J
jimmychan
New member
Hi, this is probably goint ot be quite long and you've heard it all before, but...
Recently I started messing round on a friend's PC, with Cakewalk and Cubase that I'd borrowed off someone. Just plugged a little rubbish lapel mic that i got for my Minidisc, stuck it (literally, with blu-tack) to my acoustic guitar, and put stuff in. Messed around on Soundforge putting tons of flanger and wah on the guitar to make it sound like a keyboard, taught myself the Cakwalk drum editing, all out of the back of the cheapo Sounblaster that came with the PC. Just telling you this so you understand the kind of bedroom lo-fi noodling I'm going for...
So I decided to get myself a PC so I can do this in my own space but I'm waiting till I know exactly what to get (and till I get the cash, I'm a poor student). But here are a few questions...
I've read all the stuff on the site (homerecording.com) about needing a decent mic and a pre-amp etc., so take that as given. Whatever PC I get I'm basically just going to get as much memory and FAST hard drive as I can possibly manage (two separate hard-drives is the recommendation).
My main question is about soundcard. I live in England. Over here you can get the Soundblaster Audigy Platinum EX for about £210 (I don't know what that is in dollars). Creative's site makes it sound all nice and flash (obviously), but what is the verdict around here? I've seen people on this site recommend a Midiman Delta 1010lt or something but I checked there website, and it appears to be close to $500, which sounds like quite a lot in pounds
.
Seeing as it's only me doing this (no band), and the way I work really is to cut and paste and stick bits in and play around and mix it all up, the most inputs I'd really need are two (guitar, singing, or something). The Soundblaster Audigy seems reasonably cheap (for an investment so to speak), and easy to get hold of (at the same place I'd get the PC).
I've seen comments on the boards about only being able to record 16bit, 48 KHz, which is below it's playback rate, but really I'm not that professional to notice those things (see the blu-tack thing). Plus you apparently get Cubase with it (or so the website leads me to believe). So what is the experts' opinions on the Auidigy Platinum as a student-sitting-in-his-bedroom solution?
Also, is there any basic problems with Windows XP on the whole audio front, as that's what I'll be getting. I.e., are there any problems with compatability and Cakewalk or Cubase? Or have they all relaesed drivers or something by now?
Really sorry this post has been so long and rambling,. but any help would be greatly appreciated, as even though I'm a novice messing around, I am thinking of spending (investing?) a lot of money (for me anyway). Thanks a lot.
Jim
Recently I started messing round on a friend's PC, with Cakewalk and Cubase that I'd borrowed off someone. Just plugged a little rubbish lapel mic that i got for my Minidisc, stuck it (literally, with blu-tack) to my acoustic guitar, and put stuff in. Messed around on Soundforge putting tons of flanger and wah on the guitar to make it sound like a keyboard, taught myself the Cakwalk drum editing, all out of the back of the cheapo Sounblaster that came with the PC. Just telling you this so you understand the kind of bedroom lo-fi noodling I'm going for...
So I decided to get myself a PC so I can do this in my own space but I'm waiting till I know exactly what to get (and till I get the cash, I'm a poor student). But here are a few questions...
I've read all the stuff on the site (homerecording.com) about needing a decent mic and a pre-amp etc., so take that as given. Whatever PC I get I'm basically just going to get as much memory and FAST hard drive as I can possibly manage (two separate hard-drives is the recommendation).
My main question is about soundcard. I live in England. Over here you can get the Soundblaster Audigy Platinum EX for about £210 (I don't know what that is in dollars). Creative's site makes it sound all nice and flash (obviously), but what is the verdict around here? I've seen people on this site recommend a Midiman Delta 1010lt or something but I checked there website, and it appears to be close to $500, which sounds like quite a lot in pounds

Seeing as it's only me doing this (no band), and the way I work really is to cut and paste and stick bits in and play around and mix it all up, the most inputs I'd really need are two (guitar, singing, or something). The Soundblaster Audigy seems reasonably cheap (for an investment so to speak), and easy to get hold of (at the same place I'd get the PC).
I've seen comments on the boards about only being able to record 16bit, 48 KHz, which is below it's playback rate, but really I'm not that professional to notice those things (see the blu-tack thing). Plus you apparently get Cubase with it (or so the website leads me to believe). So what is the experts' opinions on the Auidigy Platinum as a student-sitting-in-his-bedroom solution?
Also, is there any basic problems with Windows XP on the whole audio front, as that's what I'll be getting. I.e., are there any problems with compatability and Cakewalk or Cubase? Or have they all relaesed drivers or something by now?
Really sorry this post has been so long and rambling,. but any help would be greatly appreciated, as even though I'm a novice messing around, I am thinking of spending (investing?) a lot of money (for me anyway). Thanks a lot.
Jim