Getting Sound In__Which Route Would You Take?

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nervx

nervx

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Hi Again! -- So, I've come up with what I think are my options, for getting sound into my computer, and would like to hear your feedback, regarding which option you think woud be best, and any suggestions for products within each option:

My system: Pc running Win XP (sp3), athlon 2200, 1 gig RAM, USB (no firewire), crappy old useless soundcard. Need to record 2 tracks at one time, want to create demos and maybe podcasts. Instruments: elec guitars, elec drums, vocals, midi keys (m-audio keyrig49). Will use Reaper. Budget: Hopefully close to $200? Will likely buy used.

option A: install firewire card, and purchase firewire audio interface

option B: purchase USB audio interface (1.1 or 2.0? see my other post)

option C: purchase PCI soundcard, and add mic preamp with phantom power (being as it seems many soundcards don't have this?)

Thoughts? I'm crackin' the noggin on this one!
 
I can't really advise you about digital recording, but I do know WinXP, and to run something that intensive you'll need another Gig of ram, especially with that processor.

I spool tape. It's that old fashioned stuff with rust glued to it. :D
 
Gotcha! :-D

Is RAM easy to install? I've never done that. Hopefully it's not too pricey......?
 
To open your machine, look for a locking latch that you should be able to slide one way or another (either up/down, left/right) that will unlock the cabinet from the chassis.

Slide, pull, or lift off the case (sometimes there are safety thumbscrews you must undo too) and you'll see a large circuit board that is called the 'motherboard' that is the heart of your computer where everything is attached including the processor.

Usually to the right of the processor (the right side of the board) you will see two to six long thin slots with latching devices on each end. These will be oriented up and down related to your computer case. Sometimes they are colored. Red, beige, brown, or white. Sometimes blue. You should see at least one short long card in installed in one of these slots. These are your memory slots.

There are several types of computer memory depending upon what you motherboard and processor will support. If you visit any major memory retailer on the internet, they will ask if you want to download a small unintrusive applet or program on your system that will determine your system specifications and tell you exactly what type of memory you need for your configuration.

There are different pin configurations, latency settings, front side buss capabilites, etc, but you don't have to worry about this if you just download the system checker.

You can also wade through your system if you are familiar with it to find this same information, but even I have used the downloads for a new used system to intall tot he network to bring it up to speed with the rest of the systems. It's safe.

Installing it is easy. Mount the board in the top of the slot and push firmy but smoothly until it seats. Pull up on the locking tabs at the ends of the slot to lock it in and your done. Boot the machine and WinXP will recognise the new memory and you're off!
 
Hey, thanks much for the detailed response M1Fanatic! I really appreciate it. Now I just need to figure out what soundcard/audio interface to use! :-)
 
nervx said:
Hey, thanks much for the detailed response M1Fanatic! I really appreciate it. Now I just need to figure out what soundcard/audio interface to use! :-)
Click to expand...

Happy to help. Sorry I can't do better on the digital recording stuff. Maybe one of these days. Yeah, right. 'They'll take my tape when they pry it from my cold dead hands' :D
 
nervx said:
Hi Again! -- So, I've come up with what I think are my options, for getting sound into my computer, and would like to hear your feedback, regarding which option you think woud be best, and any suggestions for products within each option:

My system: Pc running Win XP (sp3), athlon 2200, 1 gig RAM, USB (no firewire), crappy old useless soundcard. Need to record 2 tracks at one time, want to create demos and maybe podcasts. Instruments: elec guitars, elec drums, vocals, midi keys (m-audio keyrig49). Will use Reaper. Budget: Hopefully close to $200? Will likely buy used.

option A: install firewire card, and purchase firewire audio interface

option B: purchase USB audio interface (1.1 or 2.0? see my other post)

option C: purchase PCI soundcard, and add mic preamp with phantom power (being as it seems many soundcards don't have this?)

Thoughts? I'm crackin' the noggin on this one!
Click to expand...
The Athlon 2200 is now eight years old. In and of itself that is not a problem, but it IS old and finding additional memory (assuming that your motherboard even has space for it and it may not) may be a problem. Only install the same kind of memory that you already have installed (all things being equal) and given your level of expertise I highly suggest you take it to a computer shop. Keep in mind that you can buy a new motherboard and processor for about $120 so if they're going to charge you $200 to install a memory chip you might keep that in mind. More then a gig of memory might be nice, but it's hardly critical as my boxes run XP Pro with 1/2 gig... YMMV. The vendors I deal with are:

www.mwave.com
www.newegg.com
www.geeks.com (great for older tech that is going out of favor. Note that by 'older' I mean about 3 or 4 years. 8 years is ancient.)

B&H Photo/Video (www.bhphotovideo.com) currently is selling the M-Audio Fast Track Pro for $169 and they're tossing in a dynamic mic (probably a SM-57 knockoff) for free. I'd give it serious consideration.
 
Just to chime in, more of a question really. I've not had more than a gig of ram in my previous 3 daws and it hasn't been an issue at all, but then this would be for multi tracking and mixing, no sample libraries, or much in the way of soft synths and such either. Would that make the difference there?
 
Hey there, to answer your original question...

I have a Line 6 Toneport that works pretty well. I think it'd be good for your application, the mic preamps arre pretty typical, simple, not too noisy, has phantom power, two mics at once, you can plug guitar into it directly, it has the usual array of Line 6 amplifier emulations.

It's cheap, too.

Not sure whether it'd tax your computer too heavily.

It's more of a emergency unit for me, for when the guitar amp I'm recording isn't working well. But I've used the mics to record vocals, and it came out fine.

It certainly isn't a high-end piece of gear, though!

As to the keyboard, yours doesn't have a usb output? You might look into a simple USB-Midi adapter, they're cheap.
 
nervx said:
Hi Again! -- So, I've come up with what I think are my options, for getting sound into my computer, and would like to hear your feedback, regarding which option you think woud be best, and any suggestions for products within each option:

My system: Pc running Win XP (sp3), athlon 2200, 1 gig RAM, USB (no firewire), crappy old useless soundcard. Need to record 2 tracks at one time, want to create demos and maybe podcasts. Instruments: elec guitars, elec drums, vocals, midi keys (m-audio keyrig49). Will use Reaper. Budget: Hopefully close to $200? Will likely buy used.

option A: install firewire card, and purchase firewire audio interface

option B: purchase USB audio interface (1.1 or 2.0? see my other post)

option C: purchase PCI soundcard, and add mic preamp with phantom power (being as it seems many soundcards don't have this?)

Thoughts? I'm crackin' the noggin on this one!
Click to expand...

Given your recording requirements ("Need to record 2 tracks at one time, want to create demos and maybe podcasts") any of your three options will work. In that case, you can choose which ever is the most economical or convenient. My preference is for firewire.

Someone mentioned increasing your RAM from 1gb. It is useful to have more RAM, and it's relatively cheap to add another stick, but it is not critical. See Wheelema and Mixit's observations, which match mine.
 
My obligatory standard reply-for-newbies that I keep in Wordpad so this is just a paste (I don't want to re-type this all the time):

First off, immediately get a good beginner recording book (spend $20 before spending hundred$/thousand$) that shows you what you need to get started and how to hook everything up in your studio:
Home Recording for Musicians by Jeff Strong - $15
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/04...mp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0470385421
(Wish I'd had that when I started; would have saved me lots of money and time and grief)
You can also pick up this book in most any Borders or Barnes&Noble in the Music Books section!

Another good one is: Recording Guitar and Bass by Huw Price
http://www.amazon.com/Recording-Gui...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215734124&sr=1-1
(I got my copy at a place called Half-Price Books for $6!!)

And you can get a FREE subscription to TapeOp magazine at www.tapeop.com

Barnes&Noble or Borders are great places to start --- they have recording books and you can go get a snack or coffee and read them for FREE! Don't pass by a good recording book --- this is a VERY technical hobby and you REALLY want to start a reference library!!!

Good Newbie guides that also explains all the basics and have good tips:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
http://www.computermusic.co.uk/page/computermusic?entry=free_beginner_pdfs
http://www.harmony-central.com/articles/
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/tips-techniques/168409-tips-techniques.html

21 Ways To Assemble a Recording Rig: http://www.tweakheadz.com/rigs.htm

Also Good Info: http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/directory.htm

Other recording books: http://musicbooksplus.com/home-recording-c-31.html

Still using a built-in soundcard?? Unfortunately, those are made with less than $1 worth of chips for beeps, boops and light gaming (not to mention cheapness for the manufacturer) and NOT quality music production.
#1 Rule of Recording: You MUST replace the built-in soundcard.
Here's a good guide and tested suggestions that WORK: http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards_for_the_home_studio.htm
(you'll want to bookmark and read through all of Tweak's Guide while you're there...)
Another good article: Choosing an audio interface - http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep08/articles/audiointerfaces.htm


Plenty of software around to record for FREE to start out on:

Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net (multi-track with VST support)
Wavosaur: http://www.wavosaur.com/ (a stereo audio file editor with VST support)\
Kristal: http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/
Other freebies and shareware: www.hitsquad.com/smm

Another great option is REAPER at http://www.cockos.com/reaper/ (It's $50 but runs for free until you get guilty enough to pay for it...)
I use Reaper and highly reccomend it...

Music Notation and MIDI recording: Melody Assistant ($25) and Harmony Assistant ($80) have the power of $600 notation packages - http://myriad-online.com
Demo you can try on the website.

And you can go out to any Barnes&Noble or Borders and pick up "Computer Music" magazine - they have a full FREE studio suite in every issue's DVD, including sequencers, plugins and tons of audio samples. (November 2006 they gave away a full copy of SamplitudeV8SE worth $150, November 2007-on the racks Dec in the US- they gave away SamplitudeV9SE and July 2009 issue they put out Samplitude10SE. FREE. It pays to watch 'em for giveaways...)
 
nervx said:
Hi Again! -- So, I've come up with what I think are my options, for getting sound into my computer, and would like to hear your feedback, regarding which option you think woud be best, and any suggestions for products within each option:

My system: Pc running Win XP (sp3), athlon 2200, 1 gig RAM, USB (no firewire), crappy old useless soundcard. Need to record 2 tracks at one time, want to create demos and maybe podcasts. Instruments: elec guitars, elec drums, vocals, midi keys (m-audio keyrig49). Will use Reaper. Budget: Hopefully close to $200? Will likely buy used.

option A: install firewire card, and purchase firewire audio interface

option B: purchase USB audio interface (1.1 or 2.0? see my other post)

option C: purchase PCI soundcard, and add mic preamp with phantom power (being as it seems many soundcards don't have this?)

Thoughts? I'm crackin' the noggin on this one!
Click to expand...

If you won't be running sample libraries, the 1 gig of memory is plenty. For 2 channels of inputs, you can find an inexpensive 2 channel USB interface. What's the deal with 1.1 or 2.0? Maybe your motherboard is so old it only has 1.1?? You should think about adding a 2.0 USB card if you can, they are cheap!! You could also do the same for firewire, but for only 2 channels, USB is the cheaper route. You'll be able to find one that has 2 mic inputs with phantom power at a price you'll be happy with. Look through this link, then see what you can find on Craigslist or eBay.

http://www.sweetwater.com/c695--USB_Audio_Interfaces/low2high

When you say electric drums, what do you mean? Do you have a set already or will you be using a VSTi? A VSTi could affect your 1 gig limit. I use ezdrummer and the basic drum set uses 267 meg of ram. Plenty of room for everything else.

The M-Audio 49 will probably use a VSTi to generate sounds. This will most likely be a sample library and could affect the 1 gig limit. Try it and see how much ram it eats up. I'm willing to bet you can find one that will work within your specs.

And you're right about the soundcard, it's useless. Whatever interface you get will function as your new soundcard.

have fun,
 
nervx said:
Hi Again! -- So, I've come up with what I think are my options, for getting sound into my computer, and would like to hear your feedback, regarding which option you think woud be best, and any suggestions for products within each option:

My system: Pc running Win XP (sp3), athlon 2200, 1 gig RAM, USB (no firewire), crappy old useless soundcard. Need to record 2 tracks at one time, want to create demos and maybe podcasts. Instruments: elec guitars, elec drums, vocals, midi keys (m-audio keyrig49). Will use Reaper. Budget: Hopefully close to $200? Will likely buy used.

option A: install firewire card, and purchase firewire audio interface

option B: purchase USB audio interface (1.1 or 2.0? see my other post)

option C: purchase PCI soundcard, and add mic preamp with phantom power (being as it seems many soundcards don't have this?)

Thoughts? I'm crackin' the noggin on this one!
Click to expand...

Don't listen to these bozos telling you you need more RAM. I would record 2 tracks of audio using Cakewalk Home Studio 2002/2004 with an old Athlon 1800+ XP-M eMachine's laptop running XP and with only 512Mb back in 2003 with no issues whatsoever...

I would look at the lower end USB 2.0 audio interfaces from M-Audio and/or Presonus:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AudioBoxUSB/
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/FastTrackPro/
 
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