Looking for advice regarding hardware for computer recording
Home > Home Recording Forum > Computers & Software > Looking for advice regarding hardware for computer recording
Posted on Jul 01, 2005 01:35 am
schmidt_cml
Member Since: Jul 01, 2005
I am new to home studio computer recording. I have software that will allow me mix tracks but now I am looking for the proper hardware to record live that is also not too expensive (< $200). I have a PC (as opposed to a MAC) and I will need 3 mic and 2 guitar (1/4") inputs. I would like to record all inputs simultaneously but onto separate tracks withing my software. Would a simple mixer with USB do the trick, am I better off going with an audio interface interface, or is there other hardware I should be looking at. Thanks for any suggestions and advice offered!
[ Back to Top ]
pjkPrince CZAR-mingMember
Since: Apr 08, 2004
Jul 01, 2005 07:59 am Welcome to HRC.
Well, there's nothing I can think of that sports 5 inputs, so I'd say 8 would be the place to start. M-audio makes a cheap but good pci card, delta 1010lt. I've had one in the past and will have one again. It's got two preamps built in. There's other 8 analog input cards, but they all get spendier from there.
I'd suggest you look into a mixer, but I don't think a usb mixer is what you'd want. One that has direct outs, or inserts to get the signal out of the mixer and into the card, each on it's own channel. Behringer makes some cheap ones, I'm partial to Yamaha, others use soundcraft, or mackie, etc.
There's a few tutorials on this website, some written by dB, and a newly written one by Bleak that's kind of a 'recording for dummies' article. Good for getting started.
Also, you can take a few of the ideas here, and search through the old posts, it's been covered a few times in the past, with good information.
Good luck, and have fun!
Jul 01, 2005 11:18 am Thanks for the input.
So if I understand correctly, I need an input on my sound card(s) for every output used on my mixer? And USB will not maintain the integrity of each channel so they are recorded as individual tracks... is this correct?
Are there external sound cards that can be used with a laptop?
Jul 01, 2005 11:22 am You can look thru our Studio Equipment section, there is an external device listing that has laptop type interfaces. You can get some that run on USB or Firewire.
You need one input for each output on your mixer, yes, however, if you get a device with preamps in the sound card, you could likely get around needing a mixer at all...mixers that have more than 4 individual output busses for multitracking tend to get costly...in common configurations, there are decent priced mixers with 2 main outs and 4 sub outs, the subs being what would go to your sound device. The next step up is 8 sub outs...there the price goes up quite a bit.
So some of your options vary with budget.
