You sound like me about six months ago.
What I have discovered after reading zillions of opinions, websites, magazine articles and this BBS is that there are many ways to go, all of which have some merit and all of which have some down side. The more I researched, the more confused I became.
My solution was to go with popular and easily available equipment (Cubase VST24, AT 4033 mic, Mona soundcard) and learn by doing. My theory is that I can learn what I need to know by doing rather than trying to gather all the infomation and making a mega-informed decision about the perfect situation - with good quality gear that I know is compatible, I'll be okay.
The way I think it works is ( and if I'm wrong here, I hope one of the really knowledgeable guys will help us out):
Microphone into pre-amp (either stand-alone, or on the soundcard itself)
Preamp into soundcard (via analog to digital converter on the soundcard)
Soundcard records and sends back out to monitoring (via digital to analog converter)
... meanwhile, simultaneously:
Midi information into computer (from synth/sound source)
via midi interface into the USB bus on the back of your PC
Computer plays sound source (module/synth) via midi during monitoring
Synchronized together by ... hmmm haven't got that part yet, but I think it has something to do with 'Word Clock' and/or midi.
Overdubs are possible because you can play what you have already recorded on the soundcard/computer and record on the soundcard at the same time. Being able to monitor and record at the same time is called 'full duplex operation' and not all sound cards do it (but it seems that most of them do).
Beware the evil 'Latency'
Latency is the time difference between when you play in to the soundcard and when you hear it at the monitors. It can be as high as hundreds of milliseconds - i.e. really noticeable, depending on how much information (musical notes such as one bass note is a lot less info than a Beethoven string section). Some soundcards claim to have latency down to < 3 millisecs.
So far I have not hooked up Mona, so we'll see when she gets here.
There are lots of soundcard options - I chose an Event product called 'Mona' 'cos it seemed to be my best choice.
Other recommendations on this BBS have included other Event products (Gina, Darla and Layla) plus Linux, Aardvark, GadgetLabs etc. Check out this site for soundcard info:
http://www.bway.net/~rongon/home_rec/soundcard.html
If you decide to go the software/soundcard route, some of them are designed specifically to work with each other - make sure they are compatible.
If you are getting a computer which is dedicated to recording only, the consensus seems to be that Mac is the best way to go, and Mark of the Unicorn is the soundcard to have. A friend of mine who does TV soundtracks in LA (you've heard his stuff) swears by that combination.
Other folks on this site (check out some of the mp3's) do great work with PC and other soundcards.
If you are going PC, get two seperate hard drives. One should be about 10 - 15 Gig (a 5400 rpm ide will be fine) which you will store your programs on, and the other should be dedicated to recording, and should be 20 Gig (or more)and 7,200 rpm ide.
SCSI drives are actually faster, but only minimally, and not enough to warrant the difference in price.
The general opinion around here is that your ideal CPU needs to be > 650 MHz, P III with as much RAM as you can afford.
I'll try to answer your questions here:
How to record, for example, acoustic instruments & vocals direct.
Mic through pre-amp into soundcard - some soundcards have pre-amps and phantom power built right in to the inputs
Analog to digital converters required?
Yes, and digital to analog to hear the results. Built in to the soundcard.
Can mixdown be accomplished onto hard-drive,
Yes, the right software will do that. I chose Cubase, but other platforms that posters on this board have recommeded are Logic Audio and Cakewalk. I would probably have gone with Logic Platinum, but I got a great deal on my Cubase.
Seperate ADAT or DAT required?
Don't think so, but ADAT can easily be used if you set up your system that way.
Can finished product be burned direct to CD?
Yes, CD burner in your PC, no problem.
BTW, my experience is as a pro guitar player for years, with some studio recording experience in the '80s. When I got Cubase and loaded it into my computer, I was stunned just by seeing the options of what this stuff can do. If you've never seen any of the recently-available stuff, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by what it can do. For example, it tracks Audio and MIDI information on the same screen, broken down by instrument, mutes, solos, and you can click and drag it into a different location. Add effects, assign different stereo locations, and a whole bunch of other stuff. You've got some large fun coming your way!
All of the above is, of course, IMHO.
I am very much a 'newbie' but I sure know a lot more now than I did when I first started reading this site.
If you want to research more, use the search function here. You will find seriously in-depth discussions about every facet of this (e.g. best motherboard, best chipsets, software vs. ADAT, how much, how fast, why the Beatles SUCK, THEY DO NOT, yes they do... etc., etc...)
... and don't be shy about emailing guys directly with questions - I have had some extremely gracious and well-informed replies.
... and good luck
foo
[Edited by foo on 08-28-2000 at 17:05]
