building a pc based digital home studio

B

Blue Budda

New member
hello out there!!!....I am looking for advice on building a pc based digital home recoding studio, and need advice!!!!
any suggestions on software, platforms (Red Hat?)interfaces, pci cards, cubase vs cakewalk, etc., please help!!! I only have about $3000 to spend, but want to be able to upgrade as needed,(or as more cash is avialiable!!!)Thanx!!!!! Blue Budda
 
Hey Blue--

Just out of curiousity, why PC? Using a Mac as the heart of my home studio, I'm always interested to hear what other digital audio folks are using.

Cheers!
 
Because while macs are technically superior to the PC for most all multimedia applications, especially digital audio, to go that route is usually not for the faint of wallet... :) Besides, PC's are now getting so cheap and so fast that you can do the whole digital audio recording thing for a REALLY cheap price. And the quality will only be SLIGHTLY less. Read all over this website for some great ideas, and check out other recording forums as well. www.pixelite.com/windaw
recordingwebsite.com
good luck.
 
On the issue of PC vs. Mac, my little brother is a major supporter of the Mac platform for Multimedia. But he uses this stuff professionally and he doesn't have to pay for it... But I still say the PC wins when compared dollar for dollar. Remember- if your computer is fast enough, it will work for digital audio whether it has a Motorola CPU
or an Intel CPU. The equipment that changes the signal from analog to digital and back is what really matters. And of course all that stuff on the front end of the recording environment; mics, pre-amps, mixers, effects etc.....
 
Hi Blue.
You say "home recording studio" but what exactly do you want to do?

Record just yourself singing and an instrument? What can you play? Or do you have a few mates and want to get together and record several instruments and voices at the same time?

Do you know what MIDI is? If not find out. If you do and intend to use it then go for Cubase (or an AI that gives you a starter pack of it).

If however you have a Grand Plan. A nice big space that you can split for recording and control room and you intend to build a semi-pro, maybe even a commercial studio one day, stop and think VERY hard but follow what might seem at first a paradoxical idea and a waste of money. .....

Assuming you are a total beginner, buy a modest Audio Interface for equive £100 and there is none better than the Steinberg UR22. Also buy a cheap small "pencil" style capacitor (aka condenser) microphone and cable. This outlay will give you an interface, which can take the mic or a guitar or any other instrument you might have. It also gets you Cubase and the whole shooting match should work fine on whatever computer you are now using unless it is very, very old. If the PC has XP on it you should be fine.

Now, you can try some recording and get stuck in learning Cubase. This is quite a learning curve but if you master it you can consider buying gear with more connections and power and also a more powerful PC. If you cannot get to grips with Cubase do not flail about seeking "simpler" software. Anything worthwhile is going to be just as complex and hard to learn.

Dave.
 
Dave - I'm so sorry, but this is a 14 year old post. I was just flabbergasted by how little things have changed over the years. I'll take the 20 lashes.

Glen
 
gcolbert said:
Dave - I'm so sorry, but this is a 14 year old post. I was just flabbergasted by how little things have changed over the years. I'll take the 20 lashes.

Glen
Click to expand...
Hahahaha! Cheers Glen! One thing HAS changed? 14 years ago I could not have told the OP that his PC was ok for audio! These days anything you buy that will run W7 will run a shedload of music tracks.

Dave.
 
Yeah cause I'm completely stoked over the used PC I picked up..It's a Dell T-3400 and I really like it. As I stated somewhere else, for home-based stuff this thing rocks..Very well built and pretty good to go right out of the box performance..Original specs are as some aftermarket mods..You can find them with dual core/quad core with 3.40 ghz processors and 550-1000 watt power supplies..$175-$400!!
 
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