headshrinker2
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Suggestions for New Studio
Greetings everyone,
I am new to the forum. Getting back to home recording after being away for several years. I would greatly appreciate your suggestions on selecting a (1) sound card and (2) midi interface for my small home studio. I’m looking for solid stuff that is known to be “tried and trueâ€.
I will be using Sonar Studio 7 on a relatively new custom built dual core desktop PC running Windows XP Pro.
MB Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 P965 775
VGA Gigabyte GV-NX86S256H 8600GTS R
PSU Antec TP3-430 430W RT
CPU Intel C2D E6600 2.4G 775 4M R
MEM 1Gx2 Crucial BL2KIT12864AA804 R
MEM 512Mx2 Crucial BL2KIT6464AA804
HD 74G/WD 10K 16M SATA WD740ADFD
HD 500G/WD 7K 16M SATA2 WD5000ABYS
My current equipment:
Controller: Kurzweil PC88 Performance Controller
Sound Modules: Roland XV-3080; Might add a Roland Phantom XR or Yamaha Motif Rack ES
Mixer: Mackie CR 1604
Monitors: TBD
I would like to be able to use my current hardware sounds as well as any soft-synths I may purchase in the future. I am an amateur, mostly midi based compositions w/ some audio thrown in (i.e. sax, guitar, percussion..).
I would be especially interested in hearing suggestions for an appropriate sound card and midi interface that are known to work well together and with Sonar.
Thanks very much in advance!
ï® Rob
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Beagle
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RE: Suggestions for New Studio
2008/05/22 08:55:54
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Hi Rob,
check out my website for some recommendations on soundcards.
you need to ask yourself what your needs are. since you already have a mixer, I'd not suggest an "all in one" card like come with USB or Firewire, but I'd suggest a PCI card. they give the best performance, IMO. how many simultaneous inputs you want to record now or in the future is a big question you need to address. the mackie 1604 has direct inputs, IIRC, so that's a big plus for using in the studio for multiple simultaneous channels being recorded.
budget is also a big factor in determining what you can get and you didn't mention how much you wanted to spend on it.
the "all in one" cards will usually have a MIDI I/O on them and some of the PCI cards do as well, but if you find a soundcard which suits your needs EXCEPT for the MIDI I/O, then I wouldn't be concerned about it. MIDI/USB cables are perfectly capable devices. I have 2 keyboards connected via USB to my own computer and it works just fine that way.
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fibredrive
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RE: Suggestions for New Studio
2008/05/22 11:06:51
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Hi Rob,
in line with what beagle has suggested, i'd recommend what i've been using for the last 7 years at least, without a hitch since the day i plugged it in. Echo MIA MIDI. its a PCI card and is literally plug and forget. never given me any problems. it has a breakout cable with S/PDIF and MIDI connectors. cheers
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IzovAge
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RE: Suggestions for New Studio
2008/05/22 11:33:58
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To answer your question we need more info.
1) How many inputs and outputs do you need?
2) What is your budget?
Lots of good choices to choose from but it's hard to know without those 2 questions being answered.
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headshrinker2
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Thank very much for the reply and suggestions!
-- Rob
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headshrinker2
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Thanks for the reply. There are so many ways to go, it makes me a bit dizzy!
I guess I am realizing that I don't have a clear answer to your first question. Let me clarify my recording goal, and perhaps you can help me identify the best way(s) to go about it.
For now, I want to play/record/edit my compositions that are almost exclusively instrumental midi based using sound modules/soft-synths. As I mentioned in my original post, it is likely that I will adding some sax/guitar/percussion to my tracks. But, I do not intend on recording lots of players at once. I'm not sure what the best way of getting my synth/sound module tracks into the computer.
-- Rob
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IzovAge
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How much can you spend?
Are you going to be recording a full drum set? And with how many mics, if so?
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headshrinker2
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For me, I plan on getting the right tools for my needs. As an amateur, I tend to look for the sweet spot when it comes to purchases.
While I don't plan on multitrack recording w/ any live bands at this time, I actually am a percussionist by training. I've never tried to record live drums, but I own a drumset so it might be something I might tackle in the future. For now, I will focus on working with triggering drum sounds from my keyboard and using drum loops.
I do own a fine acoustic grand piano that is upstairs in the house (away from my desktop/basement/studio) that I would love to be able to record in the future.
-- Rob
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Beagle
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to mic live drums you need at least 5 mics (IMO). an acoustic grand only needs 2 inputs for recording.
But if you want to get something that is expandable in the future, I'd work with the m-audio delta series. you can increase the number of cards which will sync to the same clock and drivers as you go to increase your inputs and outputs (depending on your available PCI slots)
you can have up to 4 delta series pci cards in the same comptuer at the same time and sync them all together in ASIO mode for up to 40 inputs and outputs depending on the types of cards you get. the 1010 has 8 analog and 2 digital I/O (one of those is MIDI I/O). I'm not real big on the 1010LT because of the preamps on inputs 1 & 2 are really crappy and since you already have decent preamps on the mackie, you don't really need preamps for your soundcard.
you could also use up to 4 Delta 44's. you can start out with one of them giving you 4 inputs and 4 outputs, then add up to 3 more giving you a total of 16 I/O (all balanced, but also depending on the availability of your PCI slots)
you can also mix and match delta series cards.
to my knowledge the m-audio delta series cards are the only ones on the market that will do that right now. I think some of the higher end firewire cards will allow you to daisy chain them, but I'm not sure.
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headshrinker2
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Thanks Beagle. I really appreciate the advice. The idea of starting with something that is expandable is quite compelling.
-- Rob
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