Help! I'm setting up a home studio

[greenweenie]

I need help and advice. I just acquired a Behringer V-Amp Pro. My computer hardware is as follows:

1 gig RAM
300 gig HD (divided into 100)
40 gig HD
SB Live soundcard
Altec Lansing 5.1 Surround Speakers

Other stuff
Sennheiser Mic
Fostex 8 Track Studio (acting as a mixer but not so well. adds a bit of gain)

I need to know what upgrades are appropriate and what other hardware do I need? What cables should I get? Thanks!

[KitC]

Although your computer is already existing, you should always design a computer-based studio around the software you will be using.

Do you plan to multitrack? If so, how many tracks do you intend to record simultaneously? Do you plan to use softsynths? Do you plan to mix in the box?

These and many more questions determine the hardware that will follow. Remember that pcs, especially windows machines require a good amount of tweaking to get exceptional performance. If you're afraid to get your hands dirty with performance enhancement tweaks, get a Mac.

As for other ancillary and auxiliary equipment, the soundcard you choose will determine other things down the line. Can only afford a 2 input soundcard? Get a mixer. Want to track a full band with vocals and at least a 4-mic drum setup? Get a mixer with at least 8 mic pres. That will require mic cables and mic stands as well. Beginning to see the logic here?

Hope this helps.

[BAMF]

You've come to one of the best places to ask, the guys here are superb. Been learning from them too as I go along.

Anyway, I also have a very basic setup, 2.4 GHz AMD, Soundblaster Live, 512 MB memory, an 8GB "system" HD (ok it needs upgrading) and a 40 GB "Temp" HD. Running Adobe Audition 1.0 (actually, Cooledit 2.0, I uninstalled the Audition and installed the Cooledit, only to find that they're identical).  Flanked by a 4-input powered mixer which serves as Monitor for the guy tracking and input mixer to the soundcard.

Very basic set-up. Even my mikes are the cheapos, but with upgraded mike elements (good Price to Performance ratio !) that I bought from Raon. Can only record one stereo track at a time.  But it's loads of fun and teaches me the ropes. Hope to get some better stuff like an M-audio 2940 soundcard and maybe a Behringer vocal mike, perhaps some SM57's.

Works quite well, we've already recorded 5 songs on it, complete with backing vocals, bass patches, overlaid guitars...the works.

[starfugger]

heavy mixing requires a good amount of ram and cpu power.  you can upgrade your cpu and and add more memory.  otherwise you will have to bounce a lot of tracks. meron na daw behringer firewire interface if you want something really affordable.  you can also ask the guys from crystal audio about the m-audio line.  if you are focused on sound quality you might wanna look into the EMU interface (i think KitC has one) or the RME Fireface 800. thumbs up.  

when i started out A/D conversion was at the bottom of my list.  i had a roland vs-840 and it sounded ok.  but after a while you notice that you're not getting the depth and width you want from your mixes.  this aspect is worth looking into if you want broadcast quality audio.

good luck!

[KitC]

Mixing and plugins usually require a ton of cpu power. One gig of ram is the minimum standard although you can get by with 512 megs as long as you don't use a lot of ram based samples and softsynths.

Remember that certain chipsets are on the way out, Socket A and Socket 754 on the AMD platform, with socket 478 on the Intel side. If you can't budget for a new mobo right now, at least get the fastest cpu your mobo can support, and your pocket can afford. Don't waste money on Semprons, Durons and Celerons; the decreased L2 cache greatly affects performance.

When getting a new mobo, make sure it is dual core ready. Multicore is the wave of the future.

One last thing, when building a pc, it's either a music platform or a gaming platform; never both. Putting in a high powered video card into a music pc is a recipe for disaster. Choose a low to medium powered video card and make sure it is dual monitor capable. The increased desktop real estate is invaluable when you have track edit open on one screen and mixer view in the other.

[abyssinianson]

I echo what Kit and Hazel said - multicore will become the standard in years to come. I dropped by my local comp supply store the other daya and saw a 1066 bus mobo - a 1066Ghz BUS!! Holy crap!

But I digress - focus on allocating your resources. With all the new developments in PC recording, the quality is only going to get better.

Good luck!

[greenweenie]

I just got a Behringer V-Amp Pro rackmount. I send the signal from the Behringer to a mixer to my soundcard. Question, line-in or mic-in?

[BAMF]

Mixer to soundcard ? Line in.

[jplacson]

Green weenie, may I ask why you pass through a mixer before going to your PC?  Are mixing more than one source when recording?  Or are you just using it to send a good signal to your PC?

If you're using an SB Live (cringe)... the best way using your V-Amp is to use the SPDIF connector from the V-Amp to the SPDIF IN on the Live.  It's gonna give you a cleaner signal than passing through the Line In on the Live.

If you're using the Live Value, I think one of the mini-jacks is the one with the SPDIF IN, you'll have to get a mini-jack to FEMALE RCA adapter.

That's the cheapest solution I can suggest.

But if you need to run out of the mixer outs, then you're stuck with the line-in on the Live.

Put tape over the mic in on the sound card... these are EVIL!!!! hahahaha... NEVER to be used... EVER!!!! hahahahaha

[BAMF]

Yep.

The mic ins are noisey !

I have an intuition though that they are that way because the phantom power that emanates from it to power a cheapo PC condenser mike is "dirty". After all the noise coming from it sounds like AC hum with harmonics.

I was thinking of trying two solutions to hopefully make some use of those jacks.

1. Use a high-quality dynamic mic using a PL to mini adapter into the mic in jack. If you make the adapter mono, you will either short out ( if mono mini-adapter is used, me protection resistor naman yung soundcard) or disregard (if stereo minijack adapter) the phantom power.

2. rewire a PC mic so that it won't take power from the PC unit, instead wire it such that it will take DC from a 9V battery.

That should clean up the "mic in" jack, IMHO. For what it's worth anyway.

[jplacson]

But if he's using a board before going to the SB Live, he shouldn't be using the mic in at all... he should be patched through the line-in.

ideally skip the line-in all together and try to patch it through the SPDIF IN of the Live card from the SPDIF out on the behringer... but if not possible... Line-In.

Cover the MIC IN on the sound card and NEVER use it!!! Hahahaha

[BAMF]

Yep. Just thinking out loud about the mic-ins...I've given them *some* thought. Yun lang po, not necessarily applying to his situation .

Aight SPDIF is the wtg. If not...line in.

[KitC]

Mic in is noisy because of the gain they apply to the signal, especially if the +20 db boost is checked. Not only that, mic ins are usually connected to electret condenser mics which explains the +5 VDC requirement. Then there is the fact that the input is mono... Do what JPL says, tape over the mic ins!

S/PDIF is ok but remember that on 'blasters, s/pdif samplerate is fixed at 48 khz. Actually, the entire line of SBLives and Audigy's operate natively at 48 khz, then they do sample rate conversion (SRC) to other rates. Ordinarily not a problem except when burning the resulting wave to CD (which is 44.1) - I never did like Creative's SRC algorithms.

[jplacson]

Creative stuff is fine for gaming... but my gripe with Creative, is that their "high end" stuff isn't cheap... and isn't exactly good either.

The Audigy is great if you want to play games in surround sound (there are better alternatives mind you, but Creative is great... just don't install their entire suite of apps... slows down loading)  But never spend more than 4-5k on a gaming card.  Creative has nice products specific to Asia... cheaper, less bundled software (which is a good thing)... Audigy 2 is around 5k I think (or even less now)  You can get Live cards for abour 1.5K now I think

If you have a bigger budget, you might as well hit the M-audio line already.

Someone on the PH music forum is selling a Tascam 122 interface for P7500 (crispy_meats@yahoo.com) ... so for those of you wanting to start a home studio... forget Creative, get this thing instead.  There are also a lof of people dumping their MBOXes in favor of the newer MBOX2.  The original MBOXes are still excellent... and in no real way over shadowed by their newer version.

Used gear is a great source for new studio owners.  Bigger studios get higher gear, new ones get great gear at prosumer prices... bigger studios can offer higher end equipment and services... new studios get pro gear and can offer it at affordable rates!  Everyone happy!

For laptops (output only) ... I'd recommend the Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro.  Anything short of a real Firewire/USB interface, this little $30 thing is a pretty decent DSP/headphone amp (dunno if it can run 600ohm cans though)  It gives laptops optical out, and a much cleaner signal than built in headphone/line-out jack.  **this is NOT better than a real headphone amp... but the optical out will give you a cleaner out than the line-out on laptops... which you send to your fav outboard processor.

Great addition to any playback laptop, for $30, it's worth it.  (Works for desktops too BTW, and gives you DD5/DTS pass through on WinXP systems)

[greenweenie]

Are there special cables needed for S/PDIF inputs/outputs?

[KitC]

Are there special cables needed for S/PDIF inputs/outputs?

S/PDIF comes in 2 flavors: coaxial and optical. Coaxial is the electrical format, the cable it uses has RCA (phono) jack ends and the cable impedance is set at 75 ohms. While the cable looks similar to your ordinary phono plug, the cable itself is designed for low jitter, which are timing errors in the digital world. Ordinary cables will not do and will just cause high jitter rates.

Optical s/pdif uses 'fiber-optic' cable. The low-end cables use a plastics based core while higher-end use glass fiber. The cable ends are terminated with Toslink connectors - a Toshiba standard. These are the same connectors that you can find in ADAT-based equipment (ADAT is also an optical format but an 8-channel digital audio protocol).

[greenweenie]

Wow. Ang newbie ko sa recording lingo. Hehehe... sorry.

So what you're saying is that i'll just get a high-quality rca and connect it to the s/pdif from the v-amp to the s/pdif on my soundcard?

[KitC]

Wow. Ang newbie ko sa recording lingo. Hehehe... sorry.

So what you're saying is that i'll just get a high-quality rca and connect it to the s/pdif from the v-amp to the s/pdif on my soundcard?

No probs. Better you know the terms than not at all.

Try to get a good cable specifically for spdif. The spec calls for 75 ohms line impedance - similar to cables used for cable tv   , but better. The high quality cables all but eliminate jitter; if you're gonna use non-spec cables, keep it to very short lengths (less than 1 meter).

[aperture]

just wondering is the F-CONTROL AUDIO FCA202 FireWire Audio Interface available here already? and how much?

thanks..

[starfugger]

They said the units arrived already but they haven't set the prices yet nor distributed them among the branches. but they should be available for sale very soon.

[aperture]

They said the units arrived already but they haven't set the prices yet nor distributed them among the branches. but they should be available for sale very soon.

great!! i do hope they're affordable when they arrive on the shelves..    

[BALDO]

hmmmm bago ba itong product na ito ng behringer? i think firewire is the latest ha.. sa akin kasi yung luma na style.. matagal na akong hindi nakaka daan sa music store kasi hehehehe. invest in a good SOUNDCARD... it will make a big difference!! i 've heard songs na gawa sa entry level na soundcard using protools but still didn't cut it...
fave ko NOON e digi01 , steinberg, M audio at audiomedia..

[BALDO]

hmmm tanong ko lang..magkano ba ang sound card ng soundblaster?? kasi merong labas noon ang delta 1010 na mas maganda..saka mura na ngayon 199.95 na lang compared noon na nasa 500-600 $ yata. 10 ins/ 10 outs. ano pa hahanapin mo. para sa akin the most bang for your money and i am sure it will blow away soundblaster. dont get me wrong maganda yun sa gaming.  

[KitC]

hmmm tanong ko lang..magkano ba ang sound card ng soundblaster?? kasi merong labas noon ang delta 1010 na mas maganda..saka mura na ngayon 199.95 na lang compared noon na nasa 500-600 $ yata. 10 ins/ 10 outs. ano pa hahanapin mo. para sa akin the most bang for your money and i am sure it will blow away soundblaster. dont get me wrong maganda yun sa gaming.  

Baka magulat ka. The Audiophile 2496, which costs $99 goes for almost $200 here and you won't believe the price for the 1010LT (my friend was quoted something like $800 before). Now you know why most peeps go for 'blasters (which can be had for as little as $25).

You can't equate the pricing structure in the US with the pricing here (that and the stupid taxes they put on so-called luxury items).

[BALDO]

kitc
kapag ganun ang situation eh..were doomed na..!!! I GIVE UP!!! I HATE.. I REPEAT I HATE SOUNDBLASTER!!!! sa work ko lagi ko na ngang sinasabihan yung officemate ko " don't get a soundblaster soundcard" aba ang sagot sa akin.. "SOUNDBLASTER - THE BEST IN THE WORLD" WITH SPANISH ACCENT PA YAN hahahahaha..LOL.. o yung mga soundblaster owners diyan baka mapag tripan ako ha.. PEACE !!!
ps:
sa akin eh personal na opinion lang, alang personalan.