Firewire vs. "the other kind"

  • Thread starter Thread starter dkerwood
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dkerwood

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Ok, so I've been recording for years by simply plugging different sources directly into my stock soundcard, and I'm perfectly happy with the results. After all, if I want to get studio quality sound, I'll go to the studio. All that I require of my home studio is that it doesn't get in the way of my creativity... lol...

Up until now I've been recording only myself playing everything, and I didn't even worry about using L and R channels to record 2 tracks simultaneously. Now, however, I've got a band that I'm trying to record. I've expanded into 2 channels, but even that barely cuts it. Recording track by track with a band used to playing together doesn't work too well...

So now I'm shopping for a new card or device - at least 4 channels in simul, although I would love 8. Should I go firewire/USB or actually get a new soundcard? I have no idea how any of this stuff works, frankly. Does FW require a new card? Is USB 1.0 fast enough? I need some serious help here, and budget, budget, budget! Basically, I want to spend at little as possible to get this to work.

My computer is somewhat slow, but I know it's more than adequate for recording - 1 Ghz processor, 256M RAM, stock soundcard... The main recording mic is an MXL 990, and it runs into a Presonus TubePre into a Behringer mini mixer, and then into the computer. I also have a MXL 991 and a SM57 that get a lot of use, as well as some dedicated drum mics and a dozen instrument and vocal mics if I need them (I rarely do). If I need to, I can pull out our 20 channel live desk and record using that... I've also got an old 8 channel board (our old/backup mixer).

What do you guys suggest?
 
If you're really on a budget and you've got plenty of preamps, then just get an M-Audio Delta 1010LT for $200.

This will give you 8 channels, plus a couple of digital ins, enough to record the whole band
 
Bulls Hit said:
If you're really on a budget and you've got plenty of preamps, then just get an M-Audio Delta 1010LT for $200.

This will give you 8 channels, plus a couple of digital ins, enough to record the whole band
Click to expand...
Have you actually used this card? When it has 8 channels, can you actually record 8 channels simultaneously?
 
dkerwood said:
Have you actually used this card? When it has 8 channels, can you actually record 8 channels simultaneously?
Click to expand...
yes, you can actually record 10 using the spif
 
ds21 said:
yes, you can actually record 10 using the spif
Click to expand...

9, the S/PDIF is a digital STEREO line in. Unless you have a dual mono mic pre with S/PDIF out it's a one channel access path
 
i'm wondering if your pc setup is powerful enough even though you seem to think it is. 1ghz is pretty slow when most people are running 3.0+ ghz pcs.
seems like you are going to be dealing with a lot of latency in the recording.
I guess I could be wrong though. But it is something you should definately look into before you spend a lot of money on a recording interface.
 
pedro_sandchez said:
i'm wondering if your pc setup is powerful enough even though you seem to think it is. 1ghz is pretty slow when most people are running 3.0+ ghz pcs.
seems like you are going to be dealing with a lot of latency in the recording.
I guess I could be wrong though. But it is something you should definately look into before you spend a lot of money on a recording interface.
Click to expand...
True. But I also know that when I started recording, I was advised that my computer would need 200Mhz to start.

I know that people have been recording 8 channels simultaneously since 3 Ghz was just a dream on the horizon. I understand that I won't be able to run a ton of live effects, which is fine (I don't apply realtime effects until the mixing stage anyway).

I read on this forum that recording doesn't take much more processing power than playing back. I can play back 15 or more tracks before I start really bogging down, so I'm not terribly concerned about running out of computer power.

What I do know is that I bought this computer specifically for recording, and although it's not the fastest, it should do the job. This isn't video editing, after all... ;)

I am planning to upgrade my RAM, though. I can expand up to 2 Gigs of RAM on this motherboard, and I think I may just do that.

Has anybody used this card on a machine like mine? I'm also running Win 2000, FWIW. I consider that to be the biggest downfall of my system. Oh well.
 
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