Frustrated about my setup...HELP plz

[A1A2]

hi,
This is a little long, but, I would really appreciate it if you would take a min and read thru this. Thank you.
I am rather new to recording, and I have been trying real hard to figure out what's the best I can do with my money. This is what I have purchased so far in the past 3 months:

256ram
Audiophile 2496 soundcard
Behringer 2004 mixer
60gig HD
RNC
POD Pro
Studio Project C1
Shure 57
Tannoy Reveal active
Roland XP30

At first, I thought I was set to go, but then I ran into a big problem when trying to record drums, which takes several mics, and my soundcard only has 2 ins. I tried to mix 4 mics down to 2 channels on my mixer before sending to my soundcard, but then I can't fix individual tracks (lots bleeding, can't add effects on each kit..etc)
So, I thought, maybe it's time to let go the Audiophile and the mixer for a better soundcard that has at least 4-6 ins, but meanwhile, I don't have the money to buy a decent mic pre (I probably need more than one, too)
What can I do? invest on a soundcard and get a $90 pre for now? OR....here is an interesting thought I had as a poor student, what if I use the POD Pro as 2 mic pres, send them to my card's S/PDIF, 2 more pres from my mixer and send them to my card's analog ins. So, I will be able to record 4 individual tracks. How does that sound?

[A1A2]

man, I really wish this forum could be more active :D

[SteveR]

Using the SP/Dif is perfectly reasonable. I do the same. I have a Korg1212 audio card and suffer the same problems. I have been looking for a cheap fix and found a Fostex VC-8 which connects to the ADAT in/out on the Korg1212 (never used it before). This gives me 10 analogue ins and outs at 20bit plus an SP/Dif in out.

Just an idea. Cards with many ins and outs can be expensive. The Korg1212 was around £500 when it came out (years ago). They are discontinued (and maybe not even recommended) but they maybe cheap used.

ADAT is a serious expansion option for a PCI audio card. Check out cards with this connection. Just an idea

SteveR

[treidm]

I do stand alone HDD recording, but I will comment on your choice of monitors, GOOD CHOICE!
Reid

[wdubstahv]

:cool: Well I really cant see many other options besides getting a better sound card w/at lest 8 ins/outs.(somthing like Echo Gina, thats not too expensive.) Any way Good Luck!!!!

[TeeCee]

Well, I think your first task is to figure out how you want to record the drums. I play drums but record electronic instruments only. Recording drums seems like too many choices and too much work.

As for mic pres, if you get something like a Mackie CR1604-VLZ (or Pro), you get 16 mic pres in a mixer that technically has 16 direct outs (if you use the inserts), 6 main busses (two tied as stereo) and 6 sends (possibly more options that I'm not thinking of). That should take care of all of your mic pre and line level signals (if you need that many or less). Sweetwater's got 'em new (where I got both of mine - one drowned) or you can pick one up used.

Once you figure out how many tracks you want to bring into the PC, you'll know what you have to do for a sound card. I won't say you'll need a "better" card than the Audiophile (which I think kicks A**), but you may need something with more inputs. If you've been happy with the Audiophile (sound quality, ease of installation, driver options - love this card), you can look further up the M-Audio chain. The other Deltas basically use the same driver and can coexist (up to 4 of them I believe) synced through the driver and using the same mixer control panel so you should have the same out of box experience. I also have a Delta 66 bought before their driver support was so great and I've never had a problem with it.

Good luck,

[MichaelS]

I use the same setup as you describe: Mackie 1604 vlz pro going to an AKAI DR-16 back out to the mackie and mix down to pc with the audiophile 24/96 and it kicks buttox. The only difference is I have a Radius-5 Tube mic pre. I have lotsa luck recording drums using the Led Zeppelin setup someone in here mentioned earlier (I think it was in here, not sure). I don't mic each drum per se. but mic the kick and the snare close up and then put 3 LD-1's overhead just out of the way of the drumsticks and I get killer results as far as I'm concerned. I do have a drumbooth which cuts down quite a bit on ambient room noise, and I do gate and compress on the front end a bit. I get it sounding good on the front end and then just add a little gated reverb to the drums and they sound pretty durn good. The mackie has fairly good pre's but I needed something a bit warmer for vocs so I got the raduis-5. I use it for everything I do as long as I'm doing it a track at a time, if not the Mackie pre's are pretty durn good for the price you pay for the board.