Help with connecting my stuff!

[spasgnome]

Hi there! I am new to all these sound stuff , so need help on making some decisions on getting stuff to put together a recording setup!
have read blueprintstudio's DIY guide and it was very helpful! need some more experience opinion on some stuff though!

I am thinking of getting a Rode NT1a Vocal condenser -> Tascam US 144 -> computer for some basic recording. has anyone heard of the tascam of have any experience using it? I am looking at a budget of below 700 for both the condenser and the mike so have to look for a good budget audi interface! I plan to record more of vocals/acoustic guitar and would also like very much to connect my korg m3 to the computer. would that be possible with the tascam?

These are my gear currently:
Acoustic guitar with pickup
Electric
PodX3
Korg M3

would appreciate help with this! thanks lots!

(sorry but i think i posted it in the wrong part earlier)

 

[blueprintstudios]

how much you getting the tascam US144?
the specs are very similar to the presonus firebox, except USB
so as long as tascam can support simultaneous recording from all 4 inputs + midi . shouldnt' be an issue. though alot of ppl have dodgy issues with USB connection audio interfaces.

Rode makes great mics (I'm using NTK personally) , so wouldnt' be an issue except for budget. I was planning on audiotechnica AT2020 as a budget abuse mic haha.

 

[spasgnome]

ooh! thanks for replying I am looking at more or less getting a set from luthermusic who are charging me as such!
RODE NT1A large diaphram condenser with shock mount: S$275.00
Sennheiser SEMS3000 boom mic stand: S$45.00
Tascam US144L USB recording device / preamp: S$340.00

which is somewhat within my budget. I am worried about latency issues though, which happened when i connected my PODx3 live to my comp through its USB connection to audacity. It had quite a huge (0.5 sec?) latency time which made recording virtually impossible. Oh and i read somewhere that the MIDI cables only send information to the computer and back but no sound? :S very confusing haha. and does that mean i would have to spend a few hundred more for a DAW though or is there any bundle with protools or something!

 

[blueprintstudios]

seems that tascam US144 is a lil cheaper than presonus firebox. but stability wise I got no idea lah.. since I started I've always felt tascam's stuff have been a little unappealing for some reason... or i'm just biased lol .

Latency wise varies because a poorly maintained pc to bad ASIO drivers to glitches in the hardware to the software DAW can cause such issues.
500ms is definitely a nono. did you try use www.ASIO4ALL.com for your podx3 ? cos I can get on average of 13ms. (not great, but can live with it)

yes, midi is just really data. data of your playing. every note, and velocity(strength) you play on the keyboards is recorded.

so if you recorded bla bla bla.
you run through your "bla bla bla" playing through a SOUND MODULE (can be hardware/software) , e.g
bla bla bla > strings sound module > yeeng yeeng yeeng
>fake acoustic guitar sound module > jeng jeng jeng
>drum sound module > Tunk! Tunk! Tunk! (provided you were playing a note in sync with the snare, so you'll be using it as a "SAMPLER" in this case.)

check with luther see whether tascam comes together with a cubase LE. there're other free daws like you said, audacity, if not cheap ones like cockos reaper.

 

[spasgnome]

haha ahhh i see thats probably why! i didnt download the ASIO drivers... oh so it just means that if i connect my midi from korg to the audio interface in a proper way. its sort of settled liao la. can start recording from my korg to my pc....

oh and i just saw the creative audio interface EMU0404 looks pretty appealing to me too! thanks so much anw

 

[blueprintstudios]

yeap, ASIO is key when it comes to audio drivers for DAW. ASIO4ALL "converts" average soundcard to low latency for DAW use. at least for my use lol. do give a shot.

anyway I'm not sure about the feedback on creative emu.. do google around before you make any impulse buy yeah? gd luck

 

[teleholic]

EMU anyday over the tascam..rock solid drivers and I heard the converters are those used in Digi 96i/o..that's for the pci card, not sure about the EMU 0404 USB..

 

[spasgnome]

thanks blueprintstudios and Jem for your help! always great to have more experienced people helping us along the way!