plan on home studio using a computer

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halfwaydecent

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I am going to build a computer to go in my home studio to use it for a basis of recording and i was wondering what i would need besides the sound card? and what sound card I need? Im recording probably guitar bass vocals and drums and i have the mics but what kind of mixer would be best to add the mics for the recording of the drums and would that make it so i just plug in the mixer and hit record on the software probably cakewalk?

thanks guys
rob
 
The mics., mixer, cable, soundcard, software chain you have in mind should work fine. What mixer depends on your budget and recording requirements (though you don't want one of the type made specifically for use with live performances). You might get some specific recommendations if you say how much you want to spend and how you want to record. If you want to record tracks separately, simultaneously in Cakewalk you would need a soundcard with multiple inputs. That's assuming Cakewalk can record simultaneous tracks. I've never used it, so I don't know. I use n-Tracks - I just plug my instruments into the mixer, click on the button and go, as you describe. As to which soundcard, it depends what you can afford. After that, I don't think you can avoid reading up here and elsewhere. Though, again, if you post your budget and recording requirements as accurately as you can you might get some specific recommendations.

Possibly a Search on "what mixer?" or "what soundcard" or something similar might get you some useful info.
 
Last edited:
lucid,

He used question marks...

If we want to get too picky here, you didn't start your sentence with a capital letter...

;)

Atwork,

Yes, Cakewalk will record simultaneously as many tracks as it has inputs for (two, four, six, eight, ten, sixteen, twenty-four, whatever) and the computer can support...
 
punctuwhat?

well, what id be recording is like 3-5 piece rock style stuff, i was looking at like maybe 8 track mixer to start and then expand on that, ive used cakewalk before and im pretty familar with it and im capable of recording just minus the soundcard and mixer. um budget for the computer i figured on around 500 cuz i have most of the "accesseries" like a burner, keyboard, mouse, moniter and speakers. for the mixer, the price range from like 300-500, i know musicansfriend.com has mixers in around that price range i was just wondering what specific type would be best (digital, powered, or analog) and how are they different?

thanx guys
rob
 
try this

before I offer you this, make sure you know what kind of chip set is in your motherboard. Some are unstable for recording.
I bought an aardvark Q-10. It's the best bang for the buck. It has 8 mic pre's....good for mic'n a drum kit (6 mics), bass and guitar at the same time, but if you have windows XP, you'll have to wait a few weeks till aark releases it's new official xp drivers. If further interested you can go to their web site or email thomas@aardvark-pro.com and ask him about your motherboard chip set.
I ordered a gatway and that was a big mistake, not knowing before hand that I neede to watch for certain unstable chipsets and they sure sent me an unstable one, the elpaso 82845. watch out.
 
As I understand it, the powered mixer would be the type to avoid when home recording. They're designed for live performance. I recall someone saying they're noisy. Analog or digital? Phew. Couldn't say. Except maybe digital maybe outside your price range. An analog stalwart only just outside it is the Mackie 1402 VLZ Pro. The Soundcraft M-series of mixers are creating quite a stir at the moment. I think the M4 and M8 would be inside the budget you stated. You can find reviews of both at:


http://www.sospubs.co.uk


using the Search function
 
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