UltraNewb - Need help on getting things rolling

[swine]

My current set up is a Boss B-532. As you probably already know...im looking for a major upgrade.
I wish to do my recording via PC. I have several lying around other than this one. The best one i have to use as a recorder is a PIII with 512mb of ram. I can get cubase or pro tools, this is no problem.

How important are sound cards? How bad will it sound if i just use a regular SB?
If i bought an M-Box, would all i need is a mixer and a nice sound card? Do i need a mic preamp as well?
When on earth do i need a mic preamp and when not?

Thanks guys!! Hope you can help cause im so lost!

 

[Kevin Deschwazi]

My current set up is a Boss B-532. As you probably already know...im looking for a major upgrade.
I wish to do my recording via PC. I have several lying around other than this one. The best one i have to use as a recorder is a PIII with 512mb of ram. I can get cubase or pro tools, this is no problem.

How important are sound cards? How bad will it sound if i just use a regular SB?
If i bought an M-Box, would all i need is a mixer and a nice sound card? Do i need a mic preamp as well?
When on earth do i need a mic preamp and when not?

Thanks guys!! Hope you can help cause im so lost!

Yes a soundcard made for recording audio will greatly improve the potential for good sound quality (largely due to the quality of the analogue to digital converters). You'll also get far fewer headaches with things like latency.

A mic preamp is used to bring the level from a mic (which is weak) up to 'line level'. If you want to record with mics you need mic preamps (as many as you want to record simulataneous tracks). Something like the MBox will probably have preamps built in.

What are you going to record? Type of music, instruments? etc.

How many tracks will you want to record simultaneously?

What is your budget?

 

[Tifstorey]

Yes, the Mbox does include built in pre amps. I hear theyre very good ones too!

Also, if you bought the Mbox, or something like that, a mixer is not essential. It has both XLR and 1/4" connections on the box, with all the gain controls etc all on the unit, so you can just 'plug and play'.

 

[Monkey Allen]

Is the soundblaster live platinum 5.1 considered good for recording?

 

[Kevin Deschwazi]

Is the soundblaster live platinum 5.1 considered good for recording?

In a word, no.

The Soundblaster cards are more geared towards gaming.

 

[swine]

could anyone recommend some good cards? I cant find that info anywhere.

 

[Monkey Allen]

I am looking into that too. Try these links out:

http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards_for_the_home_studio.htm

http://www.pcmus.com/Best-Audio-Recording-Card.htm

http://www.pcmus.com/DSP24Options.htm

 

[Kevin Deschwazi]

Try this:

http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/?page=shop/soundcard_selector

 

[blazingstrings]

Im my opinion stay away from protools, especialy if you are using a "OLDER" PC. Look at a product such as Sonar 4 by Cakewalk. It is by far a much more powerfull audio app and if you are running a PIII thats around 1.3ghz or faster it will run smoothly if you setup your pc properly(thats important on all pc's it solves a tone of problems).

Also check out http://www.musicxp.net to learn how to tweak windows for audio. Trust me if you dont tweek the os your missing out on performance.

when looking at sound cards I would stay away from USB 1.1 interfaces like the M-Box(I have owned one), latency is a issue. especialy if your doing any intense recording.
Look at PCI cards. M-audio makes a few great cards The audiophile 192 is a great card. Echo makes nice ones. Presonis makes nice Firewire solutions and edirol make nice USB 2.0(much faster and better when tracking), Then you could get a Pre amp and other goodies. and yes the Sandblaster(sound blaster) cards are a no good product for audio recording. and DOnt fall victem to the E-mu soundcards they are SoundBlater cards in other clothing(No realy they are, I bought one and installed it to see the box said creative and the software said Soundblaster).

Protools is a very CPU intense app and in many ways a over blown product.
Its just not as advanced and open as many apps on the market now.
Just make sure you buy the software you use. Cracks are evil!

Later

-Blaze

 

[swine]

If i bought an M-Audio card such as the delta 44 or the audiophile 192 what else would i need with it? A mixer, mic preamp(s?). Does anyone have a link for compatability of m-audio cards?

 

[Kevin Deschwazi]

If i bought an M-Audio card such as the delta 44 or the audiophile 192 what else would i need with it? A mixer, mic preamp(s?). Does anyone have a link for compatability of m-audio cards?

Yes you'd need seperate mic preamps for use with the two cards you mentioned although some cards have built in pres (the Maudio delta 1010LT has 2). How many pres depends on how many tracks you'd be wanting to record simultaneously. Most mixers have mic pres built in so if you need several pres and you're on a tight budget then that's an option. If you only need to record one or two tracks at a time then a standalone mic pre with one or two channels would probably be better. The Maudio DMP-3 (2 channels) is very popular and with good reason imo.

What do you mean by compatability? The Maudio cards have fairly standard interfaces and will hook up with pretty much all pres, mixers, power amps, DI's etc. without any problems. It's just a case of getting the right cables.

 

[swine]

Thanks.

What i meant by compatability was between computer parts. Chipset, etc. Sofware. Seeing if i need some new hardware other than the card.

Also, is there a big quality difference between the Maudio DMP-3 and preamps on a mixer, a yamaha 12/4 mixer?
If those on the mixer arent so great, how would i record multiple tracks if my card had only one preamp?

 

[Kevin Deschwazi]

What i meant by compatability was between computer parts. Chipset, etc. Sofware. Seeing if i need some new hardware other than the card.

I'm not great with computers. I think in this day and age it's pretty rare that you'd have those type of issues with any of the popular cards. Hopefully someone with a bit more knowledge on that will chip in but I think you'd be pretty unlucky to have any compatability issues. Maybe you could decide on a card and then email the full spec of your computer to the tech support people for the cards manufacturers and check with them?

Also, is there a big quality difference between the Maudio DMP-3 and preamps on a mixer, a yamaha 12/4 mixer?
If those on the mixer arent so great, how would i record multiple tracks if my card had only one preamp?

There's a difference yes, a huge difference? no not really and it's not as if the pres on the yammie are good for nothing.

If you recorded just one track with one and then the other you probably wouldn't notice too much of a difference at all. When it starts to matter though is when the tracks start to build up. The noise from the pres used will also build up and your overall quality will suffer.

The DMP-3 is a very clean pre for the money. The pres on the yammie are pretty decent considering the price but I wouldn't want to use them to track everything for a mix with a lot of stuff going on.

Do bear in mind thought that I've only used the Yammie MG 16/4 in a live situation so maybe I'm not best qualified to compare the two. I do own a DMP-3 though.

 

[warble]

Thanks.

What i meant by compatability was between computer parts. Chipset, etc. Sofware. Seeing if i need some new hardware other than the card.

In my experiences, M-audio products haven't played well with VIA chipsets (KT, etc.) A little over two years ago, I owned a Audiophile 24/96 and simply could not get it to work 100% with my Asus motherboard w/ VIA chipset. I tried workarounds to no avail and suffered from "clicking and popping" in tracks. I moved to the Echo Gina 24 and all problems disappeared as Echo did decent testing with VIA chipsets.

I have nothing against m-audio at all, just the nature of the beast. Their newer/other products may play better now - I don't know. I'd search around here if you nail it down to a couple choices in what you want.

Also, is there a big quality difference between the Maudio DMP-3 and preamps on a mixer, a yamaha 12/4 mixer?
If those on the mixer arent so great, how would i record multiple tracks if my card had only one preamp?

The new Yamaha MG mixer line has really nice pre-amps and other features for the prices. I don't think the DMP-3 smokes the Yamaha MG pre's, but it certainly is a nice pre. I'd use the Yamaha pre's and see what your ears think (does that even make sense ). You gotta start somewhere, and I think you might be off to a good start!

 

[blazingstrings]

I will agree with warble on the chipset compatability issue.
I have a PC that I am upgrading, but the chipset on the old Motherboard is a SIS. It works quite well with my Audiophile 24/96 and my Echo Gina but not with E-mu cards(No suprise! E-mu cards are just SandBlasters in sheeps clothing).

Also I would say if you are going to get a Mixer anyway get the Yamaha and skip the DMP-3(I own a Dmp-3, I like the dmp dont get me wrong). Or just get the mixer and save up for a better pre.

Look at the Echo Mia Midi sound card, Echo seems to know what they are doing. Plus it has Balanced TRS in and outs plus all the digital and midi stuff.

Later!
-bLAZE

 

[blarg]

I'm not quite sure what you're wanting to do, somebody asked earlier, what style of music, your budget, and instruments; and that's all very important on top of how many tracks do you want to go into the computer simultaneously. The yamaha mg12/4 will give you 4 simultaneous and seperate tracks, you can put the yamaha into a delta44, which all together will about $350. However, if you don't need 4 tracks and can settle with 2, then I'd go with a M-Audio MobilePre USB for $150, which has two mic inputs with pre's. It's also USB so there's no need to buy another sound card. Those two options are both cheap and easy to install, although I haven't used the MG w/ the 44, I know the MobilePre sounds pretty good for the price.

 

[blazingstrings]

I agree that the Mobile Pre is a good sounding interface!
I had one for while but dumped it due to latency, as I was tracking many guitar parts and drums ect. It has direct monitoring, but It just didnt work out in the end as overall latency would not get down to an exceptable amount.

For just simple tasks its a good box.
USB 2.0 seems to be getting cheeper and more comin.

-Rik