5
5xfaster
New member
Hey everyone,
I've been lurking around the forums as a guest for a few months, and now that I'm almost ready to put this plan in motion, I guess I felt it was time to go ahead and register to start asking questions.
I've been a drummer for 7 years now, playing a wide variety of genres, mainly focusing on some not-so-popular ones that I've grown up with (but that's a whole other thread). I have just recently quit performing with the band that I had been with for a while now, and have gotten the recording bug. I performed on our first CD 2 winters ago, and have been hooked on the intricacies of home studio recording. Our album was done in our bandleader's basement (who has done 9 or 10 solid recordings), and the result was a really nice sounding recording. I know he had sunk alot of money into the studio, and eventually, I would absolutely love to put together something of that magnitude. Anyway, that's my quick background, here are the questions.
I've been looking into a new laptop as of late (for school and whatnot), and I've all but decided on one of the new Macbook Pro's. Here will be the specs on the laptop:
13-inch Macbook Pro: 2.4GHz
Intel Core 2 Duo
8GB Memory (upgraded from 4GB)
320GB hard drive (upgraded from 250GB)
It'll also have a Firewire 800 port on it (which I understand is the way to go as far as audio interface hookups go, correct?)
My first question is...do you think this setup will be efficient enough for me to start recording anywhere from 4-8 tracks simultaneously (ex. my full drumkit)? I'm pretty sure I've read around some places that the standard setup (the 4GB memory and 250GB hard drive) are more than satisfactory, but I just want to make sure. My main concern is that the laptop will be able to handle both taking care of daily activities (school, etc.) as well as recording duties.
My second question is...I have read that you always want to record everything to an external hard drive. I have a portable 320GB hard drive (pretty sure it's a Western Digital) that I just bought for my current laptop, and I'm wondering if that's going to work, or if I'm going to have to go out and invest in something else to record my music and stuff to?
My third question is...what are the reviews on the Mac version of Reaper? I definitely like everything I've read about the PC version so far (which is good, because when I eventually invest on a desktop studio instead of the laptop, I'll probably end up going out and buying a PC strictly for recording purposes), but I know the Mac version is a little behind, development wise. I'm not entirely sure that I want to invest on Logic Express or anything else without at least trying the Mac version of Reaper, so do you think it's worth it?
My fourth and final (for the time being, at least) question is...as far as Firewire-based audio interfaces, what should I be looking at if I want to record anywhere from 4-8 tracks simultaneously? I have been looking on Musician's Friend and Sweetwater, but haven't found anything specific that has caught my interest that has 8 channels like I would like. So really, my question is if there's anything that I should be looking at that's going to take care of what I'd like.
Well, if you've made it this far, thanks for reading, and I hope to hear some good feedback on the stuff I've asked. Thanks guys!
-Mike
I've been lurking around the forums as a guest for a few months, and now that I'm almost ready to put this plan in motion, I guess I felt it was time to go ahead and register to start asking questions.
I've been a drummer for 7 years now, playing a wide variety of genres, mainly focusing on some not-so-popular ones that I've grown up with (but that's a whole other thread). I have just recently quit performing with the band that I had been with for a while now, and have gotten the recording bug. I performed on our first CD 2 winters ago, and have been hooked on the intricacies of home studio recording. Our album was done in our bandleader's basement (who has done 9 or 10 solid recordings), and the result was a really nice sounding recording. I know he had sunk alot of money into the studio, and eventually, I would absolutely love to put together something of that magnitude. Anyway, that's my quick background, here are the questions.
I've been looking into a new laptop as of late (for school and whatnot), and I've all but decided on one of the new Macbook Pro's. Here will be the specs on the laptop:
13-inch Macbook Pro: 2.4GHz
Intel Core 2 Duo
8GB Memory (upgraded from 4GB)
320GB hard drive (upgraded from 250GB)
It'll also have a Firewire 800 port on it (which I understand is the way to go as far as audio interface hookups go, correct?)
My first question is...do you think this setup will be efficient enough for me to start recording anywhere from 4-8 tracks simultaneously (ex. my full drumkit)? I'm pretty sure I've read around some places that the standard setup (the 4GB memory and 250GB hard drive) are more than satisfactory, but I just want to make sure. My main concern is that the laptop will be able to handle both taking care of daily activities (school, etc.) as well as recording duties.
My second question is...I have read that you always want to record everything to an external hard drive. I have a portable 320GB hard drive (pretty sure it's a Western Digital) that I just bought for my current laptop, and I'm wondering if that's going to work, or if I'm going to have to go out and invest in something else to record my music and stuff to?
My third question is...what are the reviews on the Mac version of Reaper? I definitely like everything I've read about the PC version so far (which is good, because when I eventually invest on a desktop studio instead of the laptop, I'll probably end up going out and buying a PC strictly for recording purposes), but I know the Mac version is a little behind, development wise. I'm not entirely sure that I want to invest on Logic Express or anything else without at least trying the Mac version of Reaper, so do you think it's worth it?
My fourth and final (for the time being, at least) question is...as far as Firewire-based audio interfaces, what should I be looking at if I want to record anywhere from 4-8 tracks simultaneously? I have been looking on Musician's Friend and Sweetwater, but haven't found anything specific that has caught my interest that has 8 channels like I would like. So really, my question is if there's anything that I should be looking at that's going to take care of what I'd like.
Well, if you've made it this far, thanks for reading, and I hope to hear some good feedback on the stuff I've asked. Thanks guys!
-Mike