Audio Recording Pc Build Advise

M

Mikeyprs

New member
Hi All,
I've recently Started to piece together some bits and pieces for a new build of which I am looking for advice upon!

The purpose of this build is for purely for audio production nothing more nothing less since the pc I'm using now will be for daily/internet usage...

what I have so far (with links) ...

Motherboard: Asus M4N68T
http://uk.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3/M4N68T/

Graphics Card: Inno3D GeForce 8600GT
http://www.inno3d.com/products/graph...gf8/8600gt.htm

I do have a case, it's a fairly standard ATX Case, nothing fancy but hey.. it was 5 Quid, I'm not complaining :-D

The future purchases/decisions I currently have in mind are...

Psu... something like http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2504712363...84.m1423.l2649

Compatiable Quad Core processor (Phenom, Athlon etc)

3 HD's .. 1 for OS & DAW, 2 - Audio, 3 Samples
A minimum of 8GB Ram (the mobo can run upto 16gb) I would think to be suffice since I plan to use a rather large amount of samples/plug-ins such as Superior Drummer.
The OS of choice is W 7 64 bit, I plan to upgrade from cubase 5 > 6 for this reason.
I'm not sure about soundcard atm because I don't really know what my options are for the type of build i'm planning to create....

I do plan to purchase some Studio Monitors aswell which are likely to be the following...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fostex-PM0...item3f167308d8

Now without trying to be too vague or anything but, what I would like to know is peoples opinion's, tips & tricks, absolutely any advice at all you could give me as this is infact my first pc i plan to build myself rather then pay someone else to do it for me...

I apologise for the long post, but no doubt if there is anything i've missed or anything else you need to know to guide me on the ways of creating the most possible solid/stable pc please please fire away!! I'm here to learn :-D

Mikey
 
Right ok, I shall refine my question(s) ...

At this present moment in time I have the following...

Case, Mobo, Graphics card.. I've recently just purchased an 80 gb drive from ebay as well as a stick of 2gb DDR3 ram from CEX (once i've got more money i plan on buying a ram kit of 8 or 16gb ram).

I plan on purchasing a quad core process w/heatsink and fan along with some studio monitors.

my question is this - Would I be better off using an external soundcard/Audio interface then buying a PCI soundcard??? I know you can get interfaces that are a mix of the two it just confuses me how i would connect up say 4 mic cables for (the iso cab i'm planning to build), bass di'd, midi keyboard/e-drum kit and have it all routed in and out of the computer for monitoring etc as an example??
what might you suggest for the proposed example??

What interfaces do you guys use?? what problems have you guys had when initially setting up your home studios???

Any help/advise would be most appreciated...

Mikey
 
You need an external or internal audio interface. You don't need both. I use a Roland Quad Capture for my interface (which is USB and has two analog XLR/1/4" hybrid inputs with preamps). Lots of people on here recommend Tascam USxxxx interfaces (e.g the US1800) - there are many many more options. You need to select based on number of channels you want to record at a time.

You can get internal PCI audio interface/sound cards, but not PCIe, I believe (which most motherboards nowadays have). If you have a USB or Firewire external interface, that will be your soundcard (or you can use onboard audio on your motherboard for gaming, etc, if you want). I have all sound coming out via my Quad Capture.
 
Oh, and setting up my interface was totally painless, as I suspect it is for Tascams, Focusrites, M-Audio, etc., etc. It's just a case of installing the driver, plugging the interface in (always install the driver first - unless the manual says otherwise, I guess) and making sure it's selected as the audio device in Windows.
 
Hey man!

Thanks for the info, Thats cleared up a few things for me indeed!

I have now indeed choosen to go through the USB/Firewire route, it's just a case of finding the right one for my needs like the one you've suggested.
I currently have a Tascam 2488 MKII which I currently record onto and then bounce what i've done from there via it's USB port to the computer to mix in cubase.
Doing this as i'm sure you can imagine can be quite tedious/long way round of doing things hence with the new build i'm hoping to speed up the work-flow somewhat!

I would still like to know other people's input/experiences too aha! the more the merrier n all that jazz...
 
Mikey, I tried to PM you but it's turned off.
I have two boxed 8800gt 512mb cards that I no longer require if you're interested.
 
Sorry bro! I didn't know it was turned off to begin with lol, my bad!

if they're graphics cards (which i think they are) I've already got a dual headl pci-E graphics card in the new system already thanks bro!
 
i had tried the USB connected boxes and gave up in favor of the M-Audio delta 192; the differences have been astonishing esp where latency is concerned. This is with a monster box (i5, 32GB ram, etc) but even with I couldn't get to a place where the latency was low enough on the USB connected devices. (Fast Track & the MBox mini).

now I have a little behringer mixer for my inputs that is linked with its outputs going into the cards inputs so I can avoid messing with the cards connectors & help them last longer. IT's working like a charm....

If your USB explorations don't pan out, definitely try the PCI cards - was totally worth it for me and as earlier mentioned, stupid simple to install & use.
 
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