Portable setup

[timboalogo]

Hi all,

When it comes to being creative, I feel restricted by my studio. I often come up with ideas elsewhere in our home (like the back deck, the bunkie, the garage) and have been dreaming about a "portable" setup that I could use to get these ideas out of my head and onto paper, so to speak.

I carry a small recording device that helps me to record lyrics and melodies, and it is useful when I'm out on a hike in the woods, but now that I'm retired and have the financial means to do something on a less than $5K scale I'd like to put together something a little more substantial.

Please remember that the idea behind this is to get my ideas down wherever I am on our property (or just to practice) and not to mix or record entire songs.

I'm thinking about a laptop with Sonar and virtual effects and instruments installed and a crappy MIDI keyboard that I already have. But then I'd need 1) an audio interface that handles the MIDI and a mic to get the data in and out of the laptop, 2) some form of portable speakers to take the place of studio monitors and 3) a mic, and I think I could use my SM58.

Have any of you folks done something like this? Can anyone else think of anything I would need? And also a gut check, do you think I'm dreaming - can this portable idea not going to work the way I hope?

Thanks for your thoughts,

Timbo

[Bass Guitar]

https://zoomcorp.com/en/ca/digital-mixer-multi-track-recorders/digital-mixer-recorder/livetrak-l6-final/

 

The L6 is a Swiss army knife device that is a first class 12x4 32bit audio interface, a digital recorder and a digital mixer. And it has some Midi capabilities  and built in effects.  

I bought the L8 2 years ago and it has been by far the overall best audio interface and mixer I have every owned.

I'm tempted to also get an L6 just because of the Midi,  it has control software and it's also smaller. Only thing I'd miss is the L8 can do 4 headphone mixes. 

I also have a Tascam DR 40 portable handheld recorder that I have used a lot to quickly put down song ideas. I find I don't use it much anymore. 

Now with the digital recorder built in to the L8 I get an Idea and I don't need to even turn on my computer. Just arm the tracks and go. I always have my mike connected as well as a mike on my guitar amp, My Bass amp's DI and a cable hanging on my guitar stand for my acoustics. 

And they run on batteries. So you can take it anywhere. There's a video of a guy recording a song sitting out in a field under a tree. The possibilities are endless for recording in different spaces. 

Then it's my mixer for live shows which I also can easily record to the SD card. Perfect companion for making on location music videos. Phantom power will kill the AA batteries quickly but what people do is use a USB power bank. 

You really don't need a Daw unless your ideas are Midi based. But that said 2 of my Keyboards have built in recorders. 

[timboalogo]

Thanks Bass Guitar, 

Let me look into that interface, I had never heard of it.

Timbo

[Wookiee]

@timboalogo I am aware of one user who runs Cakewalk on a surface pro.

[Will.]

40 minutes ago, timboalogo said:

Thanks Bass Guitar, 

Let me look into that interface, I had never heard of it.

Timbo

My portal setup:

• Dell Latitude 8th gen i5, 16GB Ram,
• Maudio Airhub Interface - USB 
• Samson C03U - USB
• Beats by Dre headphones - USB
• MPK Mini Plus 37 keys - USB

I don't actually need the Airhub, but I want the extra boost for the headphones. No hassle at all. 

[Noel Borthwick]

18 hours ago, Bass Guitar said:

https://zoomcorp.com/en/ca/digital-mixer-multi-track-recorders/digital-mixer-recorder/livetrak-l6-final/

 

The L6 is a Swiss army knife device that is a first class 12x4 32bit audio interface, a digital recorder and a digital mixer. And it has some Midi capabilities  and built in effects.  

I bought the L8 2 years ago and it has been by far the overall best audio interface and mixer I have every owned.

I'm tempted to also get an L6 just because of the Midi,  it has control software and it's also smaller. Only thing I'd miss is the L8 can do 4 headphone mixes. 

I also have a Tascam DR 40 portable handheld recorder that I have used a lot to quickly put down song ideas. I find I don't use it much anymore. 

Now with the digital recorder built in to the L8 I get an Idea and I don't need to even turn on my computer. Just arm the tracks and go. I always have my mike connected as well as a mike on my guitar amp, My Bass amp's DI and a cable hanging on my guitar stand for my acoustics. 

And they run on batteries. So you can take it anywhere. There's a video of a guy recording a song sitting out in a field under a tree. The possibilities are endless for recording in different spaces. 

Then it's my mixer for live shows which I also can easily record to the SD card. Perfect companion for making on location music videos. Phantom power will kill the AA batteries quickly but what people do is use a USB power bank. 

You really don't need a Daw unless your ideas are Midi based. But that said 2 of my Keyboards have built in recorders. 

Zoom makes good stuff. I have their older Zoom U44 which is quite cool. It has 4 in's and interfaces with the Zoom mic capsules so you can either use the 2 XLR inputs or plugin in a stereo mic capsule and use that for field recordings. It can also work on battery but uses USB power from a laptop. It can be quite useful when you need a portable solution. It has an ASIO driver too which is rare for devices in that class.

[timboalogo]

Wow, thanks folks! I didn't expect to get much of a response and with the added bonus of Noel chiming in on a non-support thread, I'm very pleased indeed.

Timbo

[Bass Guitar]

7 hours ago, Noel Borthwick said:

Zoom makes good stuff

I went with the Tascam DR40 because back then it was sort of a brand I had really liked. I have owned a few Porta studios., 2 track Reel to reels and my US1641 is still going strong when I need to record a live band. (W10 only) 
 in the end the Zoom you have was probably the better option especially since Zoom seems to write first class ASIO drivers. I can’t use my Tascams built in mikes via USB. 

My L8 is the only interface that I can run at 64 buffer setting. My SSL2 is 128 and my Motu M4 was 256.
The Motu has been acting up so I switched to the SSL2 and it has half the headphone level so it sucks. This was a mistake to purchase. Highly recommended my arss. 

I bought the Zoom L8 for a mixer. Not an interface but it’s actually the best one for the job.
Only bummer is no midi ports so I’ll just keep the Motu around for the odd time I need my hardware synths. But the L6 has midi!!