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Author Topic: Computer Sound Question  (Read 1356 times)

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Offline eric

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Computer Sound Question
« on: December 14, 2008, 08:50:40 AM »
My current computer has proven not very good for recording and playing music.  What are you using? In particular, I'd be interested in soundcard and motherboard recommendations.
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Eric

Offline Rivers

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Re: Computer Sound Question
« Reply #1 on: December 14, 2008, 12:22:37 PM »
Hi Elder,

I'm not familiar with Macs, so this relates to Windows. Really it depends on what you want to do, and how much you can budget for it. Do you want to record more than two sources simultaneously to your hard drive? If so you'll need a pro-audio sound card; consumer sound cards generally only capture stereo input, with varying degrees of success.

As you're aware, sound cards come in two input flavor ranges, consumer stereo and multi-channel pro-audio. In the consumer department, Creative have their Soundblaster ranges, Audigy and X-Fi. The higher end is X-Fi. The top of the line X-Fi card has a big connector for a 'break-out' box that can sit on your work station with extra knobs, inputs and outputs. This is what I have currently. It's good for playing back games, DVDs, etc., in other words anything pre-mixed and mastered. Recording input is limited to the usual stereo mic jack, output can be up to surround sound 7.1 if you have a surround amp; I just plug mine into two channels on my mixer and use stereo.

Pro-audio gives you more concurrent channels in- and out, and usually bundled tracking software like Cubase or Protools LE. Personally, and this is just my own philosophy, I would never use the soundcard for recording to the PC hard drive. I'm a believer in not recording direct into a PC at all. I don't trust PC recording setups and never will, too many potential problems and the OS, processors and disk controllers are not set up for it. I prefer to plug the mics / instruments into a good desk, set the levels and send each channel's signal via the desk's direct outs to a dedicated hard disk recorder. To that end I'm saving up my pocket money for an Alesis HD-24XR recorder.

The idea is that having captured the raw session tracks on the HDR then you have the option to send them to the PC via firewire or LAN connection for mixing, should you want to mix on the PC. Or you can do it the old way and send the tracks back to the desk, add EQ, outboard FX and ride the faders to mix down to a spare couple of tracks on the HDR

But that's just me. Luckily I have the mixer, FX and monitors already. A good mixer is a cool thing to own if you're a component audio freak. Currently mine is sitting on my desk, inputs are XM satellite radio, HD radio, iPod, PC soundcard, which use 8 (4 x 2) channels. It's nice to be able to just use the channel faders to bring them in and out, and, for example, EQ-ing the sh!t back into the low-bandwidth XM signal. The outboard FX returns are plugged into a stereo channel; I can add FX to any of the sources via the FX channel fader, fun fun fun.

For recording input I have a stereo pair of Rode NT-5s, an SM57 and SM58 using up another four channels. It's a 24 channel board so I have another 8 mono channels and one stereo channel free for mixdown when I get the new recorder, without having to unplug anything.

Offline TJ

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Re: Computer Sound Question
« Reply #2 on: December 16, 2008, 08:32:43 PM »
I purchased a new aluminum MacBook (2.4GHZ Core2Duo, 250GB HDD, 2GB RAM) a few weeks ago for a number of reasons. I think the first thing you should decide is if you want a PC or Mac. There's more software and hardware available for Macs (ProTools works better, Logic is GREAT and personally my favorite program). If you do want a PC though, definitely go with an HP. In my experience (after owning a number of different HPs and Dells), HPs ALWAYS have amazing built-in sound cards, usually have awesome graphics, last a really long time compared to other PCs, and HP has great tech support. Regardless of if you get a PC or Mac, you should get a computer with a Core2Duo (max of 6MB cache, usually found with 3MB cache) or Core2Quad (max of 8MB cache, but usually found with 12MB cache in computers because of having 2 processors each with 6MB cache) processor. If you don't plan to do a whole ton of professional recording, the Core2Duo is a good choice. Otherwise, I'd go with the Core2Quad. For Macs, the Core2Quad is only available in the Mac Pro. For their other computers (MacBook Pro, higher end iMacs), the Core2Duo is available at very fast speeds with 6MB of cache. If you want a good computer for recording, go with a Mac for sure. Depending on how much work you'll be doing, that'll depend on which computer you should get. Mac Pros are in practically every studio today and have the option of the Core2Quad processor (which they actually put 2 of them in for a total of 12MB cache!). If you want a notebook, I love my new MacBook and it works great with all audio software although there isn't FireWire or an expansion slot on it, but there are plenty of good USB options. Personally, I'd go with the new aluminum MacBook Pro (higher end 15.4") IF you have the money. It has a great fast processor with lots of HDD space, lots of RAM, FireWire, and an expansion slot. If not, you could get the new aluminum MacBook (2GHZ Core2Duo with 3MB cache) but configure it with a larger hard drive and more RAM (on Apple.com). Macs are by far much better for playing, practicing, and recording music period. They will also last longer and be more compatible for professional studio projects too. Although you could configure an HP with more features for less money, you really do get what you pay for. If you do end up with a PC though, I'd highly recommend getting a copy of Mixcraft for playing around, practicing, effects, and it's decent for recording too. It is harder to find a PC that is compatible with ProTools though where ProTools works with all Macs made today (excluding the Mac Mini). Hope that helps!

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