Building a dedicated system

L

lacmackenzie

New member
I'm going to be building a dedicated pc based recording system and I'm wide open to suggestions. So far I've ordered an M-audio Audiophile 24/96 card and thats it. I'm going to build the computer to spec so I'd love to get some thoughts.
I'm a little unsure as to all the hardware/software needed to make the system work. My main concern is sound quality and simplicity. I just want a fast, reliable, easy to use system. I'm on a moderate budget but not bargain basment.
Basically, I just want to lay down a drum track, then bass, then guitar, then vocals, etc. It would be nice to be able to record 2 guitars at once, or record 2 mics. Other than that I'm open to suggestions. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance, Adam.
 
i would suggest you search under my name. lots of tips posted in the last year. 512 ram. also drives with 8mb cache if you can.
if you want loads of tracks and oodles of plug ins i would suggest you read the amd 64 prices thread in this section of the bbs.
if your not going for loads of plug ins a regular athlon will suffice imho.
if you want to save money on multitrack recording software,
and put the savings to a nice mixer or mic pre. (eg: yamaha mg mixer or rane ms1 b mic pre) then i suggest what i use magix music studio or powertracks. both under 80 bucks and both i love and use regularly.
also check out ntracks and multitrackstudio.com. but if you want heavy midi features like notation and editing, and song styles,as well as vocal harmoney creation etc then powertracks.
for a nice pair of affordable monitors consider yorkvilles.
or a guy on this bbs called han likes speakers called compact i think they are called which are very cheap , and whose judgement i trust.
for mics i would suggest you look closely at cad. or beyer mics are my personal preference. old used in good shape electrovoice dynamics
are often overlooked and are very nice if properly maintained. as are sennheiser 441 or 421.
if you have any q's - just ask.
 
I am just curious as to how you plan to record your drum tracks. if you have only two imputs to your computer, you will need a mixer to get all of the drim mics in there. doing this will give you less control over your drum track when editing. It can definately be done though, just have to get that perfect mix before you start recording.

I'm lovin my AMD system right now. I have 1024 ram with a 3200 amd 64 processor. I use my computer for lots of stuff like pictures, music, video, and general stuff. It is great.
 
lacmackenzie said:
... I'm a little unsure as to all the hardware/software needed to make the system work...
Click to expand...

Presuming a quasi-budget box, and starting from the ground up...

You need
  • a case (this one features sophisticated temperature control)
  • a powersupply (if one is not bundled with the case, and sometimes even if it is bundled)
  • a motherboard (this one comes bundled with the processor and memory)
  • a display adapter (incl. support for two monitors... very nice if/when your finances improve)
  • a keyboard and mouse
  • a HDD for your apps and...
  • a HDD for your music (strickly speaking, this is more of a nice to have than an essential)
  • a CD-RW (two are better than one) and...
  • a video monitor

Total cost $ 1,092.00

This system gives you the top-of-the-AMD XP line, a gig of RAM, 120GB/7200RPM HDD for apps, 74GB/10000RPM HDD for music (both SATA), Firewire, LAN, USB, a GeForce display adapter with 128MB RAM and dual monitor support, CD-RW/DVD, all bundled into a great case with a 480 watt power supply. A wireless keyboard and mouse.
 
This is exactly the kind of info I'm looking for. I've been seeing bits and pieces of info but nothing this comprehensive. Thanks to all who have posted.

I should have been more specific when I mentioned drum tracks. I'll just be faking it through my Panasonic keyboard.

BTW, I've noticed you guys are recommending AMP instead of intel. any particular reason

Adam
 
lacmackenzie said:
...I've noticed you guys are recommending AMP instead of intel. any particular reason...
Click to expand...

To mangle the Indiana Jones quote in the Temple Of Doom, "Money and Power, Short Round, Money and Power".

AMD gives you more bang for the buck.
 
wheelema said:
Presuming a quasi-budget box, and starting from the ground up...

You need
  • a case (this one features sophisticated temperature control)
  • a powersupply (if one is not bundled with the case, and sometimes even if it is bundled)
  • a motherboard (this one comes bundled with the processor and memory)
  • a display adapter (incl. support for two monitors... very nice if/when your finances improve)
  • a keyboard and mouse
  • a HDD for your apps and...
  • a HDD for your music (strickly speaking, this is more of a nice to have than an essential)
  • a CD-RW (two are better than one) and...
  • a video monitor

Total cost $ 1,092.00

This system gives you the top-of-the-AMD XP line, a gig of RAM, 120GB/7200RPM HDD for apps, 74GB/10000RPM HDD for music (both SATA), Firewire, LAN, USB, a GeForce display adapter with 128MB RAM and dual monitor support, CD-RW/DVD, all bundled into a great case with a 480 watt power supply. A wireless keyboard and mouse.
Click to expand...


Everything looks good except that ugly ass monitor. Toss that & spend another $100 on a nice 17" LCD.

Also, where's the ram?
 
Also keep in mind you need an OS (Windows XP preferably $100.00ish) and some good recording software (The Usual Suspects; Sonar, Cubase, Logic, Audition, N-Track, etc.). For software SONAR is amazing and you can get SONAR 3 at around $300.00 or even less if you look around the net. If you need a good multitracker on a budget go with N-Track, it is a great program that just keeps getting better and you can buy the 24bit version for $75.00.
 
right on right on. Yeah my next question was going to be about recording software, looks like thats been answered too.

If AMD is more bang for your buck thats all I need to hear.

BullsHit mentioned more ram. How much is sufficient? It would be nice to be able to leave lots of songs on the computer. Say 50 or more

Thanks again everyone
Adam
 
the number of songs mixed down that you create and save in either mp3 or wav format and store on your pc purely depends on your free disc space availability. on ram. 512 is fine. 1 gig is definitely nice.
one tip - dont go cheap on the power supply. overspec the power supply in case you add further peripherals later. the new high speed processors need good power supplies.
as well as the software already mentioned i highly recommend multitrackstudio.com, magix music studio, and powertracks. the latter two i use. if want all sorts of heavy midi features and editing and notation as well as 24 bit capability try the last. its only 49 bucks and does everything
i ever want to do. search under my name for more tips.
hard drives with 8mb caches are a nice thing to consider.
 
Bulls Hit said:
Everything looks good except that ugly ass monitor. Toss that & spend another $100 on a nice 17" LCD.

Also, where's the ram?
Click to expand...

LCD monitors have come way down in price. The gig of RAM was bundled with the motherboard.
 
Sorry I gotta ask one more stupid question. What is the power supply for? I can't just plug the comp into the wall? or is it to power mics, moniters, etc. Excuse my ignorance.
Adam
 
with respect i suggest you do some googling on the components needed in a moderrn PC. the power supply as the name implies normaly sits inside the tower and provides power to the various components.
it has nothing to do with mics, mixers(have their own supplies),
monitor amplifiers (own supplies) and monitors.
 
Hey Manning, I see you're from Canada as well. Are there any Canadian web sites you're aware of that sell good recording gear? I don't want to support the local music store who likes to mark-up the hell out of everything.
 
heyhey. i dont bother with local stores and their huge markups.
the game in canada to play (anywhere really) is to let other people buy full retail then buy it out of your local buy and sell cheap for a third the price.
some people go through a cycle you know. they get this notion to be the next big thing in music and think its easy after watching so much mtv; so they buy a bunch of equipment on credit, overleverage themselves, then get bored once they realise writing and recording songs is just plain old fashioned hard work and constantly trying to improve ones engineering talents and songwriting rather than gear.
if you want to stick with it for your lifetime through all the ups and downs ,
stay out of debt and buy smart; and realise you dont have to have every piece of gear around to do a song. 5k max is all should need to spend on gear. the rest is trying to write songs that you like and hopefully others will as well.
 
Hey Manning, I agree for sure. I should have specified that I meant Canadian classifieds and whatnot where people would be selling used gear. I definitely would never buy new for most things (pc system aside). If you know of anywhere other than eBay.ca that would be great! Thanks man. All the best and thanks for all the help you've been on this board.
 
heyhey. many used sources in canada. yard sales, pawnbrokers,places like cash convertors,private sales,local buy and sell; sometimes big studios sell off equipment, used equipment brokers on the net.
my wife has found me lots of deals at yard sales. she loves yard sales,
and bringing home something unique. including the odd guitar.
its a lot of looking - but FUN !
 
manning1 said:
i would suggest you search under my name. lots of tips posted in the last year. 512 ram. also drives with 8mb cache if you can.
if you want loads of tracks and oodles of plug ins i would suggest you read the amd 64 prices thread in this section of the bbs.
if your not going for loads of plug ins a regular athlon will suffice imho.
if you want to save money on multitrack recording software,
and put the savings to a nice mixer or mic pre. (eg: yamaha mg mixer or rane ms1 b mic pre) then i suggest what i use magix music studio or powertracks. both under 80 bucks and both i love and use regularly.
also check out ntracks and multitrackstudio.com. but if you want heavy midi features like notation and editing, and song styles,as well as vocal harmoney creation etc then powertracks.
for a nice pair of affordable monitors consider yorkvilles.
or a guy on this bbs called han likes speakers called compact i think they are called which are very cheap , and whose judgement i trust.
for mics i would suggest you look closely at cad. or beyer mics are my personal preference. old used in good shape electrovoice dynamics
are often overlooked and are very nice if properly maintained. as are sennheiser 441 or 421.
if you have any q's - just ask.
Click to expand...

Double on that. Many Kudos (As I have recently learned) to Manning1 he knows his stuff. Especially his defendants on PCs and the new 64-bittechnology; whihc I suggest you also jump on.
I searched his stuff for a good hour or so when I first found him and I learned a lot without asking the stupid questions that...although it's cool to ask...have been asked before...and repeated :o
 
thanks shawn for your kind comments and heyhey.
i try and suggest the best value for money i can that works.
all the best.
 
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