Just bought an Apogee ONE recording interface [Clip]

[shredhead666]

I just bought one of these, and now I'm setting it up.

http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/one.php

I figured I'd do a quick test run with it using the built-in mic. This is just point and go, raw audio from my Taylor 414CE to the ONE's built-in mic, nothing fancy.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/7144956/TestTull.mp3

Any pointers, tips, tricks to using these as an interface for guitar/vocals/bass/etc? I think I'm going to pick up Logic for the Amp Designer plugins and have a go with some of those soon.

 

[shredhead666]

Anyone?

 

[Bob Savage]

Sounds good dude. One tip I have is don't try to push your digital input as close to 0 as possible without clipping. This seems to be a popular methodology but believe it or not, I hear a difference and like the signal average somewhere around -8db with occasional peaks hitting around -4db max. The noise floor for digital recording is low enough that in my opinion, you don't have to try an get every single bit out of it because to my ears some of the instrument depth is lost.

 

[shredhead666]

Sounds good dude. One tip I have is don't try to push your digital input as close to 0 as possible without clipping. This seems to be a popular methodology but believe it or not, I hear a difference and like the signal average somewhere around -8db with occasional peaks hitting around -4db max. The noise floor for digital recording is low enough that in my opinion, you don't have to try an get every single bit out of it because to my ears some of the instrument depth is lost.

Thanks Bob, I'll try to keep that in mind. I'll also try to record in a more sound dampened room, maybe a closet with lots of pillows everywhere. This one was just done off the cuff at the desk in my kitchen. Haha.

 

[Bob Savage]

Thanks Bob, I'll try to keep that in mind. I'll also try to record in a more sound dampened room, maybe a closet with lots of pillows everywhere. This one was just done off the cuff at the desk in my kitchen. Haha.

Unless you have access to a nice sounding room using a dead room and then adding the room in the mix is the approach I would take too.

 

[Rampage]

I'm not an authority on recording (I suck at it!), but I just wanted to jump in here as say that that sounds pretty darn good for a test run. I'm very surprised by the sound quality coming from an all-in-one unit with such a small microphone. It appears to be a really convenient unit for capturing acoustic and vocal tracks. Have you given it a shot with an electric, or would there be too much clipping?

 

[shredhead666]

Thanks Bob, I'll try to keep that in mind. I'll also try to record in a more sound dampened room, maybe a closet with lots of pillows everywhere. This one was just done off the cuff at the desk in my kitchen. Haha.

Unless you have access to a nice sounding room using a dead room and then adding the room in the mix is the approach I would take too.

You know, I've never found a room that I thought sounded nice. I wouldn't know what a nice sounding room sounds like.

 

[shredhead666]

I'm not an authority on recording (I suck at it!), but I just wanted to jump in here as say that that sounds pretty darn good for a test run. I'm very surprised by the sound quality coming from an all-in-one unit with such a small microphone. It appears to be a really convenient unit for capturing acoustic and vocal tracks. Have you given it a shot with an electric, or would there be too much clipping?

I have recorded a dry track with it (using the DI). I did the guitar solo to Shake It Up from The Cars for a cover song my buddy is doing. I'm going to hold off on posting until it's been properly re-amped. Although I might try running it through some of the amp designer modules in Logic later on... that might be interesting!

 

[Rampage]

I'm not an authority on recording (I suck at it!), but I just wanted to jump in here as say that that sounds pretty darn good for a test run. I'm very surprised by the sound quality coming from an all-in-one unit with such a small microphone. It appears to be a really convenient unit for capturing acoustic and vocal tracks. Have you given it a shot with an electric, or would there be too much clipping?

I have recorded a dry track with it (using the DI). I did the guitar solo to Shake It Up from The Cars for a cover song my buddy is doing. I'm going to hold off on posting until it's been properly re-amped. Although I might try running it through some of the amp designer modules in Logic later on... that might be interesting!

I'll keep an eye out!

 

[shredhead666]

I'm not an authority on recording (I suck at it!), but I just wanted to jump in here as say that that sounds pretty darn good for a test run. I'm very surprised by the sound quality coming from an all-in-one unit with such a small microphone. It appears to be a really convenient unit for capturing acoustic and vocal tracks. Have you given it a shot with an electric, or would there be too much clipping?

Also, the preamp this thing uses is just out of this world. Here's a pretty cool video I found of a dude testing out 3 mic's w/ the Apogee ONE as the interface - a 57, an ST31, and the built-in condenser mic in the Apogee one.

 

[Rampage]

That video sounds pretty sharp. I wouldn't expect that from such a small interface. It's incredible how quickly all this technology evolves.

 

[Ola Englund]

I love my Apogee ONe like hell... I don't like the breakout cable though...

 

[shredhead666]

I love my Apogee ONe like hell... I don't like the breakout cable though...

What don't you like about the breakout cable?

 

[gibson5413]

Sounded like some Jethro Tull - Aqualung going on. Either way, sounded great to me.

 

[kasperjensen]

Thanks Bob, I'll try to keep that in mind. I'll also try to record in a more sound dampened room, maybe a closet with lots of pillows everywhere. This one was just done off the cuff at the desk in my kitchen. Haha.

Unless you have access to a nice sounding room using a dead room and then adding the room in the mix is the approach I would take too.

You know, I've never found a room that I thought sounded nice. I wouldn't know what a nice sounding room sounds like.

One that you think sounds good. And it doesn't have to be a purpose built room either... Take the drums for "When The Levee Breaks" by Led Zep... They are recorded in the entrance hall of a country home. It was found by accident because Bonhams roadie set the new kit up there instead of where they would have recorded it.
So there is no "wrong" room really... If you can find a good purpose for it, it's all good.

 

[shredhead666]

Thanks Bob, I'll try to keep that in mind. I'll also try to record in a more sound dampened room, maybe a closet with lots of pillows everywhere. This one was just done off the cuff at the desk in my kitchen. Haha.

Unless you have access to a nice sounding room using a dead room and then adding the room in the mix is the approach I would take too.

You know, I've never found a room that I thought sounded nice. I wouldn't know what a nice sounding room sounds like.

One that you think sounds good. And it doesn't have to be a purpose built room either... Take the drums for "When The Levee Breaks" by Led Zep... They are recorded in the entrance hall of a country home. It was found by accident because Bonhams roadie set the new kit up there instead of where they would have recorded it.
So there is no "wrong" room really... If you can find a good purpose for it, it's all good.

Yeah, that's the problem. Usually when I go back and listen to a recording, if I get a lot of the room sound in there I end up hating it. And then I can't remove it from the track.

 

[kasperjensen]

Thanks Bob, I'll try to keep that in mind. I'll also try to record in a more sound dampened room, maybe a closet with lots of pillows everywhere. This one was just done off the cuff at the desk in my kitchen. Haha.

Unless you have access to a nice sounding room using a dead room and then adding the room in the mix is the approach I would take too.

You know, I've never found a room that I thought sounded nice. I wouldn't know what a nice sounding room sounds like.

One that you think sounds good. And it doesn't have to be a purpose built room either... Take the drums for "When The Levee Breaks" by Led Zep... They are recorded in the entrance hall of a country home. It was found by accident because Bonhams roadie set the new kit up there instead of where they would have recorded it.
So there is no "wrong" room really... If you can find a good purpose for it, it's all good.

Yeah, that's the problem. Usually when I go back and listen to a recording, if I get a lot of the room sound in there I end up hating it. And then I can't remove it from the track.

That is the disadvantage unless you can get a good close mic with minimal room spill, and record the room on a separate track.
In most cases, for most recordings by "non-pro" the dead approach is better, as it's easier to get consistent results.
Although I received a great tip not so long ago:
(example of a guitar recorded with real hall reverb)

First record the main guitar bone dry.
Then find a hall that has a great natural reverb, and bring the same guitar and amp setup down, and set a mic up somewhere in that hall where you think there is a good reverb sound. Dub the guitar part, and mix the track with the original. This way you can completely separate the two.

 

[Ola Englund]

I love my Apogee ONe like hell... I don't like the breakout cable though...

What don't you like about the breakout cable?

The fact that it breaks easy... maybe that's why they call it break-out cable.

Had to buy a new cable.

 

[shredhead666]

I love my Apogee ONe like hell... I don't like the breakout cable though...

What don't you like about the breakout cable?

The fact that it breaks easy... maybe that's why they call it break-out cable.

Had to buy a new cable.

How/where did yours break?