I’m a guitarist/singer and I’m looking to record some acoustic stuff. I have a condenser mic, but I would need an audio interface. I’m not looking for a fancy setup, just bare bones really. Any recommendations for an open source audio workshop? What’s my cheapest quality option for an audio interface?
Thanks!
For quality, I’d recommend Focusrite Scarlett. I’ve used the solo and the 18i20 and i love them across the board. A 3rd gen Solo is about $100usd, but you get a mic input, line input, RCA outs for speakers, and a headphone output and control. New also means software (ableton live lite, at least when I got mine way back when) so you can use the interface right away.
…realizing I’m on lemmy, so just in case: can’t help much on the software front because I have a dedicated music pc with windows, but can confirm the Solo works like a charm with pop, zorin, and mint at least.
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Unless they’ve gone backwards, the 2i2 worked super well on Linux with JACK. I haven’t used one in years (I’ve got a sizable USB mixer these days) but I remember that Focusrite stuff just worked.
But these days I’m like you. Dedicated Windows PC for music making.
Don’t forget the acoustics of the room you’re in and perhaps get a pop-filter for your mic. These are simple things you can do that don’t cost much. I saw a video once where the guy used a bunch of towels to dampen echos. Worked pretty well.
This will be in a my basement with carpeting and a drop ceiling. Probably a 10’ x 12’ area with 3.5 walls. If it’s not sounding good enough I might invest in either panels or an isolation shield.
Copy that. Just thought I’d mention it.
If you go down the panels route, DIY styrofoam sound diffuser panels can be a fun (and cheap) project if you’re into that kinda thing!
Focusrite Scarlett interface, Audacity software as others have said. A nice pair of headphones helps too if you want to add a vocal track later. FYI after you hook everything up you’ll have to fiddle with input and output settings to get it all to work. I’m sure there are videos to help you. Once it’s done you won’t have to mess with it again
I’ll check it out. Thanks
Thank you! I already have Audacity and this the route I will probably go. The M-Audio box might have phantom power. I might get that
cheap and good and easy - Behringer u phoria, plugs into your comp with usb, provides the 48v for your mic, you can use audacity as a GREAT versatile DAW that is miraculously free.
https://www.amazon.com/BEHRINGER-Audio-Interface-1-Channel-UM2/dp/B00EK1OTZC
reliable, durable, simple monitor that’s inexpensive for the quality.
Audacity:
incredibly stable, feature-rich, simple to use and almost fully customizable. still my favorite DAW
I’ve messed with Audacity already. It seems easy enough. I was thinking the M-Audio box, but this might be a better option. Thank you!
for sure, have fun!
