Interface/studio question

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lethalxbeats
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Lethalxbeats

Lethalxbeats

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Hi -I would like to know what the best external interface and external hard drive would be (or some suggestions) for my needs,operating system,recording software etc. To start out I presently have Music Creator 3 but am about to purchase SONAR home studio.
My laptop computer is a Compaq Presario Notebook PC- The operating system is Windows XP home edition-It has 512 MB of RAM, 60 GB hard drive- 787 MHz- 4200 RPM-although it now has 384 MB of RAM(its 2 years old)
I will need a external interface with 8 mic inputs and I will need it to be USB 2.0 and was hoping to stay in the $300-350 price range for the interface. I would also like to stay under $200 for the external hard drive.

I have a 12 channel Phonic mixer with outputs for every channel. I bought the Shure PG6 mic pack for drums and have an additional shure sm57 mic. I bought the mic stands and chords and a pair of akg headphones.
Thanks for any help you can give me-I am not the greatest with computers but not the worst either. My main concern is the interface being compatable with windows xp.
 
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Ummm- is this one of those questions like "What is the best guitar"?
Don't everybody jump in at once now :rolleyes:
 
My initial impression after reading your post was... eeeeegads! There's trouble ahead. 8 inputs, USB, and only 512 of RAM. It may be a little like climbing Mt. Everest without oxygen tanks. It could be done, but it's likely to be a rough go.
 
As far as I know, the only "interface" that is usb and has 8 ins is one of those usb mixers. Even then, I think they are pushing the top of your price range. That being said, it also needs to be kept in mind that with usb you won't get 8 separate tracks. usb will only do a single stereo track, so you would have to do all of your mixing before hitting record.

My suggestion here is to pay 20 bucks or so for a firewire card to stick in your laptop. Then you can get your 8 ins for 8 separate tracks. You could probably find a used first gen. firepod for 250-300 or so, but I am not sure if you have enough memory to run it. But as far as I can see, there is no way to get 8 separate tracks in with usb, and especially not for that price range. You need firewire unless two simultaneous tracks is all you need.
 
Ripthorn said:
As far as I know, the only "interface" that is usb and has 8 ins is one of those usb mixers. Even then, I think they are pushing the top of your price range. That being said, it also needs to be kept in mind that with usb you won't get 8 separate tracks. usb will only do a single stereo track, so you would have to do all of your mixing before hitting record.

My suggestion here is to pay 20 bucks or so for a firewire card to stick in your laptop. Then you can get your 8 ins for 8 separate tracks. You could probably find a used first gen. firepod for 250-300 or so, but I am not sure if you have enough memory to run it. But as far as I can see, there is no way to get 8 separate tracks in with usb, and especially not for that price range. You need firewire unless two simultaneous tracks is all you need.
Click to expand...

Thank you! Thats very helpful! I want to run 8 seperate tracks. Is there anything I can do to get more memory short of buying a better computer? Would a external hard drive give me more memory? Or would that not be what I need? If my price range of $300 is too low would $500 cut it? I want to make some decent recordings nothing crazy.
 
guitar zero said:
My initial impression after reading your post was... eeeeegads! There's trouble ahead. 8 inputs, USB, and only 512 of RAM. It may be a little like climbing Mt. Everest without oxygen tanks. It could be done, but it's likely to be a rough go.
Click to expand...

Any suggestions on what I can do to make this work?
 
Does your notebook have a firewire (1394, iLink, etc) port? Or a PCMCIA slot.

Buy some more ram, its cheap,

Get a Cardbus FW card and a used Firepod.

Thats your best cheap solution.
 
Before you buy more ram, make sure to look up your computer's specs to make sure it can handle more ram, otherwise you are just wasting your money. A lot of online stores that specialize in memory keep the specs on their website (so that they can make sure and sell to you).
 
Lethalxbeats said:
Thank you guys. No my computer doesnt have firewire.
Click to expand...

Dont the phonic mixers have firewire? Mine does.. If it does, you can buy a $30 fw card and be multitracking now. Even if it doesn't, you'll have a huge new selection of much more capable interfaces than anything USB.
 
Anything more than two tracks needs firewire. pcmcia cards are pretty cheap and your laptop should have at least one slot for it.
 
so usb 2.0 can only record a stereo track at a time? if so that sucks...

isn't there a motu interface that has like 8 ins and is usb?
 
Have a look at the line6 UX8 for multichannel USB

Not saying it works, but not saying it doesn't
 
Thanks guys- sure glad I consulted some people in the know because on the Cakewalk forum (not the one on HR.com) I was told USB 2.0 would record 8 channels at once by several people.
 
suprstar said:
Dont the phonic mixers have firewire? Mine does.. If it does, you can buy a $30 fw card and be multitracking now. Even if it doesn't, you'll have a huge new selection of much more capable interfaces than anything USB.
Click to expand...

I bought my Phonic mixer back in 2000-so I dont think it does. I have to check the manual. I havent really used the mixer at all except live sound.
 
2 Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0
1 headphone-out
1 microphone-in
1 VGA (15-pin)
1 TV-Out (S-video)
1 RJ-11 (modem)
1 RJ -45 (LAN)

These are the ports my laptop has. Will the card for firewire plug up to on of these?
 
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