Cubase Audio Recording - Here We Go.

Timans

Right, I'm really starting to get into Cubase lately, I'm decent enough at it and can set up a song etc.

My question is what equipment to get. I need a Laptop, Midi Keyboard, Midi Interface and Sound Card.

I need to sell this pc first, (see my sig), and then, hopefully will have around €1200 to spend on everything.

Any recommendations on everything I need?

Thanks,

Feelgood

Its doable alright though its gonna be the cheap of the cheapest stuff....

Acer Laptop, 1GB DDR, Duo Core, 120GB hard Drive approx €800
1 x Midi Keyboard - M-Audio KeyRig 49 USB Keyboard €85
1 x Sound Card - M-Audio Audiophile USB €135
Depending on the package Cubase SE is €150 - €500
You also need to get monitors or proper headphones after that....

The reason I would go with M-Audio is because they are now owned by
Digidesign, the company that produce Pro-Tools. Pro Tools is the Ferrari of recording equipment and software. And most of the M-Audio kit can be used with Pro Tools...

The Audiophile will give you 2 inputs for guitar, bass, Mics or whichever..

Advice would be save up some more money and dont waste your hard earned cash on Cubase....it sucks donkey balls big time. Try and get a Pro Tools setup if at all possible....

cornbb

Feelgood wrote: »

Advice would be save up some more money and dont waste your hard earned cash on Cubase....it sucks donkey balls big time. Try and get a Pro Tools setup if at all possible....

Er.. care to back that up!?

Niall - Dahlia

This reminds me I wrote a bit of a "getting started" guide a couple months back for a sticky but was away for a few weeks and completely forgot about it. I'll stick it up tomorrow night.

sei046

oh man. i love these LE guys.....

Timans

LE guys? I hope you don't mean Cubase LE as I've been using Cubase SX3 full version.

I have already got Cubase, I have €1300 to spend on Midi Interface/Keyboard, Laptop and Sound Card.

judas101

seems strange to spash out on a full version of cubase when you dont even have a laptop or interface.

hmmmm

sei046

no meant PT le. I would not even consider buying anything in that price range. Purely due to the laptop. You could get a grand laptop for around 700-800 lets say which leaves 500 for your soundcard keyboard and midi interface. The interface will be in the card prob so thats 500 for your keyboard and soundcard.

http://www.thomann.de/ie/lexicon_omega_studio.htm?sid=f4567b2c59897f4bcc41c96a526eb351

http://www.thomann.de/ie/edirol_pcr500.htm

There you go. ill def get you by anywhos.

sei046

i would go for a vostro from dell instead of that acer. and monitors i forgot to include in that package so money is tight

Feelgood

cornbb wrote: »

Er.. care to back that up!?

Cubase is best used for recording Midi, whereas if you want to record
live instruments Pro Tools is your man....

Every professional studio in the world uses Pro Tools, its basically the
industry standard. The great thing now is that its affordable to build a
pro tools home studio using M-Audio kit so essentially you can produce
professional digital audio at studio level all from the comfort of home.

Cubase is a good tool for starting out and learning the ropes. If your a dance
music head then yeah go for it though you wont find a CD in Hmv anywhere
that wasn't mixed with pro-tools at some stage...

Feelgood

sei046 wrote: »

i would go for a vostro from dell instead of that acer. and monitors i forgot to include in that package so money is tight

Yeah buy a dell....and this time next year you will have to buy another one cause it will be f****d....

Acer laptops have motherboards designed by Asus, probably the most reliable and performance orientated motherboards in the world at the moment. Dell used to use these and are now using cheapo taiwanian stuff in an effort to cut costs.
I would definately recommend Acer or alternatively a refurbished Macbook or Mac Mini??

If you want advice go to your local PC repair/sales shop and ask them how many Dell PCs and laptops they get back for repair. I think you will find that they will say only for Dell they would be out of business!.

jimi_t

Feelgood wrote: »

Acer laptops have motherboards designed by Asus, probably the most reliable and performance orientated motherboards in the world at the moment. Dell used to use these and are now using cheapo taiwanian stuff in an effort to cut costs.
I would definately recommend Acer ...

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055071271&page=6

Run a search on boards - they seem to be the least supportive laptop company as far as I can see. Fujitsu-Siemens are rock-solid in my experience, and HPs aren't bad either. Macs are decent but marginally more expensive; also be aware of the various processor limitations if buying second hand (i.e. bootcamp compatibility).

cornbb

Feelgood wrote: »

Cubase is best used for recording Midi, whereas if you want to record
live instruments Pro Tools is your man....

Every professional studio in the world uses Pro Tools, its basically the
industry standard. The great thing now is that its affordable to build a
pro tools home studio using M-Audio kit so essentially you can produce
professional digital audio at studio level all from the comfort of home.

Cubase is a good tool for starting out and learning the ropes. If your a dance
music head then yeah go for it though you wont find a CD in Hmv anywhere
that wasn't mixed with pro-tools at some stage...

We're all well aware of how ubiquitous PT is in pro studios but thats not the issue here. The OP is talking about home music production. He mentioned a MIDI controller. Are you aware of what a nightmare it is to get a decent MIDI setup running in PT? Cubase could be (and probably is) a better all-round affordable solution for making mixed audio/MIDI productions at home.

Feelgood wrote: »

Yeah buy a dell....and this time next year you will have to buy another one cause it will be f****d....

Acer laptops have motherboards designed by Asus, probably the most reliable and performance orientated motherboards in the world at the moment. Dell used to use these and are now using cheapo taiwanian stuff in an effort to cut costs.
I would definately recommend Acer or alternatively a refurbished Macbook or Mac Mini??

If you want advice go to your local PC repair/sales shop and ask them how many Dell PCs and laptops they get back for repair. I think you will find that they will say only for Dell they would be out of business!.

I've been running audio apps on Dell laptops for four years without any significant problem. The only issue I ever had was with a faulty power adapter, and Dell sent a replacement via courier the morning after I rang them. I wouldn't suggest using a Mac Mini unless the OP has a liking for frustratingly slow loading times, frequent drop-outs and spinning rainbow pinwheels (I type this on a Mac Mini as I'm waiting for a kontakt patch to load )

sei046

feelgood. I dont know where to start.
Im not even going to discuss acer. I would go the Mac root def if cash was not as tight as it is. Dont go NEAR an acer. You have about 5 or 6 months on them.

Pro Tools is FANTASTIC! Its a great audio tool with a bit of work needed in the midi department. But lets all remember LE is not considered protools..... Le is PTLE. There is an absolutely MASSIVE difference in LE and HD and lets make that very clear. By saying he should get a Pro Tools Rig your implying he can buy a HD system for 1300 squids or if he saves up a bit. Thats not true. Yes he could buy an LE Rig for that with m-audio or the digi racks.. Is that what you mean? I hope it was.

Its also important to note that the term "Studio level" or "Studio Quality" gets thrown around a lot. Comparing your favourite cds production with the quality components in your M-audio is not like for like.

GO to a board where there is more knowledge in Pro Audio and you will be told to shove PT up your H**E il that price range

Feelgood

Jasus lads,

I have had the complete opposite problems with Dell laptops and find Acer to be top notch on customer service to be honest. Anyway I supposed its down to preference. At the end of the day, the insides of all laptops are essentially from the same factory floor, bar the motherboards..

On the Pro Tools rig, I was more or less trying to highlight that he could have a Pro Tools setup for the cost of Cubase alone, but then again it depends on the type of musician he is. If its guitar, bass and vocal tracks I think we can agree that Pro Tools is the way to go?. As I said if its a Dj / Dance route then use Cubase by all means?.

Here is an example of a basic Pro Tools rig...

1) M-Audio Pro Tools M-Powered 7.3 (€243)
2) M-Audio Audiophile USB (€131.19)
3) M-Audio KeyRig 49 USB Keyboard (€85)


All for less than €500.....

This was the same setup I was using for the last year or so before I moved to a M-Audio Project I/O mix with little or no problems compared to my PC crashing left right and centre with cubase VST's...(3.4Ghz pentuim D, 3GB RAM)

The other thing is that your dont get bugger all with Cubase and the plugins are stupidly over priced. Not that pro tools plugins are much better though
in my opinion Cubase just feels like an over priced, mickey mouse product.
If Cubase SX was getting lashed out at €59.99 or something Id go yeah its worth it at that money...

Each to their own guys....again its really down to what your recording and what type of sound you are trying to achieve...personal I reckon cubase was initially concieved to make soundtracks to Commodore 64 games....

cornbb

Feelgood wrote: »

On the Pro Tools rig, I was more or less trying to highlight that he could have a Pro Tools setup for the cost of Cubase alone, but then again it depends on the type of musician he is. If its guitar, bass and vocal tracks I think we can agree that Pro Tools is the way to go?. As I said if its a Dj / Dance route then use Cubase by all means?.

The OP never asked for help with Pro Tools (not to mind a crippled version of Pro Tools with a limited track count...)

The other thing is that your dont get bugger all with Cubase and the plugins are stupidly over priced. Not that pro tools plugins are much better though
in my opinion Cubase just feels like an over priced, mickey mouse product.
If Cubase SX was getting lashed out at €59.99 or something Id go yeah its worth it at that money...

Are you just trolling now? Give it a rest please, you are not helping the OP and you clearly have a warped and uninformed view of the products we are talking about.

sei046

Alright lads lets cool it lol. Ye i agree with con there in saying there are some warped ideas there in terms of quality hardware and Bang for buck for sure. To be fair feelgood started using in my opinions and stuff so thats fair enough. If other people think its a crazy view then that should be made clear. I personally think his arguement doesnt hold any water on paper nevermind the real world. I would stick with cubase as the OP did and look at some different hardware

Feelgood

Feelgood wrote: »

Its doable alright though its gonna be the cheap of the cheapest stuff....

Acer Laptop, 1GB DDR, Duo Core, 120GB hard Drive approx €800
1 x Midi Keyboard - M-Audio KeyRig 49 USB Keyboard €85
1 x Sound Card - M-Audio Audiophile USB €135
Depending on the package Cubase SE is €150 - €500
You also need to get monitors or proper headphones after that....

Note....my initial reponse....I gave a sample recommendation for a Cubase Rig...

Everyone is entitled to their opinion Cornbb....some people like Audi's some like BMW....

cornbb

I don't want to stifle debate or anything but the view that Cubase "sucks balls" is just untrue. I think there is a consensus here that between PTLE/PT M-powered and Cubase, Cubase would serve his needs best.

But then again he didn't ask about any of this, he asked about his hardware setup. So, back on topic...

Feelgood

cornbb wrote: »

I don't want to stifle debate or anything but the view that Cubase "sucks balls" is just untrue. I think there is a consensus here that between PTLE/PT M-powered and Cubase, Cubase would serve his needs best.

But then again he didn't ask about any of this, he asked about his hardware setup. So, back on topic...

Again, I really think its down to what kindof music he is going to be recording.
I'll leave it at that!..

Trev M

Ive used pro tools and Cubase and can see arguements for both, PT with midi is as has been pointed out not the best .... if your getting a laptop Id recommend beefy amount of RAM obviously.

Im currently moving from PT LE to logic and am currently floggin a Digi Rack.

I will say for multi tracking 8 simultaneaous tracks I found the rack was good value for money (has ADAT too which was handy for an extra 8 tracks with a chaepy behringer) , pro tools was grand to use and the software thats included is good value aswell. The tied to hardware thing with pro tools is a bit of a bummer and should be sorted.

In terms of Cubase for the budget the OP is on I reckon Cubase , Maudio is the way to go.... I know this thread has gone around a bit but I think ya really get what ya pay for and for the budget I think the guy has options but expecting to be able to produce high qulaity recordings ...well its completely unrealistic. You'll get reasoanble quality with a lot of effort in my opinion.

I think using Cubase probably allows for more incremental upgrades in terms of Hard ware and software so ya dont have to fork out large chunks of cash to keep improving . The M Audio light bridge has great converters by the way and is something that could be considered looking further down the line.... Its worth considering what the upgrade options are .... as inevitably you want more options as you get set up.

Best of luck, Id be interested to see what you end up settling on with your budget .

Timans

As I have already mentioned, I have ALREADY got Cubase so that does not factor in my needs in my price bracket.

For €1300, I need:

- Midi Interface
- Midi Keyboard (Not too big, needs to fit on my desk)
- Laptop.

I do not need big 8 track recorders as I will be using Cubase as my rack as of now, I might want to plug in the odd instrument but it will mainly the Midi Keyboard going in the Interface.

Sooo, 21 replies later, any rec's on the equipment I actually "NEED"?

sei046

told you earlier....

Feelgood

Feelgood wrote: »

Acer Laptop, 1GB DDR, Duo Core, 120GB hard Drive approx €800
1 x Midi Keyboard - M-Audio KeyRig 49 USB Keyboard €85
1 x Sound Card - M-Audio Audiophile USB €135
You also need to get monitors or proper headphones after that....

Also see Dell laptop mentioned earlier....

Feelgood

sei046 wrote: »

i would go for a vostro from dell instead of that acer. and monitors i forgot to include in that package so money is tight

sei046

monitors will be your biggest issue. a half decent pair at all will set you back significantly with that budget.

cornbb

Might be worth going for second-hand monitors if possible. RAM and storage should be your biggest considerations when buying a computer.