My First Rig (Am I missing anything?)

[bojax34]

Hi all. I am in the process of purchasing some equipment/software to do a little recording at home.

I have a guitar, a bass, a PC w/ Pentium dual-core 3.2 GHz CPU & 2GB of RAM.

I am buying a USB Audio/MIDI Interface, SONAR 5, a condensor mic, a preamp, and a MIDI controller.

Other than obvious things (like cables), and stuff that I will eventually get but don't necessarily need (like a compressor), will this setup get me started recording and mixing some decent digital audio/MIDI music? Am I missing anything? Thanks for the help!

 

[Creamyapples1]

Direct Box - For recording Bass directly to the input on the sound capturing device

Decent Headphones and/or Monitors

 

[Carter]

I would go with a firewire interface instead!

 

[Minion]

You will also need a set of Good Monitors or at least OK Monitors (Not regular Speakers) ....

Without a Proper set of Monitors you won"t be able to mix properly because you won"t get a True representation of what you are recording because Regular Speakers have a tendancy to color the sound to Boost Highs or Lows which means your Mixes will not cound Right when Played on a Variety of audio systems....

And I would also second getting a Firewire Interface over a USB one as USB ones are generally Limited to 4 Simutainius Tracks and there seem to be some Bandwidth Issues with USB Interfaces....

Cheers

 

[bojax34]

I am getting a USB 2.0 Interface. Isn't that just as good as Firewire?

 

[Carter]

The system is commonly used for connection of data storage devices and digital video cameras, but is also popular in industrial systems for machine vision and professional audio systems. It is used instead of the more common USB due to its faster effective speed, higher power-distribution capabilities, and because it does not need a computer host. Perhaps more importantly, FireWire makes full use of all SCSI capabilities and, compared to USB 2.0 High Speed, has higher sustained data transfer rates, a feature especially important for audio and video editors

Found this with a google search...... Google is your friend!

 

[Minion]

Yes ,Firewire has a Much Higher Sustained Transfer speed...USB 2.0 has a 480Mbs Bust speed but it"s Sustained speed is Much lower, Probably closer to 160Mbs depending on your system ,were Firewire has a 400Mbs sustained speed in Both Directions (Upstream and Downstream) which makes it much better were High Data Transfer speeds are Required....

You generally will not find a USB Audio device that can Track more than 4 or maybe at most 6 Inputs at a Time were with Firewire you can Find devices that can record 16 or 24 or even 36 tracks at once....

You will pay more for a Firewire device but it also is generally more stable and robust, definately worth the extra Money...

PCI is also good for an Interface accept it is slowly being Phased out but there should be some good PCI-E Cards comeing out soon to replace them, Hopefully M-audio will make some new PCI-E Cards....

Cheers

 

[rayc]

a GOOD monitoring system. Be that powered speakers or a neutral amp & speakers. H/phones are only good for listening for detail not the whole picture UNLESS you are recording specifically for iPodders & then you'll need to keep converting to MP3 to hear how much you're losing anyway.
then again you could monitor via earbuds - that'd be interesting.

 

[Nate15]

sorry this is off topic but wuts a interface or firewire or wutever that is??

 

[DrJones]

One more thing you'll need!!!! DEEP POCKETS!!! . If you turn out like a lot of us, it'll turn into an obsession. Not Kidding! I have much invested in my project studio and it is still not good enough. Thanks to all these nice people at the morgage companys I will live here for ever!! "HA-HA-HA" (distant evil voice in the distance).

Seriously you need many of the above equiptment and probably much more. Have Fun! Hope you have a really cool siginifant other.

Good Luck!

 

[random.hero]

oh

sorry this is off topic but wuts a interface or firewire or wutever that is??

oh god if this wasnt the newbie forum i would poke some fun...
but...
just do some research buddy, google is your friend (as previously stated)