how to get started

hubb_99

New member
i am a guitar player who wants to turn his pc into a home studio. what i need to know is what i need to get started. i have cakewalk, sound forge, cubase and a couple other programs like this. my computer has 128 of ram and a 13 g hard drive and its a pent3 450 mhz. i think this setup will work, with mayber a little more memory and a bigger hard drive. i am realy focusing on soundcards. when i go to musicians friend or mars, i see the cards and then the boxes with all the inputs on them that connect to them. my questions are: what are those boxes with all the inputs for? whats the difference between stock soundcards and the ones that i see on the sites? can i just use my stock card and get a couple midi cables and adapters? what are some things to look for in a good sound card? is the creative sound 5.1 live comparable to any of the actual recording cards? how is the best way to actually get the sound in the computer(except via an effects proccesor)? price is a bit of a concern as always, i am not expecting a studio quality, just a decent demo type setup.
 
Hmmmm.... I have $1000 worth of recording software, but I don't know how to record.

What's wrong with this picture??
 
Heres the deal....

Okay you are going to need to seriously think about updating your ram... to 512 should do but... I know people who have gotten by with 128 mb. You are going to need to learn how to use your software... thats the first step...if you are recording guitar only all you will need is a mic pre-amp.... a mic... I suggest a shure57 for guitar amps and shure58 for vocals...then you will need a digital audio card... lately I have been using echo's line.... you can get those at musiciansfriend.com..... then you will need mic cables of course... if you are doing a band give a me an e-mail and I will figure the set-up. good luck.
 
are you just gonna be recording one thing at a time, or will you be multitracking (like recording a band)?
 
if you're using a mixer you can go into the pc via any soundcard to record a stereo mix in sound forge ....i'd definitely give this a go, if you have a working soundcard (they all have at least a stereo line input) ..................the higher dollar sound interfaces you see at musician's friend are designed for better sound quality and more inputs, so that you can multitrack a live band or ensemble.....some of the more expensive soundcards offer various options for digital input and output (if e.g., you own an adat or a dvd player).......there are a lot of options with pcs, so the more you say about what you are trying to do, the more likely others will respond......good luck
 
i guess what i really want to be able to do is just run my mixer right into my pc, but my stock sound card that i got know it only has the 1/8 microphone jacks, i don't know if thats the way i need to get in in there. or use another port . i am just going to be recording my band through a mixer using cakewalk or soundforge, nothing more than that, then burning a cd off my comp.
 
are you sure you don't have a line input? i have a pc with cheap onboard sound and the line input is blue...
 
i have three of the small input jacks, but they are 1/8 inch ac inputs(like a guitar input only smaller) one is for the analog speakers, the other is for digital speaker, adn the thrid one is for the computer microphone(which is what i have been using thus far, with an adapter) My comptuer is a gateway and it appears to me that the sound card is not in a pci slot(like the modem) it is above it all by the usb and printer ports, i think that this is probably why mine is a little different. I have seen some of the interefaces that use the usb ports( the most popular was a small yellow box) , i am wondering if that is a suffecient way to get the sound in. I plan on gettin a decnet sound card pretty soon though. but it would be nice to be able to get a mixer in my comp now.
 
no line input? what a drag........sounds like you have some type of onboard sound....if you have a free pci slot, i'd consider a pci soundcard.....you can get a soundblaster which will have a line input on it, but won't have great analog to digital conversion.....a better card would be the M-AUDIO Audiophile.

www.midiman.net/m-audio/html/products/audiophile.htm
 
yeh thats why my gatway pc was cheaper than the rest. anyway, i am looking on musicians friend, and i came across the e-mu card/software package for 99$, it is soudblaster live card and it comes with a bunch of programs like cakewalk and others. you said in your reply the soudblasters don't have very good dig. to analog conversion, why do i need that? and if i did get a card like the soundblaster or the m audio 2496, how would i be able to hook up my mixer to it? perhaps from the aux out or main out? what kind of mixer do i need? right now i have a powered mixer head and i would like to get by with that if possible, it's a crate but it's got a good clean sound. i believe it has tape rca outs, moniter and main ac outputs. maybe i could hook it up with one of them or mayber through the effects loop. it's probably not gunna be studio quality, i know, but if i could i would like to get by with that for the time being.
 
if you don't want to spend a lot, get a soundblaster...this will give you a line input and if you shop around you probably could get one really cheap...if the emu package appeals to you , get it....though, you could probably find a soundblaster somewhere for $30, maybe $60 or so, for the soundblaster live.... the soundblaster is a nice card for midi because there is no audio being converted from analog to digital.....every soundcard that accepts an analog signal converts it to digital format so it can be recorded and processed on a pc...the quality of the converters on your soundcard will have an effect on the sound quality of your recording....something in the price range of the audiophile is going to have significantly better digital to analog conversion....if you're anxious to record , get the soundblaster, if you aren't in a hurry and want to get the best sound you can get, read up on some soundcards......or get a cheap soundcard with a line input , start recording AND read up on soundcards :)
 
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