me and my ADD, such wonderful bedfellows
So pricing out all the components, whether I buy or build, I’m looking at a good chunk of change.
So I’m beginning to wonder why I shouldn’t just get this:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7…3
and continue to use my old DAW for mixing/mastering. I currently have no monitors to speak of, just some bookshelf speakers. After buying a good soundcard and a decent set of monitors I would have that much in it anyways, eh?
bangs head on desk
Somebody tell me what I want, would ya?
Oooohhh…what a conundrum. (or this an African percussion instrument?) I hear ya’ Hux! That little Fostex setup does not look too bad. If your current DAW can run as many tracks as you need to mix/master, I say go for it!
Decent new PC ~$700
Decent new multi-input soundcard ~ $300 (or more!)
Decent monitors ~ $300 (Sky’s the limit!!)
Look into one of THESE though before you decide. Price the CD burner too. This unit smokes the Fostex stuff in the same price range. I’ve had one of these for three/four years now. Real good unit.
TG
The MF package looks good. I would only get a dedicated unit if I needed portability, because they’re basically computers. The thing I like about having a DAW is that I can do all the work (recording, mastering, production, publication, etc., etc.) at one place & on one machine. Plus I can upgraded components when I want to, something you can’t do with a dedicated device.
On on the portability issue, I’ve been carrying my DAW to gigs & recording the band. It’s a little hassle but it works. In the future, I’m planning on building one of my Cube DAWs to solve the portability issue - see Cube DAW.
Where do you guys get a good DAW for $700? Oh I suppose you buy Dell computers.
| Quote (Mr Soul @ Dec. 08 2004,10:52) |
| Where do you guys get a good DAW for $700? Oh I suppose you buy Dell computers. |
Dell? Ugh, NO!!
I spec'd the components I wanted and had a box built for me by THESE guys. I could have made it 50 bucks cheaper by doing assembly myself. Those guys did a great job.
TG
PS Nothing wrong with Dell mind you, I just like to KNOW whats under the hood if you know what I mean.
If your current DAW can run as many tracks as you need to mix/master, I say go for it!
yea, that’s what I’m thinking too…lol
>>Oh I suppose you buy Dell computers
naw, it’s worse than that…Systemax, rebranded nothing really…LOL it’s just not over specc’ed for my needs. But it does meet them, it really does.
Hux, run with what you’ve got and see how you go. If it’s struggling with x number of tracks and you just can’t mix a few down, then upgrade. I’d be looking at soundcard and monitors myself. I’m a fan of the daw route, but I can’t see why results can’t be had on the fostex. If it had a VGA out I reckon that would rock, but it appears it doesn’t.
Personally, I’ve rack mounted my pc and mixing desk. Looks like the hercules fw16/12 has finally been released, so I’m grabbing one of those and sticking it in the rack with my 4 channel comp/limiter. That’ll be portable enough for me.
Looking forward to hearing something from you Huxable. Been a while since I heard your redneck man boobied voice.
Willy.
Even if I used AMD chips, I couldn’t buy the components for my own DAW for $700
Check out the alesis hd24 and fire port. Works great for me! I dump 24trks through firewire.You’ll need a mixing desk but the hd24’s keep dropping in price.I have had the rolands,fostex and tascams in the past and was never really pleased with the sound.
Good Luck!
Jeromee
For people like me, who do lots of takes to get one decent part and then find I gotta punch in a few places later, a DAW is WAY faster and easier than a dedicated recorder. The fact that I can clearly see where I am, and I have unlimited tracks to record without losing what might have been a not too terrible take, makes me 10 times as effective with a DAW than I was using tape.
Of course a digital recorder is more convenient than tape – it rewinds instantly.
With that recorder, you have to burn a CD every time you want to transfer tracks from the recorder to your DAW or vice versa. Or else you use S/PDIF, transferring at real-time song speed (i.e., 4 minutes for a 4 minute song). Not to mention the fuss and hassle.
The advantage of a dedicated unit is that it’s much less likely to have sync problems or catch a virus or get dropouts – all the stuff we hassle with on our DAWs when they’re not behaving. But I think Hux is easily up to the technical challenge here, and knows which end of a mouse to hold. 
Oh – and they’re quieter, too.
Do you plan to record multiple tracks? If you’re like most of us and usually only record one thing at a time, you don’t need an expensive soundcard. I’d suggest getting the computer, using a soundblaster Live or similar cheap but decent card, and saving your pennies for a multichannel card next year, if you want one. (I found one on ebay for under $100, an Inca88.)
On the other hand, if you have a band and you’re dying to record y’all playing together or something like that, the dedicated units are handy and it’s nice to get all the stuff in one package.
| Quote (Mr Soul @ Dec. 08 2004,13:22) |
| Even if I used AMD chips, I couldn't buy the components for my own DAW for $700
|
Newegg.com
TG
I second newegg.com. Newegg.com was noticably cheaper than anyone else when I got my most recent stuff. (1 gig dual 800 Kingston memory, Soyo Dragon2 MB, P4 3.2 Prescott) When I say noticably cheaper I mean in the $100’s less for the bunch total.
well, here is my first recording in over 2 years, I guess. I quit smoking, etc…it’s full of timing errors, miscues, and missed notes but I gotta start somewhere.
I only yarl when I’m nervous, by the way…
http://www.huxtablejones.com/14parkblvd/scars.wma
Hey, that rocks Hux! Great start. 
I’m no big fan of hard rock these days other than for reminiscence but I really like your tune here. Your vocal style suits it perfectly, too.
Actually, the only issue I hear is tone/EQ, which I bet can be cleared up in the mix – I think there’s a bit of buildup in the low mids, which is typical when you have 2 guitars and bass all thumping away there. (And I’m sure you can find better advice on that from folks who are more used to mixing this kind of music.) Hmm, on second listen, I didn’t get the same impression, and the EQ sounds more reasonable – I wonder what that means? I did turn it up louder the second time.
thanks jeff! I dunno bud, I’m making a conscious effort not to get wrapped up in the engineering this time around. Seems to be working, I’ve written 4 songs in a week as opposed to 4 songs for the previous 6-7 years…
I did realize this morning I had my gain structure all wrong, was trying to use the sound card to amp more than the preamp how quickly we forget, eh? LOL I’ll be posting more as I get them recorded, but I ain’t worryin with the overall sound too much…that make sense?
man, I missed this place. I missed all of it. I may even poke my head in over at CC again - not just as a server guy, either…
Recycling some components (cd rom, keyboard, mouse, video card etc) from your current pc you should be able to build one for 500 or so with an AMD processor…
I got a 6 input Delta 66 sound card off of evil bay for 100$…
Frankly, you should be able to get a nice hot unit for $500, if you can use your existing case & power supply. Maybe prices have gone up, but two years ago I put together an excellent box for my son, using a high-priced ASUS Intel MOBO, a 2.3Ghz P4, and a half-decent 80G drive, XP Home, and going cheap on all the rest (not that there’s much more to it!) That was only 256MB RAM, and I think you want 512 for a DAW. But once again, you can get 256 on one module and add another after recovering from Xmas.
Frankly, this is NOT the time of year to be considering it. Instead, just ask all your friends & loved ones for cash as presents (towards a specific goal – makes it less impersonal), lavish love on your honies (you two have a baby girl, right?) Then think about the DAW in May, when the credit cards are coming back under control!
I’m going to agree with Learjeff’s original eq response - it seemed a bit bottom endy here, not bad, but could just be a touch clearer. Liked the riff though hux.
Willy.
cor blimey mates me old lady is doin chriissy pressys so ere i is mates
me own speriences is tha blinkin amd 64 is rooster crow n same wiv lotsa me mates blinkin 64 so blinkin speedy like one a dem cartoons i ardly blink nuffin will pry a 64 outa me ands
Hope ya don’t mind, Hux, but I couldn’t help myself. Should be fast asleep, gotta get up early (for me) tomorrow, but anyway I had to ham it up a bit:
Scars with ham
Just lemme know if you want more (and to fix up the goobers). Might not happen soon, though …