Help me!!

[thunderfvck]

Hello!

Okay, here's the deal. I have spent about $700 so far...I have a P4 2.4 GHz processor, asus p4p800 se motherboard, 80 GB harddrive, 512 MB memory, with some other stuffs. Now, I've got another $700 (CAD) to spend, and I was hoping you guys would help me decide!!

Okay, so I want to record industrial music. Maybe some VNV nation kind of stuff as well, I don't know. We'll see what I like workign with best. I want it to focus more on the electronica aspects of the genre, so I've decided on getting Reason as my software. Is this a good choice? There's about $250.

I need a soundcard. m-audiophile 2496 (or whatever it's called). That's about $120.

I NEED A CASE. Notice the uppercase! hehe. I've been looking at a bunch of them. The Antex Sonata (http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=9479&vpn=SONATA&manufacture=ANTEC) is supposed to be nice and quiet; along with it's cheaper cousin (http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=12095&vpn=SLK2650-BQE&manufacture=ANTEC)...But I'm not even sure if I need to dish out this much for a case. A friend of mine (who happens to be a computer fiend) told me that all that's really important is a good power supply. I've read similar things here. So would it be better for me to buy a cheapo case with a good psu, or just dish out for the Sonata (which is supposedly quiet and has a 380 W psu)?

Then I need a mic! I've been reading quite a bit about that Shure whatever-ya-call-it, cheap but decent. I just want something to record vocals (I won't be singing like a bastard or anything, I have a pretty soft voice), and MAYBE some guitar. From what I recall reading about this mic, this will do!

Then there's monitors! Oh god. These are too expensive. I've been reading that those Wharfedale 8.2 (or whatever) are very good for the price.

And a video card for the computer. I won't be playing games with this computer. I just need a card, any recommendations?

I would also like to buy another HD, a more massive 120-160 GB to store the music while I shelter the OS in my 80 GB drive. But maybe this should wait. MAYBE A LOT OF THINGS SHOULD WAIT!!! hahah.

So I only have about $700-900, and I need a lot of things! So what would you guys suggest I get (things which are of UPMOST importance) so I can start making some music?

And if you haven't noticed, I am very new to this! I've been doing my reading, and am building my computer, but I still have near zero experience with using a computer to make music. I do have the motivation though, and a lot of free time to learn.

Thanks a lot!!

 

[Tifstorey]

Hi,

Ok, seems like you need to sort something out and find out what you desperately need before buying other things that can wait. So lets go for the things that you need first.

Well, theres software, and if your going to be composing a lot of electronica, then Reason seems a good choice for you. ($700 - $250 = $450)

You need a decent sound card to be able to withstand all that bass your going to be doing, so the M Audiophiile 2496 is a good choice for you. ($450 - $120 = $330)

Regarding Cases...now i dont really have a clue, obviously your going to want something quiet, but seems to me as its going to be a lot more MIDI based, so it might not matter as much as you might think. But thats all i know about that..

Microphone, I think what your referring to is the Shure SM58, good choice for you. Great mic for cheap ($330 - $50 = $280)

Monitors, you especially need some of these as you need to know what the sound is like flat. So you might want to invest the remainder of the money into some decent monitors. Wharfedale are a great make and you cant really go wrong with them.

Regarding the Video card, this isnt a must at the moment, unless you like your games. Also the HD isnt a must. 80GB will be fine for a while, then even if you do fill that, you can buy a firewire HD for quite cheap.

Thats how i would sort it, but thats me! Good luck!

Peace

 

[thunderfvck]

Hello again!

Thanks for the reply BTW.

So I've decided on buying a pair of the Wharfedale 8.2 actives from deepwater. I am also happy to say that the site I use to buy computer equipment is having a Costumer Appreciation Sale! haha. Perfect.

So, I'd just like you dudes to verify my purchases. x marks what I am planning on buying.

80GB HD
512MB RAM
ASUS P4P800SE MOBO
P4 2.4 GHz
CDR blah keyboard etc.
x 40GB HD
x 512MB RAM
x M-AUDIO 2496
x CASE (http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=12095&promoid=1060)
x VIDEO CARD?!?!

For the video card...Ugh. I looked up the G450 MATROX card that everyone here seems to be raving about. But it's like $130. My friend is selling his cheapo asus card, which he bought about 2 years ago. He's selling it for $30. It's a gaming card that he would use on his P3. Would this be acceptable for use? Or would there be some serious notable shit going on? I've also been looking at this card: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=13030&vpn=V9520-X/TD128M/AR&manufacture=ASUS&promoid=1060 ... This seems to be a decent card for gaming. I presume it will be good for ungaming.

So. Should I blow the $130 on the MATROX, $30 on the cheapo obsolete card, or about $60 on this seemingly decent card?

I've decided on getting the 40GB for the OS, and the 80GB for the audio. I figure this will be fine. I have a 40GB for this computer right here, and I still have MUCHO space remaining. So I imagine even with all the crazy audio and stuff, the 80GB will still be sufficient. Besides, I can back it up on CD and just clean up the drive every now and then.

As for the case. It's MUCH cheaper than the Sonata which boasts low sound, 380 W antec PSU (GOOD reliable PSU), cool, easy to work with (this is my first time building)...This case is basically the cheaper version. It has a 350W PSU which should suffice (?), and is still quiet and easy to work with. At the time it's like $70 cheaper too. Same make (antec). NICE DEAL.

So all I need to know about is the video card. Basically.

Thanks a lot guys for any replies/insights!

 

[Tifstorey]

All sounds good,

Regarding the video card, depends what you want it for. The "Cheapo asus card" your friend is selling would be fine, but this is assuming your only using your pc for recording etc and not gaming. I was in a bit of a dilemma with the graphics card, and i decided to go for a top notch one standing at £210. 2 weeks later when i fitted my soundcard, i accidentaly knocked it and broke it, resulting in a trip to the local apple store (2 hours drive!!) and purchasing another one!! Not nice....

But enough of my stupidity, the whole system sounds good, and if you dont really know what to do regarding the video card, why dont you not purchase the extra 40GB HD and put that towards the video card, then save up for the second HD. 80GB will be more than enough for whilst your saving up. Dont know if that helps or not?

Anyway, good to know your all sorted!

Good luck

 

[thunderfvck]

Thanks again for the quick reply! You are too nice.

OKAY. Well, I really don't care much about the card. I don't think I'll be playing ANY games. Personally, I got out of that phase, so I won't be needing to play games. My friend, on the other hand, likes his games and I might find myself installing a few for his needs. But whatever, he could live without doing that. I think I'll just get that decent video card I posted. It can play games reasonably well, NO fan (no noise), and the price is right. I had my heart set on the Matrox card but, meh, I don't really need the dual monitor thing now anyway. Maybe in the future, when I know for certain I am willing to take this whole DAW thing a step further.

For the HD I just wanted the 40GB to house the OS, and no more. And I have this computer with a 40GB, and it seems like more than enough for my needs. So, I'll just buy one of those (which are about $50, not bad), and hold the OS. Then I have 80GB for music and I know that it's on its own HD, it's safe from the outside evils of the OS house. How safe is it though? Is there are chance that virii could affect what is in the other HD? I'm not so sure on this...

Anyways, just me babbling here. I smoked some illicit doobie snacks earlier and I'm in a talky mood. BAH! Well, again, thanks a lot for the input. It's comforting knowing that most members here have gone through these same kind of ordeals whilst building their recording studio. Glad to be a part of it all!

 

[Rokket]

The video card doesn't need to be top notch. A gaming card will eat too much memory, so do without it. If you are going to be using your pc as a DAW, you want it to be dedicated to that and not for gaming. Let your friend purchase a PS2 and be done with that.
As far as virus' affects on your pc, if it's a DAW, you shouldn't connect to the internet with it if you can help it, that way you avoid the possibilty of getting infected. A virus can ruin your whole system, and can hit every drive on your pc, depending on what you are infected with.
If you are doing electronica, you are more than likely going to go the midi route more than audio, so you shouldn't have to worry too much about fan noise. Most of what you will be connecting to your pc will be DI (direct in), with the exception of the mic for vocals. I would look at getting a good pre amp. It gives you a better noise to signal ratio.
That's about all I can think of. Did I miss anything?

 

[thunderfvck]

Thanks for bringing up that pre amp issue, I forgot about that. I need to read into this a bit more, I figure. I was thinking that I could plug the mic directly into the sound card, but I wasn't sure. I'm getting the Shure SM57, I don't know if this already comes with a preamp integrated or not...

I'm doing maily electronica, yeah, I imagine anyway. But I do play guitar, and I would like to be able to record some songs with decent sound. But if this requires (and I know it does) better mics etc, I will get them in the future. I'd just like to be able to add some guitar to some songs that would mainly be electronica-based. So I hope that the Shure SM57 will do this for me? From what I understand, it should be fine.

And about the whole internet thing...that's for filling me in on that. I don't know if I could go without the net though. heh. Like I said, I could back things up. But I've seen what excessive internet use on this decent computer (the one I'm using now) can do to it in terms of performance. C'est MERDE, un gros piece de MERDE, esti. I don't speak French all that well

So, no internet...Well this would solve the whole router thing. I wouldn't have to dig into that. But there's so much valuable porn out there. That's what the little voice in my dirty head is saying. The porn, THE PORN! I could aways use this one and, SIGH, burn it to cd. At least now I can watch the movies, and forget about just watching HALF THE PICTURES on my merde DVD player. I don't really NEED the net...Besides, it'd give the computer a dedicated purpose. I wouldn't be side tracked into dirty Nikki Next Doors, Tiffany Teen, and...sigh...the Bangbus and all their crazy schemes. My computer would be beyond ALL THAT INTERNET CRAP, and be clean and juiced everytime. Yes. YES. This is the way it will be. Thanks for that.

And the video card, what would you suggest of the three I've mentioned? We have the option of: Cheapo asus card from friend, mediocre asus card from internet (both of which are designed for gaming), and the expensive 2D graphics accelerator the Matrox! for a small price of $130 hehe. What do you suggest?

I keep rereading your responce and start typing more responces. heh. Maybe it's the mariage talking. You wanna? BAHABAHA, okay, silliness must now disengage (BWEERNNnnn). Fan noise...I want it down because I have to sleep with the thing and you better believe I want it DOWN!...LOW! EH? EH? (bweernnNNN) ahah. I hope I'm not wasting anyone's time. I'm just having a good time here, but let me get back on topic. Yeah, the fan? Like, three lines back? Ugh. FOUR NOW. I just want it quiet, that way I can record things near it without much trouble, if it's too loud I can more easily get away from the heavy sounds, I could pretend it's the humming of a small kitten rather than a large gorilla creature with more stink than I can think, like the stink of a well nourished whore, ripe with herpes and two of the hepatitii, I could sleep with it, and I could do a lot of other things that would seem to make this purchase more desirable!!

There was a point to coming online...I was watching the Simpsons, and then I came on here...but I got sidetracked and now I'm on the forum. I wanted to do something...What was it, I can't quite remember...

Oh yes.

Another CRAZY adventure on the Bangbus awaits! All aboard!...

 

[Rokket]

Either route you go with the video card will be ok... It's up to you, I don't want to tell you how to spend your money. You seem to know enough about computers that you can make your own mind up on that.

On to the SM57, it's a workhorse, and highly regarded (advertisements now refer to it as "the legend"). It will record your vocals and guitar without much trouble. It's a dynamic mic (not powered like a condensor), so it has no "pre amp" or any other electronic gear inside, only the usual diaphram et al... But, as with any mic, your recordings will be better with the pre amp.

You have the basics covered, so just get to it and record. You will no doubt have questions later on, after the first time you hit the record button, so get off the bangbus and record something.

Then come back and see us!