Minimal Requirements

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Scrubucket7

Scrubucket7

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I want to build a computer setup to record my band, and some other local bands. I was looking into a Yamaha Mg16/4, running into a delta 44, then into cubase. I was looking into recording 4 tracks at a time, and was wondering what the basic system requirements would be for this setup? I dont have any money yet, but i plan on putting some money into this soon. I'd like to keep it as cheap as possible, but not to the point where im throwing away half the quality. My brother knows alot about putting together computers and such, so i can order it part by part and put it together myself (i figure this will be a hell of alot cheaper.) anyways, someone please tell me what i should be looking for, and keep in mind that the computer will be stricly for recording, i dont care about video, and i definitly dont want the internet on it.
 
I'd start with the minimum requirements needed to run cubase and beef up according to how much money you have.
 
you could get something like this and upgrade the memory. Nothing spectacular but it would work.
 
I wouldn't go with a celeron I think some sequencers have problems with them. You'll need a 2ghz or higher pentium 4 or amd athlon 64 processor, and the very least 512mb of ram(1gb or more recommended) I wouldn't go with less than a 150gb hard drive, preferably an lcd monitor. You might also wanna look at a decent sound card, something buy e-mu or similar, you're built in sound card isn't going to cut it, neither with soundblasters. You can build a pc pretty cheap these days. I'd say 600-800 bucks would get you something more than capable of running as a daw it just wouldn't be very fancy or any good for gaming. My two computers are a rebuilt HP with an amd athlon 2800 2gb or ram and an 80gb hard drive(use this with cubase, mostly mastering stuff), my next on is an Apple Imac G5 running Pro Tools Le. It has a 1.8 ghz processor, 1gb of ram, and I think a 250gb hard drive. My pc set up has a lot of hiccups but it runs a butt load of plug ins without overworking. The mac is smooth as buttah and I LOVE pro tools le it was just so easy to learn and just seems user friendly to me. You were talking about using a Yamaha mixer, you could look at a sound card with a few more xlr's and save a bunch of money by not getting the mixer. I started out with a soundblaster and yamaha 12/4 and very quickly outgrew the mixer due to the fact I was limited to recording 8 mic inputs down to two tracks(kinda limiting).
 
jonnyc said:
I started out with a soundblaster and yamaha 12/4 and very quickly outgrew the mixer due to the fact I was limited to recording 8 mic inputs down to two tracks(kinda limiting).
Click to expand...

cant you make each bus of the mixer its own track in cubase with this setup? Cause if i cant (which i thought i could) then im definitly going to look at something else.
 
The soundblaster can't do more than 2 at a time. The delta 44 will do 4 tracks.

Recording 4 tracks at a time, even at 24/96 is a snap on any computer. Where you need the grunt is mixing 20+ tracks with a bunch of plugin effects.
Don't get a celeron. If you can't affodr a fast cpu, get a old P4 2.4 on an Asus 865/875 chipset motherboard and overclock it. 2 hard drives are good, but one will do in the meantime. 1GB ram is standard, but 512MB will do in a pinch. Get a cheapo fanless video card and you're good to go
 
the computer im on right now is an old compaq presario 933mhz 512mb of ram with cable internet (i sure love my viruses) and a local area network...in other words, its cpu is always used up. At the moment, whenever i do get to recording, i run all my mics into a behringer ub1202, then into a zoom mrs-4. Then i take all the .wav files and mix them in acid pro. It starts not being able to play the tracks and freezing up after i add about 20-25 tracks. Plus, its in the middle of my living room. I want a computer for my bedroom downstairs, so i can take my bedroom and turn it into a control room, and the next room into a live room.

I was originally just planning on upgrading my setup (although i realize its not a great setup, im used to it, and ive made some good recordings using it) I was planning on getting the 8-track version of the mrs-4 (mrs-8...go figure) And getting rid of the ub1202 and getting a better mixer with more pre-amps. Then, i was going to update my mic collection, which at the moment is very lacking. I figured i can still use this computer to mix on, but the more i read about recording straight onto a computer, the more i figured id see what i could do with it, and how much it would cost me. So...i wanted to get everything figured out before september, when i get a job and start making some damn money.
 
Im using a Pentium 3 processor! pretty stoneage stuff. I can only run 9 plug-ins at once with Cubase VST!!
I need to run up to 80 plug-ins!!
 
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