My Birthday 2007 – new music stuff!
Nov 07PF Changs, new Rode NT1-A, and new Line 6 Tone Port UX2… Also, some new face scrub and aftershave balm from Origins (more on the face care later). Amazingly, nothing new for Otto.
On my birthday, devin took andrea and me to eat at PF Changs, it was a toss up between there and Los Cucos – Andrea being the coin and PF Changs being tails. I have this strange obsession with their chopsticks, which are not like normal chopsticks where one end is tapered and enlarges on the other end. These are tapered on both ends and somewhat flat in the middle. They are very well balanced and simply different – here you see the obsession with such a simple object set. So I kept a pair.
The bill came out above $100 food was excellent as usual, with getting my usual Chang’s Spicy Chicken, Chow Mein (without meat this time) and my favorite, the Nutty Uncle alcoholic beverage (strawberry, coconut, almond liqueur, and an unspecified rum) – Andrea tried a tofu ordeal in which the tofu had a very disturbing texture, but good taste (on the outside – no taste inside)… Devin, the usual – something completely different. It was a fun evening, and now you know what we stuffed ourselves.
Then on Tuesday, which was yesterday, I went shopping for myself. It all started as I was curiously browsing rewards for my debit card, I decided against cash instead getting something I wouldn’t usually buy. So I redeemed my reward points for something for which I really wouldn’t normally consider paying cash, if not a true name brand instrument. The 
Behringer iAXE624 (Centari) USB guitar 
I was curious, reviews seemed ok, if not for JUST the guitar part, I have been wanting to get a new guitar (more so an acoustic though) and hey, this $150 thing is free just for spending money with my card. We’ll see how I feel about it in 2-4 weeks when I get it considering that a couple of the only complaints worth note are the placement of the USB port (for standing the guitar up) which can be alleviated by having an actual guitar stand, and the strings it comes with are too light for any real playing – I always preferred D’Addario half round mediums but I think I might switch to something heavier just for the hell of it. I think I’d switch to Pure Nickel or Flat Wound Stainless for a more mellow sound, but on this guitar who knows how that would sound anyway.
Then along with some Imogen Heap live videos I’d recently seen this inspired me to get back into my music production… what do I REALLY need for this… A new Microphone, and usb interface!
So I head to Guitar Center to check out the options. I had my sights on the Blue – Snowball USB mic so I could skip the interface and just use USB ready components. Once there, I was talked out of the Snowball (latency issues) and into the Rode Podcaster mic (which was incidentally much more expensive).
When I return home and start to play with my new purchase, I make the steady realization that the podcaster is just that – just for recording vocals and nothing else, since it has a monitor headphone jack on the mic itself, perfect for recording JUST voice but no mixing.
I promptly round up Andrea and Devin (who had just returned from getting us food and a movie from the Redbox) and rush back to Guitar Center (eat along the way) to return the Podcaster and shock mount and am talked into a similarly priced Rode mic. After carefully reviewing cheaper alternatives and being frankly – with no monetary motive – explained the virtue of each option I chose the Rode NT1-A. As an added value it came with its own shock mount and storage zipper bag. I have to say, for it’s price or not, it sounds great! And the best part is, I’m no longer using a computer mic, nor a larger dynamic one which make me sound like I have no low end and alot of nasal acoustic boom.
The next part of my decision involved how to power this new microphone. I DID still have the little M-Audio Fast Track USB interface andrea bought last year, but it doesn’t have Phantom Power so it wouldn’t natively operate the Rode or any other condenser mic for that matter. So either a power insert between the mic and preamp or a new preamp usb interface. I chose the latter.
Started feeling a discomfort in my tract, as it comes time to pay the difference for my exchange – $189. I reach for my wallet – card’s gone, and apparently at home since Andrea and Devin took it to get the food and miscellaneous items at Wal*mart.
Stay calm… Devin has a card and we have linked accounts, so I can transfer… my phone is getting crappy reception, the nerves get the better of me, I start to sweat – all I have to do is pay. Eureka! I have checks in the car! Or so I think. I get back disheartened at the prospect that I will not be leaving with anything new at this time – and a bulb lights over my head -my one emergency spare check I keep in my wallet for JUST such an emergency… So the transaction is done and all is well…
The trek back home was an adventure all its own – after not long the McDonalds had for some reason caused some severe gastric disturbances forcing me to halt the mad rush back home and detour at the nearest store with the highest chance of a clean… facility. Walgreens will do.
I went with a Line 6 Tone Port UX2 for the fact that it has 2 48v or dynamic capable XLR jacks, 2 guitar inputs, a headphone monitor output, 2 analog monitor outs, pedal control options, most important of all latency free operation and as I’ve found kick ass controller software (Line 6 Gear Box) and Ableton Lite (which I don’t intend to use). 
The installation was a breeze, and the software updated itself using a separate program that comes as part of the suite packaging and setup instructions were well thought out to ensure that you follow the right process to get it set up with no issues.
Gear Box is nothing short of wonderful. It comes preloaded with sample rig emulations for both guitar, bass and microphone control and output – as you hear it on the monitor, is as it records in software (a VST plugin version is also available for a mere $199 but as it is now suits my methods just fine). The vocal effects are great for producing different levels of clarity from the mic and even some realistic lo-fi effects all of which a user can configure and save. 
At this time, realizing that Sony Soundforge has been an overly expensive pain in the ass (which I used to love) recently while working with my USB devices I gladly switched to open source Audacity. Found that even running Buzz with over a dozen machines (usually moderate CPU usage), filters for the Mic in Gear Box, and recording in Audacity 1.3.3 beta produced NO latency on either the analog out and headphone out, and used very little extra cpu if any at all. Everything went smooth and I stayed up till 4am playing with the new stuff.
Although the new usb interface looks pretty much like a toy, it’s a great tool for someone such as myself – hobby musician with some room to grow before taking on bigger meaner devices. That is to say, since I use Buzz, a Sequencer/Tracker/Synthesizer/Sampler (which also free but not open source, and no longer under development but has a pretty large following) for putting together my music as I have since 1998, and a simple recorder (first soundforge but now audacity – and only for the recording/basic wave editing) I wouldn’t know how all of this equates to Cubase or Protools, which have just seemed too bloated for my taste, since I primarily work with samples and direct tone sequencing rather than a multitude of various hardware (which I would obviously love to own).
Overall I’d have to say that even though I went about $90 over my spending threshold, the $229 Rode NT1-A and the $199 Line 6 Tone Port UX2, along with a new mic boom stand for $30 – I’m very satisfied with my purchase. My love for music making has been rekindled.
Not to mention that it has inspired Andrea, on my commission to contrive a device to complement the new mic, of the cozy type… you know, to keep it clean of dust, since I’m too lazy to put it away like everyone else (but there is alot of dust in this room so it’s useful). Maybe it should be produced en-masse… is there a market for it I wonder?
Reasonably eventful few days by my standards.