I've been a proponent of PC recording on these message boards when one of those "PC or stand-alone" debates flares up, but now I've seen the other side. I'm still very much in favor of PC recording but now that I'm living the PC recording nightmare that I'd previously only heard others discuss, I'd have some reservations recommending it to anyone who's not *sure* they know what they're getting into.
For a couple years I'd had no trouble recording on the PC except for using buggy software. Over the past few months, after switching to Logic Audio, I've had a rock-solid recording machine that never crashed and always recorded perfectly clean tracks. Then a week or two ago I upgraded my video card and processor and changed a couple other pieces of hardware, now I'm plagued with clicks and pops. I think I know what's going on, but still - sometimes it's not as easy as it was for me the first time around. When I built my first dedicated DAW I just put the machine together, turned it on, installed Windows ME and my software and everything just worked. No tweaking, no problems.
My point is that if you're really torn between trying stand-alone hard disk recorders or PC recording (seems like a common question here), maybe you should go stand-alone. If you're not sure that you want something specific the PC has to offer and sure that you're ready to deal with the issues that may show up in the process of setting up the machine, then maybe it's not for you. When you get it running right I think it's amazing and I love it, but it can be frustrating getting it started.
A secondary point here is that if you go for PC recording you'll be better off if you build a dedicated DAW machine, on which you plan to do recording and only recording. Put it together, make sure it runs well, then leave it alone and don't change anything. I've already sold the perfect recording rig I used to use, and now I'm ready to shoot myself in the head trying to set up this new one (which used to be my main machine for non-recording stuff).
For a couple years I'd had no trouble recording on the PC except for using buggy software. Over the past few months, after switching to Logic Audio, I've had a rock-solid recording machine that never crashed and always recorded perfectly clean tracks. Then a week or two ago I upgraded my video card and processor and changed a couple other pieces of hardware, now I'm plagued with clicks and pops. I think I know what's going on, but still - sometimes it's not as easy as it was for me the first time around. When I built my first dedicated DAW I just put the machine together, turned it on, installed Windows ME and my software and everything just worked. No tweaking, no problems.
My point is that if you're really torn between trying stand-alone hard disk recorders or PC recording (seems like a common question here), maybe you should go stand-alone. If you're not sure that you want something specific the PC has to offer and sure that you're ready to deal with the issues that may show up in the process of setting up the machine, then maybe it's not for you. When you get it running right I think it's amazing and I love it, but it can be frustrating getting it started.
A secondary point here is that if you go for PC recording you'll be better off if you build a dedicated DAW machine, on which you plan to do recording and only recording. Put it together, make sure it runs well, then leave it alone and don't change anything. I've already sold the perfect recording rig I used to use, and now I'm ready to shoot myself in the head trying to set up this new one (which used to be my main machine for non-recording stuff).