Technical Setup Question

Multitrack recorders, controllers, and other studio equipment
Post Reply
MICHAEL
Posts: 8
Joined: 13:06, 8 November 2015

Technical Setup Question

Post by MICHAEL »

[Thread also posted in JD-XA section]

Note: This thread requires patience and very basic approach ;-)

Hi Dudes

I'm in desperate need of concrete expert advice on my predicament being a total greenhorn when it comes to setting up what I'm ambitiously calling a "bedroom studio" :-) (I'm at stage 1 of creating one rather)

Here it is:

I have a Roland FA-06 and I'm proud to have recently acquired a JD-XA as well. Now, what I want to do is to hook them both up to my PC and record them simultaneously using a DAW, which I haven't decided on yet (at the moment I'm relying on Adobe Audition...yes, yes, I know it's not a DAW but this is where I'm at). So I have a powerful windows PC (so that's out of the way) and two synths that I want to utilize at the same time to create/arrange music/design sound on as professional a level as I can without spending a tonne of money real recording studios would.

Right...

I have "researched" this topic but, since I'm asking you, I haven't gotten far. By that I mean, I was told that to do what I want to do, I'd need an audio interface, though both FA-06 and JD-XA have audio interfaces built-in and can be connected to a computer directly via USB. So my understanding is to play them separately, I don't need an external audio interface. My first question would then be - do I need an external audio interface to connect them both and record them both at the same time?

If so, I would be most grateful if you guys could guide me here and recommend a few interfaces to buy, if indeed that's what I need to do. I know I sound dumb but I'd also ask you to quickly mention what connections/cables I'd need to get to hook it all up so I don't have to play a guessing game with Amazon and order and return stuff because I got it all wrong.

Now, at the moment I only want to connect those two synths but I'm sort of keeping in mind that I might in the future want to add one more piece of gear (whatever it might be) so I understand the number of inputs would increase from four I need to accommodate my two keyboards to six or eight if more gear needs to be added.

Also - speakers.
Right now I don't have dedicated speakers for the set-up in mind. I mean, I do use a decent pair of speakers as PC speakers (Kanto YU4) and I suspect I could utilize them in the setup, correct?
Now, to do that I'd also need your advice as I imagine many of you have been through what I'm only beginning to wrap my head around now and have your own home studios so I'm positive, to you, it's a walk in the park and there is nothing to it. I just don't really want to do it without knowing what the hell I'm doing, get the wrong equipment etc.etc.etc.

My problem is that, when it comes to audio interfaces, there are hundreds to choose from and it's a bit overwhelming. You can spend as little as say £100 or as much as £7000.
I need a good reliable USB interface that's gonna do its job well and handle at least two synths and speakers so I can do what I want to do as professionally as possible with not much room to play with and not a lot of money. By not a lot of money, I mean around £300 say.

I'm really curious what you guys have to say.

Thanks for reading my wall of text and I'm looking forward to your feedback.
Post Reply