Help! Starting PC recording.

[drp555]

I have a P4 2.00GHz system, 768MB RAM, and a sound blaster live card. I need advice on hardware to get to start home recording. I recently got and will be using Sonar 2 to record.
I plan on recording electric guitar and amps, acoustic guitar, bass, vocals, some brass and woodwind, and possibly some percussion.
Right now I have a Sure SM57 mic (I plan on getting more mics eventually), BBE 386 acoustic preamp, Alesis power-amp and studio monitors, and a Tascam 4-track (maybe the mixer on it can be useful?)
For the time being I don't want to spend more than $800 if I can help it (maybe I can save up and wait a little longer if neccessary)

1. What would be a good digital audio sound card for me to get? I've seen the Echo Gina 24, M Audio Delta and Audiofile, Ardvark Direct Pro, and something from Terratec. Which one of these or any other card would be good for me? (And can I still keep my soundblaster for other non recording audio tasks on my PC?)

2. I assume I'll need to get a mic preamp. Any recommendations on what I should get? I had been looking at the ST Audio Pro 8 Channel Mic Preamp. (I saw it for $99)

3. Do I need to get a mixer? If so, can I use the mixer part of my 4-track, or should I get an actual mixer? I had been looking at one of the affordable Behringer mixer (Like the Eurorack MX802A.)

I think that's it. Any advice anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Phyl]

All of these PC based units would work:

http://www.aardvarkaudio.com/aasd-v1/index.html
http://www.m-audio.com/
http://www.edirol.com
http://www.markoftheunicorn.com

Take the time to crawl through the specs and decide what is most important to you. You can keep the soundblaster but it may cause you more throuble than it's worth; I got rid of mine because it kept fighting with the Aardvark for system resources.

I'd wait on getting a mic pre-amp because all of the suggestions above come with mic pre-amps. An outboard mixer is always a good addition for things like using external effect units, patching a CD player into your monitor, etc. The Behringer will get you started, a Mackie or Yamaha is probably a better choice.

 

[therage!]

For right now I’m OK (notice I say OK and not satisfied as who is ever really satisfied?) with my setup. I’m using a Mixer (Alesis studio24) a Joe Meek Pre, an AT-4003 mic and a Maudio delta 1010. I track everything into Sonar and mix in Sonar. I was at one time working with a guy who had acoustic drums and that was the main reason I went with an 8 in 8 out system like the 1010. That same friend is using my old Echo Mia 2 in 2 out card which is excellent value. I like using a mixer even though I bypass it at times when tracking. But it sure comes in handy to help with all the routing. In my mind a good preamp is a must have. If you at least have a good preamp (not convinced you can get good quality for $100) I think you can get by at least for starting out with a cheapy mixer. Sonar has some decent plugins too.

If you don’t need 8 in 8 out system then go with something like an Echo Mia or Maudio 24/96 for under $200. Another $100 or so on the mixer your talking about and maybe $200 for a condenser mic and that leaves you with $300 for a preamp. You could even spend a little more and get something like the AT 4040 condenser Mic and use that into your console and save some more quarters for a better preamp. Point here is don’t scrimp on the preamp. The AT 4040’s run about $300.

 

[Innovations]

Do you need a mixer? How many inputs do you plan on recording at the same time. If your sound card has fewer than than number of inputs then you need a mixer. Other than that you just need preamps