Stand alone workstation v. computer

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HapiCmpur

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Bear with me; I'm new at this.

I've been recording for a couple of years now using a little Boss BR-8 digital workstation, but now I want to upgrade to at least 16 tracks, not to mention better EQ and dynamics processing capabilities. I have never recorded, mixed, or edited music on a computer and have only a vague idea about how that works. I've never even used midi, but I understand the concept.

Anyway, I was about to purchase a Yamaha AW2816 digital workstation to replace my BR-8, and I was also going to buy a Boss DR-770 drum machine to use in place of the rather limited preset rhythm patterns in my keyboard. But then somebody told me that instead of the drum machine I should get a computer program and create all my drum tracks on my PC. You can probably already see where this is going.

I started doing research to figure out which software package to buy, and now that I've seen how powerful some of them are I'm beginning to think that I don't even need the Yamaha digital workstation.

I could really use some opinions on which way to go here. It might help you to know that I'm recording mostly pop-rock songs using keyboards, guitars, and vocals. I have a pretty powerful Sony Vaio PC that's very expandable. I would like to use a condenser mic, too, so I guess that means I'll need an interface of some kind that has phantom power. It would also be nice to be able to print out sheet music.

So what should I be looking for, a couple of small computer programs to supplement the Yamaha workstation, or a couple of powerful computer programs to BE my workstation? Feel free to name the brands and models you prefer, and don't forget to tell me if I'll need to buy any additional hardware or software to go with them. Thanks much.
 
since ur main focus for a computer is drums then recording music
i'd definitly hands down go with Cakewalk Sonar...it does all the good stuff ACID does as far as loops, and does all that good stuff that cubase, logic, etc, do with recording audio and midi

as far as an interface u should look at the Delta 66 OMnistudio it has 2 pre amps with pantom power and 4ins and 4 outs, i think its like 400 news like 200+ on ebay...
 
Thank you for your response.

On your advice, I checked out Sonar on the Web and it looks like it's an entire recording studio in a box. With the ability to do that much processing and mixing inside a PC, I guess someone using Sonar wouldn't even need a separate workstation, right? It seems to me that with a setup like the one you describe, I would plug my instruments into the Delta 66, process and mix everything on the PC using Sonar, then burn the results directly to disk using my CD-RW drive. Is it really that simple, or am I missing something here?

If I decide I can afford the 16-track digital workstation (which would cost more than twice as much as the Sonar/Delta setrup), would there be an advantage to using that over a PC-based setup like Sonar? Or does the PC-based setup have other advantages besides price?

Sorry if I sound dense, but like I said, I've never manipulated music on a PC before--only on digital workstations. The idea that my home computer might be able to serve as a workstation is pretty hard to wrap my mind around.
 
A few more things to add to the pot.

The Delta 66 / OMNI Studio audio interface is excelent. You are 100% correct in your assumption that you do not need a stand alone workstation such as the Boss or Yamaha. If you had a descent PC or Mac with a descent Audio interface... then you are almost set to be making some rediculasly sick music.

However... if you are trading in the Boss or Yamaha idea for the Delta 66/OMNI Studio route, then be aware that you are going to be dealing with a huge decrease in Inputs and outputs. The OMNI only has 2 Mic Pre-amps. Now for the money these are some pristene quality pre-amps. BUT there are only 2. There are some effects sends and returns if you have any hardware effects, but I can imagine from your previous post that you are not sporting racks and racks of outboard effects processors. Plus the plug in software effects that come with any software such as emagics' Logic Audio, Steinberg Cubase SX, Cakewalk Sonar XL, MOTUs' Digital Performer 3... all of these guys come jam packed with plug ins (computer based effects such as reverb, distortion, eq, compresion, delay you name it..).

Now the Delta 66 OMNI Studio will eliminate the NEED for a mixer, but it does not replace it. I have no clue what kind of set up you have as fas as instrumentation... are you recording acoustic drums at all?

But if you are doing anything other than just writing songs all by yourself, then you will deffinitly run out of inputs using the Delta 66 / OMNI. I would definitely look into the Delta 1010 or the MOTU 2408 mkIII or MOTU 1296.

You will also need a mixer. The Mackie 1604 VLZ-Pro would be cool.

So as you can see, after you rack up the initial investment for PC or Mac based recording you will definitely be giving out more $$$ than you would for a Yamaha stand alone workstation. But the cost to benifit ratio is fucking unbelievably weighted towards the benifit side of things.

Oh and the DR-770 from Boss is a great unit for writing songs, but if you are even entertaining the idea of producing songs that you would like to pass off as "professionally recorded" then the DR-770 will leave you feeling a bit limp.

Get a good software or hardware sampler like Tascam's Gigastudio...
http://www.nemesysmusic.com/

Well I hope I may have helped or at least dropped in a few words to lead you in some direction.

Have Fun!

Mike
 
Thanks, Mike. What you have to say makes a lot of sense and is going to send me off to do a lot more research. I'm left with one nagging question, though:

With computer-based recording packages being so powerful and flexbile, who's using digital workstations these days? Are the workstations all going to turn up on ebay in the near future, or do they still have something to offer the home recordist?
 
Interesting question. I don't think the two are that drastically different. A one piece digital workstation is essentially a stripped down computer that has only what it needs for audio. Many of these come with software and are basically ready for recording. Some who may not be as comfortable with computers or computer hardware may opt for this since it probably has less of a learning curve (on the computer side). But there is a large initial expense to get one of these units. A computer that is set up strictly for DAW purposes will offer the same capabilities, but one must know how to configure the sound card and interface with their studios and software. Someone comfortable with computers may do this in order to gradually upgrade to better components, but still be able to get by in the short term.

And I could be completely wrong, just my opinion :D
 
Re: A few more things to add to the pot.

pisces7378 said:
Now the Delta 66 OMNI Studio will eliminate the NEED for a mixer, but it does not replace it.
Click to expand...


I'm not following you here, Pisces. Can you elaborate?
 
I've got a question. I have a 550Mhz Compaq and after a while, it starts slowing down and my recordings start suffering. I was told by a guy who does mobile recording to go with a hard disk recorder instead of a computer. He said that it would have more inputs, it wouldn't slow down, and it's mobile. I'm currently building a computer, a 2.2Ghz with 0.5gb ram. Will I have the problem of it slowing down? Would I be better off getting the hard disk recorder? If I do get the hard disk recorder, would I need a Delta 1010? All my recordings would be done with the recorder. Would the soundcard matter at all?
 
Wow lots of questions. Well, to start 550 mHz is fast enough for audio, but it's probably as low as you want to go so I can understand you having some hangups. With a 2.2 gHz machine with 512 RAM you'll have no problems my friend. You just have to be sure to have a large capacity fast HDD. 7200 RPM or higher is recommended and it's even better to get a smaller drive for your OS and app and a large fast drive for your audio. In this case you would need a Delta 1010 or similar interface, but you would not need the hard disk recorder. For multitracking you would need a suitable mixer for all your instruments and to preamp your mics before going to the soundcard. So in the long run if you're already buiding the computer anyway it'll be cheaper to use it as a DAW and get a nice soundcard and mixer than to get a hard disk recorder. Hope this makes sense :D
 
I'm getting a 120gb 7200RPM hard drive, the Delta 1010, and a Mackie 1604 VLZ Pro mixer. With that on my 2.2Ghz, it would be good enough not to worry about the hard disk recorder?
 
>With that on my 2.2Ghz, it would be good enough not to worry about the hard disk recorder?

As long as you have recording software that will actually work with the drivers provided by M-Audio.
 
I have Sonar, Pro Audio 9, and Cool Edit. Will those work? If they won't, what will? I might be willing to change software packages in order to use the Delta.
 
I'm sure that Logic Delta (comes with the card) and the Steinberg stuff will.

Sonic Foundry stuff will not under Win XP.

Not sure about Cakewalk, Cool Edit, N-Track or others.
 
I have a very similar system to what you're going to use and I use a Delta 1010 with Sonar 2.0 XL, no problems. Looks like you'll be good to go! :)
 
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