HELP AN IDIOT WIRE HIS HOME STUDIO (BASIC INSTRUCTIONS)

Daniel John

i'm buying home studio equipment, so i can take my time with auditions from now on, instead of sneaking it in my radio studios...

can you supply me with reccommended following:

mic ( i have an unused samson, cost around 90 bucks on ebay)

board

computer memory and sound card

I also have an alesis compressor, never used

how do i plug the board into my computer, what powers the mic, the board? what plugs into the alesis?

(i'm used to walking into fully set up studios, and i really want this to work out, and sound at par..but not blow a ton of money if possible)

and a cheat sheet guide to setting it up??

i'm purchasing all of this on friday..

thanks for any help you can offer...i'm also in the market, so if anyone is selling a ready to go computer/board/mic I'LL BUY if the price is right and it's a good set up....

spread the word.

Chris Clementson · **Voice Seeker** Joined: 14 Jan 2008 Posts: 216

The first question that has to be answered is that most universal of all questions: How much money are you willing to spend? (There is no upper limit to the amount of money you can spend on audio gear.)

The absolute bare-bones way of doing this, without spending much more money, would be to plug the board directly into the sound card, going line out to line in. Tell us what kind of board and sound card you have. In technical terms you want your board output to supply, and your sound card input to receive, -10 dB levels.

You will also need recording software. There is a free program called Audacity which people like. BTW is it a PC or a Mac?

How are your room acoustics? Would the room benefit from some absorptive material on the walls?

My goal for now is to get you up and running. Others here can help you spend untold thousands on tricking it out Wink

Jacob Ekstroem · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008, 01:15 (GMT) Post subject:

Daniel,

here's some suggestions for you: (all prices from Zzounds.com)

MICROPHONE:
- Audio Technica AT2020 - $100 or
- Studio Projects C1 - $240 or
- Rode NT1A + SM1 Shockmount - $260 or
- Shure SM7B - $350 (you may be familiar with this already)

Remember to get a microphone stand.

BOARD:
- Yamaha MG102C - $129

SOUNDCARD:
- M-Audio Audiophile 2496 - $100 or
- Echo MIA - $130

COMPUTER:
- get the fastest AND most silent running one they have.

CABLES:
Get the best you can afford. For my suggested setup, you'll need:
- 1 XLR-XLR microphone cable
- 1 stereo pair of RCA-TSR AND 1 stereo pair of RCA-RCA (for the M-Audio card) or
- 1 stereo pair of TSR-TSR AND 1 pair of RCA-TSR (for the Echo card)

About the Alesis compressor: if you've never used it, maybe you should leave it at that for now... it can do more bad than good if used incorrectly.

The microphone gets power from the board. Some of the suggested types need phantom power (supplied by the Yamaha), one does not (SM7B).

Here's how you connect the Yamaha board to the soundcard:

Erik Sheppard · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008, 01:18 (GMT) Post subject:

Ladies and Gentlemen, Jacob Ekstroem.

Give him a big hand. He'll be here all week.

Daniel John · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008, 02:13 (GMT) Post subject: holy crap!

the amount of time and effort you've all put into helping me, makes me feel I owe a great deal of $ for consulting...lol. i wish my radio comrades were as helpful over my 17 years bouncing around the country searching for a great radio gig.

who knew the great gig was in v/o surrounded by knowledgable talents like yourselves...

i like that step by step help, AND a pic graphic...that's JUST what i was looking for...

and i'm not sucking up to the crowd, it truly means alot to me that you took time out to help...

i'll be checking back in on this thread as the equipment gets here..ordering it on friday...and i'll post some sound checks if i get that far...or be back to read further responses until then...

or..AND MOST LIKELY...

take a picture of all the new equipment in a pile in the corner and re-ask..."what the hell does THIS plug into"...

i'm going back to re-read the posts...and study them..

do you have a pic of what this should look like coming out of the computers sound card, into the board? i like the graphic that shows me where to plug what into the board...i am truly remedial as an engineer...although more proficient as an artist...

i just don't get the "plug into sound card, and out of sound card wiring into board"

i just want to be able to plug a into b into c...and get it rolling.

please forward your consulting bill Wink

Daniel John · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008, 02:21 (GMT) Post subject: I CAN edit

[quote="Chris Clementson"].

You will also need recording software.

I am comfortable and proficient in Cool Edit/Adobe, so software not a problem...that's ONE thing I can do.

or at least i thought i could, until i heard some of your demo's.

Embarassed

as for the computer...can i go to dell.com and custom build?

i want 2 gig hard drive, and do they offer the sound card i need? i thought all they had was soundblaster...

does the soundcard need some sort of input plugs built specially?

gawd, i feel stupid.

i feel like Hillary Clintons Daughter on a date with a Super Delegate.

Jacob Ekstroem · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008, 02:51 (GMT) Post subject:

Daniel,
you're welcome Smile

And Erik... thanks, but don't tell my wife, ok?

Actually, in all my excitement, I made a huge mistake, that could've messed up your recordings real bad, but I've done some corrections to the picture, so you should be ok... now!

You should be able to get a custom-built system at Dell. Go for something like a Core2 Duo-system, they CAN run pretty silently, but would probably need a few improvents regarding the fans... but that's another issue!
I don't think they have either of the two suggested soundcards though.

As for the wiring from board to soundcard, and vice-versa, if you get the right cables, it should be pretty easy to figure out which one goes where, but it depends on which card you decide on. Anyway the wiring should look something like this:

Chris Clementson · **Voice Seeker** Joined: 14 Jan 2008 Posts: 216

Allison Scussel · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008, 03:22 (GMT) Post subject:

Lee Kanne · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008, 03:26 (GMT) Post subject:

I don't know why in Gods name you would need a mixer ......

why not go with a USB condensor??

http://cgi.ebay.com/Samson-C01U-USB-Computer-Studio-Condenser-Mic-CO1U_W0QQitemZ140205747029QQihZ004QQcategoryZ41784QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

put your other Samson up on Ebay, get a few bucks for it and just fly streamlined....

Goldwave, Audacity are all very cheap software choices...

Lance Blair · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008, 03:52 (GMT) Post subject:

You can't do playback through a USB condensor.

Also, say even a SP B1 through the underrated serviceable preamps in the Yamaha MG mixers will sound better than a Samson USB.

Lee Kanne · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008, 04:11 (GMT) Post subject:

Chris Clementson · **Voice Seeker** Joined: 14 Jan 2008 Posts: 216

Why mess around? He could get one of these and use any old mic he wants:

http://www.markertek.com/SearchProduct.asp?item=CEN%2DMICPORTPRO&off=0&sort=prod&skuonly=0&search=CEN%2DMICPORTPRO&pagesize=20

I haven't used one but hear tell they're decent (at least I know whom to blame if it isn't). DO NOT get the competing product from MXL (heck, I'll send mine to anyone who wants it, and trust me, you don't want it.

We need to fix Daniel up with a way of listening to his sound card. Daniel, do yourself a favor and get some real speakers. For gawd's sake don't use crummy plastic computer speakers for real audio. I have my sound card hooked up to powered speakers. The output of the sound card goes into one of these which I use as a volume control:

http://www.markertek.com/SearchProduct.asp?item=MX41B&off=0&sort=prod&skuonly=0&search=MX41B&pagesize=20

It is passive so it introduces no noise or distortion. I am very pleased with it. For powered speakers there are these:

http://www.dagexpress.com/incEngine/?product=1030198813&affiliate=605

I have a pair of the unpowered ones and they are great bang for the buck.

For cans I keep coming back to these:

http://www.markertek.com/SearchProduct.asp?item=AKG+K240+S&off=9&sort=prod&skuonly=0&search=akg+240&pagesize=20

You can plug them into the MicPort Pro or the Yamaha mixer, whichever you decide on. Of course the subject of which mic, speaker, cans, etc. are best can become the subject of endless unwinnable debate, but these get me by.

To add to Jacob's list of mics, if you want the smooth, mellow sound of a ribbon mic there is this:

http://www.cascademicrophones.com/cascade_FAT%20HEAD.html

I regret that I don't have it in the Mic Listening Room but it's on the list of mics to add.

BTW, the renowned AT2020 is now available in USB:

http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/wired_mics/c75c5918ed57a8d0/index.html

Chris Clementson · **Voice Seeker** Joined: 14 Jan 2008 Posts: 216

As for a computer, these people could fix you up with a nice, quiet turnkey system:

http://www.endpcnoise.com/

Tell them no sound card and ask for blank hard drives with no operating system. You can then install Windows XP yourself. As far as I can tell you can still get XP at amazon.com, Fry's, Best Buy, etc. In case folks haven't heard, service pack 3 for XP is supposed to come out this spring/summer.

Daniel John · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008, 13:07 (GMT) Post subject: how bout..

fastrak usb, and skip the sound card? i got that advice in a message today...