good sound card for recording?

Sliotar

i want to use my pc to record my music and all i have is a crappy intel soundcard that i'm thinking i'll need to replace. the software i'm planning on using will be nothing to fancy, either cheap or free, and im planning on recording guitars, keyboards, violins, vocals, and maybe drums but will probably end having to use samples, any ideas?? oh and i'm looking to spend around 150E

Lump

OH DEARY DEARY meh....


Am....

well for the Guitar you will need to buy a Di box

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thats a direct input box, meanging that you can connect the guitar directly in to the back of the sound card.


Keyboard = midi I presume, so you need a midi connection.

I presume you can us the DI box for the violin, is it an electric violin> If not, you'll need to mic it.

the drums are going to be the tough ones...... you shuld really mic the drum kit, but I'm guessing you dont have a set of drum mics, so the best thing you can do is set up one mic and *Hope* you can pick up stuff.

So saying all that, a sound card with a fairly decent input range..... and a couple of midi, jack inputs should be ok.....


Dont take that as gosple though.



John

Sliotar

yeah i was planning on micing pretty anything i could, and was hopin maybe the software might be able to do something about getting rid of the background noise from micing a drumkit (without a proper set of drum mics), but then i'm guessing the software will need to be pretty decent. i think i've seen those di boxes in musician inc? i think they're by line 6, any good?

_CreeD_

The card you choose depends on your expectations and budget. If you plan on keeping the samples/doing something significant to them (as opposed to just playing around) then get a 24/96 capable card. The best bang-for-the-buck at that level is the M-Audio AUDIOPHILE (~180stg). If you can't stretch that far then an Creative Audigy or SBLive would be best (in that order), but these record at 16bit/48Khz max (ignore the 24bit marketing blx on the audigy).Both the Live and Audigy have basic mic preamps but if you go with anything higher you'll most likely need a separate one for anything mic'd.

Beany

Probably the cheapest way is to get a Soundblaster card (audigy or Extigy) and a decent enough mixer...that way you can avoid getting a DI box for guitar/bass...you can use the pre-amp on the mixer for picking up vocal mics, and you will have a means of recording drums (assuming you'll be using more than one mic to record drums).

Like Creed said, you will only be recording at 16bit, as opposed to 24 bit, with the Soundblaster card, but its debatable how important this is. Especially if you only require demo+ quality.

A general rule with starting a home studio is to buy what you can afford, and upgrade as you become more familiar with what you need and how much it costs. Baby steps, and all that.

Unless you're loaded, of course!

Sliotar

sound advice, thanks, i think i know what to go for....

the_corpo

first, go here
www.thingsyouremissing.com

then go here
http://www.homerecording.com/

Beany

Dudley, after reading "Recording at home avec le Corpo", I was wondering was there not a 'digital out' from the 8/16 track machines to go into the 'digital in' on your soundblaster? That'd save heaps of time and frustration moving tracks onto your PC, and won't degrade the signal...it must've been some pain in the hole ripping each track to a CD.

Maybe there's no 'digital in' on your soundblaster? They've started putting it as standard on the soundblaster Audigy now.