Help Please! Choosing best Interface for Windows 7, Audacity

[julia4886]

We are very new to this and need advice on how to set up a simple home recording system using Windows 7 and Audacity. What would be the best Audio Interface to use? We have been looking at M-Audio Fast Track Pro & PreSonus FireBox, is there others that would work smoother with Audacity and Windows 7? We are trying to keep this as inexpensive as possible, we also need speakers, can anyone recommend some inexpensive decent speakers? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanksjulia4886

Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2010 10:51 am
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[whomper]

We are very new to this and need advice on how to set up a simple home recording system using Windows 7 and Audacity. What would be the best Audio Interface to use? We have been looking at M-Audio Fast Track Pro & PreSonus FireBox, is there others that would work smoother with Audacity and Windows 7? We are trying to keep this as inexpensive as possible, we also need speakers, can anyone recommend some inexpensive decent speakers? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanksjulia4886

Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2010 10:51 am
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the best interface is one that works

that means you need it to ahve win7 drivers

pls dont pick the "best" interface and then whine that it doesnt work cause there are no drivers for it

you need to check with the interface vendor to see if they support win7 yet and provide the drivers for their box

or you could call some of the vendors on the big list in another forum area and ask their experts if it works with win7

or simply google for: win7 driver audio interface pc
and see what turns up - should be a list of names of boxes that you could use

as to speakers
that is a can of worms
you pretty much get what you buy
up to a price point you will notice an improvement
which should be where you stop
so buy the cheapest that you think are "good"

but do you want
cheap pc speakers - $10-$50
cheap home stereo speakers - $50 - 500
cheap monitor speakers - $200- 2000
cheap wedgies for stage use ???
cheap tower speakers for performance ???
or what sort of speakers ????

i doubt that the audacity team tests compatibility with many devices
unless they own it personally

if it works on the pc it *should* work with audacity
but no guarantees

[steve]

you need to check with the interface vendor to see if they support win7 yet and provide the drivers for their box

For use with Audacity there must be Windows drivers (WDM or MME).

The M-Audio Fast Track Pro & PreSonus FireBox use ASIO drivers by default, but Audacity does not support ASIO (to be totally accurate, the distributed version of Audacity does not support ASIO).

M-Audio Fast Track Pro & PreSonus FireBox are also supplied with drivers for Windows (but not sure about Windows 7), but there are a lot of reports from users on this forum that have struggled to get them working properly.

An important consideration in choosing a sound card is "what do you want to use it for"?
For example, if you want to record from a microphone, then you either need a USB microphone, or a sound card that has a microphone pre-amp built in, or a microphone and a microphone pre-amp and a line level sound card, or a microphone and a mixing desk and a line level sound card. - lots of options, so it really does depend on what you want to do.

(Your duplicate posts will be deleted because it gets really confusing with replies scattered all over the forum - posts get picked up better if they are in just one appropriate part of the forum)

[steve]

For recording purposes, speakers should be as accurate (flat response) as possible. "Studio Monitors" are designed for this purpose and are far more accurate than hi-fi speakers, computer speakers or PA speakers. About the cheapest ones that I have used and could happily recommend are Tannoy Reveal monitors or Behringer B2030P. Neither of these are really "cheap", but they are among the cheapest that are suitable as studio monitors. When buying studio monitors on line, check if the price is per speaker or per pair (you need a pair).

A cheaper alternative that many people use for cost reasons are to use their existing hi-fi speakers and get a good pair of headphones for detailed listening. Headphones are essential if you are recording multi-track recordings with microphones.

[julia4886]

Thanks for the advice, we are really new to this and trying to gather as much information as we can before purchasing anything! Thanks for your time and wisdom!

[whomper]

For recording purposes, speakers should be as accurate (flat response) as possible. "Studio Monitors" are designed for this purpose and are far more accurate than hi-fi speakers, computer speakers or PA speakers. About the cheapest ones that I have used and could happily recommend are Tannoy Reveal monitors or Behringer B2030P. Neither of these are really "cheap", but they are among the cheapest that are suitable as studio monitors. When buying studio monitors on line, check if the price is per speaker or per pair (you need a pair).

A cheaper alternative that many people use for cost reasons are to use their existing hi-fi speakers and get a good pair of headphones for detailed listening. Headphones are essential if you are recording multi-track recordings with microphones.

indeed

headphones will reveal things you never hear on speakers

as to home stereo speakers versus "monitor" speakers
the pros will tell you that you need the monitor type
my ears say otherwise

best to listen to all your choices
and pick the cheapest you are happy with

[steve]

the pros will tell you that you need the monitor type
my ears say otherwise

Studio monitors will probably not give you the "nicest" sound, but that is not what they are designed for. For listening to classical/folk/acoustic type music I much prefer to use my hi-fi speakers than my studio monitors - they sound so much smoother, warmer and the experience is just more enjoyable, but that's because they "flatter" the sound. For rock/electronic music I prefer to listen with my JBL speakers - in the words of WinAmp "they kick the llamas ass", but if I want to listen critically to a recording, to hear the tonal balance, pick out any glitches, resonances, or generally pick fault with my recording, then it's the studio monitors - they hide very little.

Before I had any studio monitors I had 4 different pairs of speakers connected to the amp via a home made switch box. Although none of them gave a "true" rendition of the sound I could at least hear what the recording would sound like on a range of different set-ups. (I still have 3 other pairs of speakers as well as the monitors switchable from the amp)

[kozikowski]

<<<a simple home recording system >>>

To record what? Single spoken word? Five piece band? Skype interview with five other people? Costs go way down when you can tailor the system to your performance. If you're completely open ended, then that can be very expensive.

If you have no idea what you want, you might want to hire out the first performance and see how it goes. Anybody can jam a simple performance into a computer. It's when you start being fancy that there's problems. Do you want to listen to yourself as you perform? That's actually pretty difficult in a simple computer system.

Koz

[whomper]

the pros will tell you that you need the monitor type
my ears say otherwise

Studio monitors will probably not give you the "nicest" sound, but that is not what they are designed for. For listening to classical/folk/acoustic type music I much prefer to use my hi-fi speakers than my studio monitors - they sound so much smoother, warmer and the experience is just more enjoyable, but that's because they "flatter" the sound. For rock/electronic music I prefer to listen with my JBL speakers - in the words of WinAmp "they kick the llamas ass", but if I want to listen critically to a recording, to hear the tonal balance, pick out any glitches, resonances, or generally pick fault with my recording, then it's the studio monitors - they hide very little.

Before I had any studio monitors I had 4 different pairs of speakers connected to the amp via a home made switch box. Although none of them gave a "true" rendition of the sound I could at least hear what the recording would sound like on a range of different set-ups. (I still have 3 other pairs of speakers as well as the monitors switchable from the amp)

i have to agree
if you are in a stuio mastering a commercial cd for release
you know how to use monitors to get what you need

most folks only want to hear their stuff at home
and are not trained to make full use of pro gear & techniques

i stand by my observation that headphones will show more than any speaker

got a commercial recording of a symphony
sounds great on speakers
but
on headphones
i hear the baton getting dropped
and the conductor curse softly

for me , finding and fixing such things are more important than flatness
and i dont know about the quality of todays speakers
but mine are flat well past my ability to hear problems

[waxcylinder]

For a nice pair of small studio speakers I would recommend trying to get a pair of LS3/5A speakers.

They were specced many years ago by the BBC for use in their portable recording studios - several manufacturers built them at the time, including Rogers. They are no longer made, so you would need to seek out a good second-hand pair.

They sound very clean and flat, good for studio work (just as the BBC intended)- I auditioned a pair many years ago when I thought I no longer had room for my Quad ELS57 electrostatic speakers. Luckily I still have the Quads - and a bigger room in which to use them.

Google for LS3/5A - you will see many sites with reviws, supoport and offers for salke.

WC