Hi I am a self contained singer wanting to put together a couple of professional Demo CD's. I dont want to go to a studio and want to be able to put the tracks together myself.

My question is with so many devices out today which is the most affordable and best route to take. I have been looking at both usb audio devices and portable recording studios but a little stuck.

I want something that when I record I can hear effects in headphones whilst singing to my backing tracks then be able to add effects later.

With the Zoom R24 you can have both a USB interface to your computer and portable multi track recorder.

Go the PC route. It will be a lot cheaper to get started and will allow you room to grow, should you get more serious about your recordings. I started off with one of those all-in-one Boss units but eventually had to sell it and convert to a PC-based system because there were features I wanted to add or upgrade, and that's just not possible with the standalone unit.

Why not give us the specs of your PC and the budget you'll be working within?

Budget anything from £200 - £600. At the moment all in one pc.

Windows 7 64 bit
Intel Pentium t4300 2.10 ghz CPU
4GB DDR 2 Memory

Quote twotoedsloth:

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With the Zoom R24 you can have both a USB interface to your computer and portable multi track recorder.

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Or go for the R16 if you want something cheaper. Seems to totally fit the bill to me.

James.

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JRP Music - Audio Mastering and Restoration.
http://www.jrpmusic.net

Your PC will be fine for recording and basic mixing. You could get an entry-level version of Cubase or Sonar for around $100, or go with Reaper (which a lot of people love and I'm considering switching to myself) for $60.

As far as audio interfaces go, you could go with one of the Zoom offerings mentioned above, but I only would if I actually needed the portability that they offer. If you'll only be recording one or two tracks at a time and don't need a mobile system, you could do a lot worse than the EMU 0404 that I use (you could probably get one on E-bay for $100). Otherwise, there are plenty of threads on this forum covering the relative advantages of various interfaces.

How are you set for microphones, monitors, headphones, etc.? Is that in your budget also?

If I were starting out doing this stuff right now, I'd probably go for the Zoom R16 if I needed to do stuff on location, or a USB/Firewire mixer with on-board FX like the Allen & Heath ZED10 FX (circa £210). The reason being that you can monitor your voice (or other instrument) as you record, with reverb/delay on it, with no latency, and without recording the effects. The downside of that particular mixer (other than the 16-bit conversion, which is not the huge issue some people will suggest it is - the quality of the analogue electronics is more important at this stage IMO) is that you can only record one stereo feed at once. If you're over-dubbing everything that will be fine. If you're wanting to record, say, guitar, bass and vocals at the same time, you need something with more recording channels... in which case the Zoom R16 or any number of audio interfaces from Focusrite, Presonus, M-Audio and others will do a fine enough job. Most of those will ship with some kind of recording software such as Ableton Live or Presonus Studio One Artist.

+1 on the ZED 10 (FX USB).
Yes Mixedup the 16 bit nature is not much of a limitation since the mixer is generally ultra quiet and achieves near to the theoretical dynamic range that 16bits implies, i.e.CD quality.

Even if the setup proved to be less flexible in the future it could still be combined with a 24bit AI with more inputs, in fact if you get cute with the AUX outs and FX outs the 10 is a 4 bus mixer!

Dave.