Suggestions for Sound card/home studio?

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revbkelly

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I have just decided to get into music recording and am wondering if you can give us some suggestions since right now I am fuzzy on just what some good options are for someone who has never done audio recording.

I was hoping to find some kind of one card sollution with a mixer/sound card combination that would give us a decent sound and ease of use since we don't really know what we are doing yet. The aadvark A 10 seems to be a good sollution for us because it has midi and if I am not mistaken we wouldn't need a separate mixer and it is supposed to have a good sound too.

Any comments suggestons?

BTW, I am not the musician... My wife and daughter are both musicians and composing Christian music so I would like to start working on recording some of their work.

Thanks for any help!

Bill
 
Just to be sure, when you say it "has MIDI" you realize that it has only a MIDI interface and no synth, right?
 
Aardvark's support has been "less than stellar" lately. They took their sweet time in releasing drivers for XP and 2000 for their products.

I've been reading posts elsewhere and people are still having problems with these cards

Midiman makes the Delta series cards. I bought an Audiophile 2496 recently and was very happy with it.

You might want to check out their Delta 44 and Delta 66 cards as they have more inputs

www.midiman.com
 
Welcome aboard, RevBKelly!

How cool that you and your family can enjoy this adventure together. I can't think of a better reason to dive into recording.

If you are recording to your computer you usually will NOT use or need an external mixer. You'll be mixing in the program that you use to record your music (n-track, cubase, cakewalk, sonar, etc.)

A word of warning, though: this stuff can SEEM a lot more complex than it is- but is also a bit complex. It takes a bit of research and leaping off the deep end at times. :)

You may also find that the advice here runs the quite a range. Its generally all GOOD advice, but it might not all be appropriate for your needs.

I'll do a little research and see what looks good to me for someone just getting started. Let me ask you a few questions, though- which will also help everyone else tailor their suggestions to your situation.

1) What kind of computer will you be using? What speed, ram, free harddrive space, and operating system?

2) Are you recording auido (things like pianos, guitars, and vocals) only, or will you also be using keyboards to record MIDI stuff? (Are you familiar with MIDI?). Also, what instruments will you be recording most?

3) What, if any, music equipment to do already own? Microphone? Sound system for the computer? Let us know what you already have to work with.

4) What is a ballpark figure for your budget? This stuff doesn't HAVE to be expensive, but those of us with lots of hours logged looking at cool gear can easily make it look that way. :)

5) Do you have any recording experience, computer or not?

Take care,
Chris
 
A lot of us use two cards: one for MIDI and soundfonts (Soundblaster Live or Audigy) and another card for digital audio (one of the M-Audio or Echo cards, e.g.)
 
brzilian said:
Aardvark's support has been "less than stellar" lately. They took their sweet time in releasing drivers for XP and 2000 for their products.

I've been reading posts elsewhere and people are still having problems with these cards

Midiman makes the Delta series cards. I bought an Audiophile 2496 recently and was very happy with it.

You might want to check out their Delta 44 and Delta 66 cards as they have more inputs

www.midiman.com
Click to expand...

Thanks! I have heard good things about the midiman cards...
 
Chris Shaeffer said:
Welcome aboard, RevBKelly!

How cool that you and your family can enjoy this adventure together. I can't think of a better reason to dive into recording.

If you are recording to your computer you usually will NOT use or need an external mixer. You'll be mixing in the program that you use to record your music (n-track, cubase, cakewalk, sonar, etc.)

A word of warning, though: this stuff can SEEM a lot more complex than it is- but is also a bit complex. It takes a bit of research and leaping off the deep end at times. :)

You may also find that the advice here runs the quite a range. Its generally all GOOD advice, but it might not all be appropriate for your needs.

I'll do a little research and see what looks good to me for someone just getting started. Let me ask you a few questions, though- which will also help everyone else tailor their suggestions to your situation.

1) What kind of computer will you be using? What speed, ram, free harddrive space, and operating system?

I will be buying a new system. Right now the AMD 1800
AMD ATHLON XP 1800+ & ECS K7S5A MOTHERBOARD W/ HSF with
60 gig HD(7200rpm), and probably 512 meg Ram will be the choice. Since I work in Tech support the computer part is not hard. The only thing is that we use an older Roland 5500 keyboard that we were hoping to use for the MIDI keyboard input and then use sound module. The only prob is that this is a Piano imitation and I am trying to find a way of hiding the computer stuff so it doesn't mess up our living room. Otherwise I guess we will have to find another location.[/i]

2) Are you recording auido (things like pianos, guitars, and vocals) only, or will you also be using keyboards to record MIDI stuff? (Are you familiar with MIDI?). Also, what instruments will you be recording most?

We have already used MIDI with Macs. My wife and daughter both sing and my youngest daugther plays drums. For the most part it will be vocals but I can see that if things go well we could be looking at a band. We have a lot excellent musicians in our church who have already recorded so having a band with other instruments to record is a distinct possibility.
I guess the key is flexibility and quality without paying an arm and a leg.[/i]

3) What, if any, music equipment to do already own? Microphone? Sound system for the computer? Let us know what you already have to work with.

No mics as yet... We will have to put out the bucks for that. I would have to start out slow since since I think the major expense is the computer, and the card/s. I don't have a sound system for the computer either so need some suggestions on that too. But I was hoping to not have to put out a huge amount of money on that if I got the right card. We do have as I mentionned the Roland 5500, MT 32 and an Roland alpha juno... Although they are old they still have a decent sound. [/i]

4) What is a ballpark figure for your budget? This stuff doesn't HAVE to be expensive, but those of us with lots of hours logged looking at cool gear can easily make it look that way. :)

I was looking at somewhere around 3000.00 canadian (which is around 200.00 US!:)) for the computer sound card/digital capture card.

5) Do you have any recording experience, computer or not?

As I mentionned we have had some MIDI recording experience with our lowly Macintosh SE and Alpha Juno/MT 32 combo. We purchased a Fostex porta studio and used that as well to do some soundtracks. My wife was in a group that did record some cassettes in the 70's at a studio so recording is not new to us. Since I am a tech the computer stuff is not a problem. I just don't want to put out this kind of money and find something that is so complex that my wife and daughter can't use it(since they are not techs) or that is so complex and and not intuitive that it destroys the creative flow. :)

Take care,
Chris

Thanks for your time Chris! I really appreciate your time.:)
Click to expand...
 
Consider the Aardvark Direct Pro 24/96. It is the same as the Q-10 except it only has 4 inputs. The preamps are built in and you definitely do not need an external mixer. If you are not going to record more than 4 tracks at once, this is an excellent choice. Someone can correct me, but I think you need an external mixer with the Delta cards.
 
blinddogblues said:
Consider the Aardvark Direct Pro 24/96. It is the same as the Q-10 except it only has 4 inputs. The preamps are built in and you definitely do not need an external mixer. If you are not going to record more than 4 tracks at once, this is an excellent choice. Someone can correct me, but I think you need an external mixer with the Delta cards.
Click to expand...

I'm going to correct you.:D No the Delta's do not need external mixers. The Delta 1010LT even has mic-preamps and XLR inputs.

http://www.midiman.com/products/m-audio/1010lt.php

If you want mic-preamps for the Delta 44 and 66, you just add the Omni I/O module.
 
brzilian said:


I'm going to correct you.:D No the Delta's do not need external mixers. The Delta 1010LT even has mic-preamps and XLR inputs.

http://www.midiman.com/products/m-audio/1010lt.php

If you want mic-preamps for the Delta 44 and 66, you just add the Omni I/O module.
Click to expand...

So what is the difference between the Omni studio and the 1010? I read on the board that Omni Studio is very flexible and intuitive...

Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

Bill
 
I can't tell you the diff between the 1010 and the delta omni but I can tell you that I use a soundblaster platignum 5.1 soundcard for midi and a midiman delta 66 with an omni box which I use for four audio inputs. Two guitars and two microphones. The two mic inputs have pre-amplifiers which are well regarded, they are quiet (don't have too much hiss). The omni also has two headphone outs which is very useful for monitoring whilst recording say a vocalist who also has phones on so the sound of the backing tracks don't "bleed" into his/her vocal mic whilst singing the vocal track.

Midi mans web site:

http://www.midiman.net/m-audio

The delta series of cards have a software mixer which can route/mix all your ins and outs as you want them to.

For software, I use Cakewalks Home Studio 2002. It is a Lite version of their award winning Sonar software. You can record midi and audio simultaneously and its (relatively) easy to use.

Here is their web site:

http://www.cakewalk.com/

If you want to record audio, then you will also need a decent microphone too. Choice is stunning, a little research will point you in the right direction.

And above all, a fairly decent computer with tons of RAM. I have an old 400 Meg machine but loaded with 760 Meg of RAM, which is fine for my current needs.

Best of luck to you and your family!

:)
 
Hey Paul, I too have HS2002.

Just a word or warning though - HS2002 does not support simultaneous multitrack recording with multi input cards. Just wanted to give you the heads up there if one day you tried it and it doesn't work.

If you want to be albe to record more than two tracks at once, you will need Sonar.
 
Wow, this is a neat thread. :)

Rev,

If you are worried about cards that are too techy that your wife and daughter won't be able to use, you don't have to worry too much. Like most hardware, once you set it up it is easy to use. There are still all the mechanics of setting up mics, setting recording level, etc- but that is common to all recording setups so you can't really get around it.

Now, believe it or not, I have to go to work! On a Sunday!

Happy Earth Day, everyone. ;)

Chris
 
Hi Brzillian,

Do you mean that HS2002 can't simultaneously record using two soundcards? Or did you mean to say that even on one soundcard, HS2002 can't simultaneously record to more than two tracks?
 
Thats okay then, as I only ever record two tracks at a time max its not a problem, but thanks for the heads up. Next step for me will be a small mixer so maybe its not an issue anyway.

Thanks again.
 
I'm going to have to plug the Aardvark card again I'm afraid. I was duefully corrected on my opinion that the Delta cards needed a mixer, but you must go with a 1010 or the Omni upgrade to get mic pres. With the Direct Pro 24/96, you get 4 mic pres and you can record with all of them at once. You can also run multiple cards together. In fact, I run 3 of them and record 12 tracks simulteaneously. The dynamic range specs on this card are better than any of the Delta's and for what you get, you spend less money. The main reason I am participating here is because I am helping my brother decide on a sound card and the more research I do, the more I am convinced the Aardvark is the card.
 
blinddogblues said:
You can also run multiple cards together. In fact, I run 3 of them and record 12 tracks simulteaneously.
Click to expand...

The Delta series do that as well...
 
Brzilian, you just said that only 2 tracks could be recorded simulteanously on the Delta 66. Did I misunderstand? I am not tryng to start an argument, I just want to know what the selling points of this card are and their website does not answer all of these questions.
 
blinddogblues said:
Brzilian, you just said that only 2 tracks could be recorded simulteanously on the Delta 66. Did I misunderstand? I am not tryng to start an argument, I just want to know what the selling points of this card are and their website does not answer all of these questions.
Click to expand...

I said Home Studio 2002 cannot do that - only Sonar. I was talking about programs - not cards.
 
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