what's a good recording interface for MacBook Pro?

[rustywire]

so i went ahead and ordered the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2...with my employee discount i got the bundle which includes a big ol' condenser mic, cable, and a set of cans for $169. thanks for the input, everybody!

Be advised there isn't enough gain for a dynamic mic [sm57/58] and you'll need the addition of something like a Cloudlifter for that. It should have plenty for a LDC w/phantom power.

Despite your discount I would have recommended secondhand Apogee, the Duet/Duet II, for best value. Its pres have enough gain for dynamic mikes as-is...and they outperform others in its range FME.

[Muff_Diver]

so i went ahead and ordered the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2...with my employee discount i got the bundle which includes a big ol' condenser mic, cable, and a set of cans for $169. thanks for the input, everybody!

Be advised there isn't enough gain for a dynamic mic [sm57/58] and you'll need the addition of something like a Cloudlifter for that. It should have plenty for a LDC w/phantom power.

Despite your discount I would have recommended secondhand Apogee, the Duet/Duet II, for best value. Its pres have enough gain for dynamic mikes as-is...and they outperform others in its range FME.

Lil hijack here. What do you mean by not enough gain with the 2i2? I haven't had any issues with my 57 (that im aware of).

[Kacey Y]

I'd just like to interject that, ideally with digital recording, it's best to shoot for a much lower peak dB level than with analog recording. With the exception of some very dynamic signal that has extreme distance between RMS and peak levels, you should generally shoot for -15 to -10 dB peak input level when recording. I usually shoot for around -12 dB if I can. There are some dynamic mics that have very low output, like the SM7B, but that's why they're generally preferred for very loud sources or maximum off axis rejection in a live room setting.

[rustywire]

so i went ahead and ordered the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2...with my employee discount i got the bundle which includes a big ol' condenser mic, cable, and a set of cans for $169. thanks for the input, everybody!

Be advised there isn't enough gain for a dynamic mic [sm57/58] and you'll need the addition of something like a Cloudlifter for that. It should have plenty for a LDC w/phantom power.

Despite your discount I would have recommended secondhand Apogee, the Duet/Duet II, for best value. Its pres have enough gain for dynamic mikes as-is...and they outperform others in its range FME.

Lil hijack here. What do you mean by not enough gain with the 2i2? I haven't had any issues with my 57 (that im aware of).

According to its white pages, the 2i2 preamp has 46dB of gain at max setting.
SM57 and SM58 want gain in the mid-50s, even 60. How are you using the mikes without [perceived] issues. Close-miking cab duties?
Giving one of those dynamics 46dB may be fine for recording a loud rig, but for spoken word duties it's going to sound anemic and low.

[rustywire]

I'd just like to interject that, ideally with digital recording, it's best to shoot for a much lower peak dB level than with analog recording. With the exception of some very dynamic signal that has extreme distance between RMS and peak levels, you should generally shoot for -15 to -10 dB peak input level when recording. I usually shoot for around -12 dB if I can. There are some dynamic mics that have very low output, like the SM7B, but that's why they're generally preferred for very loud sources or maximum off axis rejection in a live room setting.

Yeah, fully backing this up. -12dB peaks. If you leave that headroom in a mix, so no transient reaches above -12dB, everything sounds bigger when the time comes for your mastering stage to glue everything together at optimum levels. Seriously fuck the loudness wars and recordings that clip playback equipment before even hitting rms output levels

Also yeah the sm7b wants like 70dB of gain which is getting into ribbon mic territory!

[Muff_Diver]

According to its white pages, the 2i2 preamp has 46dB of gain at max setting.
SM57 and SM58 want gain in the mid-50s, even 60. How are you using the mikes without [perceived] issues. Close-miking cab duties?
Giving one of those dynamics 46dB may be fine for recording a loud rig, but for spoken word duties it's going to sound anemic and low.

Nothing remotely close to spoken word as far as volume. All close-miking cabs and snare. Thanks for the tip though! Would have never thought of something like that.

[Kacey Y]

Yeah, fully backing this up. -12dB peaks. If you leave that headroom in a mix, so no transient reaches above -12dB, everything sounds bigger when the time comes for your mastering stage to glue everything together at optimum levels. Seriously fuck the loudness wars and recordings that clip playback equipment before even hitting rms output levels

Also yeah the sm7b wants like 70dB of gain which is getting into ribbon mic territory!

I'm almost never using dynamic mics for anything but close mic position on a loud source. Snare, electric guitar/bass, vocals, toms, etc. Anything that has more nuance or dynamics to it, I'm usually using a phantom powered condenser microphone and if anything I need a pad, rather than a boost. With the SM7B I'm usually using it for really loud guitars or bass, floor tom for a drummer that beats the hell out of it and plays loud or vocalists that want to hold the mic and scream. That mic works particularly well for that application, because the perforated metal cage over the capsule makes it virtually impossible to get proximity effect and it has really great off axis rejection.

Any time anyone asks me for tracking and mixing advice with digital/DAW recording, I typically hammer home signal flow and gain staging. Levels, HPF/LPF for inaudible frequencies and utility (read: non "character") compression on every input/group/bus. If you get really good with the boring and practical aspects of that stuff, you're free to make creative mixing decisions that don't have insane tradeoffs against your entire mix as you go and mastering engineers will love you.

[rustywire]

Heh, fo sho M_D npnp
I figured you must be hitting a sm57/8 pretty hard, otherwise you'd have been through the "WTF IS WRONG" motions until inevitably hearing the difference made by that last bit of gain. Close-miking cabs and snare duties should be more than adequately covered by the 2i2, but you might want to consider something like a CL anyway, to see how much better performance you can squeeze. Or you may already have a better option available; you can get some extra gain from many compressors, esp 1176/fet type.

[rustywire]

I'm almost never using dynamic mics for anything but close mic position on a loud source. Snare, electric guitar/bass, vocals, toms, etc. Anything that has more nuance or dynamics to it, I'm usually using a phantom powered condenser microphone and if anything I need a pad, rather than a boost. With the SM7B I'm usually using it for really loud guitars or bass, floor tom for a drummer that beats the hell out of it and plays loud or vocalists that want to hold the mic and scream. That mic works particularly well for that application, because the perforated metal cage over the capsule makes it virtually impossible to get proximity effect and it has really great off axis rejection.

Any time anyone asks me for tracking and mixing advice with digital/DAW recording, I typically hammer home signal flow and gain staging. Levels, HPF/LPF for inaudible frequencies and utility (read: non "character") compression on every input/group/bus. If you get really good with the boring and practical aspects of that stuff, you're free to make creative mixing decisions that don't have insane tradeoffs against your entire mix as you go and mastering engineers will love you.

Solid recs. Another forgiving mic technique tip is to leave a slight gap of air between the foam windscreen and the mic. Makes it harder to pop, even when getting right up on it.
Also I sing the praises of invaluable "magic" phase correction inherent to transformer-coupled processing circuits and devices, especially in the summing of numerous signals, ESPECIALLY in the age of 'fix it in the mix' killing vibes and creating new problems. The cumulative nature of multitrack recording and *issues* arising in the digital workspace have helped keep that obsolete old gear in high demand, warts and all.

[Muff_Diver]

Heh, fo sho M_D npnp
I figured you must be hitting a sm57/8 pretty hard, otherwise you'd have been through the "WTF IS WRONG" motions until inevitably hearing the difference made by that last bit of gain. Close-miking cabs and snare duties should be more than adequately covered by the 2i2, but you might want to consider something like a CL anyway, to see how much better performance you can squeeze. Or you may already have a better option available; you can get some extra gain from many compressors, esp 1176/fet type.

Would the compressor only help if its between the mic and the interface? Not a plugin applied after recording?
What's the deal with this home signal flow and gain staging?
What should I be reading so I can stop asking yall these basic questions?

[Kacey Y]

Would the compressor only help if its between the mic and the interface? Not a plugin applied after recording?
What's the deal with this home signal flow and gain staging?
What should I be reading so I can stop asking yall these basic questions?

It's really just sort of basics of craft, functional stuff. Mostly about maintaining as much headroom as possible, by controlling aspects of source signal that equate to gain, but are inaudible. Like extreme high and low frequencies or extreme dynamic peaks, that don't noticeably effect the sound/tone of a track when removed. I'm sure a lot of people cover it within tracking/mixing tutorials, but I don't know if many really focus on it. I was high and low pass filters and very mild compressors saved to the start of pretty much every track and group/bus as a template when I'm mixing. It makes a huge difference when you self master or send a mix off to get mastered. As was already pointed out, it allows mixing to sound much bigger, because they're not stuffed up with a bunch of unnecessary information eating up headroom.

I don't want to hijack the whole thread with basics of tracking/mixing technique. I could put together a thread with some sound clips and maybe screen grab examples, if enough people are interested.