Old 08-23-2021, 09:39 AM   #1
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so I have a korgd3200 and I'd like to come up with a mobile recording unit instead.. with at least 6 preamps and record directly into a laptop.. any suggestion on a cheap setup that will still get the job done.

the korg is cool but I'd love just to use reaper.. band practices at bass players house so I'd like to have something mobile and easy to carry that I can use reaper with.. thanks
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Old 08-23-2021, 11:26 AM   #2
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Tell us your budget then, because any kind of 8 channel audio interface would be suitable.
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Old 08-23-2021, 12:04 PM   #3
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Tell us your budget then, because any kind of 8 channel audio interface would be suitable.
I'd love to keep it all under a grand
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Old 08-23-2021, 12:34 PM   #4
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If the laptop's only use will be to record, you don't need a very powerful machine.
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Old 08-23-2021, 01:12 PM   #5
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I'd love to keep it all under a grand
Euros? GBP? USD?

Is that for the laptop and interface?
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Old 08-23-2021, 02:35 PM   #6
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I don't own one but Tascam makes an affordable interface or there are a couple of others below $1000 USD.

There some advantages to specialized-dedicated hardware. With a computer there's a lot more that can go wrong... And sometimes the physical faders are nice and latency should be less of an issue when you're not "working around" a multitasking operating system.

You can record on your hardware DAW and then mix in REAPER (the best of both worlds) but that doesn't solve your portability issue.
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Old 08-24-2021, 08:59 AM   #7
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Im leaning towards this and ext. hard drive
behringer u-phoria umc22

and just use my work laptop when going mobile..

will I be able to record 8 tracks to an ext hard drive without issue on the fly?
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Old 08-24-2021, 09:06 AM   #8
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and just use my work laptop when going mobile..

will I be able to record 8 tracks to an ext hard drive without issue on the fly?
Depends on the laptop and what all is installed on that work laptop. If you have a lot of business related software running background processes on a low to mid end laptop, you might experience some issues.

Just curious and really none of my business, but does your company IT department allow you to install software on their computers?
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Old 08-24-2021, 09:12 AM   #9
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also sound like if I get an external SSD drive I can install reaper right on to that and just run it from there..

does that mean if I plug that drive into another pc I can just run it from that pc too? or does the OS's have to be the same?
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Old 08-24-2021, 09:30 AM   #10
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Running the program on the external drive might be pushing the performance envelope a bit. In addition to the drive writing data to the disk, which is a slow process in computer terms, you're adding reads for OS code that adds an additional load to that drive controller.

But then again, it might work just fine. Again, so much of this stuff all comes down to "it depends".

There's a lot of people here using laptops for mobile recording, I'm sure someone will be able to add what their setups are for doing that.
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Old 08-24-2021, 12:42 PM   #11
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Im leaning towards this and ext. hard drive
behringer u-phoria umc22

and just use my work laptop when going mobile..

will I be able to record 8 tracks to an ext hard drive without issue on the fly?
Recording to external USB hard drives is a gamble. There's a cache situation that can come up and you can lose an entire recording with no warning. All OS.

If you want a portable laptop based system, put a large enough SSD in the machine. A 2TB SSD is around $200 these days.
Get a bus powered audio interface for portability. I believe the UMC22 is bus powered.
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Old 08-24-2021, 08:44 PM   #12
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I don't own one but Tascam makes an affordable interface or there are a couple of others below $1000 USD.

There some advantages to specialized-dedicated hardware. With a computer there's a lot more that can go wrong... And sometimes the physical faders are nice and latency should be less of an issue when you're not "working around" a multitasking operating system.

You can record on your hardware DAW and then mix in REAPER (the best of both worlds) but that doesn't solve your portability issue.

I have 2 X08 interfaces. One used as a preamp with lines 1 thru 8 patched to the others 9-16. This yeilds 16 XLR inputs
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Old 08-24-2021, 11:34 PM   #13
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Im leaning towards this and ext. hard drive
behringer u-phoria umc22
There must be something I'm missing, 'cause I don't see how you're going to record...
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8 tracks to an ext hard drive without issue on the fly?
...on a 2 channel interface. Can't you just dump the Korg tracks into Reaper? It seems kinda perfect for what you're doing if you don't want to spend $$$. Live mobile laptop based multitrack recording is not quite cheap and easy yet IMO.

Behringer makes an 8 channel interface, forum OG Glennbo works miracles with his, I've never heard anyone even claim the latency numbers he posts screen shots of. And IIRC he runs another 8 channels in through ADAT. I have a UMC204HD, never let me down, flawless audio quality and operation. As mentioned, Tascam is the only other major mfr I'm aware of that might work within your budget. Had a 4 channel Tascam, never worked right, but I hear they've improved.

As Serr said, I wouldn't rely on external HDs for recording outside a purpose-built system, I dunno, that used to be a whole thing but do they even do that anymore since anyone can have TBs of internal SSD for a few hundo?

Assuming you don't want to upgrade the boss's computer, a little deal sniping should get you a refurb decent spec lappy with at least some SSD to get you started and an 8 channel interface of some kind for maybe enough under a grand to buy a mic stand.

Good luck, let us know how it goes.
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Old 08-25-2021, 05:08 AM   #14
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Recording to external USB hard drives is a gamble. There's a cache situation that can come up and you can lose an entire recording with no warning. All OS.
Really? I’ve been recording to external usb hard drives for more than a decade and never lost anything. To be clear, I have Reaper on my internal ssd but record everything to an external usb hard drive. It has been rock solid for me.
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Old 08-25-2021, 05:12 AM   #15
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There must be something I'm missing, 'cause I don't see how you're going to record...
well I'll the laptop
the 8 channel Behringer input into the laptop
I'll have microphones
and I'll have reaper on the laptop

am I missing something ?
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Old 08-25-2021, 05:59 AM   #16
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well I'll the laptop
the 8 channel Behringer input into the laptop
I'll have microphones
and I'll have reaper on the laptop

am I missing something ?
Yes, on the UMC22 you've specified you're missing 6 of those 8 channels. Maybe you really mean the UMC18i20.
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Old 08-25-2021, 06:00 AM   #17
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Really? I’ve been recording to external usb hard drives for more than a decade and never lost anything. To be clear, I have Reaper on my internal ssd but record everything to an external usb hard drive. It has been rock solid for me.
You've been very lucky!
This is documented and happens with all OS's (ie. it's not some Windows bug). It's why the manual will say not to use USB externals to record.

Here's an experiment you can do at home. Make a folder to record to on a USB external drive. Start recording. Pull the USB cable. The transport is still rolling. There's no error message. Yep. Everything gets cached and there's apparently no error trapping with that with USB. So you get this cache to nowhere situation. Something obviously has to glitch or something to trigger this. A USB cable with a slight connection issue if you don't plug it in right would be all it takes.
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Old 08-25-2021, 06:02 AM   #18
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Yes, on the UMC22 you've specified you're missing 6 of those 8 channels. Maybe you really mean the UMC18i20.
sorry.. yep that is what I meant....
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Old 08-25-2021, 06:18 AM   #19
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well I'll the laptop
the 8 channel Behringer input into the laptop
I'll have microphones
and I'll have reaper on the laptop

am I missing something ?
I think you may have assumed the UMC1820 was bus powered like the UMC22. I don't believe it is. I suspect that finding a bus powered USB audio interface with 8 mic pre inputs might be a stretch.

There are probably some good battery products available though. You could end up with a cloth case type rack with carrying strap that had room to put some battery power supply product in along with your audio interface of choice. These units will take either 12 or 24VDC.

You don't need very much computing power to just record either. But instead of paying too much for some anemic netbook style laptop new, you might consider buying something that cost a couple grand almost ten years ago for a couple hundred now. However, the newer style machines use less power and thus can get longer battery life. You still get what you pay for so avoid the cheapness where they saw that and then just put a smaller battery in it. Or... consider the power needs of a laptop too when shopping for a battery pack product (if you go that route).
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Old 08-25-2021, 06:21 AM   #20
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I think you may have assumed the UMC1820 was bus powered like the UMC22. I don't believe it is. I suspect that finding a bus powered USB audio interface with 8 mic pre inputs might be a stretch.

There are probably some good battery products available though. You could end up with a cloth case type rack with carrying strap that had room to put some battery power supply product in along with your audio interface of choice. These units will take either 12 or 24VDC.

You don't need very much computing power to just record either. But instead of paying too much for some anemic netbook style laptop new, you might consider buying something that cost a couple grand almost ten years ago for a couple hundred now. However, the newer style machines use less power and thus can get longer battery life. You still get what you pay for so avoid the cheapness where they saw that and then just put a smaller battery in it. Or... consider the power needs of a laptop too when shopping for a battery pack product (if you go that route).
UMC1820 comes with an ac/ adapter that plugs into the wall? why cant I just do that? hoping my work laptop will do the job
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Old 08-25-2021, 07:32 AM   #21
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UMC1820 comes with an ac/ adapter that plugs into the wall? why cant I just do that? hoping my work laptop will do the job
If you mean to ask "Why can't I just use bus powered with it?" The answer is it doesn't appear to have that feature.

Maybe chat them or email them and ask?

I see the UMC22 noted as being bus powered in their feature writeup. They don't mention bus powered as an option in the literature on the UMC1820. So that's my guess there. Rule of thumb: When a feature isn't specifically listed, don't just assume it might be there because some other product has it.

If you mean to ask "Why can't I just use the ac adapter?"
Well, you were the one who stated you wanted a bus powered USB audio interface for portable use with a laptop.

Anyway, if portable use on battery where there's no ac mains power available is the plan, check out some of the battery pack products made for portable work at the same time.


Work laptop?
As in owned by your work and not your machine?
Windows running too?

Stuff like a locked down admin account and a restricted user account, read-only locked directories on the hard drive, network restrictions, disabled USB ports, etc can all be standard configuration for a "work computer". Just FYI that you make sure you have access to what you think you do! I was just working with a client where their work computer would not allow zip files to be unzipped and had the USB ports locked. They could still browse to the Mega file share page though.

Last edited by serr; 08-25-2021 at 07:47 AM.
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Old 08-25-2021, 08:24 AM   #22
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Just a bit of advice from an old retired IT guy, but you should really look into a good used laptop with nothing but Reaper on it for what you're wanting to do. I think you're going to find trying to use your work laptop is going to be more trouble than it's worth, if it even works at all. If you can get it working somehow, I'd be real concerned about your companies IT security.

Get a good used mid range laptop with nothing but Reaper on it, a legit clean, optimized installation of Windows and make sure whatever you connect to it for recording has manufacturer drivers specific to your OS. Plug everything in, ask a few questions here, and start making music.

Easy speasy!!!
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Old 08-25-2021, 08:34 AM   #23
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Just a bit of advice from an old retired IT guy, but you should really look into a good used laptop with nothing but Reaper on it for what you're wanting to do. I think you're going to find trying to use your work laptop is going to be more trouble than it's worth, if it even works at all. If you can get it working somehow, I'd be real concerned about your companies IT security.

Get a good used mid range laptop with nothing but Reaper on it, a legit clean, optimized installation of Windows and make sure whatever you connect to it for recording has manufacturer drivers specific to your OS. Plug everything in, ask a few questions here, and start making music.

Easy speasy!!!
Well I am IT but I get what you are saying..
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Old 08-25-2021, 08:35 AM   #24
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If you mean to ask "Why can't I just use bus powered with it?" The answer is it doesn't appear to have that feature.

Maybe chat them or email them and ask?

I see the UMC22 noted as being bus powered in their feature writeup. They don't mention bus powered as an option in the literature on the UMC1820. So that's my guess there. Rule of thumb: When a feature isn't specifically listed, don't just assume it might be there because some other product has it.

If you mean to ask "Why can't I just use the ac adapter?"
Well, you were the one who stated you wanted a bus powered USB audio interface for portable use with a laptop.

Anyway, if portable use on battery where there's no ac mains power available is the plan, check out some of the battery pack products made for portable work at the same time.


Work laptop?
As in owned by your work and not your machine?
Windows running too?

Stuff like a locked down admin account and a restricted user account, read-only locked directories on the hard drive, network restrictions, disabled USB ports, etc can all be standard configuration for a "work computer". Just FYI that you make sure you have access to what you think you do! I was just working with a client where their work computer would not allow zip files to be unzipped and had the USB ports locked. They could still browse to the Mega file share page though.
sorry I dont remember saying I needed a bus powered audio interface but whatever.. thanks for all the advice
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Old 08-25-2021, 08:46 AM   #25
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Well I am IT
Yeah, us IT guys are pretty good at "do as we say, not as we do" on this stuff.

Hardware wise, what are the specs on that laptop?

It was mentioned earlier that from a computer standpoint, recording is the easy part. It's when you start mixing all those tracks that things can start to get a little wonky.

You're recording 8 tracks, but any idea how many total tracks a project might have? Not to mention added plugins/effects etc.
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Old 08-25-2021, 08:55 AM   #26
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Yeah, us IT guys are pretty good at "do as we say, not as we do" on this stuff.

Hardware wise, what are the specs on that laptop?

It was mentioned earlier that from a computer standpoint, recording is the easy part. It's when you start mixing all those tracks that things can start to get a little wonky.

You're recording 8 tracks, but any idea how many total tracks a project might have? Not to mention added plugins/effects etc.
its an HP laptop about a year old.. but my goal was just to record on it. and then transfer the data to my home computer and do all the mixing on it there.. laptop will only be used for when I go to our practice spot and record the tracks.. no mixing.. Im guessing that wont be and issue ..

or is it?
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Old 08-25-2021, 09:02 AM   #27
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its an HP laptop about a year old.. but my goal was just to record on it. and then transfer the data to my home computer and do all the mixing on it there.. laptop will only be used for when I go to our practice spot and record the tracks.. no mixing.. Im guessing that wont be and issue ..

or is it?
I was doing the same thing only recording on PC at a studio then copying the files to an external drive and working on them at home.

Since you're IT, you could try the portable install on that external drive and run it from there, just to see if it works. If not, just install it locally, and record to the external.

Easy speasy!
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Old 08-25-2021, 09:27 AM   #28
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Default D3200

Hi

I'd be sticking with the D3200, but also look at those machine such as Tascam Model 12 or Zoom Livetrack series that double as live desks, multi track recording to SD cards and also work as USB Audio interfaces. There are other desks, I think Presonus do a desk where you can do stereo recording. Personally i like the idea of a Tascam Model 12 kinda thing.

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Old 08-25-2021, 03:12 PM   #29
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so I have a korgd3200 and I'd like to come up with a mobile recording unit instead.. with at least 6 preamps and record directly into a laptop.. any suggestion on a cheap setup that will still get the job done.

the korg is cool but I'd love just to use reaper.. band practices at bass players house so I'd like to have something mobile and easy to carry that I can use reaper with.. thanks
It might be worth thinking about what your trying to achieve. The set up you are contemplating (audio interface with at least 6 inputs, plus cables, mics,
Laptop etc), might not be any/much more ‘portable’ than your trusty D3200. Good quality multi input/output audio interfaces can be expensive and a bit bulky to tote over to your bass players house. Also, setting up and running a multi track recording session will need quite a lot of computer power. Your D3200 will be rock solid but your multitrack laptop based rig may crap out on you if you drive it too hard, especially if you add any monitoring FX during tracking and/or if you’re sending out to monitors and/or headphones (sub mixes etc).

Why not consider setting up your D3200 at the place you rehearse and leave it there? After all you’re only recording a band practice, not seeking to make studio quality multitrack masters.

Not trying to put you off your idea but the set up you propose could be much more expensive than you think and not really as portable as you think.

Good luck
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Old 08-25-2021, 03:19 PM   #30
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It might be worth thinking about what your trying to achieve. The set up you are contemplating (audio interface with at least 6 inputs, plus cables, mics,
Laptop etc), might not be any/much more ‘portable’ than your trusty D3200. Good quality multi input/output audio interfaces can be expensive and a bit bulky to tote over to your bass players house. Also, setting up and running a multi track recording session will need quite a lot of computer power. Your D3200 will be rock solid but your multitrack laptop based rig may crap out on you if you drive it too hard, especially if you add any monitoring FX during tracking and/or if you’re sending out to monitors and/or headphones (sub mixes etc).

Why not consider setting up your D3200 at the place you rehearse and leave it there? After all you’re only recording a band practice, not seeking to make studio quality multitrack masters.

Not trying to put you off your idea but the set up you propose could be much more expensive than you think and not really as portable as you think.

Good luck
I feel like Im getting conflicting opinions.. most seem to be saying that Reaper requires little pc power.. the 8 input behringer I can toss in a backpack with my headphone amp and laptop.. all cables will be at the practice spot.. The goal is to record some originals for fun.. not the band practice.. heck I have a Zoom H1 I can do that with.

the Korg is pretty heavy and getting up in age and I haven't really delved into it that much. I used to have a Korg d1600 that literally took me couple hours to get rolling on and I was happy.. Korg3200 is a bit more tricky and the screen seems smaller.. so there is that too...
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Old 08-25-2021, 03:37 PM   #31
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You've been very lucky!
This is documented and happens with all OS's (ie. it's not some Windows bug). It's why the manual will say not to use USB externals to record.
The manual doesn't actually say anything about this, and I'm pretty sure some of Kenny's videos show him recording to an external drive. I was always told to avoid recording audio to the same drive that holds my OS (although this was in the days before SSDs; maybe that advice is no longer valid), and since I use a laptop for recording my only choice has been to use an external drive for recording.
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Old 08-25-2021, 10:34 PM   #32
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Serr is a highly experienced working professional so his advice tends to be about what he knows will work since he's done it a bunch and his stuff has to work as he's responsible and his job's on the line etc. I always appreciate hearing from serr, though I don't always follow his advice, thereby probably making things harder on myself than they have to be.

The OP seems pretty set on his course... hey, it might work. If you're happy to have the interface either way, I guess not much to lose to give it a shot, the only extra expense unless you've already got one is the external drive, which is a good thing to have anyway.

If you can stand any more advice might want to post your laptop specs, processor, RAM, etc. Eh, actually never mind, you will no doubt get conflicting advice there too and I don't think you're going to be happy until you try to make it work. Good luck, let us know how it goes.
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Old 08-26-2021, 05:44 AM   #33
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OK, it's not in the Reaper manual. I remember reading a manual somewhere that recommended avoiding external USB drives. That alone would be meaningless IMO. Look up the thread(s) started around here where someone lost an entire live recording. Investigation ensued and we discovered this was a very real concern and it was across all OS's (MacOS WindowsOS LinuxOS). The quick little test to prove it to yourself is to pull the USB cable while doing a test recording and observe Reaper still "recording" and no error messages. It may be more accurate to call it a lack of error trapping I suppose. Same end result if it happens to an important recording.

Yeah ya know, I might be over cautious and stubborn sometimes. I saw the stupid thing and I'm avoiding it. There's always plenty of weirdness waiting to mess with you with a recording project. Eliminate the variables as that show themselves and knock some of that back.
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Old 08-26-2021, 05:46 AM   #34
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Hello, just another thought, get a laptop with 2 drives, if the second or both drives are spinners then replace it/them with ssd's. You drives will never have a head crash due to dropping ect. And a great speed increase on loading. dave
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Old 08-26-2021, 06:02 AM   #35
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I feel like Im getting conflicting opinions.. most seem to be saying that Reaper requires little pc power.. the 8 input behringer I can toss in a backpack with my headphone amp and laptop.. all cables will be at the practice spot.. The goal is to record some originals for fun.. not the band practice.. heck I have a Zoom H1 I can do that with.

the Korg is pretty heavy and getting up in age and I haven't really delved into it that much. I used to have a Korg d1600 that literally took me couple hours to get rolling on and I was happy.. Korg3200 is a bit more tricky and the screen seems smaller.. so there is that too...
I took the "portable" comment to mean self contained. As in take it out of a backpack anywhere (power available or not) and hit record. Looks like you meant more portable to transport and power isn't an issue.

After the further comments about your available computers and such, it sounds like you should be fine. It takes almost no computer power to simply record. I could record 18 tracks with an old G4 to a 5400rpm PATA drive back in the 20th century.

"Work computers" running Windows can be locked down as mentioned. If you know that isn't the case and/or know what to do, then you're golden.

Any multiple channel interface. Open Reaper, select the interface in Reaper Preferences, set sample rate, set block size high (512 or 1024 samples because we're not running live sound here), create new tracks, open the routing matrix view and quickly assign all the inputs to said tracks. Select all and click the rec arm buttons on. Name the tracks if you wish the audio files to be named the same. Save this session to use as a template.

Transferring files back and forth between various machines should be familiar territory for IT, right?


I'll just throw this out there though.
If you might be considering moving this band to a live stage here and there and also needing a live mixing board, you might want to consider one of the mixer rack interfaces like the Behringer/Midas X32 or XR18. It would work as a stand alone interface for recording as always but the built in mixer system is live capable. You'd show up on stage with the same monitor mix presets from your rehearsal space and everything out of the box. This is at the top of your budget.
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Old 08-26-2021, 06:11 AM   #36
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Hello, just another thought, get a laptop with 2 drives, if the second or both drives are spinners then replace it/them with ssd's. You drives will never have a head crash due to dropping ect. And a great speed increase on loading. dave
You can get a caddie and put a 2nd hard drive in the optical drive slot. I did that back around 2009 or something when SSDs were a lot more expensive. Upgraded that setup to a 1TB SSD + 2TB HDD spinner a few years ago. Still convenient! I keep a backup partition big enough for the OS and app installs on the spinner. I clone for backups, so that backup partition boots.

With 2TB SSDs available for low prices now this is starting to feel like fussing over any of this is finally obsolete. I think it might still be good insurance to have multiple physical drives though. Goes without saying to back everything up! Thinking of in the field scenarios. Being able to boot from a backup drive and saving the gig if something happened. Being able to quickly make a backup copy of a live recording to a 2nd internal drive with no cables or fuss.
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Old 08-26-2021, 07:32 AM   #37
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It might be worth thinking about what your trying to achieve.
bigtop makes a good point here, and something that I think gets overlooked far too often.

Assuming your objective here is to record the best quality audio you can with the resources you have available, (keep in mind that studio quality recordings require studio quality resources) here's something to consider that has nothing to do with computers and interfaces.

Have you tried doing any live recording at your bass players apartment?

If you're micing things, and you're dealing with typical apartment acoustics, then right off the bat you're dealing with mic bleed through, sounds bouncing around the room, etc. that are a real bitch to deal with when mixing. Granted you've got the tools in Reaper to fix some of that, but I think you're better off getting the best possible quality in tone and performance that you can in the original recording. Use your mixing time to enhance things rather than trying to fix things.

Can you haul that Korg over to the bass players apartment, hook things up as you are planning to do, record, then bring that home and dump it into Reaper and see what you get? If you can do that, then you can get an idea of what you're going to have to work with regardless of what computer or interface you're using.

What you may find is your best bet in getting the best quality recordings possible, based on the resources you have at your disposal, is to record each instrument/vocal etc. separately. And if that's the case, a simple 2 channel interface would work fine.

But then again, in the end it all comes down to expectations. Having all that bleed through and other artifact in your recordings may not be a problem for you, and that's cool too.

You're an IT guy, approach this as a systems issue. Management wants you to put a multi function printer in Payroll. OK, what are all the things you need to do in order to make that happen? I suspect you'll need to do a lot more than just buy some cheap printer and stick it on desk somewhere.

Same thing with recording. You want to get the best quality recording you can, what are all the things you need to consider in order to do that. When you look at it that, you'll find that the computer is just a very small piece in the overall system.
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Old 08-26-2021, 08:12 AM   #38
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Um...

If the goal is to transition to a computer production system where you are now controlling multiple monitor mixes and running live sound through the computer for that to allow using amp sim plugins live and MIDI controlled sound modules live and all that... well yeah that would take some computer muscle and a plan!

If you're just recording tracks (and only 8-16) and need no live monitoring or if any needed live monitor mixes are stupid simple and easily covered by the most rudimentary built-in cuemix mixer in any audio interface, then there's no issue.

If you're an IT guy, you already know how to turn off all the Windows work computer lock down stuff and set yourself up.

Or... If you will also be needing a live mixing system down the road, now one of the rack mixer/interface systems might be a lot of bang for the buck. And it's still in your budget.
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Old 08-26-2021, 11:15 AM   #39
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Yeah ya know, I might be over cautious and stubborn sometimes. I saw the stupid thing and I'm avoiding it. There's always plenty of weirdness waiting to mess with you with a recording project. Eliminate the variables as that show themselves and knock some of that back.
No, it's good advice, it's just that on MacOS if you accidentally unplug a disk without ejecting it first you immediately get a very prominent error message scolding you that the disk was not removed properly. That doesn't happen on Windows, and I do use a Windows laptop for recording so it's relevant to me. If I recorded on my Mac, I don't think it would be an issue although obviously recording to an internal drive avoids the risk of accidentally unplugging an external drive in the first place. :-)
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