Recommendations for beginner home audio recording setup?

[ultranothing]

Hi! I'm the guy from this thread http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/weird-to-me-problem-with-daw-and-avr-with-usb-keyboard.106923/http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/weird-to-me-problem-with-daw-and-avr-with-usb-keyboard.106923/ who was trying to set up a home recording studio with just my home AVR with 5.1 speakers and software. There were issues with delays and stuff that I just can't remedy. The AVR just isn't built for what I'm doing, apparently.

So here's what I'd like to do:

I've got a $1000 budget. I want to be able to record acoustic guitar and vocals in a multi-track environment (I just can't seem and play and sing at the same time and also want to do rhythm and lead myself) and mix in drums, piano and other instruments and cool sounds later on with Mixcraft, Ableton, etc. using my little Novation LaunchKey Mini USB piano. I want either good reference monitor speakers or quality headphones (or maybe both?). I'd really like to be able to somehow work it all through the computer so I can use my home theater speakers and someone had mentioned a Preamp? But the speakers are hooked up to the receiver and I don't imagine there's a way to have my cake and eat it too, so dedicated speakers or quality headphones may be my only option.

I'll also be needing a good microphone that can handle acoustic guitar and vocals, unless one recommends getting two separate mics. Also, I'm in the market for a new acoustic guitar (not part of this budget!) and am debating on getting an acoustic-electric if that's something that would be beneficial to what I'm doing here.

Also, if it matters, I have this soundcard in my PC: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132100 and would like to know if this is something that I could incorporate into the system, or if I even have to at all.

My main concerns are sound quality and no delay. I hope I explained this clearly. I'm a big fat noob with this stuff. Thanks for any and all input! Set me up for some sonic creativity!

 

[Hi Ho]

I have a pair of Behringer Truth B2031A speakers that have served me very well. They are a good budget monitor and are pretty accurate.

https://www.amazon.com/Behringer-B2031A-BEHRINGER-TRUTH/dp/B0002MRCLQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492571862&sr=8-1&keywords=b2031a

I have a small mixer on my desk that I have my MacBook connected too along with my gaming PC and this setup has worked very well over the years. If you are only recording one or two tracks at a time then you could use a small USB mixer like this: https://www.amazon.com/Behringer-Q802USB-BEHRINGER-XENYX/dp/B008O517IC/ref=sr_1_2?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1492572046&sr=1-2&keywords=usb+mixer

That is actually the modern (USB) version of the one I have on my desk and have been using for many years. The advantage of a mixer is you can use it to monitor yourself and have no delay. I have found that trying to monitor through software introduces a noticeable delay.

I actually use a full size Behringer X32 mixer to record because I already have it for mixing live sound gigs and it can record 32 tracks simultaneously.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Here's pretty competent review of B2031A : http://noaudiophile.com/Behringer_Truth_B2031A/
I use JBL LSR2325p for my "desktop" speakers.

The key word is ASIO driver support and Behringer mixer does - it's pretty much required on windows to significantly reduce latencies/delays in audio interface.

See Q&A on AMZ
https://www.amazon.com/forum/-/Tx11L9BBOP0IEV6/ref=ask_dp_dpmw_al_hza?asin=B008O517IC

 

[shadyJ]

Hi! I'm the guy from this thread http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/weird-to-me-problem-with-daw-and-avr-with-usb-keyboard.106923/http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/weird-to-me-problem-with-daw-and-avr-with-usb-keyboard.106923/ who was trying to set up a home recording studio with just my home AVR with 5.1 speakers and software. There were issues with delays and stuff that I just can't remedy. The AVR just isn't built for what I'm doing, apparently.

So here's what I'd like to do:

I've got a $1000 budget. I want to be able to record acoustic guitar and vocals in a multi-track environment (I just can't seem and play and sing at the same time and also want to do rhythm and lead myself) and mix in drums, piano and other instruments and cool sounds later on with Mixcraft, Ableton, etc. using my little Novation LaunchKey Mini USB piano. I want either good reference monitor speakers or quality headphones (or maybe both?). I'd really like to be able to somehow work it all through the computer so I can use my home theater speakers and someone had mentioned a Preamp? But the speakers are hooked up to the receiver and I don't imagine there's a way to have my cake and eat it too, so dedicated speakers or quality headphones may be my only option.

I'll also be needing a good microphone that can handle acoustic guitar and vocals, unless one recommends getting two separate mics. Also, I'm in the market for a new acoustic guitar (not part of this budget!) and am debating on getting an acoustic-electric if that's something that would be beneficial to what I'm doing here.

Also, if it matters, I have this soundcard in my PC: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132100 and would like to know if this is something that I could incorporate into the system, or if I even have to at all.

My main concerns are sound quality and no delay. I hope I explained this clearly. I'm a big fat noob with this stuff. Thanks for any and all input! Set me up for some sonic creativity!

First of all, get a sound interface with assignable inputs and outputs. That soundcard you have is just a media playback card. It is not sufficient for making a clean recording nor could it handle serious multitrack mixing and recording. There are a lot of good brands of sound interfaces out there. I like Mark of the Unicorn gear myself.

The only way that an AVR could ever be used in a setup like that is if you turned it on pure direct mode, so it is essentially just used as an amplifier. I would just cut the AVR out of the equation and get some powered monitors. Just make it easy on yourself and get some JBL LSR305s. Behringer Truth monitors are also very good.

I can't really advise you on decent microphones. There are microphones built for this type of bedroom studio application. A much better place to ask these questions is gear sluts. No, it is not a porno site, it is one of the most active communities for music recording production. For this type of work, it is a much better place for this discussion than Audioholics, which is mostly only about home audio equipment.

I recommend you pick up a book about a beginners guide to creating a bedroom studio or a personal studio. I am sure there are tons of websites about that as well.