Choices, Choices

[TexasT]

I know I must choose the best for my needs, so here are mine.

I want to record Vocals, & Acoustic Guitars through a Neuman TLM103 & Avalon 737, and Electric guitars (SM57), Keys (AlesisQS8.1)& bass (direct).

I need the following:
1. Online drum machine (Fruity Loops)
2. looping(Acid4.0) to flesh out ideas
3. PCI interface
4. DAW Software
5. ? (finalize to CD from my XP PC)

Any guidance for compatibility for 1-5?
(I've been thinking of digidesign001 w/ProTools.)

Your help is appreciated.

[TeeCee]

Well, you could use SONAR XL which comes with the DR-008 sampler that excels in drums and if you upgrade to the full version for $49, you can download over a gig of drum patches. That would take care of drums, loops, and a multi-track. You may find that you don't want to loop the way Acid loops, which is fine because you can work with loops or straight audio rather easily in SONAR and the MIDI is much nicer. This isn't a stab at Acid, I own and use both programs and Acid is not designed to compete with SONAR. You will probably still want/need a stereo editor such as Sound Forge.

If you want your final product to be very loop based (even if they are your loops not from loop CDs), you can work in just Acid. Acid has MIDI capabilities, but they aren't like a regular sequencer. An entire multi-track MIDI file will open in Acid as a single track, editable via OPT plug-ins that include a Piano Roll, a track view, andn Event Viewer. If you want good MIDI editing capabilities, I suggest SONAR. SONAR also supports multiple outs per DXi instrument (such as DR-008) where Acid can only have one output per VSTi. SONAR requires a software adpater to support VSTi's but they exist as do several DXi's that will not require an adapter.

Acid is better for stuff like dance music from loops and I use for bootleg remixes, but from scratch, it's much easier for me to work in SONAR.

As for the sound card, if you are just recording yourself, buy a mixer and get a stereo or four channel card. There is no need to run everything directly into the PC when you can only play one instrument at a time. I would suggest from my own experience the M-Audio Audiophile. It has two analog I/O channels (that's just stereo, don't be fooled), 2 digital I/O channels, and a MIDI In and Out port. It covers the basics with at least decent sound quality and has ASIO, WDM, DirectX, and standard drivers.

If you need more than stereo recording (and actually I suggest at least four channels if you plan on using external FX so you can record two channels of 100% dry and two channels of 100% wet), youhave to decide how good you want. The multi-channel interfaces vary greatly in quality and price from maybe $300 for a 6 channel device up to $1000.

If this is not a dedicated machine, your first step should be to buy or build a dedicated PC or Mac. I cannot be sure, but if you really want Pro Tools, you maybe should build a Mac.

[TexasT]

Thanks! That is Perfect information! (Just, what I needed!)

The CakeWalk site recommends the following PCI:

Aardvark: Aark24, DirectPro 24/96, DirectPro LX6, DirectPro Q10
Echo Audio: Layla24, Mona
Edirol/Roland ED: DA-2496
ECO-SYStems: WaMiRack24
M-Audio: Delta44, Delta66, Delta1010
Motu: 24i, 1224, 1296

Any suggestions? & Why?

[TeeCee]

I recomend M-Audio because I've used them. My experience has been great with them. I cannot recommend for or against the others as I have no personal experience with them.

The way I see it, two things narrow the field: number of channels needed and money. If money is no object, get as many channels as you'd like. If money is an object, get only as many channels as you need. What I didn't mention about the M-Audio line is that the drivers support up to four cards synced. It's not a hardware sync and I can't tell you how good it works, but it's there. What this means is that you can buy an Audiophile to get your feet wet and buy anything from the 44 to the 1010 later and not have to throw away the Audiophile. Cards not made by the same manufacturer are not likely to sync. It's not advised that you record on one card and play back on another, due to small clock differences.