Hi guys,
I would like to start recording ideas away from my PC.
I would play different hand drums, maybe korg wavedrum, and a classic guitar and something else.
I dont know what kind of compact solution there are, but I guess I need a microphone, a looper, some kind of fx pedals, then sound card and a speaker..
Do you have any ideas/experiences to share?
thanks!
Please help me with mobile recording setup
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- KVRAF
- 15272 posts since 8 Mar, 2005 from Utrecht, Holland
Got a smartphone maybe? There are interfaces for that too, and plenty of software.
We are the KVR collective. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated. 
My MusicCalc is served over https!!
My MusicCalc is served over https!!
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- KVRAF
- 3080 posts since 17 Apr, 2005 from S.E. TN
I haven't checked lately, but last time I looked they were still selling digital "portastudio" type devices from small to rather big, built-in mixers and digital recording on SD card or USB stick. That and some decent headphones and a couple of mics and stands and a few power strips and assorted trivia. It could be "scaled" depending on how heavy you need to do it. Portable, but still a fair amount of junk to tote around. That method is perhaps best suited for folks who can "actually play", who can hit the record button and play a part all the way thru with acceptably small error rate, even if it requires a few takes to get a keeper track. You can punch in with such devices, but unless you can basically play at least a verse or chorus at a time without screwing up, can get frustrating. Can be exported to PC based DAW for sweetening, compositing, fixing mistakes, mixing, etc.
The equivalent of a 2-in, many-tracks-mixed-to-stereo out "portastudio" could be done with an inexpensive analog mixer with 2X2 built-in USB audio interface, plugged into a laptop or maybe a pad of some sort. A small mixer + laptop + mics/stands/phones is maybe about equally portable (and maybe in the same price ballpark) as a dedicated portastudio type device, and with the added editing horsepower in DAW software might make it easier on folks who don't have the chops to have very high odds of recording an error-free part all the way thru a song before the heat death of the universe.
Hey, I'm so out of practice nowadays, that I am just about that pitiful a player. Am not mocking no-talent folks, merely commiserating.
For sake of concrete mid-range example, earlier this year I got a Behringer Xenyx X1222 USB little analog-USB mixer for occasional spot gig keyboard mixer, and consider it real good for the money. Not much noise and seems to sound purt good. I didn't test it so far as a USB audio interface but am gullible enough to believe it would probably work fine. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... nd-effects
They make a couple of USB mixers similar features even smaller fewer channels, but in my experience one is more likely to hit situations and say "Gee, its a shame I don't have enough channels". It is much rarer to hit situations deserving, "Dang it, the mixer is just two inches too wide. I wish it didn't have so many channels."
Last year I got one of the Behringer medium size digital mixers for my "studio rig" and been real happy with it, good fidelity so far as I can tell and it works fine as a multi-channel computer audio interface, so it makes me more gullible that a smaller USB analog mixer would probably do OK for the money as a computer interface as well. The dig mixer I got is the "faceless rackmount" XR18, USB connected to the desktop computer as multi-channel interface and 18 input mixer, and ethernet connected to an old slow laptop running the control software to adjust the mixer, because the mixer doesn't have any sliders and knobs, just a bunch of inputs and outputs in a small rackmount. I like it fine and the fidelity is good enough for my needs but the main thing is that my studio is small and crowded and I don't really have room for a "full sized" "full featured" 18+ channel mixer with all the knobs and sliders. If I had more room then I'd rather have a mixer with knobs and sliders rather than one controlled from a laptop or pad.
Apologies for drifting off topic too much. Some of those smaller analog mixers from Behringer and others, with the basic built-in 2X2 USB audio interface, plus a laptop or pad, might make a fairly small convenient "portastudio" that is still fairly flexible. And it would be usable to go play gigs with as well! Some of the less-expensive dedicated digital portastudios might have 8 or more mixer input channels, and maybe able to record 16 or 32 tracks, but only able to record 2 tracks at a time (dual-mono two tracks, or one stereo track). So a small analog mixer with 2X2 USB midi interface, connected to a laptop running DAW software, would be almost identical capability to a lot of the lesser-expensive dedicated digital portastudios. Record 2 mono or 1 stereo at a time, and play back lots of tracks, limited by the speed of your laptop. It is real nice to have SSD rather than hard drive.
The equivalent of a 2-in, many-tracks-mixed-to-stereo out "portastudio" could be done with an inexpensive analog mixer with 2X2 built-in USB audio interface, plugged into a laptop or maybe a pad of some sort. A small mixer + laptop + mics/stands/phones is maybe about equally portable (and maybe in the same price ballpark) as a dedicated portastudio type device, and with the added editing horsepower in DAW software might make it easier on folks who don't have the chops to have very high odds of recording an error-free part all the way thru a song before the heat death of the universe.
Hey, I'm so out of practice nowadays, that I am just about that pitiful a player. Am not mocking no-talent folks, merely commiserating.For sake of concrete mid-range example, earlier this year I got a Behringer Xenyx X1222 USB little analog-USB mixer for occasional spot gig keyboard mixer, and consider it real good for the money. Not much noise and seems to sound purt good. I didn't test it so far as a USB audio interface but am gullible enough to believe it would probably work fine. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... nd-effects
They make a couple of USB mixers similar features even smaller fewer channels, but in my experience one is more likely to hit situations and say "Gee, its a shame I don't have enough channels". It is much rarer to hit situations deserving, "Dang it, the mixer is just two inches too wide. I wish it didn't have so many channels."
Last year I got one of the Behringer medium size digital mixers for my "studio rig" and been real happy with it, good fidelity so far as I can tell and it works fine as a multi-channel computer audio interface, so it makes me more gullible that a smaller USB analog mixer would probably do OK for the money as a computer interface as well. The dig mixer I got is the "faceless rackmount" XR18, USB connected to the desktop computer as multi-channel interface and 18 input mixer, and ethernet connected to an old slow laptop running the control software to adjust the mixer, because the mixer doesn't have any sliders and knobs, just a bunch of inputs and outputs in a small rackmount. I like it fine and the fidelity is good enough for my needs but the main thing is that my studio is small and crowded and I don't really have room for a "full sized" "full featured" 18+ channel mixer with all the knobs and sliders. If I had more room then I'd rather have a mixer with knobs and sliders rather than one controlled from a laptop or pad.
Apologies for drifting off topic too much. Some of those smaller analog mixers from Behringer and others, with the basic built-in 2X2 USB audio interface, plus a laptop or pad, might make a fairly small convenient "portastudio" that is still fairly flexible. And it would be usable to go play gigs with as well! Some of the less-expensive dedicated digital portastudios might have 8 or more mixer input channels, and maybe able to record 16 or 32 tracks, but only able to record 2 tracks at a time (dual-mono two tracks, or one stereo track). So a small analog mixer with 2X2 USB midi interface, connected to a laptop running DAW software, would be almost identical capability to a lot of the lesser-expensive dedicated digital portastudios. Record 2 mono or 1 stereo at a time, and play back lots of tracks, limited by the speed of your laptop. It is real nice to have SSD rather than hard drive.
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- KVRAF
- 8828 posts since 6 Jan, 2017 from Outer Space
My decades old Zoom H2 can record anything I need. The rest depends on your instrumental setup if you need electronics of any kind...
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- KVRAF
- 3080 posts since 17 Apr, 2005 from S.E. TN
That's a good idea. I never had a nice pocket recorder. Figured it would be great for convenient stereo location recording and read that some of them can overdub but I never owned one, didn't know how "user maddening" it would be to do overdubs on such a tiny user interface, setting monitor vs overdub record levels and such.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 162 posts since 16 Jun, 2007 from italy
thanks guys for the suggestions,
while looking around I found this which could be the thing I'm looking for:
https://www.spire.live/content/spire/en.html
spire by izotope
it has everything I need..339 euro
any experience with this?
while looking around I found this which could be the thing I'm looking for:
https://www.spire.live/content/spire/en.html
spire by izotope
it has everything I need..339 euro
any experience with this?
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- KVRAF
- 3080 posts since 17 Apr, 2005 from S.E. TN
That spire looks interesting and the price is decent.
Being a cheap geezer, I'd be more reluctant to buy it than a portastudio, mixer + laptop, or pocket stereo recorder but perhaps foolish ossified over-conservatism.
If trying to rationalize misgivings, I'd be afraid that maybe in a year or two new versions of IOS or android will no longer support the record-control software and even the hugest companies like yamaha, tascam and roland drop software support like a hot potato after a year or two, just as soon as the "next big thing" is in their product lineup and they are no longer selling your orphan device.
It isn't a hard-and-fast rule. Maybe by some miracle the spire software will run for the next decade no problemo, or izotope will have enough money to pay programmers to keep updating the software for the next decade. Miracles sometimes happen.
OTOH the price ain't bad and might be viewed as "disposable tool". Even if it only lasts for 2 or 3 years before apple or google breaks the software, if you use the snot out of it for that length of time then you probably got yer money's worth.
Being a cheap geezer, I'd be more reluctant to buy it than a portastudio, mixer + laptop, or pocket stereo recorder but perhaps foolish ossified over-conservatism.
If trying to rationalize misgivings, I'd be afraid that maybe in a year or two new versions of IOS or android will no longer support the record-control software and even the hugest companies like yamaha, tascam and roland drop software support like a hot potato after a year or two, just as soon as the "next big thing" is in their product lineup and they are no longer selling your orphan device.
It isn't a hard-and-fast rule. Maybe by some miracle the spire software will run for the next decade no problemo, or izotope will have enough money to pay programmers to keep updating the software for the next decade. Miracles sometimes happen.
OTOH the price ain't bad and might be viewed as "disposable tool". Even if it only lasts for 2 or 3 years before apple or google breaks the software, if you use the snot out of it for that length of time then you probably got yer money's worth.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 162 posts since 16 Jun, 2007 from italy
JCJR ,
good point, I havent thought about it
It has a lot of great reviews and the functionalities are extactly what I need..
I dont know, I'll think about it..
thanks
good point, I havent thought about it
It has a lot of great reviews and the functionalities are extactly what I need..
I dont know, I'll think about it..
thanks
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- KVRAF
- 3080 posts since 17 Apr, 2005 from S.E. TN
Pi-e apologies I tend to be so cynical. That spire looks good assuming it works as advertised. If you like it you ought to get one.
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- KVRAF
- 25420 posts since 3 Feb, 2005 from in the wilds
Make sure you consider latency since it is wireless. Best thing would be if you could give it a solid go somewhere... recording a few tracks. See how it is.
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- KVRAF
- 3080 posts since 17 Apr, 2005 from S.E. TN
I'm too lazy to look it up re spire, but when I was researching "knobless" remote-controllable digital mixers last year, some of them seemed "most future-proof" because the control interface was just built-in firmware HTML3 web pages embedded in the mixer, so that they could be controlled by any computer, pad or phone which has a halfway decent web browser. Should eliminate the problem of control software getting broken by unforseen future OS "improvements" in windows, mac, android or ios.
I didn't find such a mixer that had the features and price I wanted, but it definitely looked like the smartest way to future-proof such a "knobless" remote controlled device.
Might be worth checking to see if they happened to have designed the spire thataway. It would make a definite selling point were I in the market for such a gadget. If it is controlled via browser, then it ought to work as long as the device decides to keep working, which could be decades if built well.
I didn't find such a mixer that had the features and price I wanted, but it definitely looked like the smartest way to future-proof such a "knobless" remote controlled device.
Might be worth checking to see if they happened to have designed the spire thataway. It would make a definite selling point were I in the market for such a gadget. If it is controlled via browser, then it ought to work as long as the device decides to keep working, which could be decades if built well.
