setting up a DAW

[bigmoose]

Hi

ive been browsing the web for a while trying to find a decent audio forum, and it looks like i have found it here! nice place indeed, and i have a lot of reading to do, but i was wondering if i could ask some questions here first? i apologise for the length now...

i am studying all this stuff at uni, where we use imac/g4s and cubase vst, recycle and sound edit 16. so my natural choice was to go out and buy a similar setup, with a mixer, mu80 and a keyboard controller. but after talking to more people, ive found that i could probly do most of it on a pc, although i am having loads of fun trying to set up cubase on my pc, just has some weird crashes, but that could be due to my soundcard (live 5.1)

so after more research i have decided to stay on pc and either use sonar, or get cubase working, is it better to have a dedicated machine to all this business? or could i just use my main system?

system specs below:

------------------------------------------------
- BiGMOOSE - (Windows XP SP1)

CPU: Amd AthlonXP 2100+
Motherboard: GA-7VRXP VIA KT333 AGPset (2.0)
Memory: 512MB DDRRAM pc2700 @ Cas2
Video: Geforce4 Ti4200 128Mb
Sound: Creative Live Platinum 5.1 with LiveDrive
HDD0: Seagate 30GB Hard Drive 7200RPM
HDD1: WD 100GB Hard Drive 7200RPM (2MB)
HDD2: Seagate Barracuda IV 80GB Hard Drive 7200RPM
HDD3: Seagate Barracuda IV 80GB Hard Drive 7200RPM
HDD4: Seagate Barracuda 7200.1 120GB Hard Drive 7200RPM
HDD5: Seagate Barracuda 7200.1 120GB Hard Drive 7200RPM
DVD: Liteon 16x
CDRW: Liteon 48.24.48
DVDRW: Sony DRU500a
Monitor: Viewsonic Viewpanel VE170-b
Internet: Linksys 100/10 Ethernet
Case: LianLi PC70
Power: Enermax 550watt PSU
Keyboard: Logitech Cordless Access Keybaord
Mouse: Logitech Cordless Optical Mouse MX700
Webcam: Logitech 3000+ Pro
Speakers: Klipsch 4.1
Printer: Epson Stylus Photo 925
Misc: Creative Nomad Jukebox 3 (20gb)

------------------------------------------------
- LiLMOOSE - (Windows 2003 Enterprise Server)

CPU: Amd AthlonXP 2000+
Motherboard: GA-7ZXE VIA KT133A AGPset
Memory: 512MB SDRAM pc133
Video: Geforce2 MX400 32Mb
Sound: AC97 codec
HDD: Maxtor 30Gb Hard Drive 7200RPM
CDRW: Liteon 32.12.40
CDRW: Sony 8.4.32 SCSI
Monitor: DELL 17" M770 Monitor
Internet: Realtek 100/10 Ethernet, 56k Modem
Case: TT CK-05L6k-U
Power: Topower 400watt PSU
Keyboard: Logitech Internet Keybaord
Mouse: Logitech Optical Mouse


i use bigmoose as the main machine and lilmoose as the server, but i could change things about and use that as the DAW if need be, suggestions?

ok, about a sound card, i have realised that my soundcard at the moment will not suffice if i want to do this properly, and 2 cards have been suggested to me

Audiophile 2496 and Audigy 2

i am keen to get the audiophile because of all the good things i have heard about it and many ppl use it, however i will be looking to use a guitar with it, possibly vocals and bass, and this card will handle it, and midi right?

for a kyeboard controller i was thinking either of these two
and it seems they are quite similar in features, or am i wrong?

Midiman USB Keystation 49 or Evolution MK-149

i am also looking at a a mixer

Behringer Eurorack, either the MX602a, or the UB1202

also do i need a type of hub to connect the instruments or will they go straight into the line in of the sound card? its just because i am use to my live drive.

hope this is understandable, and i thank you for reading and offering a reply
cheers
moose

 

[Polaris20]

You're using Via chipsets, therefore I would definitely recommend an Echo audio card, such as the Mia Midi.

Everything else about BigMoose looks top shape for a DAW. You could use the other one too, but you might as well use the better one for DAW use.

I would say to try and find a used Mackie 1202 off of Ebay, otherwise the Behringer would be fine, that's what I have.

Just hook that into the Mia's 1/4" in's, and you're good to go.
You'll also need some decent monitors and headphones.

 

[bigmoose]

thanks! i have a set of sennheiser HD470's and they should do the job, but would my klipsch not be good enough? or am i misunderstanding

about using bigmoose as the system, would u recommend booting into a separate partition with only a few apps running?

will check out prices for the mia midi card, and a retailer here in australia

moose

 

[Polaris20]

thanks! i have a set of sennheiser HD470's and they should do the job, but would my klipsch not be good enough? or am i misunderstanding

about using bigmoose as the system, would u recommend booting into a separate partition with only a few apps running?

will check out prices for the mia midi card, and a retailer here in australia

moose

I personally don't think it's necessary to have a dual boot system for it, though many would disagree.

In fact, on my Win2K Pro system, I have Office 2000, 4 audio apps, Photoshop, and Jedi Outcast all on there, and have never had a problem since I tweaked it.

It's probably not the best idea to have games on there, but I figured fuck it, why not?

Until the system takes a shit on me, I'll continue to take Jedi breaks between takes

About the speakers; those are great speakers, but for audio production I'm not sure they will give an accurate representation of the mix.

They're "multimedia" speakers, not monitors.

 

[bigmoose]

thanks! this system runs all apps, no games, av firewall and lots of those utilities, it hardly ever boots, but i will see how it goes

ive got a set of mission speakers that came with a mini hifi system the denon m30, its won lots of awards and those speakers rock, so i could just buy a (rca to speaker) connection and use one of those? save me buying new speakers

well i have been looking around and not many retailers have this equipment on the net here, but i have found this

MIXER: Behringer UB1202 - AU$209
SOUNDCARD: MAudio Audiophile 2496 - AU$429 or Echo MiaMidi - AU$589 or MAudio Delta 44 - AU$549
KEYBOARD: Evolution M249USB AU$309

ive also looked at a preamp Ultra UL100, think its called that so i can connect my guitar amp out to this, or is it just useless?

the delta 44 comes with a 4in/out box would i need something like that? or do i just use the mixer?

do i need a fastlane box? we use them at uni?

also can i use this soundcard alongside my one now, or do i have to use a convertor and not have 4 speaker support?

thanks for your help, its all starting to make sense, and when i move into my new place in 3 weeks, the studio construction will begin