cheap computer studio

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fivesh

New member
First I want to say that this is a really cool website and I have found most everything I need to know. I only have a few things that the website didn't answer.
Here is my situation. I am in a band of recent high school graduates and we consider ourselves good enough to record but the problem is our budget is only around $200. We already have some of the equipment necessary to record, including a fast computer with CD-R, amplifiers and microphones (I'm not sure how good they are, they are primarily used in live shows) I have several questions for anyone who can answer them:
I have been looking at n-track studio and I like what I see. Is this a decent program to record with?
The computer only has a Sound Blaster 16 with one line in and one mic in. Will any particular instrument blow out the sound card when plugged into one or the other?
Thank you to anyone who replies.
 
N-track is the freaking bomb when it comes to shareware multitracking. You will definitely want to get a multitracking card though if you're going to do a whole band. With a $200 budget you're kindof limited, but for a little more ($300)you could look into something like the guillemot isis card (8 ins and 4 outs) or go with real quality in the gadgetlabs wave 8/24 ($600 now). Good luck.
nathan
 
Here's my suggestion. Save up another $130. Then get an Event Darla card, ($300) and Power Tracks Pro ($30) or something comprable to that such as the previous post mentioned. Just make sure you can upgrade whatever you get, cause a few yeard down the road it'll save you lots of cash..and I'm young, I understand how little cash young people tend to have. Good Luck
 
One more thing, on the inputs, will it blow my sound card if I amplify the signal (go direct in) with the guitar and bass and amplify the vox with a small (less than 20W RMS) amp?
 
YES!!! Well, most likely.
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When i first started multitracking, i was running my guit-> effects processor into my little built in soundcard. (hmm, sounds not quite loud enough, maybe if i run it into my amp as well, and then run the speaker out of the amp into the soundcard...doh!) voila, instant fried soundcard.
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fivesh
For what it is worth I've heard some real bad reviews on the event darla and gina sound cards and from personal experience (6 soundcards before I got one that worked properly with my program ,cakewalk). I can tell you that the AWE Soundblaster 64,and Turtle Beach Monterey plus a few others I can't remember, do not work without their share of problems. My best advice is to check the local rags for people up dating their computer studios and sometimes you can get a real good deal on a soundcard that may not be what HE wanted, but just exactly what YOU needed. That's how I got my Turtle Beach Tahiti (a $500.00 sound card at the time) I got it for $50.00 and the guy installed it for free!!So don't be to quick to jump on something that looks like a good deal, my dad said "If it looks to good to be true then it probably is". Work on honing your craft while you shop around for a good deal. Convince your band mates to do the same, work on getting tighter as a band and stage presence. These are all things you need to become successful as a marketable commodity. In the world of a new band-a-day it takes more than just being able to play. I know this is a little long winded but at least think about it.
 
Don't use the Speaker Out, but it's OK to use a Line Out from the amp, if it has one.

[This message has been edited by Howlin (edited 07-03-1999).]
 
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