VEGANGELICA

Hi Freebase,
I've purchased a Shure SM58 microphone for vocals and two Kingston KTD8300/512 MB RAM 400 MHz modules (which did really cost just $26 each) and have one question before purchasing the Lexicon Lambda audio interface, which has one instrument input and one microphone input (with pre-amp).

I would like to record drums with several microphones (since everyone agreed using one microphone was pretty skimpy), so given this additional knowledge would you still recommend an audio interface that has just 1 microphone input, or would it be better to have 2 microphone inputs to allow the drums' microphone signals to be converged into two tracks rather than one? Is there much of an advantage to separating drums into two tracks vs. one? I assume if one uses 2 microphones on drums, it only makes sense to record them in separate tracks so one can alter the levels.

The reason I ask is that the first audio interface you pictured in a previous post--the M-Audio FastTrack Pro (USB)--has two instrument or microphone inputs...which may be more useful for me down the road (say in 5 years) if for some reason I want to record two instruments or two microphones at the same time.

How do people usually attach microphone cables to an audio interface when they have 2 microphones (ideally condensor type, I know) dangling overhead to left and right of drums for stereo effect, plus a mike by the bass drum and a Shure SM57 by the snare (ignoring the ideal situation in which one mikes under the snare, too, to pick up more of the snare sound)? Would they usually have the 4 microphones record into 4 tracks, or (for expense reasons--resulting in a simpler audio interface) merge them into two tracks via two microphone inputs? I would think they'd want 4 inputs.

I'm thinking that since I'd like to buy one Shure SM57 microphone for guitar and snare drum recording, then maybe I should just make it a nice even 2 x Shure SM57 microphones and then use all my 4 microphones I'd then own (none are condensor) on the drum set when I record it. Then I think perhaps instead of a second Shure SM57 microphone I should buy some microphone that would work better for the low frequences of the bass drum? And *then* I waver again and think maybe I should just pool the money into buying one condensor microphone instead of 2 less expensive microphones like the Shure SM57!

So, I thought I'd ask for advice. I have around $200 for an audio interface and $250 for microphones (beyond the Shure SM58 I have already ordered), and am not sure how best to allocate the money given that I'd like to use more than one microphone for the drums and make sure to have a microphone (like the Shure SM57) that works well miking the electric guitar amplifier.

--Erica

EDIT on 7/11:
MICROPHONES: I've been doing some more sleuthing online and around MusicBanter and have learned that the Condensor microphones MXL 990 (for vocals) and MXL 991 (for acoustic guitar and drum overhead) are highly recommended and inexpensive (package costs $80). Hmm. In the ideal world I could get two MXL 991s (for overhead condensors for drums), the Shure Beta 52A microphone (comes with own clamp) for the base drum, and a Shure SM57 for the snare drum (and alternatively for miking the electric guitar amp).

AUDIO INTERFACE: I've decided that, yes, I will want at least 2 microphone inputs (with pre-amp in case I ever get condenser microphones) on the audio interface, so that appears to rule out the Lexicon lambda and alpha, leaving me with the M-Audio audio interface options as the least expensive USB 2.0 versions. I do want the audio interface to be USB 2.0 instead of a PCI, in case I eventually get a laptop, since I've read PCI doesn't work with a laptop. I did read online that one should make sure the audio interface has at least as many microphone inputs (with pre-amps) as microphones one plans to use on the drums, so that answers my question about that!

Alas, the M-Audio Fast Track Pro (with 2 inputs that are both microphone and instrument ready) gets mixed reviews, as does the step-up from that, the much costlier M-Audio FastTrack Ultra USB 2.0 (with 6 analog inputs with 4 pre-amps...why they didn't just give all the inputs pre-amps, I don't know, other than cost!). I suspect, though, that if all reviewers had made sure the audio interfaces were compatible with their computer operating system, and had downloaded updated drivers from the company website, then their experiences with these interfaces would have been better.

An alternative audio interface I'm considering is the Tascam US-1641, which has many more analog inputs than I currently need, but is available for $315 and seems to have better reviews than the M-Audio options. Hopefully whatever hardware I end up with will be good enough to cause all drum recording latency problems to be simply due to my own timing errors !