Once again, I seek advice on recording, re interface and computer

[David Houck]

While the Zoom R-16 has worked fine, that machine has been used for other regular off-site events, and is often not connected to my rig when I sit down to practice.  So now I am considering purchasing a dedicated laptop for recording, and an interface to directly connect my rig.  (The other reason I'm considering a dedicated laptop is that I am now programming my effects with my laptop.)

For the interface, I'm considering something along the line of a Focusrite Scarlett 2i4.  It's a lot more money than my little project is worth, but when I looked at this a month or so ago, it seemed to have the minimum feature set that I would need.

For the DAW, I'll probably continue to use Audacity, which is what I've been using to edit the recordings I've been making on the Zoom; though I note that the Scarlett comes with a lite version of Pro Tools.

For the laptop, I'll use Windows, since that's what I'm familiar with, and it would network easily with my main laptop.  My question for the moment is what would the minimum requirements be for the laptop for recording purposes.  Again, I don't want to spend much money on this, but I do want to make sure that what I do get will work well.  I'm guessing that processing power and speed may be the most important consideration; and I'm guessing that ram may also be an important factor.  And I imagine that while a solid state drive would be nice, it may not be necessary.  There are some refurbished Dell and Lenovo laptaps with i5 processors and 8GB ram available for less than $300; and while I would prefer new over refurbished, the price difference is considerable.

So, if you have any thoughts and suggestions, please share.  Thanks.

[gtrguy]

I think a CPU running at a minimum of 3.0 or faster is necessary. Minimum of 8gb ram. Firewire is better than USB. Some software is not rated for other than Intel CPUs, but may run with an AMD CPU anyway. One of my 2 computers has a simple M-Audio Profire 610 interface and the other has two Presonus Firestudios chained up for 16 real time inputs. Both give super nice sound and the units can be found used at a reasonable price. I record at high bit resolution too.


For bass I either run my instrument into my F2B and then straight in to the interface, or I play it through an amp and mic it with a Shure Beta 52 mic (or do both). I also run my Yamaha TRB-6P converted to fretless right into a BBE D1-10 active direct box  and then into the interface and get a fantastic tone, but then I have spent a lot of time figuring out the exact setting on the bass (it has piezo and active PUPs) that works best.


Modern audio interfaces are high quality, so I think it is more about spending some time finding what gear and what settings go together. I also have tested with my F2b with the case open and tried various tubes to see what I like best for tone.


As often as not, I record with my Fender P Bass Deluxe using a pick and occasionally a bit of foam ahead of the bridge.
I think recording bass is all about getting it to blend right with the mix for the style of music you are doing. This may mean that getting that fantastic sparkling bass tone you have always wanted is not the best solution for the final mixdown. Everything has to support the song, and the singer, if you have vocals.

[keith_h]

I use an older laptop with a Presonus AudioBox 22VSL for recording. The two channels are plenty for me alone or if I want to take off the stereo mains of my PA Mixer. It came with the Studio 1 software when I bought it but is also compatible with Audacity which I have used as well.

My laptop has an Intel i5 2.5 GHz CPU with 8G of memory and is running Windows 7. My guess is it would stumble some if I were trying to record from a large number of inputs but I have never had any glitches where it is just me playing or adding a track or two at a time. My biggest problem is disk space. I only have a 450G internal hard drive and as is usually the case available space has gotten smaller over the years. I've thought about an external drive but wouldn't use it for recording due to possible timing delays. 

The only thing about a refurb that would give me second thoughts is how much lifespan does the hard drive have left? Does the device have high hours or had a rough life? If I went this route I would likely see about replacing it with a new one and reinstalling the OS.

[David Houck]

Thanks, David.  As far as the mix, I record solo pieces (the two latest attempts are in this thread); so it's just me.  And since my effects are set up in stereo, I have two channels from my rig to the recorder, and that's all.

3.0 seems very high end.  My main laptop, which is a few months old, has a Core i7 running at 2.5GHz.  A quick search suggests that a machine running at 3.0 or more is going to be in the neighborhood of a couple thousand dollars; and what I record is definitely not worth that.  If that's what is necessary, then I may need to rethink this.

[David Houck]

Keith; if you're running an i5 at 2.5GHZ, then that should work for me since I won't be recording but two tracks at a time.  I didn't consider disk space to be a significant limitation.  The folder on my current machine that has all of the recording work I've done so far is less than 6GB.

[elwoodblue]

I'm in a similar situation, trying to figure cost v.s. function for the little home studio.


In the meantime I'm borrowing a Scarlett 2i2 , it's hooked up to an HP stream ($200 @Walmart) running Windows 8.
(A second monitor makes things easier). Using Reaper for a DAW, I have had very few glitches.
I haven't tried writing to the external drive yet.
 
I know that little laptop will be the limiting factor soon.... I'm glad you started this discussion.

[keith_h]

The folder on my current machine that has all of the recording work I've done so far is less than 6GB.

I use my laptop for more than music. It also has years of photos, tax/financial records, software development tools, etc. It is a lot like a basement or closet. More stuff seems to go into it than comes out.

[David Houck]

Keith; yes, that would do it.

Elwood; it looks like you're trying a setup similar to what I want to do.  I'm hoping the inexpensive laptop will work out.

For my purposes, the main difference between the 2i2 and the 2i4, besides price, is that monitoring on the 2i2 is mono, where monitoring on the 2i4 is stereo.

Another reason for a laptop is in the outside chance that I ever play a gig, I can take the computer with me.

[gtrguy]

I apologize, I should have stated that I run desktop PCs and not laptops.
David

[gtrguy]

I listened to your music; Very Beautiful! I do hear a slight hiss from your expression pedal controlling the volume setting, which should be easy to remove with a notch setting on the EQ in that range.

[David Houck]

Thanks, David.  I hadn't focused on that before (the playing errors usually get my attention).  And I haven't tried using a notch filter to remove hiss before; something new to learn.  Thanks for the tip.

[hieronymous]

Just wanted to put in a plug for using an external hard drive - I think it's a good idea as long as it's fast enough. I have been using Glyph hard drives for over ten years and have never had a problem. I think I have purchased mine from Sweetwater - I'm on my fourth! Since you're only recording bass you won't need that much memory but I think it's a good idea not to take up the space on your computer. Just make sure that it has the right connections (firewire 400 or 800, etc.).

Looking forward to hearing more music!

[David Houck]

In my research so far, I'm finding that an i5 processor with 8GB of ram should be fine for my purposes; however, the remaining question is storage.

A lot of people run the operating system on one disk, and then the recording environment on a second disk; and often both of these are internal.  And it is recommended that one or both be an SSD instead of a hard disk.  However, my reading also indicates that for what I'm wanting to do, a single hard disk may be sufficient, even running at 5400 rpm; though 7200 would be better.

So I'm still undecided on how to proceed; but making progress.

On DAW's, in addition to Reaper, I've also seen good recommendations for the T5 free version of Tracktion.

[edwin]

In my research so far, I'm finding that an i5 processor with 8GB of ram should be fine for my purposes; however, the remaining question is storage.

A lot of people run the operating system on one disk, and then the recording environment on a second disk; and often both of these are internal.  And it is recommended that one or both be an SSD instead of a hard disk.  However, my reading also indicates that for what I'm wanting to do, a single hard disk may be sufficient, even running at 5400 rpm; though 7200 would be better.

So I'm still undecided on how to proceed; but making progress.

I have a location recording business and have experience recording to many different kinds of drives with many different connection protocols. For what you want to do, type and size of drive is not really critical, although I highly recommend staying away from recording on the boot drive (for a number of reasons) unless it's an SSD.

To give you a sense of what's possible, I have recorded 32 tracks of 44.1khz/24 bit audio to a bus powered 2.5" 5400 USB drive without a hiccup.

These days, I record to an SSD, either internal (yes, often the boot drive on my MacBook Pro) or via Firewire. The biggest improvement in recording to SSD was the end of all the issues I had on location where the vibration of the bass frequencies would interrupt the heads on a conventional drive. Big PITA.

[David Houck]

Thanks, Edwin.  I've just about decided on a laptop with a hard drive to start with; and then adding a USB SSD after that.