best preamp?

Koushirou · Post by **Koushirou** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 6:00 pm

i'm looking for a preamp to plug into a laptop. i want to spend as little money as possible for something that's still good quality. suggestions? thx.

Caravan Ray · Post by **Caravan Ray** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 11:10 pm

I'm very happy with my Tascam US-122.

2 channels, built-in guitar tuner, USB power and reasonably idiot proof. It was also pretty cheap - around AUD$250 (halve that for rough USD$)

http://www.tascam.co.uk/newproducts/newprod_US122.html

ken · Post by **ken** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 8:30 am

Are you looking for a recording device, or just a preamp? If you just want a preamp, look into the ART Tube MP or M-Audio Audio Buddy. If you are looking for a USB device, I like the M-Audio Quattro, but you really need a mixer to fully use it. Those Tascam devices seem good for cheap. Also, just check out all the M-Audio devices.

Ken

Koushirou · Post by **Koushirou** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 9:55 am

I'm looking for a recording device.

I looked at some old threads on this board at saw that some people suggested an maudio ozone for JoS... My question is, will using a MIDI controller hooked up to a computer sound just as good as an actual keyboard? And what type of programs would I have to get in order to use the controller (Fruity Loops?). If there are any songs you've used a MIDI controller/software combination on, I'd like to hear it. I think I'll either end up getting a Tascam US122 plus a keyboard, or the Ozone...

ken · Post by **ken** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 10:30 am

If you just get a controller, you are dependent on soft-synths for sounds. There are lots of free ones, but it is hard to get very realistic sounds without a sampler. If you get an actual keyboard, you have the sounds built into it, which depending on the quality of it, could sound really good. The ozone has a mic input, so if you are just recording keys and vocal, could be fine.

What is your budget? And what do you want to record?

Ken

Post by jb » Sun Jun 12, 2005 11:16 am

Any keyboard/synthesizer has two parts:

1. The controller. Usually we think of a controller as being a keyboard, looks like a piano. Doesn't have to be though-- it could be a drum pad or something funkier like a guitar-lookin' deal.

2. The sound module. This will be a sampler, analog circuitry, or a computer that makes sounds using math. The computer can be a tiny one in the box of your keyboard, or it can be a program that runs on your PC.

That's how they ALL work.

Keyboards that don't have an integrated sound module are just known as "MIDI controllers". If they have an integrated sound module, then people start calling them "keyboards" or "synthesizers". If the sound is generated outside your PC, you'll then take the sound from the module via 1/4" cables to your computer's audio inputs. If the synths are in the PC itself, they'll live inside your music recording program, and you'll be recording them directly.

My point is that your concepts are a bit unclear on what you're looking for.

Check this out. You can get a Korg Triton keyboard:

http://sweetwater.com/store/detail/TritonEX88/

OR, you can get the Triton as a "sound module". It's a box that you put in your music rack (or just sit on your desk) and it contains all the sounds of the Triton:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TritonRack/

Then you'd have to buy a MIDI controller in order to make the Triton Rack make music.

Why would you want to do that? Well, if you use hardware sound modules, or softsynths on your PC, you can have a LOT of them and control them all with just one MIDI controller. So you don't have twelve physical keyboards in your room.

Also, sound modules (even ones inside a keyboard-- remember, a sound module is a sound module) can be controlled by your sequencing software, so you can program music and then have them play it while you play along, recording another part of the song using some other sound module. This is how the pros do it. They combine these physical boxes with software synths to get all the sounds they want.

Why would you need more than one keyboard? Well, a lot of great sound modules don't come separated from a keyboard. You have to get the keyboard in order to get the sounds.

Other times, you might want more than one "feel" of a keyboard. Most of them don't feel like a piano's keys, so you may want one keyboard that is weighted and has 88 keys. But other times you want the fast feel of a non-weighted keyboard, when you're playing a synth line or something for organ.

And if you ever have more than one person over at your house, multiple keyboards let you both compose at the same time, for ease in collaboration.

If you want to hear a song that was made using a MIDI controller and FruityLoops, here's one:

http://songfight.org/music/morescience/ ... cience.mp3

All the music in there is FruityLoops. The vocals and the mixing of it all were done in Cool Edit Pro.

Koushirou · Post by **Koushirou** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 4:32 pm

how does a MIDI controller work with a program like FL? I use FL right now and I just manually enter in sequences by mouse. When you use a MIDI controller does the controller just act as a "mouse", or does it do more (recording velocities, sustains for as long as you actually play them)?

Also, could I use a MIDI controller on a computer in real-time, or does it only work as a sequencer? Like, if I wanted to jam with a friend playing guitar or something, could I just plug in the controller, choose a sound, and start playing?

Thanks.

Kamakura · Post by **Kamakura** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 6:22 pm

Koushirou wrote:Could I use a MIDI controller on a computer in real-time

Yes you can.
Keep in mind that if you ever want to play live, having a good keyboard (with onboard sounds) is a real boon. I'm finding this out right now. Carting a computer to rehearsals and gigs is not fun, especially if it's not a laptop!

Post by jb » Sun Jun 12, 2005 7:20 pm

Koushirou wrote:how does a MIDI controller work with a program like FL? I use FL right now and I just manually enter in sequences by mouse. When you use a MIDI controller does the controller just act as a "mouse", or does it do more (recording velocities, sustains for as long as you actually play them)?

Also, could I use a MIDI controller on a computer in real-time, or does it only work as a sequencer? Like, if I wanted to jam with a friend playing guitar or something, could I just plug in the controller, choose a sound, and start playing?

Thanks.

The controller sends lots of MIDI information to the computer. This includes: What note you played (pitch), for how long (sustain), and how hard you pressed the key (velocity). The controller will also probably have "modulation wheels" and maybe a touch-strip. These also send MIDI information to the sound module.

FruityLoops (now called "FL Studio") is a combination of several software sound modules, a couple of samplers, and a fairly powerful sequencer.

MIDI works through "channels". You tell your controller to speak on a particular channel, say channel 9. Then you tell your sound module to listen to a particular channel. You can also tell them to listen/speak on "All channels".

Yes, you can just plug in a controller and play Fruity like a regular old synthesizer. Fruity is actually pretty "robust"-- there is a good chance that you'll plug in your controller and it will just work.

fodroy · Post by **fodroy** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 8:48 pm

i remember when fruity loops users were ridiculed. ah, how things change.

Post by jb » Sun Jun 12, 2005 9:36 pm

fodroy wrote:i remember when fruity loops users were ridiculed. ah, how things change.

Those taunts never came from me. People who blame "bad" music on the tool used to create it are fucking idiots.

fodroy · Post by **fodroy** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 9:56 pm

i wasn't saying it was you, jb. honestly, i don't even remember who said that (i know it was multiple people [and no. i'm not bitter. i have no reason to be. it was never aimed at me.]). i just remember it happening and noticing several people saying good things about fruity loops recently.

i love fruity loops and miss using it very much.

Caravan Ray · Post by **Caravan Ray** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 10:55 pm

fodroy wrote:
i love fruity loops and miss using it very much.

me too - that's the big downside of my "buy an apple" experiment

Koushirou · Post by **Koushirou** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 9:48 pm

now that im back for the rest of the summer, im planning on buying the ozone tomorrow, and hopefully i'll get to record some stuff before the year starts up again.

but quick question: can the ozone be used to effectively program drums? what i mean is, can you assign a different sample to each key, so that you can record multiple samples at the same time? thx