PC as multi track storgage for "Analog Studio"

[alexspetty]

is any one using the PC as a place for tracking to? But then using an analog board and out board gear (rather than effects plugins and mouse controlled faders) for mixing.

If so... is there a noticable loss in quality since there is A/D (initial tracking) then a D/A(mixing playback) and yet another A/D for generating final mixdown (is that right)??

Is the sound quality loss from all of those conversions a huge deal?

Thanks for any feedback you can offer.

-Alex

[darwin]

The biggest thing I would be concerned about would be the noise added by your board. There are two things to worry about. You need to worry about noise from your board and the quality of your A/D D/A converters. Most higher-end sound cards have pretty decent converters like the Delta 1010, Layla24, or the MOTU stuff. If the board is "low-noise", then I would say you are OK given you have decent converters. Also, in some boards, the summing busses suck.

I know mixing with a mouse kinda sucks, but I have learned to live with it.