soundcard outputs?? another Newbie starts!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Fenderbender
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Fenderbender

New member
Sorry about the wasted post, now I know the username/password are case sensitive. To retype...

Howdy Y'all

Been followeing this site since mid-Dec. when I decided to upgrade my old system: 386, Cakewalk 4.0 (for DOS!), midi keybrds and drums, Roland compat. MPU soundcard, JLC PP1 midi-tape sync, and Fostex X-26 4-tr cassete.
The cavemen are tired of rolling the wheel and now want to fly!

Usually I record 1 or 2 tracks (guitar and vocals), but would like to be able to record "the gang" up to 3 mics, 2-3 guitars, bass and midi drums and keybrds. (on separate tracks)

I'm assuming I don't need mic preamps since thay are built into the A/D soundcards. I'm assuming I don't need a mixer sinc I'll mix down on a software like Cakewalk or N-tracks.
Is there any use for a mixer pre-recording? post-recording?

I presume I'd need a sound card like the wave/824 for the 8 audio/2 midi in's they have. One of my questions is what do you use the audio outs for, and why would you need 8. I understand the Midi out to re-play the sounds on the equipment (here's where it starts to go fuzzy and turn black), but what about the midi if you want to record to cd.

I'm still researching hardware, I plan on getting the hardware and soundcard first and then downloading software demo's off the net.
So far, I'm considering:

Celeron 400-500 mhz/128k cache (? if it's L2)
with Intel ca810e motherboard
128mb ram (?type), 8.4 gb HD plus a removable 20 gig HD bay (for audio only), sonyCRX 140E CD-R (8x/4x/32x), 17" monitor (Samsung)

Mistakes? What kind/# of conmnectors should I be looking for on my motherboard. The midi interface looked lik a joystick port, I suspect I'll need one of those midi-joystick cables.

Don't want to sound sucky but I must. Great site, answered many of my questions after I had dug around for awhile and began to understand what I was reading, especially this Newbies site. Thanks Dragon, thanks ev eryone.
Salut (pronounced sal-ue, like Adrian Baloo) (some French for y'all, eh!)
 
Hey Fenderblender:

Don't assume you don't need preamps or a mixer, few cards have preamps that are workable for mic's or line, Aark Direct is the only one I can think of off hand. Mixer is useful because it does have preamps and you can route the outputs of your multi-mic/line setup into your multi-input soundcard.

With the outputs of the soundcard, you could route these to external processing devices, back into a mixer for further EQ'ing or submixing etc. Most of this can be done internally via software, but nice to have options open. As for midi - I'm fuzzy on this to, but in order for it to be heard on a normal audio cd, somewhere along the line it has to be converted to a wav, and mixed in along with your other real instruments. One way of doing this would be to take an output from the soundcard (which is playing the midi) and plug it back into 2 open inputs on your soundcard. This would give you 2 (or more) tracks of wav.

As for hardware, I would avoid the Intel 810 chipset. All that built in video and audio crap is bound to give you headaches, especially since you want this machine for recording.

Some hardware suggestions, totally biased opinions.

If Celeron (get a 500MHz), go with an ABIT BE6 (I think, the one with the UDMA66 controller built-in). Use a PPGA to Slot 1 converter card so you can upgrade to a PIII at a later date.

If in your budget, go with an ASUS K7M and an Athlon 600. I'm in the process of building 4 of these and so far, very impressed. The price is right to. Wish they were mine.

For hard drives, get 7200RPM, Quantum are good ones.

128MB SDRAM is a good minumum.

You will need a joystick/midi convertor thing if the soundcard you buy does not already have this built in (many do).

Happy Shopping

Emeric
 
Yes, as Emeric said, avoid the i810 like the plague. I was really disappointed that there wasn't a good chipset between i810 and i820 (which sucks too). You either get the latest crap that doesn't work...or compatibility with older stuff but built in sound and video. Sheesh.

Be cautious of the BE6. I've recommended it in the past, but it's really meant for overclockers and is really touchy. I like mine, but I'm pretty sick of flashing the BIOS every other tuesday. (though I screw around a lot more than most) After what just happened I'm really over it...won't go into details. Asus makes nice reliable BX motherboards. www.asus.com

Yes the BE6 has a built in ATA/66 controller but there is no difference between ATA/66 and ATA/33 YET. Plus that damn Highpoint controller is screwy. The big difference comes in a drive's RPM's. Get a 7200 RPM drive as Emeric suggested...and Quantums are great.

Who's your buddy? http://www.componentsdirect.com has a 20.4GB 7200RPM quantum...8.5ms 512k...$156. I ordered from them today and they're VERY friendly. It's probably only a few bucks more than that little 8GB you're looking at.

Get PC100 SDRAM even if you get a Celeron (which only requires PC66). 128MB will run $110 - 140 generic.

If you get a Celeron...try to get a Slot 1 to avoid the adapter...but it'll work out either way. Whatever you do, get a Slot 1 motherboard as Emeric said because you'll probably end up with a PIII some day.

Also note: the PII450 runs about $110 right now and will outperform any Celeron.
I would also recommend looking into an Athlon if you can afford it.
Teac makes a 4x4x32 CDRW for $179.
Hitachi sells a 17" (16" viewable) .24 1024x768 @ 85hz monitor for $250.
Princeton sells a 17" (15.9" viewable) .27 1280x1024 @ 65hz monitor for $210.
A midtower ATX case w/230W power supply can be had from componentsdirect.com for $30. You CAN'T beat that. Plus they'll only charge you 15-20 in shipping.

Sorry to ramble but today I ordered all the parts to assemble a kick ass machine for a friend...so all the prices are fresh in my head. I ordered just about everything from that components direct and they only charged me 20 bucks to ship it which is GREAT for a computer reseller (usually they screw you with "handling" to advertise lower prices)

As for your MIDI question...most soundcards will come with a MIDI/joystick port. That's what you were seeing on the one you're looking at. You don't want a motherboard with built in sound. The soundcard you'll buy will have its own MIDI connector. As for connectors on the mobo...they're pretty typical...get a REGULAR sized ATX board, 5 PCI slots, 1 or 2 ISA slots, 1 AGP slot, etc. standard stuff. Spend at least 100 bucks on a decent motherboard. You'll thank yourself later.

Slackmaster 2000
 
Thanks Emeric, thanks Slackmaster2K.

I don't own a net-connected computer at home yet, I slip in for a moment at work(aaieeee, is that the boss's footsteps I hear), or at a friends, so I might not be back for a week.

Just to say thanks, I'll take what you gave me and do some more shopping and digesting, you really gave me exactly the type of info I was looking for.

Later, Fenderbender
 
This isn't my league, I'm not a computer guy, but there is a really interesting article about "Roll your own" computers and how much it'd cost to make a kick-ass, fast as all get out computer, including how much stuff costs and where to get it, on ProRec.com

(Hey Dragon, no offense meant! But seriously you should guys should link each other...)
 
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