requesting advice for new PC hardware

[icystorm]

I built my wife a new PC last summer with very good results, and I will build myself a new one after Christmas.

My question today is this: What soundcard (and other PC hardware/software and microphone) would you recommend for recording/mixing vocals at home?

Right now, I am using Creative Audigy 2, with Acoustica Mixcraft 3.1, and Audacity 1.3 and a very cheap mic. The results are not good.

Thanks kindly, and season's greetings.

Joseph

[N7SC]

I'd recommend an M-Audio sound card. You can gang up to 4 (I think it is 4) of the Audiophile 192 cards. They are stereo, that is 2 channels each, so 4 of them would give you 8 channels or mikes. These cards will let you digitize at 192KHz and 24 bits. You'll need some serious computing horsepower, so a Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad, highest clock speed you can afford, lots of RAM, and a whopper hard drive.

For software, either ProTools or CoolEdit Pro (now Adobe Audition), if you go with Audition, version 3 is brand new (November '07 release), and probably needs to mature a while (A.K.A. get its bugs worked out). Version 2.0 is good, and some still swear by 1.5. If you would like to try out Audition, there is a 30-day trial available on Adobe's website.

For microphones, it has been a long time for me, but you probably can't go wrong with good, top line models from AKG. At one point McIntosh Labs and the Grateful Dead used very special, probably custom made, mikes from Brujel & Kjaer in Denmark. Even if they are still available, the cost would probably be staggering, but they would be the best you can get.

[altitude909]

I would take a look at the Presonus inspire, has plenty of great features and is very affordable. Software wise, I would start with Reaper.

http://www.cockos.com/reaper/

[icystorm]

Altitude909 and N7SC:

Thank you both for your recommendations. I'm researching and considering your advice.

Best regards,
Joseph (icystorm)