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[grantis]

osumosan wrote on Wed, 20 August 2008 15:59

grant richard wrote on Wed, 20 August 2008 13:05 I know you're on a budget, but please try and stay away from the SMPro stuff, or the Behringer ADA8000.  JUNK.  You will not be happy with the results. The Focusrite Saffire 26 I/O is a good middle ground between the Mackie Onyx and the Cheapo SMPRO and Behringer. Sure the Behringer's not the greatest. It's certainly NOT junk.

We're just going to have to disagree there.

Sam, trust your ears, not your wallet.

[typek]

dconstruction wrote on Wed, 20 August 2008 16:46

Buy the best piece you can now; rent or borrow what else you might need, when you need it. You will never, ever feel like you have enough equipment to do things "properly" while you still think there is a "proper" way to do things.  Live within your means; it's liberating. L

i agree...

sam161 wrote on Wed, 20 August 2008 10:27

I'm not sure what to do when it comes to recording live. I had thought about the following combination, this assumes there are no more than 2 singers... Vocal 1 Vocal 2 Guitar 1 Guitar 2 Bass Guitar Kick Drum Snare Drum Overhead It's the drums that present the biggest problem, especially seeing as 2 overheads would be much better - but I'm sure there is an appropriate solution?

Maybe try adding an overhead and using one mic for vocals - depending on how the vocal1/vocal2 interact, in a pinch you can use one.. just know your mic (pickup pattern).... or just dub the vocal 1/2 parts... not as fun though

or.. go direct with the bass, and free a mic up that way?

*points up to dconstructions quote* .. try different ways!

[sam161]

Thanks very much. Good advice.

The Firepod apparently has 10 inputs. Yet there are only 8 Mic/Line inputs... Where/What are the other two? And could those be utilized for say DI'ing a bass guitar?

[grantis]

sam161 wrote on Thu, 21 August 2008 08:03

Thanks very much. Good advice. The Firepod apparently has 10 inputs. Yet there are only 8 Mic/Line inputs... Where/What are the other two? And could those be utilized for say DI'ing a bass guitar?

The other inputs are a S/PDIF connection.  A no-go on DI'ing bass.  It's a digital input.

[sam161]

Ok... So, would the following set-up work (I hope this'll be readable)

Say I have the following sources:
Vocal Left
Vocal Center
Vocal Right
Guitar L
Guitar R
Bass Guitar
Kick
Snare Hats
Tom 1
Tom 2
OH L
OH R

Could I put the first 8 into a firepod. Then put the remainder into another audio interface - such as the Behringer ADA8000 (I know you might not like it hehe, this is an example) and then connect up the ADA8000 to the firepod.

Then, use the firewire out port on the Firepod to multi-track record on my macbook.

Would this method work, and would I be able to record all of those instruments - the only worry I have is that the firepod may only connect to other firepods... Just something I've heard on the interweb...

Thanks, sorry for so many questions - this is helping me understand very well though =]

[grantis]

The Firepod does not have ADAT in/out.  You will need to choose an interface that does if you want to use the ADA8000, (or any other ADAT preamp).

FYI, the ADA8000 is not and interface (it does not interface with a computer).  It is only a preamp with ADAT.

This would suffice:

http://www.zzounds.com/item--MDOPF2626

or (again )

http://www.zzounds.com/item--FOCSAFFIREPRO

To get an interface AND ADAT in the same box, those might be the lowest of the low prices.  eBay would be a good place to watch.  Both of those boxes would allow you to use the ADA8000 (or any other ADAT pre)

[Tom L]

side note...

if you're doing a LIVE live recording, you may want to allow a track for an audience mic or 2.

[osumosan]

Are you on a Mac? I **think** you could use a firepod with other interfaces by creating an aggregate device with the Audio/Midi Setup utility. Can anyone confirm or know of any specific problem with the firepod for doing so? The only thing I know is that you CAN'T daisy chain it with the firebox or inspire. The ADAT in is an easier way of getting more channels.

[sam161]

Live recordings and audience mics - I tried that at the last gig and it worked alright, so yeah - I would ideally like a spare channel or two for that.

Aggregate devices - I've sort of looked into it and created one, which allowed me to recordusing the built in mic and the line in - which was a start. But it's a bit odd, because with garageband, if you are using an aggregate device, you can't change the recording level - only the channel volume afterwards...

Ok, so here's what I want to know.

1. Can I link any other interfaces with the firepod, APART from another firepod? In other words, besides adding another firepod - how could I get 16 channels as opposed to just 8.

2. If I decided to go with lets say two behringer ADA8000s - this would give me 16 channels and they would definitely link; as well as being slightly cheaper... How can I connect these up to my macbook? Or would this require another interfaxce that allows this...?

Thanks very much, sorry for so many questions, but the answers never seem clear hehe =]

[grantis]

You would have to have an interface of some sort to use a Firepod or an ADA8000.  

[osumosan]

The firepod IS an interface. That will let you input 8 of its preamps into your computer directly. Thus the "fire" part of its name. It's now the firestudio line and they have ADAT inputs where you can use the output of a preamp unit that has ADAT outs. Check the specifcations at manufacturers' websites. For an interface, you need the firewire and if you want 16 channels it should have an ADAT in port. To get those 8 additional channels, you need an ADAT out from a preamp bank.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend this unless you wanted to go beyond the 16 channels, but presonus (and M-audio) have interfaces that connect multiple ADAT units using a firewire interface to your laptop. You can use up to 4 banks of ADAT units (at 44.1 or 48k). With the Presonus Lightpipe (at $600) you could plug in two ADA8000's. Or for that matter four ADA8000's.

The converters on a presonus unit (or MOTU, etc.) will give you 8 channels of better conversion than the less expensive Behringer.

[grantis]

osumosan wrote on Sat, 23 August 2008 18:49

The firepod IS an interface. That will let you input 8 of its preamps into your computer directly. Thus the "fire" part of its name. It's now the firestudio line and they have ADAT inputs where you can use the output of a preamp unit that has ADAT outs. Check the specifcations at manufacturers' websites. For an interface, you need the firewire and if you want 16 channels it should have an ADAT in port. To get those 8 additional channels, you need an ADAT out from a preamp bank. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this unless you wanted to go beyond the 16 channels, but presonus (and M-audio) have interfaces that connect multiple ADAT units using a firewire interface to your laptop. You can use up to 4 banks of ADAT units (at 44.1 or 48k). With the Presonus Lightpipe (at $600) you could plug in two ADA8000's. Or for that matter four ADA8000's. The converters on a presonus unit (or MOTU, etc.) will give you 8 channels of better conversion than the less expensive Behringer.

Right, that's what I meant....haha.

I got my interfaces confused.  No ADAT means no external preamps.

[sam161]

So, 16 inputs. Either:
2 Firepod's, Daisy Chained - Firewire into PC
2 ADA800's, connected to an interface which produces Firewire into PC.

I have no idea right now.

[grantis]

So, 16 inputs. Either:

-2 Firepod's, Daisy Chained - Firewire into PC

Yes

-2 ADA800's, connected to an interface which produces Firewire into PC.

Not exactly.  An interface will allow 1 ADAT device totaling 8 channels.

[sam161]

I've been looking into this a bit more over the last few days. I know for sure you can get sound cards that take in 4 ADAT lines in, as I know of someone local who does this with two B.ADA8000s

I think I can go about this the following ways:
Firepod: Buy 2 firepods, daisy chain them, and connect them to the mac via firewire. This will give me 1 channels without any additional hardware. Cost, app.