need help with HD and soundcard...detailed diagram of studio setup included

[avedic123]

ok, for the longest time i've been recording demos in the cheapest manner possible. i've just been recording everything straight into an sm57 which is plugged right into the soundcard that came with my computer...a computer that i bought in 1999. i then assemble everything in cool edit 2000. that's right, not cool edit pro.....but cool edit 2000. monitoring is done through $10 radio shack headphones. given these incredibly restrictive conditions, i've managed some ok recordings, 4 of which you can hear on my myspace page below.

http://www.myspace.com/seancannon1983

do you wonder how i recorded multiple tracks for those songs with CE2000? i would actually paste waveform on top of waveform until i had the entire song built up. probably the most tedious thing on earth. lol

anyway...i'm quite ready to take things to the next level. i'm almost there, but there are a few key components that i lack. i'm including a diagram of my studio set-up as it is now...including those items that i have yet to aquire.

also...a note...i'm not looking for critical judgements of the equipment i DO have. if you don't like the nt2a, that's fine...but don't tell me. i like it. i'm looking for input about what i -don't- have.

i'm going to list the components that i don't have, as well as any questions i have about them.....



1) PC and Harddrive
i need a new computer. i have brand new HP w2007 monitor, but i need a PC that i can dedicate purely to recording. i'm not a mac person. i respect those who are, but i'm much more interested in working on a pc. don't try to convince me otherwise.

Questions: how much space do i need? how fast should it be? what OS should i use? etc...

2) Soundcard
i assume any stock soundcard that comes with a computer isn't going to cut it. i don't want my soundcard to bottleneck otherwise good sounding equipment.

Questions: what soundcard would be best? do i need multiple inputs? can i record multiple inputs(2 microphones for instance) onto 2 seperate tracks in adobe auditions?

3) 19" rack mountable pre amp
i prefer a rack mountable version. i've heard great things about the M-AUDIO DMP3, however the dimensions of it are all wierd and it doesn't fit in a rack...which is somewhat of an issue for me. are there any other options?

Questions: do i need a preamp that will accept inputs from both instruments(keyboard) AND mics(Rode NT2A)?

4) Headphones
i don't need headphones to monitor with...just to track. something to playback as i'm singing for instance. i don't need/want $1000 phones....just something that does the job well for a low price.

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and that's about it. as you can see from what i have(the rode nt2a for instance) i want quality but i don't have a huge budget. i've created recordings in the past that sound much better than the equipment i own would suggest....so i know how to make my gear work for me...not the other way around. so....i'm not interested in spending thousands on one soundcard.

so........i know that was alot to take in, but any help i recieve would be VERY appreciated. thanks!!

 

[shackrock]

first of all. awesome prep work here with this post, so many people don't post enough, and well. haha.
I like to think I'm a computer guru, been in tech support for years, electrical engineering etc.

I'll be the first to tell you that a PC is a fine way to go with recording, if only because it's going to be half the price of the same apple computer.

My suggestions for a computer:
* Windows XP Home or Pro - Vista isn't ready yet, as you've heard everywhere I'm sure. You'll be able to record successfully on XP for the life of your computer.

* Processor: You can go with Intel or AMD here. Now, Since you're getting a desktop, you're realistically talking about saving a very minimal amount of money between the 2 comparable chips that are offered as standard high end chips now. And, they are still cheap!! So, I recommend Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.3Ghz or higher, with the 4MB Bus (or higher!). It's not an expensive chip, and it will last you years!

* Hard Drive(s): You should get two to three drives, I would reccommend it. People do this very differently all the time. I use one for Programs, operating system, etc. I like to keep that all in one place. The second, I use for (most) file storage. Including all audio files. I backup to yet a 3rd drive. If you don't go the 3rd drive option, backup to your C:\ drive (operating system drive). And I'm not talking about simply different partitions. Different physical drives improve performance, and offer data redundancy in the event of a hard drive failure!
Internal drives are cheap, so if you customize a computer from Dell, and they charge too much, just buy from newegg.com and install them yourself (its SO easy)! Size wise:
1 60-80GB for Operating System/Programs
2 120GB+ for "Files" Drive, and Backup.
Please, make sure they are all 7200RPM drives. The physical size for internal Desktop Drives is 3.5".

* Memory: I would reccommend 2GB at the least. These days, memory is so cheap you can get 3GB no problem for not much more. In my experience, 4GB is probably going to be overkill, and not worth it on XP. If you ever upgraded to vista, you'd want the 4GB.

* Burner(s): AT THE LEAST, a CD-RW drive, of course. If you want to be burning DVDs for any reason, including backups, go for a DVD-RW drive. AGain, this is something VERY easy to install yourself if it's too expensive up front by the company. New drives off of newegg.com cost less than $50, and will be fine!

* Video/Sound Cards: Video should be something modest. Nothing horrible, nothing high end. These days, nearly all cards have no problems with any other hardware. Sound card does not matter, get the cheapest they have. You will be upgrading to a real soundcard for recording.

* Firewire? You decide. You may need it for your recording interface (outboard soundcard). However, in less than 6 months, S3200 (the new firewire standard) will exist. Realistically providing 390MB/s transfer speeds. Chances are, the entire world will upgrade to that. haha.

* Where to get it? Honestly, Dell has built some of the best PCs I've worked with, and they do it cheaply (IN SOME CASES). You really have to search around the dell site to get a good deal. Lucky for you, I'm used to doing that.
The Dell Vostro Desktops are cleaned PCs. When I say that, I mean that you can opt out of nearly all stupid adware-esque programs that usually come on preconfigured PCs. You do this during the customization process. See this link: http://www.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/vostrodt?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd
Do search around the other PCs though. If you find another one cheaper, go for it. Just know you may want to do a clean Windows install as soon as you get it (or do a lot of uninstalling and msconfig-ing!!).

Next, I ALWAYS recommend www.cyberpowerpc.com . You can often find the same PCs, built by this company, for the same price or cheaper. Obviously this is tailored to kids who love fancy cases and gaming. However, you can really customize it HUGELY. I've gotten 3 Desktop PCs from them, and NEVER had a problem. So check that out as well.


OK, sound card time.You have COUNTLESS options here. I think that you should tell us what YOU need first. What do YOU plan on recording?
Multiple inputs means you can record multiple instruments at once (or a full drumset, for example). Only 2 inputs means that you can only record 1 stereo to 2 mono things at once.... Think about what you will be doing. Recording full bands at once? Just you? Live drumsets? What software do you want to use. Anything? Pro Tools? Then, we can answer you furthur.


Preamps. ideally, we can find a rack mountable sound card with great built in preamps. At this stage, I do not think you need or want specialty preamps, it would be a little rediculous at this point. So again, tell us more about what you wanna record, and we can suggest more.


If they are simply monitoring headphones, grab any pair that seems to isolate sound at least moderately well. If you want to ever use a pair as reference headphones, you may want to upgrade a big. A modest pair is Sennheiser HD 280 Pro. They are decent all around for both tasks, and 100 bucks. I use the pair all the time.

I want to stress that it is important to MIX ON MONITORS. not headphones. Although it looks like you have some already, so no problem.


Maybe tell us your full budget for these upgrades also, and we'll be able to pick some all around stuff for ya too!

 

[Codmate]

I would avoid pre-built machines and put your own together.

It's easy, fun and you will learn a lot.
The biggest bonus here is that you will be able to maintain your machine yourself.
Having a warrenty for each individual component in your PC is priceless.
One stick of RAM out of two fails? Pull it out and send it back. You still have a working machine while you're waiting for a replacement stick.
If you had bought a pre-build machine you would have to send the entire thing back and wait until they fixed it.

If you want to use firewire, get a good TI or Lucent card (or a mainboard with a good one already fitted).

As for soundcards, personally I am very happily using a MOTU firewire audio interface. I also know somebody who is very happy with their firewire Presonus box.
Yes - you can record simultaniously on to many tracks at once. You simply need one input per track. You will need pre-amps for every input that you want to record using a microphone, or other unamplified signal (such as a guitar plugged straight into the interface). Line level signals, such as those from keyboards like the Korg Triton, do not need pre-amps as a rule.

Most audio interfaces these days come with some pre-amps. Often the number of pre's does not match the number of inputs. For instance, the MOTU UltraLite has 2 inputs with pre's and 6 without. If I wanted to record from three microphones at once, I would need to buy an additional pre - such as the ART Tube MP.

Are those speakers 'active' - i.e. do they have amplifiers inside? If not you will need to buy an amplifier to plug the output of your soundcard/audio-interface and the speakers in to.

As for headphones - I would go with the classic Beyerdynamic DT100.
They don't sound amazing - don't mix on them! They are built to last though and you can easily get spare parts for them as they are very much industry standard. Great for tracking on and comfortable enough.

As for hard drive(s).
The ideal system has 16 hard drives - 4x4 in RAID5.
This isn't practical for home studios unfortunatly!
In reality just get as many as you can - and the same space again in external hard drives for backup purposes. Download some good backup software and run it EVERY NIGHT!
If you automate your backups CHECK THE BACKUP LOGS!
I speak from bitter experience here
The ideal setup has four physical volumes.
One for the O/S. One for Data. One for applications. One for the swap file.
Try and get as close to this model as you can.
I have my O/S and audio application on one 500GB physical drive and my audio data and swap file on a 1TB RAID0 volume made up of two identical 500GB drives.

This set-up works pretty well and only requires 3 disks.

If you go RAID, then remember to get either a decent RAID controller card, or a mainboard with a good one on. Intel mainboard chipsets often have half-decent Intel RAID controllers built in. Also remember that RAID arrays are best built of sets of identical disks. Some RAID controllers won't work with anything other than identical disks.

I stick with Western Digital and Seagate for my hard drives these days.
Icy Dock enclosures keep 'em cool and quiet.

If you decide to build your own PC and want to make it quiet, Noctuna fans are the most quiet IME.

As an aside, I would also reccomend getting rid of the singer's dodgy beard and shades

 

[shackrock]

As I also like to build my own computers, it is great to do.

However, if you have never done it, I don't suggest you start now (with your recording DAW!). Chances are, you'll pick some components that just happen to make your life a living hell, that's just how it goes sometimes. haha.

The prebuilt machines have sorted all of the nuances out, and you should have little to no problems with either of the PC types I listed above in my original post. Both of their tech support is pretty good about just sending you a new part if one thing is broke, and letting you install it yourself.

But by all means, if you have somebody who can help you (and knows what they're doing), and you feel comfortable, build your own.