PII, 350mhz... outdated?

S

Suntag

New member
I've got a PII 350mhz (64ram, 6.4 gig) with Soundblaster Live!, a Fostex 4-track (I was desperate to copyright some of my stuff - long story) and about 30 movie soundtracks, 54 folk-pop hits and 14 techno-lounge grooves going strong in my head. I need to get going on this project-studio of mine, and have been reading up on it in this vast pool of information, but am still shaky on where to throw my painfully-earned cash. I, obviously, need some advice. It should be noted that I will be solo in my recording. I am the band. I play acoustic guitar, piano and (mostly) sing. So how should I prioritize the following to get some output asap? I'll be pitching to local advertisers (radio and tv for vox spots if not for jingles) and eventually, computer software companies (soundtracks) and (sure enough) record labels. ;)

I'm thinking of buying the following (in chronological order):
- Shure Sm-58 beta
- Art Tube Dual channel Pre-amp
- Roland A90-expandable keyboard - For this, I'll be selling my upright piano - I need the controller for midi orchestration, such as:
- Alesis DM5 drum module
- Alesis (or other) symphonic (and piano) sound module (to be shopped)
- Digi-001 soundcard (I'll have the cash by April, when the PC version pops up - ProTools is appealing and I don't need that many ins... finally, if things go as they should I'll be upgrading to ProTools 24 in a couple of years ;)
- CD-R (don't have any brands in mind yet)

After that, I'm thinking sound modules (or CD's with samples... or a sampler - but I need more info on that call) and eventually, better mic (Rode NT-1...)

What am I missing? Any advice for a technically challenged musical monster? I'm guessing you're going to beg for me to dump Digidesign for Aardvark or Event... Still, Digi is tempting... Thanks for any help you can give me. And have a good one!

Suntag
PS. I apologize for the title: it was a ruse to get some attention. In answer to my original querry: I need RAM, I gather. Lots. Otherwise, I'm thinking PII is still alright...

[This message has been edited by Suntag (edited 12-24-1999).]
 
I read up on Core-2 - there have been problems with it - many, many problems apparently...

To rephrase my original question, shouldn't I be recording in 16 bit instead of aiming for 24? I mean, won't the extra fidelity just bogg down the computer? And how much would the final output suffer? The more I read, the less confident I become... HELP!!! Sound-card crisis arising!!!
 
The higher the resolution the better, in my opinion. If you have 24-bit capability, or the option to get it, then do so. While CDs are only 16-bit, and the 24-bit files would only be burned on a disc at that currently, when editing the files, applying effects(etc) I've heard, but don't know for sure, that there's a quality difference that could come into play between 16 and 24-bit. (Anyone that can clarify this?)

Also, with everything you are talking about doing (Some serious longterm recording goals) you will benefit from the higher bit resolution as DVDs (or whatever higher quality medium someone comes up with) replace CDs. I would say that by end of 2000 or mid 2001 DVD recording capability will be available at a price accessible to most home studio people at the equipment level you are getting into that want the higher quality and more storage. Unless the motion picture industry ruins it for us all over copyrights.

I'm thinking about the Digi001 myself, and even might get it now for the SonicFoundry software they are bundling with it, then get the free upgrade to ProTools LE when the PC version comes out. I've seen a list price of $995US, but no street prices yet. Anyone have more info on this thing?
 
I'm waiting for the Digi boat myself. I went to their demo and asked some questions. What I heard was; The version of Pro Tools they include is almost 99% of Pro Tools, they left out some of the multimedia stuff, but the audio is almost all there. I was hoping for more than two mic pre's but my friend that I record is like suntag, an all around musician so I guess two is enough. All the effects they used were real time, I couldn't hear any latency. I think they were using a G3 and a lot of ram, so the PC is going to need a lot of horse power (read major upgrade).
 
No kidding about the upgrading... Hmmph. There's just no way around it, I guess. I might just save up and go Mac, (since I use my PC for a ton of other stuff and would probably be better off dedicating a separate apparatus for audio) but then again, I hear the G4 isn't doing so well in audio recording - seems they packed it so full of multi-media and graphics that they left the strickly audio out of the loop...

So maybe I'll just go PIII. Maybe. In any case, I do think Digi-001 will do the trick. Any word on the quality of Digidesign's pre-amps?
 
I'm a computer tech and I was fortunate enough to check out the G4. I found that it has the same hardware as my IBM clone computer (at least concerning the hard drive). If you upgrade to a PIII 450-600EB CPU coupled with at least the 9.1GB 7200 RPM 2MB cache buffer hard drive it would be sufficient enough. (That is the same hard drive used in the G4 believe it or not because that is an UDMA 66 EIDE hard drive not a SCSI!) Anyway the most important is that IBM hard drive and the more RAM the better. Of course, the better sound card is very important. Best of luck!
 
Thanks! I'll definitely look into the PIII option... I can't afford Mac anyways (not just the initial purchase, if you follow). Just out of curiosity though... wassup with the velocity engine? Does that not bring anything to audio? I just dig the term "giga-flop"... ;)
 
Hey. I am in the same situation as you. I am a loner looking to utilize my genious. I work a bs job and have a lot of cash restrictions. I am building my own computer for sound use. You say you already have one? I am starting from scratch and have bought a PC case, an Intel mohterboard that supports PIII's, a PIII 450 mhz processor, a 20gig IBM UMDMA/66 7200rpm hard drive, 17" montor, 128 megs of RAM, and have spent about 700 bucks as compared to an already put together one at around $1200. You should have little trouble upgrading. Check ebay, they have a ton of computer crap.
 
Have you taken a look at BeOS for the PC? I just got it myself and would recommend it to anyone considering getting a mac to replace thier pc for recording purposes. It installs fairly easily (although you have to make sure your current hardware is compatible) I have seen alot of recording software on many different systems (mac, PC, amiga) but i have NEVER seen anything like the multi-track mixer that comes with the OS, it's almost indescribable. The best 60 bucks i ever spent.
 
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