What I have and plan to get...opinion?

[TheoCobwebs]

Hiya,

I currently have

• Maverick F1 & Ibanez Electric Guitars
• Crafter Electro Acoustic Guitar
• Yamaha Bass Guitar
• Shure SM58 Microphone with mic stand and pop shield
• Line 6 POD EX Live Floorboard
• Zoom Drum Machine
• a very old mixer by Bandridge
• Cool Edit
• AKG HiFi headphones K 141 Studio
• Monitor Audio Studio 12 Speakers (mmmmm tasty!)
• 37" Flatscreen TV/Monitor
• Kef 30b Subwoofer

…I want to get more involved and step up to Pro Tools…so I’m considering buying the following soundcard: M-Audio Delta 66

My computer spec is as follows
AMD Athlon 64 Processor
3800+
2.41 Ghz, 2GB of RAM
Tons of Hard Drive Space spare….800gb plus

Any opinions on this soundcard? I realise I won’t be able to record real drums unless I get drum mics but that’s way off in my thinking, I just want to do everything else to a good standard first. I'll prob bin my mixer when I get the soundcard, any benefit in me having a stand alone mixer in my system when I assume you can do it all on your comp screen?

Is there anything else I’m totally missing setup wise? (I love gadgets but i'm not a tecchie!)


Thanks for your help, i'm sure i'll be posting a lot more once I move into the world of more quality recording

 

[TyphoidHippo]

Hiya,

I currently have
...

• Monitor Audio Studio 12 Speakers (mmmmm tasty!)

My god, man... Tasty indeed. You got a good start with those badboys as monitors. That's like... crazy high-end - where do you even buy those? Custom made from the factory? I'm thinking of the right speakers, right? The thousands of dollars *each* insanely accurate ones?

…so I’m considering buying the following soundcard: M-Audio Delta 66
...
Any opinions on this soundcard?

It doesn't have any microphone preamps so you'll have to buy those seperately (which is NOT necessarily a bad thing at all - it's very nice to have your components separated for the control/choice you have in expanding your system). The converters are going to sound fine - you'll probably never, ever notice all the hogwash BS that people talk about cheap converters. Ted Perlman has recorded and mixed #1 Billboard Chart Hits using cheap M-Audio converters just like these...so don't believe the hype - believe the FACTS.

I realise I won’t be able to record real drums unless I get drum mics but that’s way off in my thinking, I just want to do everything else to a good standard first.

You'll also need more than four A/D converters, which is all that this thing comes with, and enough preamps to feed all those mics to said converters at the appropriate line-levels.

I'll prob bin my mixer when I get the soundcard, any benefit in me having a stand alone mixer in my system when I assume you can do it all on your comp screen?

Immense benefits can be had if you want to have them - how's that for a vague response?

Usually systems are either designed around specific pieces of hardware as the center-points of the studio (well-funded studios) *OR* they are designed around whatever existing hardware you may have (less well-funded studios).

Big-time fancy studios are gonna have either:
a. racks and lunchboxes full of boutique preamps, compressors, and EQs, or
b. 1 super-slick analog mixing desk that is used for it's preamps, compressors and EQs if it has them (Neve, SSL, etc.)
as their main backbone. It just depends on what the studio designer liked the sound of, really...and if you don't know yet what you like the sound of yet, then it kinda depends on what you have already vs. what you need.

Getting a bit more specific with exactly how many microphones, line inputs and midi inputs you want to be able to record at the same time will help get you on a straight track -

I made a list of questions for another thread for beginners to ask themselves... I'll see if I can dig it up.

 

[TheoCobwebs]

Thanks, I think i'll buy that card then learn a bit more once it's installed..

My speakers were at the height of my home cinema craze haha, got thx rears and awesome centre speaker as well...but yeah I think my Monitor Audio retailed at £1,200 (not as crazy as the studio 20's that I think were £12,000)...and they are my pride and joy...not only do they sound fantastic they look the business as well. They have discontinued them I think and moved onto newer models....just glad I got them when I did.

It's just a nice by product that I was home cinema crazy that I can use the stuff now in a home studio kinda way as well.