suggestions for home studio

[reefus_01]

I've recently decided to take my new computer(running XP with a pentium 4, 256MB RAM, and a 40GB Hard Drive) and use it to set up my own digital home studio. But first I was wondering if I could get some suggestions about sound cards and software that would be good for this. My main instrument is guitar, so that is my biggest consideration, but I'm very diverse as far as what kind I music I want to be able to record in my (soon to be)studio, such as using MIDI instruments like synthesizers, drum machines, ect. I'm not super rich, but I'm willing to pay for good quality and features. I'm going to buy all the other neccessary equipment as well( ie monitors, mixer, mics......) in time, but I would just like some help in setting up a solid foundation for a good digital home studio. So any any helpful opinions and advice would be appreciated. Thanks:)

[TeeCee]

My first recommendation would be to buy a mixer. To me a mixer is the hub of a personal studio (very personal as in about the size of mine - very out dated pictures available on my web site). I like Mackies. I have a Soundtracs Topaz in my closet that cannot compare to the flexibility of my Mackie. Without the mixer, you'll need a lot more sound card, like a specialized card with REAL mic and line inputs. Lower quality cards like Sound Blasters with mic inputs do not have real, studio quality mic inputs.

After you have a mixer that can act as your interface to get line level or mic levels into your PC (as well as allow your studio to function without the PC), you need to determine how many ins and outs you need. My basic recommendation for single musician and no drum set studios is 4 ins and 4 outs (2x2 stereo) so you can record your instrument as stereo and the FX separately in stereo. I like the M-Audio Delta stuff. It's more than clean enough for what I do and they are very well behaved. Very few quality sound cards have multi audio I/O and MIDI I/O so you may be looking at a separate MIDI interface as well.

On the PC end - this PC should be dedicated to audio. This should not be your Internet/game PC. It should not dual boot to a system that supports your modem and other non-essential devices. This should be your music PC. That PC you replaced (the one you gave your mother/wife/sister/brother/kids) should be your slow dog Internet PC. Also, you should buy a second hard drive to keep the audio and system separate.

As for software, what do you want to do? If you want to record audio and MIDI, you may want to look at Cakewalk's guitar studio. Look close, I've never used the product. I have used Cakewalk Pro Audio 7, 8, 9, and Sonar 1.3. I also use Sonic Foundry products for audio only portions of my projects. I like them although I am currently upset with their upgrade schedule.

Now it's time for you to investigate hardware and come up with more questions.

STILL haven't hit that 15,000 character limit. Only 2111 characters!

Good luck,

[mrmulti]

I am also interested in this, what follows is my intro from the intro part:

I own a computer consulting/store/business, and I am a songwriter/singer/musician. I have an old project studio with digital orchestrator pro, Alesis Midiverb, Sy77, Gr09, Strat, hummingbird, peavey mixer, midiman hisser/mixer and I have been making mp3's to put onto my mp3.com site:

I have been comparing cakewalk and pro tools, too.

http://www.mp3.com/michaelwells (all were recorded on the above stuff).


I am *not* an expert, but since I run a computer business, I now want to fold in my love of music and recording to what I do for a living. I want to expand my consulting to the home recording field. I want to sell good, cheap nuts to bolts systems that will allow the musician to create good music - right up to the mp3 file and/or making a good demo.

I will post and read in this forum, so I can get some recommendations as to the low, medium, and high end hardware/software/components needed to create a full system. $500-$1000 ,1000-2000, 2000-3000, and 3000+ including the computer.

[Rockycoon]

Reefus,

First, what are you going to do? That is the most important question to answer. How many people are going to be recording in your studio?

I have a MAuido Delta 1010. Great card. I have never used more than 4 inputs in two years. Four inputs has been the max. The same is ture with outputs. I mix to stereo left and right. Two outputs.If you are a one man band, like me, save the money. Lots of great cards on the market. EggsSpeg to spend at least $400 and $600 for a good card. There are some cheaper and some a lot higher. Frontier Design, MAudio are what I have used and recommed them readily. I do not recommend sound blaster. It works and it is cheap. You will be happier with a good card.

I used an external mixer to avoid latency. That's another subject.
But I also used Mackie. You might think about the digital vs analog on the mixer issue as well. I perfer analog. I am not into automated faders and things l like that. It is a very cool feature. But, you can spend as much money as you want. I have been in several project studios. Mackie rules!
I think the guys at sweetwater will agree too. For the price I think Mackie is the best (WAY CLEAN FOR ANALOG). They make a wide range of products digital and analog. All O' so very cool.

I use Cakewalk SONAR 2.0. This is a very good product. PROTOOLS
is the industry standard in major studio's. However, Cakewalk, in my mind has absolutely blow the doors off of PROTOOLS in regrad to quality vs price. Cakewalk is only limited by the size of your computer as far as tracking. To match the tracking capability with Protools you will need to spend Big Bugs. There are some compatibilty is U's as well. Mainly, centered around the Mac and PC thing. They have been at odds for a long time. Kind Like the HAtfields and McCOYs. I have used my Sonar product with PROTOOLS in a local studio. Save and import to wave files, there waz No difference in sound quality.

The mixer is like your guitar. You must be comfortable with it are you will always be looking for something else. I would also recommed at least a four buss unit. That will get you more flexability. Also, if you can go look at eh music stores to see the difference between the various programs.
There are so many out thier now that are good. SONAR and PROTOOLS are the best I have used.

The PC is the thing too. Sounds like we have like systems. You have enough RAM. THe speed of the processer is probably OK too. The faster the better. Man, If I could recommend one thing. Try to stay with one sound card. It will make you life a lot easier. Dedicated hard drives are a great idea! I keep a moden to down load and upgrade drivers. Otherwise, stay off the NET. DONT GO there. Get someone to build you a unit with a good windows Operating system (XP- is good). And only put what you absolutely need to do music.

That's my story and I 'm stickin' to it. Hope this is helpful, five years of wasted money, long distant calls, several "man you got to be kiddin'" and a few upgrade behide me.

You got the money and the time U can kig some bud with the above stuff.,. Hope this help,
Good luck


BB
:)

[AcousticPro]

It is true that you need to decide what type of work you want to do and that will answer the question of how. The Aardvark cards are very good and eliminate the need for a mixer because they mix in real-time with the playback audio, thus no latency monitoring. That's the biggest issue of DAW recording solved. Then you just need to choose which of their interfaces best suits your needs. Feel free to contact me if you have specific questions off-line.

[TeeCee]

AcousticPro said
The Aardvark cards are very good and eliminate the need for a mixer because they mix in real-time with the playback audio, thus no latency monitoring.And they have sends and inserts for you to connect your FX processors and compressors. Wait, do they have all of that? Do they really eliminate the need for a mixer? If you want to jam on your stuff with your PC off, can you? Do they really eliminate the need for a mixer or can they just help you live without one?

[AcousticPro]

It somewhat depends on the card you choose in their line, much like choosing the right mixer. They do indeed eliminate the need for a mixer. I have a DirectProQ10 in my studio right now. It has 8 mic/line inputs, the first four have fantom power and inserts. There isn't the ability to use it with your computer off, but you don't need to have you software like Logic or Cakewalk open to use it so it is like a digital mixer. Does that make sense? I also have my cue mixes set up and a talkback situation as well which is killer. It really turns a computer into an solution for doing digital audio.

[TeeCee]

I see what you're saying. A good audio interface can make your PC into a digital mixer. If the interfaces weren't so steep, I might be inclined to buy two and build another music PC just to be a 16 channel mixer. Don't give me any ideas.

[AcousticPro]

Now you've got it. The built in DSP on the Aardvark allows it to be a zero latency mixer because it really is doing everything in terms of monitoring in the analog domain. I've actually done just this. I have a real-time mixer and tracking system as well as a killer digital mixer in my software for under 2k for the base system, pretty incredible.

[TeeCee]

AcousticPro said
The built in DSP on the Aardvark allows it to be a zero latency mixer because it really is doing everything in terms of monitoring in the analog domain.DSP, does it use that DSP for FX as well? That would replace a mixer and then some.

[AcousticPro]

Yes, that is correct. It's not a Lexicon or anything and it depends on the specific card you pick in the product line, but it is useable for monitoring or if you like can print to your multitrack software.

[TeeCee]

Can you use the DSP as a farm card as well? That is route your audio through the card and back without ever leaving the computer? If so, does it require specific software or do some off the shelf products like Sonar support it?

[AcousticPro]

Not really, that's more a job that the UAD1 would perform.