I'm new to sound cards and need lots of advice...

[unobus20]

I'm thinking of buying a soundcard and recording program for my computer. I've been recording analog for a while and want to switch to digital. I have no idea which ones to get. Which souncards do you recommend? Terratec? Gina? I've heard good things about M-Audio. What about programs? Cubase? Logic Audio? I'll be recording on PC and I'll probably need to upgrade (I currently have 128 megs of RAM and a 12 GIG HD. Should I upgrade to 256 megs and a 20 or 40 Gig HD? Thanks for your help.

 

[microchip]

I just got through getting through some of this myself, so hope I can help...

As for the soundcard...I have a Delta 44 which is really nice. It has 4 inputs and 4 outputs of audio. It has a good low latency which is good as well. There are some higher Deltas which also include MIDI on the breakout boxes (if you are unfamiliar with this, a cable is connected to the actual soundcard, and the cable runs to a box where all the I/Os are-so the inputs and outputs don't come right from the card itself).

Anyhow, as for a program, I am using Home Studio 2002(Cakewalk) which I feel is great for a beginner with software recording. I have also heard Sonar(Cakewalk) and Cubase as being really good as well. Cubase VST is what I plan to upgrade to at some point.

As for the computer, I have not yet had any problem with the 128 RAM. I am working on a Pentium 4 at 1.6g speed. I would however recommend getting more hard drive space. Probably at least 40gigs. I record at a 24bit rate and then mix down to 16 in the end, and the sound is much better (in my opinion)than recording in 16 bit all the time. And the 24 bit sessions will REALLY eat up your hard drive space fast.

Hope this helps, if I can do anything else, let me know!

'Chip

 

[postalblue]

40gigs is a hell of a lot. if you're recording only your own music, you can do with less than half of that. i do. you can record a whole album at 24-bit with say 12gigs.

adriano

 

[amt7565]

I recommend 256M RAM and 40G HDrive.
I have got SONAR(which I upgraded from guitarstudio2 for $200.00) or you can buy it for $300.00. I recently got a M-AUDIO OMNI/delta66 sound card for $400.00. This has a built in mixer and preamps for guitar, so you won't need a mixer if you get this. This also has 6 ins/6 outs.
If you are on a budget, try a ECHO MIA. I used this for a week and returned it for the M-audio because I needed a sound card with more ins/outs. I liked the MIA. It's about $199.00. You can bargain and probably get it for $175.00.

I must also warn you that, if you are new to professional sound cards, then interfacing them to your PC can be hell. But this forum can help. That's how I got mine up and running. Good luck

 

[weatherbill]

Unobus, how many things U need to record at once?

You might consider getting an 8 channel card that allows you to record 8 channels at once if you need it for say, miking a drum kit. Well, you need at least 6 mics for that if you're gonna really get into it. It just depends on what your needs are. If you're ever doing the band thing or recording other bands, then you definitely want an 8 channel card. But if it's just you, you might just want a 2 or 4 channel card.
I have an aardvark Q-10 (8 channels). They've had win xp driver problems, but have things smoothing out now. There's also the delta 10/10 card which has good reviews as well, but the thing I liked about the aardvark was the built in pre-amps. Not sure if the 10/10 by Delta has pre amps, but something to consider when doing digital..need those pre amps to warm up the sound some.