what pc do use?

[templar]

hi!

im currently using cakewalk express ver. 3 (i think) and i want to start a simple recording setup. what kinda pc do i need? and which soundcards are cool?

i have tried before to record audio but it records the vox as well as the midi, how i can i split the two so i can edit them seperately.

and recording cuts out at about 10 sec. (piece of crap pc)
pentium 200 mhz, 32megs ram. what do i need to record long auio and possibly multitrack....

can anyone give advice?

 

[Donny]

RAM

Templar, get as much RAM as you can. That 200Mhz is ok and a big hard drive would be nice. I use a 400Mhz, 256 RAM and have 18 gigs of disk. When I'm in Cakewalk Pro 9 the only time my hard drive comes on is when I save to it. RAM the more the better. It doesn't cost so much today. Later, Donny!!!

 

[AlChuck]

I think you will be disappointed with the results you can get with a 200 MHz Pentium. It's not a "piece of crap," you're just asking it to do more than it's capable of. I was able to squeak only four or five tracks of audio out of mine, with no plug-ins running. Good suggestion about RAM; 128 MB should be considered the minimum these days. A fast UDMA-33 drive at least is pretty much required.

As to your recording problem with the MIDI and vocals mixed, you must have the recording enabled on both your line- or mic-in and your MIDI device when you record. If youy have a Sound Blaster there might be a choice labeled "what you hear," which enables recording everything that's enabled for playback. To correct this, look in the Windows mixer utility, and disable anything but the line- or mic-in, whichever you are using.

 

[RWhite]

Ditto on the RAM comment. The first thing you need to do is set a budget - how much $$$$$ do I have to work with? Once you do that setting you priorities will be a lot easier. Your recording would be improved by upgrading your PC and/or RAM, your soundcard, and your software, but as always the mighty $$$ dictates how far you can go. Also decide how many tracks you NEED to record or playback at once - 2? 4? More? A little planning now will make you much happeir in the end.