jimmy_Who]

problem is my computer isnt in the same rom as guitar and amp... Its up here me comp in the loft and my room is below. And i have a half stack and well cant move it and no where for me pc to move down either so im a bit stuck. But if i was to get a recording unit i would want one with a hd and burner.

[Super_smack1]

if you just want to record your guitar playing then i agree your computer is probably the best choice. however, if you plan on doing more such as recording demos with a band and you want to burn cds then definitely get a digital multitrack. its so much simpler for recording through mics and recording multiple tracks at once. if you go that route pretty much anything by the big names (fostex, tascam, boss, korg etc.) will work. you just want to make sure that if youre recording in a band situation its nice to have at least 16 tracks, and phantom power for condenser mics. also some multitracks dont come with a burner but rather a bay where you have to install your own.

if you plan on getting a brand new one, expect to pay 800-1000 bucks for a good 16 track and anywhere from 1000-3000 for a 24 track. if you just want to record your guitar, then the Fostex MR8 is pretty popular. it runs no more than 300. you can find all these cheaper on ebay probably.

[serpant]

in that case then i would have a look at this but its £500

http://www.soundcontrol.co.uk/mod_1/pages/mod_1.12/pages/mod_1.12.1/pages/mod_1.12.1.1/pages/index.php?sku=1.1.5.1.1-59-28

Cheaper its £250 but its not CD-RW is

http://www.bossus.com/index.asp?pg=1&tmp=128
you can always transfer the media to your PC

[Jimmy_Who]

Yeh how good are these units do any of u have experiacne with them?


I would just prefer to connect to my pc but my amps to far away :cry:

[serpant]

I did own the boss unit at one point and i would say its a good tool for laying down tracks, the drum loops and COSM is good..... the only reason i sold it was because i started to dig into PC recording this gave me more options. But yes i would recomend the Boss unit dont let the fact there is no HDD or burner as the flash media holds around 60 mins of recording and its easy to transfer the media on to PC for burning to disk you just require a media reader. if you can afford the Zoom i would take a serious look at that,A local band I know uses the Zoom unit and they released an album recorded using just the zoom and it is a very profesional sounding disk, You say in the last post about your amp and guitar to far away... can you just take your guitar into the loft as you do not need the amp for PC recording it will go straight into the soundcard and there is S/W that can simulate an amp, and also the little line 6 POD is a fantastic recording unit direct to PC.
hope this helps.

[Jimmy_Who]

ohhh right yes i can bring my guitar up here no problem i thought i had to run from line out of amp....

How will that sound just plugging guitar into sound card by the way which i need to get any recommendations??

then distortions and that are they going to be any good and actually getting good tone.

[serpant]

Ok sound card (im looking to upgrade mine at the moment) im looking at either the Audiophile http://www.academyofsound.com/aosdevshop/pages/shop_description.asp?productID=435

or the EMU
http://www.academyofsound.com/aosdevshop/pages/shop_description.asp?productID=789

You will get good sound direct from your guitar to the PC but i do recomend you get either a POD or a V-Amp to shape your tone

there are some latancy issues with soundblaster cards in my experiance you should look towards something that has 24 bit power like the 2 cards i have stated

so going the PC way your looking at £70 for a good SC, between £150 and £250 for pod or vamp, and then whatever software you choose from free upto thousands. and a couple of cables and plug converters

But i do think PC recording is better than a standalone unit unless you want to record any gig you play then its a bit tricky to use a PC

[Jimmy_Who]

ok the pod2 is £112 is that any good?

sound card id get either one of the above u mentioned.

software id get a free version.

cables what would i need?

[serpant]

POD for £112 is a good deal
free software well everyone points to audiocity
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/windows

as for cables its just the matter of getting an adapter from your big guitar lead plug to a 3.5 mini jack unless you go digital with the pod then you need a I/O digital interface

good luck

[Jimmy_Who]

cheers serpent im down the guitar shops tomorrow so ill look into t even more cheers for the info :D

[Jimmy_Who]

After looking about im still finding it hard to decide.

I want a good range of editing, good drum beats, and good recording on to disc.

I think its the best option getting one of these as for future and basically instead of moving everything around.

How does it work with them though u just run a cable from amp direct into it and record add drum loops etc is this right if so im liking the simplicity of it.

Price i have would be about £600ish as id get the finance option on gak so ill jsut pay monthly 0% finance.

[Jimmy_Who]

I was thinking after looking at a boss gt-6 today didnt get time to play it however is it any good for recording?

as in direct from guitar to boss to pc?

If so i think i mihgt get one as the gt8 is now out and so its got to be going down in price. And would i sill need to get a dedicated sound card if i was doing this?

[serpant]

Yes would record direct to PC, just use headphone/lineout on the GT to line in PC soundcard, But a propper audio soundcard is worth the investment, Soundblasters are ok but there really a gamers soundcard, this can be a future upgrade.
The GT8 is not at a bad price for a new to the market unit, its cheaper than the POD XT Live,
There are loads of GT6 for sale at the forums on Boss GT Central (http://www.bossgtcentral.com)

[Jimmy_Who]

Im off to try out the boss gt-8 today im not sure how much its going to be though :(


Only way i might be able to afford it is to trade n my new wah and chorus pedal :confused:


Well we will see if its worth it or not later.