D.A.W. ___FLAMMA F10 mixing console ___ ASUS TUF F15 Laptop ___ Cakewalk DAW

My goal is to build a rig I can add to without upgrading that will give me entry level PRO. A rig I can put out a recording that has the potential of literally putting on the worlds, __iTunes etc. for the public to download.

$150.00 USD

FLAMMA F10 MIXING CONSOLE

I did an introduction review on July 4/22 when I ordered one. 

The idea with this unit was to give you entry level Pro mixer and digital
interface at an affordable price.

It's first purpose was for the individual player to record basic tunes etc; using it's internal programs. Secondly to allow you to even record a small band. It is excellent for an audio interface to make YouTube programs and even to do 'Streams.' Finally it is ideal for an interface to a PC to be part of a D.A.W. In short make recordings that with patience and creativity could be put out with the best of them as product  for sale to the public on all the popular services like iTunes etc, etc.

Yes a lot of use for such modest mixer/interface.

IT IS ALL ABOUT ME

I did buy one in July 2021. I had a stream of incidents some good and many bad to hold me back. Most important was my incompatible Chromebook Laptop 

that even new was a $260.00 USD special, lol. May it R.I.P.ieces

$1000.00 USD

At any rate just yesterday I got a ASUS TUF F15. It has an Intel Core i7 CPU a processor which has a faster clocking speed better than the 'mega' jobbies have. Yes those in the know will tell me one can do this and that with more ....or enough with less by hot rodding their PC/laptops etc. BIG BUT ...they are often not glitch free and definitely not for the computer illiterate. This checks the boxes for small live bands or just yourself to give you trouble free use. RAM is 16 GB once again just enough for small scale applications to be glitch free. 

It would be indeed be prudent to buy a hard drive or SSD with a healthy capacity even for small applications once you get past the basic rookie stage. I am a toddler at all this so until I get out of my musical playpen I will investigate  

what I require. 

Free

In short I need some serious 'hands on' first. As for D.A.W. recording software that will do a Pro job than Cakewalk wins hands down. 

Once again it is user friendly & glitch free. Again a small amount of money from  competitors like Reaper can get you much more.

BIG BUT ...it gives you a big learning curve as well. 

If Cakewalk were a pedal it would be MXR, not a 

Mooer mini pedal but not Strymon either. 

.

the fine print

A well respected expert on all this told me that if you own or get a 

medium price PC made in the last 10 years you can get the

same results with your finished results all else being equal, 😇

My choices are based on reasonable longevity, ease 

of use and a generous amount of operational reliability.  

 

One size does not fit all. For only using it personally or for a few guys working together working on ideas, or for a rough cut a small band it's great. If each member of a group records separately listening to what was done before his turn you could indeed make sellable finished tunes. 

MICS

Shure SM57

You will need mics and they will be govern by application.

If you have none the best minimum all rounders  

most recommended are the $120.00 USD Shure SM58 

dynamic for vocals & $100.00 USD SM57 dynamic 

all purpose and the $200.00 USD  Rode NT-1A condenser 

all purpose for vocals, acoustic instruments or 

recording a whole band, choir or orchestra with one mic. 

 

Shure SM58

The Shure have decades of use for both voice and instrument recording and the Rode is a convincing clone of the king of mics the $3700.00 USD Neuman U87. The Rode has been the poor mans choice for 12 years. 

The Shure is a dynamic with a tight polar pattern that picks up what is both close and in front of it. It is good at keeping other things like other players and amps out of it better than most mics out there.

The Rode being an omni will pick up everything in front and on both sides and things like a whole choir a good distance away. 

All work very well on vocals. If budget makes push comes to shove  

just get the Shure SM57. 

HANDS ON

FLAMMA FM10

The FM10 hook up is simple. It comes with 2 cables.

It is powered by a good ol' Smart Phone AC/DC adapter and cable. It comes with the cable but you can get those adapters at the f.ing Dollar Store, lol. The hand shake is a bog standard USB cable.

You need to download the manual from the site and update the operating system.

A must watch HOW TO

the fine print

WARNING

The Windows drivers down load is NOT in English but in Chinese ??? 

The Mac download is in English and so is the manual.

I spent weeks trying to fix the problem. The help from Flamma

was pathetic, amateur and cause me endless crashes and f-ups.

The unit will not interface with DAW like Cakewalk. I got very 

generous help from Cakewalk. They went out of their way to help.

They said that there is zero reason for this to happen and they never had

problems that they couldn't sort out with the makers of any other interface!!

In short they did not say but in all probability feel that Flamma are a 

junk pedal con artists.

I did get it finally working through hours of trial error simply clicking boxes that 

I had no idea of their function. It shows up on Cakewalk with the same names 

for their routing but in a simplified form.  I did a track and it was clear and audible

even if I played like an amateur as my desk chair forces me to play with the guitar 

so high it hits my chin , LOL.