My son is getting ok with his electric guitar. He would now like a usb audio interface so he can record himself onto either and apple or windows laptop (he has access to both).
He has found an M Audio M Track Duo on Amazon which looks reasonable. There is also a Beheringer U Phoria for about the same price which looks good.
Any of the budding guitarists on heat used either? And is £50 to little to pay for something like this?
Any advice gratefully received.
My typing is terrible – apologies for the typos and feel free to answer even you aren’t on heat (i.e everyone apart from Moose).
Nowt more dangerous than a plank-spanker on heat, eh Twang?
I’m not sure either of those is 24-bit, which is near-essential for distortion-free recording.
The budget USB interface of choice is the Focusrite Scarlett range, which starts at £150.
I’m fairly sure Sound On Sound covered these things in a recent issue, let me have a dig.
At the budget end, every feature counts. The Duo has two channels, if you can get away with one then do so – it will save you cash.
Also, how are you going to record the guitar? DI or amp and a microphone? DI is easy but will sound a bit shrill, amp and a mic will sound more ‘real’ but requires a half-decent mic. A basic mic like the Shure SM57 is about £100.
Thanks for that. I assume he will use a DI to record. I have a cheapie mic but I suspect that a decent one would be next on the list.
The Behringer is 24 bit but not sure if the M Audio one is.
Behringer U-PHORIA UMC202HD 24 Bit/192 kHz USB Audio Interface https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00SAV0VP0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_VQ47ZQEC9FT349S3N0YR?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
You don’t need 24bit unless he’s a budding Steven Wilson intent on recording everything he does in pristine audiophile quality from the get go. Both those interfaces will do fine Leeds. Behringer used to be a bit iffy but they have got their shit together of late
The point I didn’t make very well (at all) is the dynamic range of an instrument is much greater than that of a CD. It’s really difficult to record something live on a 16-bit interface, you either reduce the gain until the quiet bits get too hissy/crunchy or the loud bits get horribly distorted.
24-bit has (2^8=) 256 times as much range as 16-bit. So you can set the gain a bit lower and the quiet bits will record fine, turned up to 11 will still be fine without any distortion.
It’s also why not many guitar amps use hi-fi speakers – they’d end up burning out the voice coils or ripping the cones. Horses for courses and all that.
Yes but this is a kid who’s getting ok at the guitar, not Walter Becker.
It’s not about recording quality, it’s about ease of use. With a 24-bit interface you can set it to about the middle and forget it – too quiet or, more importantly, too loud won’t be a problem.
Agreed re Behringer – I think they’ve really pulled their socks up these days. I’ve got an Apogee Duet sitting here waiting to be put on eBay after I picked up a Behringer UMC1820. I wouldn’t say it’s an *upgrade* per se but it’s plenty good enough for me in my crappy room and with my crappy old ears and has more than earned its place for the convenience of having all those ins and outs.
An amp sim DI is the way to go. There are many but the Behringer ones are fine.
This kinda thing.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=behringer+amp+sim+di&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fullcompass.com%2Fcommon%2Fproducts%2Foriginal%2F278000.jpg
This might help. 36 desktop audio interfaces reviewed.
https://www.soundonsound.com/audio-interfaces?f%5B0%5D=node%253Afield_hardware_format%3A8469
I’ve got a Zoom H2 Handy Recorder, which is amazingly good for the price (£100 or thereabouts). I recorded a bluegrass band practising in a tent at a festival, burnt the recording to a CD-R and played it back to the band, and the quality is astounding. It’s the best little recording gizmo I’ve ever had. Would be fine for his purposes – will record in CD quality for 24 hours straight, uses an SD card.
Focusrite is the right answer. Superb kit, brilliant service desk who are UK based and they frequently give you free plugins too. Also it is a cool metallic red finish.
I once had a problem with my setup which their tech fairly quickly traced to not being their kit but said “I’m not leaving you now” and stayed on the phone until it was all working. It was an issue with some third party software which he helped me correctly configure.
Look no further. People are snobby about Behringer which is unfair but the interface is soooo important and the support is essential for the WDIFW moments. Go Focusrite. Behringer for other outboard.
I can bore on for hours about this – PM for more if required…
My son has a Focusrite and is very happy with it.
People are snobby about Behringer but they do manufacture to a price and items like sound desks can get a lot of heavy use, as well as being bounced on and off trucks. Most people I know would prefer a Midas desk (Behringer own Midas and the desks are practically identical). Received wisdom is that the Midas desk has Midas manufactured components, the Behringer, cheaper components, which is reflected in the price. Incidentally, I have a number of Behringer DI boxes which have been fine for cabaret bands but I wouldn’t send them out on a major tour. FWIW, I was having a similar conversation about Black Magic video gear earlier today. Does the job at a price but has its quirks that you don’t get with more expensive brands.
Yes, I’ve overheard several conversations about how some piece of audio kit is nasty because it contains cheap and/or Surface Mount components.
Almost every component nowadays is Surface Mount – and has been for decades, look inside any PC case – and there are good engineering reasons why they perform better.
And all components of identical spec are… identical. Bourns resistors don’t cost any more than Yageo ones because they have an American name – if they did, they wouldn’t sell any. All “Commodity” Components are bought on Price and Availability.
The stringent requirements of CE marking/RoHS/REACH/WEEE means you can no longer knock something up in a shed from hand-made parts.
Sorry, I am very dull…
ME AUDIO KIT SOUNDS LIKE SURFACE MOUNT! …what am I supposed to do?
You’re up the creek without a paddle, Moose.
Only listen to No Parlez. It will still sound amazing.
Me audio kit sounds like surface DOWWWWWWW
I would get on the local 2nd hand websites. People home recording are always turning over gear or upgrading so you might get a good deal there. Also, if you’re going for a mic I would highly recommend the MXL V67G. It isn’t high end by any means but it’s exceptional for its price point.
As others have said, Focusrite is absolutely the way to go. Also, you get loads of really good free plug ins. New ones every month as well. I’ve used them and so have both my kids.
I have an Audient ID4 interface. For recording guitar I would not recommend using mikes in a domestic environment. Too much noise! Plug the guitar in to the device and use Amp Sims. (I use Reaper for recording and Amplitube for a decent set of basic amps)
Focusrite and Scarlett both have their adherents – I am pretty happy with my setup, but by no means at the point where I would say “You should only use this”.
A blog entry on recording – feel free to ping me a message if you have questions on it http://backinthesaddle-elhombremalo.blogspot.com/2019/07/technology.html
This. A Behringer interface plugged into, say, Garageband, will do beautifully. GB (if you’re a Mac type) has a really good little onboard amp simulator, and “pedals”. And if you’ve got the Mac already, it’s free, and nothing’s better than free.
He could upgrade to Logic and Focusrite later on for not much cash if he stays serious, and barely notice a change in UI.
A little further up the price range, I have an Arturia AudioFuse. It’s a brilliant bit of kit which is part interface, part mixer, with built-in everything (including a MM phono stage). It’s roughly the size of a beer mat, although a lot thicker than a beer mat, and there’s so much crammed inside the case gets pretty hot to the touch. You need tiny fingers or a pencil to operate the vast array of tiny buttons. It would probably make me a cup of tea if I asked it to.
I really don’t know how they do it for the money, it’s the Fiio of interfaces.
Mister! Mister! He said Fiio again. Did no one notice?
A handy article (and a free book) from my chums at Sound On Sound.
https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/guitars-di?
https://www.soundonsound.com/news/free-ebook-recording-technology-basics-beyond