Please Help Me!!

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jameswales

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Hi people!!!
I'll get straight to the point. I have spent the last 5 years recording all my songs onto a cappy 4 track tape recorder. I now think it is time I got up to date.
Basically I have 1200pounds to spent, and I want to put together a home studio. I want to be able to record live guitars into a computer, and also record vocals to a high standeard!! I want to run it through a laptop computer. I haven't bought one yet, and that will have to come out of the 1200 I have. I have used Cuebase before, and feel comfortable using that program, but I don't know what the best program is available.
What quality computer will I need? Speed? Processor? etc?
What kind of sound card?

All I know I need at the moment, is a laptop, cuebase and keyboard.
I've seen people with racks of different pices of equipment. What would I need?

As you can see, I don't really have a clue where to start, so any help would be really appreciated!
 
For $1200...hmmm....Find a laptop with at least a 2.8ghz Pentium 4, and 1 gig of ram (you may be able to get 512 then another 512 aftermarket to save cash). Make sure it has XP Pro, not home, so if need be you can change IRQ settings. Get a PCMCIA firewire card bus, needs to be Texas Instruments. Then, I'd go with a presonus firebox...it comes with Cubase LE.

You should be able to get in the game for that price.

6
 
Should it definalty be a pentium 4? Any other processors?
By the way, it's 1200 pounds, not dollars!!!!
 
Yeah, I would do P4 or AMD, nothing else though.

Don't know the breakdown between pounds and dollars, sorry. Would that be more or less?

6
 
Cost

Plan on 1.5x to 1.8x the dollar...

He's got roughly 2000.00? 2200.00 ??

How are you going to record the Guitar?
All at once? One at a time??

- I'd say (Just as a THOUGHT!)
- Used Mac? - G4 / 1Ghz? 512Mg Ram
- Logic Express
- Tascam US122 or similar for single instrument at a time recording
- Warfedale monitors (However you spell that)
- M-Audio Controller keyboard of your choice
- 6 to 8 Channel mixer (Don't know which one)

My thinking is that I've recorded using Logic Pro on my 1Ghz G4 Laptop before and it runs well - Express is that much better...
AND with Express you actually get some decent softsynths you could use the Controller keyboard for and it would plug right into USB...
The Tascam122 is kind of a side thought but something small like that should do the trick and give you some pretty good sound...
The monitors - I've heard - would be good in the price range you'd be looking at...
The 6 to 8 channel mixer is just to get all that together and with the effects from Logic Express, I think that would be a good start...

Hope this helps a little...That should get you in the price range you're looking for and you could upgrade at any time...
 
I think you are limiting yourself in many ways by deciding on a laptop at first hand. For these reasons and many more:
- You pay more for the same speed when compared to desktops.
- Desktops are alot more upgradeable.
- There are MANY more soundcard options for desktops.
- Ram is cheaper on desktops.
- Laptop hard drives are not fast enough for diskstreaming (you might not want it now but this stuff gets addictive FAST ;))
- Laptop batteries: if your thinking of tracking on location, be prepared, VERY prepared, because you won't be able to record for hours on end.

I'd just get a decently fast desktop, throw a decent soundcard in there, and your most of the way there.
 
But with a laptop you do have the added advantage of portability, if you want to take your stuff to someone elses place for whatever reason.
I went to a wedding and there was a solo act there and he had recorded various tracks on a laptop and used that in conjunction with his live act. He was actually very good.
 
Laptops are just about as fast as desktops now a days. Only problem is to get a laptop that fast you're gonna spend 3 times as much as you would have for a desktop at that same speed.
 
If you go the laptop way, get the Pentium M chip, as the mobile technology runs cooler and so is quieter. Get the fastest chip you can afford, 512MB ram, XPpro and a 5400rpm HD if possible.

For a laptop you'll want a firewire interface. In your budget you could look at the presonus firepod. You can get it here https://www.bayviewproaudio.com/customer/product.php?productid=19879 for $600 and they'll throw in a pair of condensor mics or a set of headphones.
The beauty of this unit is it's built with 8 preamps, nice ones too. Combined with the laptop and a bunch of mics, you have a genuinely mobile 8 channel recording studio.
 
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