What hardware is TRULY necessary??

R

RyanOD

New member
Okay, I have an AMD K6 300 speed processor and want to know if that can handle computer based recording. I have no idea. Of course, I will beef up the RAM (256) and put in a nice sound card. Do you need a blazing processor?? It seems having an Athlon or a P4 is awfully popular, but is it truly necessary. If it is, can you explain why?? Thanks.:confused:
 
i had a k6-2 350, tracked my freinds band 16 tracks and some plugins, though it took a lot of tweaking to get it to that state..

and it was a pain in the ass generally for that many tracks. i need a compressor on track 3.. couldnt do it i was out of cpu.. its very nice to have headroom, for when you have the ideas you need the means.

i suggest a p3 or athlon 500 mghz and above. 128 bare min on ram, 7200rpm hard drive, these are my bare minimum.

preferred 700mghz, 256 meg of ram, and two 7200 rpm drives ata 100. (one for programs and one for .wav files)
 
Man, thanks for the prompt reply. Ummm, by "nice soundcard", I guess I mean spending anywhere from $100 to $300. As far as the number of tracks goes, probably only 8-12. I'll be using something like Cakewalk or Cubase. My drum machine is MIDI and that is it. The rest of my instruments will be guitars and vocals. As far as simultaneous I/O goes, it will only be me playing (to begin with) so I guess no more than a couple inputs at once.

Does that help??

Essentially, I want to be able to learn how to record on my computer without breaking the bank to buy a new computer. This will just be for my own demos.
 
i would go with a audiphile 24/96 and if your being really budget minded, and your mobo supports it, at least up it to a 500 k6-3 for like 50 bucks or less.
 
Avoid the frustration that a "family car" set-up brings to the party in the form of "stuttering" tracks and inability to edit or add effects.

AMD 1000 and Abit KT7E ($201)
WD 30gb 7200rpm ata100 ($85)
256mb pc133 ($30)
Darla24, MIA, ect. ($200/$300)
NTrack ($30? Think I gave $59 for the CD)
PowerTracks (Free!)

I feel your anxiety! I started with a Pll 333, 32megs, 8gb 5400rpm and a soundblaster! Oh the frustration! That machine now sits in a pile with a RadioShack dynamic and a couple of Samson R11's and Behringer 1604 (manual not included).

Remember that some of those cards whose break out boxes provide phantom power for mics are going to want at least 300 watts on the power supply. Some have external power, but just be mindful.

Good luck.
 
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