In need of advice..

[rbehm]

I have bought an I mac/Garage band that I haven't used it ...but I was thinking of getting the Tascam 2488 neo,I dont necessarily like working with computers so my question is do I go with GB or the Tascam. As a guitar player who wants to do some Home recording...I would not want to use any modeling amps ,it would all be from live gear except perhaps some drum tracks.

[stevel]

I have bought an I mac/Garage band that I haven't used it ...but I was thinking of getting the Tascam 2488 neo,I dont necessarily like working with computers so my question is do I go with GB or the Tascam. As a guitar player who wants to do some Home recording...I would not want to use any modeling amps ,it would all be from live gear except perhaps some drum tracks.

Well, do you need it to be portable?

All you need, right now, is an audio interface (preferably firewire - USB not as good) to get your mic signal into Garage Band (you don't want to use that little "microphone in" port).

Done.

Seriously - that's it

In fact, with Garage band, you've got drum loops you can play to - and if you're not great with keyboards, you can use loops of other instruments to build a groove, and record live guitar over that all day long.

And it comes out sounding REAL good - in fact, there are websites out there devoted to people who make music using Garageband only, and the results are every bit as good as anything else out there.

If you're by yourself - recording one track at a time basically, the Neo is WAY overkill.

You'd want the Neo if you needed something portable, and that was able to record 24 tracks simultaneously. Even then though, I can't see why anyone would want that when you can run Pro Tools on a laptop!

Editing is SO much easier on a computer.

For me it's a no-brainer - get an interface (125 bucks or so) and if you've got a decent mic you can put in front of your amps, you can go to town with what you already own.

The only other thing you might want is a decent pair of studio monitors (or decent headphones).

When you buy an audio interface, they often come with other programs like Cubase, or Live! etc. So you can also try those out and see what you like.

See how that works out for you before dumping 800 bucks on the Neo.

Personally, I can't even see why someone would want to buy a "stand alone" device like this anymore - when Tascam Porta Studio 4 track recorders came out - I can see why someone would want one of those. But now, with computer software and hardware like it is, I can't see why someone would want one of these.

My 2 cents,

Steve

[bluestrat62]

Stevel
Can you suggest a good firewire interface for Mac?

[rbehm]

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my post Steve,that is good common sense advice ,I picked up some monitors and have my sights on a used Apogee Duet.I have some decent mics already so I can get started.