We are the music makers - producers?

If you're getting vinyl done you want the same guy doing the mastering as is doing the cut to vinyl, because there's a lot of weird shit you have to do to a tune before it can be pressed to vinyl - i.e. you can't have stereo bass under a certain frequency because it'll make the record skip, shit that you don't need to think about when mastering to CD.

Metropolis in Camden do the best mastering I've ever known plus they do vinyl production. Expensive but recommended. They did my last bands' record and smashed it.

^zis

Best 4+ USB2 Audio interface? Will my 2009 mac and Logic 9 cope with recording 4 tracks of audio?

I'm very happy with my Focusrite Saffire firewire interface and their USB ones are highly regarded for the cash too

EDIT: cheers 8baller.

So, 4 input USB2 audio interfaces with good pre-amps please.

Ideally I'd get an Apogee Quartet but as I don't have a grand going spare, I won't.

Google keeps bringing up this super sweet-looking chunk by Akai:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may12/articles/akai-eie-pro.htm

But I have to say the low price is making me suspicious. Should it? At £170 or less online It's actually about the same price as my current "cheap" Mackie Onyx Blackjack 2 input jobbie. I'm trying to go UP-market here.

Any thoughts?

RME Fireface?

Ok, dumb question(s), how can an 8 input interface have only 2 preamps? Do you set main level with the preamps then balance incoming signal with a digital mixer? The saphire pro 14 says 8 inputs but I can ony see 2 on the unit.

I are confused.

To be clear, I want something on which I can balance and record 4 signals at the same time.

Edit: To further clarify 4 analogue XLR inputs with phantom power

when it says it has 2 preamps i presume it means 2 mic preamps - ie the other two inputs are probably on the back and are for line-level inputs only.

^ with my Saffire PRO 24 DSP there are 2 mic pre-amp inputs on front, 2 analogue on back, plus ADAT and SPDIF - but it does 16 x 8 in the software mixer

lost on me, I use 3 at most

My missus got that EIE PRO for a piece of performance art she's doing (four strings connected to hooks in her back which she mics up individually and plays going into Ableton). It was the cheapest simultaneous four input soundcard we could find.

It is good, solidly built, looks like a tank, and all the connections/changes are made using the front panel (which really helps - I hate dicking about in menus on the computer) and the preamps are fine but I wouldn't say they were stellar in any way. About the equivalent of my Blackjack, no worse but not any better.

All four XLR inputs can have phantom power but you can't switch phantom power individually. It's either on for 1+2 or off for 1+2, on for 3+4 or off for 3+4. Though I've never had a problem running Phantom power on a dynamic mic if it comes to it.

I think everything sub £200 is goin to be about the same preamp wise to be honest Dooks. Until you start geting up to Apogee and the the like, it's all about the same, and if you want four Apogee preamps it's going to cost ya.

Thanks Bref that's very helpful.

And the performance piece sounds terrifying.

G'luck to the lady.

They did my last band's record and smashed it.

A slightly unfortunate choice of words when thinking about vinyl. :)

Urgh. I'm suffering a massive crisis of confidence in my abilities at the moment. spent all last night tracking and mixing and by the time i went to bed was utterly despondent.

Still, new monitors tonight! that'll make everything 100% more awesome right?

right?

Urgh. I'm suffering a massive crisis of confidence in my abilities at the moment. spent all last night tracking and mixing and by the time i went to bed was utterly despondent.

Still, new monitors tonight! that'll make everything 100% more awesome right?

right?

Deep breaths dude. Even a night spent making something you hate is a night where you learn something about your method and what works (and doesn't work) for you.

Your stuff is great, but it must be hard as hell to record at home. It's one of those types of music where more work in doesn't necessarily = a better sound out. So much depends on the performance and therefore on your mindstate, and it's very hard to get into that performance mindstate when you're in the same place you eat your dinner.

Keep at it brah, your stuff is great.

Thanks buddy.

I've been absorbing a lot of production wisdom of late and have made a few decisions about how I approach things. You're right it is all about vibe and atmosphere and capturing that is the challenge I've set myself.

It's hard with limited resources though the old chestnut of how to record a natural acoustic performance with suficient ambience separation to be able to edit later. To click or not etc. I'll get there. You're right i've just got to keep plugging away. tbh, it is early days for me as a hands on engineer/producer so I should be more patient with myself.

One problem is, that despite swearing I wouldn't do it, I have fallen foul of the temptation of over-process things. Add unnecessary compression etc. I realised this the other day when I decided to "un-do" a mix and deleted all the aux channels and removed all plugins and re-set the faders to start again. It immediately sounded better. Bit of an eye opener that.

Urgh. I'm suffering a massive crisis of confidence in my abilities at the moment. spent all last night tracking and mixing and by the time i went to bed was utterly despondent.

Still, new monitors tonight! that'll make everything 100% more awesome right?

right?

It's normal to feel like this, especially after working late. I often have to give it some time before going back to check mixes productively. Keep it going though, you're on the right track!

It may take a little while to get used to your new monitors, keep a second set to reference mixes if possible.

Cheers. Curved in Hackney, which is near to me, seem to be a decent place to get mastering done. I'd rather not send the lacquer off to GZ if possible, but other options appear to be rather limited.

dont use curved
they outsource pressing to france.
messed up the sleeve, spindle, and print as well as taking 3 months when quoted 6 weeks.
will never ever use them again or recommend them to anyone.

m-audio firewire 410
workhorse that has never failed me in 5 years, used a rme fireface 800 for about 6 months but ended up going back to the 410 as it just works with no fiddling, great drivers and low latency.

EDIT: cheers 8baller.

So, 4 input USB2 audio interfaces with good pre-amps please.

Ideally I'd get an Apogee Quartet but as I don't have a grand going spare, I won't.

Google keeps bringing up this super sweet-looking chunk by Akai:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may12/articles/akai-eie-pro.htm

But I have to say the low price is making me suspicious. Should it? At £170 or less online It's actually about the same price as my current "cheap" Mackie Onyx Blackjack 2 input jobbie. I'm trying to go UP-market here.

Any thoughts?

Good tips, cheers.

Looks like I've sold my old monitors and the chap what wants 'em, wants em from me tonight on the way to collect my new ones.

Wahey!

m-audio firewire 410
workhorse that has never failed me in 5 years, used a rme fireface 800 for about 6 months but ended up going back to the 410 as it just works with no fiddling, great drivers and low latency.

Only 2 XLR inputs.

I need to record 4 simultaneous analogue XLR inputs with phantom power.

Only 2 XLR inputs.

I need to record 4 simultaneous analogue XLR inputs with phantom power.

May be easier to use an analogue mixer like a small Mackie as a pre-amp, sort out gain etc, then send to line inputs of an interface? Or spend more on something like the Focusrite ISA 428, which I haz and it's very nice, but pricey.

^ I would go this way too - Mackie VLZ3-802

dont use curved
they outsource pressing to france.
messed up the sleeve, spindle, and print as well as taking 3 months when quoted 6 weeks.
will never ever use them again or recommend them to anyone.

Thanks for the info. I wouldn't use them for pressing, if i were to use them, only for cutting.

May be easier to use an analogue mixer like a small Mackie as a pre-amp, sort out gain etc, then send to line inputs of an interface? Or spend more on something like the Focusrite ISA 428, which I haz and it's very nice, but pricey.

I've just remembered I have a cheap old Behringer 8 channel desk stashed under the sofa-bed. Durrrrrrrr

Anyone got any recommendations in London for mastering/cutting and pressing a 7" single?

There is a guy in Brighton that does good stuff and you can get odd number pressed up. Lemme know if you want me to find his details.