Lunar Shards

Yup, at this point I think I have most of everything I need now. So nearly a month ago I got a hold of a Zoom R24 with the help of my friend. The Zoom R24 has been a challenge to get use to since it’s a very different device. In it’s current setup it acts as an audio interface when doing podcasting recording for Sequence Break XIV. I’m hoping to use it for a lot more though.

So a week or two after getting the Zoom R24 I went ahead and got the microphone I wanted. After checking out quite a lot of sources I settled on the MXL 990. It’s a condenser microphone which should help a lot in terms of quality upgrade in the recording. I’m still trying to master the techniques to using it properly since it will pick up breathing quite a lot if your not careful. The particular MXL 990 kit came with the MXL 991 which is designed for instrument recording however it can double as a spare condenser mic as well in the proper configuration.

Now one of the challenges I ran into when I first got the Zoom R24 was the issue of Skype using only channel 1 of my audio interface and couldn’t select other channels. To compensate for this, I ended up picking up an Art MP Tube Pre-Amplifier. This is a relatively inexpensive pre-amp however it does provide both phantom power to line 1 as well as give the MXL 990 a warmer tone.

So in it’s current configuration the MXL 990 is passed through the Art MP Tube Pre-Amp into channel 1 of the Zoom R24. This allows me to use it as the primary microphone in recording on Skype. To allow me to hear the other hosts I have a stereo split going out of the computer into channels 3 and 4. A few weeks ago the Zoom R24 had this sudden weird issue where it wasn’t down-mixing the audio if I plugged a single cable from the computer to the unit. I’m still not sure what I changed on the unit to cause this but the work around is a stereo splitter and the left and right assigned to their own channels.

Now I’m still using Callgraph to recording the audio as the most recent podcast was a bit of a rush setup since my equipment was taken a part earlier in case I needed it for an event at work. I did test on a previous podcast of recording the audio into Cubase which came with the Zoom R24. In this case the audio channels 1, 3, and 4 were recorded with 1 being a solo mono track and 3 and 4 recorded as a single stereo track. This worked fine and I could even control it using the faders and dials on the Zoom R24 since in Cubase, it can double as a control surface. My audio in that particular podcast (Episode 20 for those wondering) is a little quite because I was using the MXL 991 to record and forgot I had to be close to the mic for it to pick up well.

Now as cool as this is, Cubase is still a bit unwieldy for me to use in terms of editing the podcast. I’m lucky as it does record all the tracks as an independent wave file which I can then open up in Sony Acid Music Studio which for me is a lot easier to work in. I’ve heard a lot of stories that Sony Vegas actually provide a much richer working environment but until I can get a hold of a copy I think Sony Acid will work well for me. I have still yet to master EQ settings but I’m getting around to it. This is no magic formula setting and it’s all by ear which at times drives me nuts sometimes. Skype does introduce some unforeseen problems and since we’re not in studio environment there’s also something I can’t remove.

Well i guess that’s all for now. There’s always more I could do like oh I dunno, rig some type of hanging system to drape a heavy comforter behind me while i’m recording to act as a sound absorbing wall, lol… hmm…

That title should confuse a lot of people, lol. So yes this is technically the second version of this post and for good reason. I originally wrote this post based around gain access to the Zoom R16 however due to someone stealing the AC adapter out of the packaging and/or returning it without it I ended up taking the unit back. Since my friend was helping me out and checking to see what kind of employee discount he had we went ahead and price checked the R24. The store we got it at had priced the R24 for about 599 which is INSANE but when we pulled up the employee price tag it was actually only 50 dollars more than the R16. Hell I had $50 dollars in cash, the difference was worth it considering it adds an additional 4 additional phantom powered inputs for a total of 6 powered inputs.

Anyway the reason I went ahead with this plunge off the deep end is mostly due to A. my friend’s discount is ending soon at the store and B. the original intent with mixers wasn’t panning out. Over the past weekend I had hit up a Guitar Center while I was out of town to ask about equipment like this. My original intention was to get a mixer with a USB output to record the mics for a local podcast and to double as an audio interface for the Sequence Break XIV recordings. This would break me free of the tinny sounding Samson GoMic which I have been using since the start. Much to my dismay I found out that the output for the mixers I was considering only did stereo over USB and not multitrack. So the Behringer mixer went out the door like that. The nearest mixer that gave me an Alesis Multimix 8 which the newer version runs about $299.

The staff member suggested I consider the audio interface route and just skip the mixer entirely and suggested the M-Audio Fast Track Ultra which gave me the 4 powered inputs which I may need. The price however was a lot more at around $399. There was a cheaper alternative but he warned me that it didn’t play well with Windows which is my editing environment and could have gone with the Alesis iO4 which ran about $149. He mentioned that it worked much better under Mac which I’m not surprised about based on the name of the device.

Taking this into account this gave me not that great of a picture to deal with. I actually had the money to actually get the gear thanks to a side job I recently did. I was beginning to spec out equipment for real. Then out of the blue last Tuesday I passed by Best Buy to look at Mass Effect 3 which was on sale. I hadn’t picked it up yet mostly because I had other games in the way to finish like Final Fantasy XIII-2 among other things and happened to run into my friend who worked there. Both of us were considering doing a podcast together for fun. We checked out the gear that the store had and turns out he could get a relatively good deal on the Zoom R16. It was the cheaper model then the Zoom R24 and well since his discount was going to go away soon and the price dropped to close to the mixer and audio interface range I decided why the hell not.

The Zoom R series recorders are unique beasts in themselves. The Zoom R16 which was the first unit I had has 8 inputs on the device allowing you record 8 different device simultaneously and then if you really need to mix them with an additional 8 tracks on the recorder itself free of a computer. That alone is really cool and something to consider as noted in my previous post about the equipment. Well the R16 I had when I got home and pulled it out was missing its damn AC adapter! Part of me was about to say fuck it and just keep going but at the same time I paid this much I might as well have all the parts so my friend and I went back to the store the next day to exchange it. In my absent-mindedness I forgot to price check the Zoom R24 something I asked my friend to do for shits and giggles to see just how much we could get off the unit. Much to our surprise quite a lot actually. Only an additional 50 dollars or so more than the R16 which when we looked at the store price tag was a bit insane. The markups for this gear is extraordinary!

So I now have the Zoom R24, the very unit I was considering to begin with at a lot less than I had anticipated spending for it should I have gotten it by other means. Will I use it soon? I’ll try my damnedest to get it working before the next Sequence Break XIV recording! (which at the time of this writing is about 23 hours from now!) I’ll go over it more in a separate post.

That and microphones because that just needs a post by itself.

I was originally debating on several ways to do podcasting both over skype which I do for Sequence Break XIV and hopefully another one with the group later down the line. On top of that friends locally want to do a podcast as well which focuses more on tech then anything else. My recording equipment though is lacking and I’ve been meaning to fix this for some time. Originally I intended on using USB mics but have found them to lack the proper sound when I’m going into editing. I currently use a Samson Go Mic which unfortunately gives me a very tinny sound unless I’m sick upon which I’ve found some seem to want me to sound like that

Anyway, looking at equipment I’ve been eyeing several pieces which I need to consider for future upgrades.

The Microphone

Calaera, One of my co-hosts on Sequence Break XIV, pointed me in the direction of the MXL 990 Condensor Microphone. It cost as much as the Samson Go but has a much deeper sound when I listened to examples of it’s use. The microphone comes with a shockmount, which is very much needed for mics like this and a standard stand. It goes for about $79.99 on Amazon which isn’t a bad price. Of course it’s also XLR which gives me some versatility in choosing the interfaces it connects to.

The Stand

Of course I need a stand, I can’t hold this thing in my hand or use my current jerry-rigged mic stand which the Samson Go is clamped onto. I’m debating on if I should consider a boom mic stand or just a desk mounted one which allows me to take it on across town to do other recordings. For a desk mounted unit, I was considering A relatively cheap unit. At around $12 on Amazon, it’s not a bad price and hopefully is sturdy enough for use. It should be easy enough to pack for transport with whatever equipment I need to haul over for recording on location. It is height adjustable which is good since I may not have a desk high enough to be even with head.

The Boom

If I wanted a more advanced setup for my mic at home, I was considering a Heil Sound HB-1 Steel Microphone Boom. It’ll run me about $70 dollars and is built similar to my jerry-rigged setup but actually designed to support the weight. Since forward desk space is a premium, I was thinking of attacking it to my dual monitor arms allowing me to push it up and out of the way when I don’t need it.

The Audio Inferace

Obviously with XLR, I need some way to transit to a computer for the Sequence Break XIV podcast. I was a mixer with USB output which basically turns whatever mixer I use into an audio interface with individual channels. Since this same mixer would also be used for the in-person recording for the podcast we want to do locally, I wanted it to have at least 4 microphones inputs for individual mics. I like the idea of people having their own channels which allows me to control the levels more easily. Something that isn’t present in Skype which I wish was there.

For this purpose, I was considering the Behringer XENYX X1204 USB 12-Channel Mixer. It runs around $170 dollars and provides me with the USB output. Since these mixers have a USB port, it doubles as an external sound card. I wonder if I can then port the sound directly to an DAW rather then using a round about means to record the WAV file?

An Independent Alternative

Now since I’m doing all this research, I actually decided to swing by Best Buy to look at microphones. They use to have a good selection but it seems that’s changed a bit. I had remembered they had a 4 microphone USB based mixer but that’s long been sold and they no longer carry it. That sorta sucks :X

While checking prices and looking at gear I stumbled upon what I thought was just a nice control surface near the computer section till I picked it up and looked at the back of the unit. To my surprised the thing had 8 combo jacks! The device I had picked up to examine was the Zoom R24. I hadn’t heard of this device and didn’t know what it was at first. It turns out the Zoom R24 is a Digital Recorder/Audio Interface/Controller. This made me blink for a minute and stare in confusion.

The R24 can operate as a stand alone Digital Recorder with up to 8 inputs from either mics, instruments or anything else that will plug in. It records the audio as PCM 16/24-bit linear WAV and at 44.1kHz which is awesome! Better then I can say then my Olympus voice recorder which unfortunately only does WMA much to my disappointment. As an Interface, it allows for all 8 inputs to be passed to the computer as individual channels which is also great for editing purposes and you can monitor the mixing from the unit.

Finally it’s also a control surface which means those sliders on the unit actually control sliders in the DAW. Basically allowing me to fine tune individual tracks as if I was doing this analog. Albeit this is more of a extra then needed but considering how some of these programs work, trying to spin a dial in the program can get annoying if you click it wrong and it jumps way past where you want it to go.

Unfortunately all this awesome comes at a big price tag. It runs around $499 new and about $449 used. Although I have seen it sold for around $399 on one site but I’m not sure about their reputation just yet. I need to do more research. If that’s the case, it’s about the same price as it’s lower model, the R16 which is a bit odd. There are bundle kits which give me just about everything I need so I might consider this if budget allows.

The Wishlists

The basics list consists of the following:
MXL 990 Condensor Microphone $79 (Mic at Musician’s Friend)
Desk Stand $12 (Desk Stand at Amazon)
Behringer XENYX X1204 USB 12-Channel Mixer $170 (Mixer at Amazon)
Patch Cable $15
This is the absolute basic setup. This will run me about: $276

If I also get the boom arm, which I’m very likely need:
MXL 990 Condensor Microphone $79
Desk Stand $12
Heil Sound HB-1 Steel Microphone Boom $70 (Mic Boom at Amazon)
Patch Cable $15
Behringer XENYX X1204 USB 12-Channel Mixer $170
This is the absolute basic setup. This will run me about: $346

This requires me to haul my laptop around for the recording device. The advantage is each track can be recorded as individual channels doing this. The downside is I’m hauling a $17 inch laptop which in hindsight shouldn’t be that bad considering I’m already hauling a mixing board around.

A setup without the laptop would use the Zoom R24.
Zoom R24 $499 (R24 at Amazon)
Desk Stand $12
Heil Sound HB-1 Steel Microphone Boom $70

This setup goes for $581. So wait, the mic is missing! Well the reason behind that is there is a kit that the Zoom R24 has that comes with a Samson C01 Condenser Microphone and doesn’t change the price surprisingly. I had considered the Samson CU01, which is the USB variant at one point but couldn’t find one locally. So this particular setup is about $235 more expensive but cuts out the need to haul a mixer and laptop around for local recording. The kit also comes with extra patch cables and such which should make things a lot easier on us.

I’m leaning towards the cheaper of the two but of course I’ll probably dig around a lot more to see if I can somehow get the R24 for a lot cheaper then this! The same goes with the mixer route.

Cloud music collections can be a scary thing considering your precious files sit out on the web on a server that could very well eat it from a hacker or just hardware failure. Of course the same  goes with your own machine or home server. A few months back Amazon announced their Cloud Drive and Cloud Player which was pretty neat. Great place to load up your music and files you want to keep safe. I use it for both backing up my iTunes purchases as of late as well as other documents I need on hand.

Of course Google wanted their hand in the cookie jar too so along came Music Beta by Google. Unlike Amazon, Google provides a application you download that transfers your music to your online storage/music player. The application can base your collection on your existing iTunes or Windows Media Player library. You can also specify the folder you want it to monitor. It can either do automatic uploads or set it to manual. Either is pretty nice however Music Beta requires an invitation from Google to use at the moment. Integration with Android so far has been pretty good. A little bit better then Amazon but they have a player too. It glitches a bit on my phone though.

Either way, my Vocaloid music is going to stay safe