FAO: THE REAL PRODUCERS

DFX

i am buying a computer in the summer.... these are the specs (wot u need anyways)...

AMD Thunderbird 1.4GHz
256MB DDR PC2100 RAM (major brand)

ill probably be running 98 (seen as thats what i bought for this) but i think this computer is XP compatible which means i might use it...

anyways, this is aimed at the actually producers here (not the people who use bass samples, etc - THE PEOPLE WHO KNOW THEIR STUFF) what sound card would you recommend for a AMD system? A friend of mine has just done a music tech course and he recommends the Audigy card. i heard that people dont rate Sound Blaster, but what card do you use?

also, what sound cards can be used with cubase/logic, reason, etc and AMD compatible?

i appreciate your views on what sound card i shud aim for. thanks in advance.

ol dirty c**t

www.terratec.net they do some heavy $$$$! ews88mt is what i use and its runnin.

BREAKER

The soundblaster Audigy is a good all round card, it catres for everybody. It has Asio drivers, latency as low as 2ms, 24bit playback(not recording), and a great drive bay with various inputs and outputs. Voted best souncard 2 years running, in comptuer music magazine.
If however you are looking for something a bit more proffesional, then try out the Terratec 24/96, and the Yamaha SW1000GX, both cards are 24bit palsyback and recording.

DJ Fat Zed

Be very wary of cheap 24 bit systems. 16 bit soundards should give you a dynamic range of 96 dBs and 24 bits 140dBs. In practice most budget 24 bit soundcards teeter around the 100dB mark, some as low as 94 dBs, meaning that you are effectively just wasting 50% of the audio data that you are recording. Even the highly professional systems don't get that close to the mark; I use two digidesign 888/24 interfaces and they are around 120dBs. Make sure you look at a soundcards technical specs and go for one with a good dynamic range and a low noise floor and thd.

Soundcards that use an external box to input their audio are far superior as they are less useptible to the electrical interferance from the computer. Also it's well worth getting a soundcard with one or two preamps built in, or at least to get a simple front end as this will increase the quality of your recording no end.Digidesign have just released a new one called th Mbox, it's well worth the money.

Sen

Not sure what it's like on the music front, but on the speech recognition front (and a lot of software that I know of), the software is optimized/written for use on a Pentium system.

In my line of work, we've tried running specific software on similar spec'd (processor speed and RAM) chipsets and still find more problems with the non-Pentium chips.

Music software is a pretty specific thing that need to tie several components (which may or may not be made by the same company) together. Check what the software you wish to use requires you to have as a minimum...and then exceed that.

DJ Fat Zed

That is certainly the advantage of a mac. No problems with compatability.

UK_GARAGE

oi mate if you got monye and $$$$ i recomend you get urself a delta 66 with 2 ins and 2 outs or if you want to laod ur comp with mixing desks and sound modules na dall the rest i recommend one of the best delta 1010, fu*king wicked......

lady-j

hey do you use a mac? because i am looking to go to the next level in mac-based production and i want to get one of those boxes that gives you individual outputs for Reason, etc.

wot do u recommend? i will be using this with an iBook indigo.

lady j

DJ Fat Zed

Yeah I do use a mac. I use a G4 with quite a complex system of protools (one mix core card, two mix farm cards, two 888/24 interfaces and a 1622 interface). I also have an ibook and it's a bit more tricky because they don't have card slots or pcmcia cards or anything. The best multi in/out interfaces that you can use are firewire ones like the MOTU ones. I'm gonna get a MOTU 828 for location recording. It works on firewire, has 8 ins and 8 outs, 2 phantom powered mic preamps, 24 bit, zero latency monitoring and digital ins/outs, it's about £700 but I'm sure it's cheaper in the US.

That's the cheapest MOTU one but if you're on a lower budget M-audio do the audiosport quatro usb interface for about £220. It's got 4 ins and outs but I wouldn't recommend it for quality.

DFX

All the 'pro' sound cards you mention cost about £399 and £450! I guess theres just no running away from paying that amount of money...

OK, here it goes.... Im gunna be running EMagic's EXS24, Logic Audio GOLD and ... I will save for an extra couple of weeks and get a Pentium system (despite what the game loving fraternity says) and I will get a SB Audigy EX card! Everyone happy with that or can you recommend a better sound card for me?

DFX

Oh, and can someone tell me what number to get for the Pentium 4? 1.4, 1.6, etc....

BREAKER

Wise choice choosing the Soundbaster, if your just starting out this is the only card to go for. All the other cards mentioned are all great, but you must have the rest of the expensive gear to make to make them effective. As they say, your setup is only as good as your weakest link, which means great soundcard crap amp, dont really mix together.
As for processor speeds anything above 1.5ghz im sure will be enough.
Good luck with your choices.

tnt

How much money you got to spare? The latest P4 processors (2Ghz upwards) are beginning to out perform the Athlons.

http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/index.html

If you'rer after a cheap P4 system you should be able to get 1.8Ghz computer for about £700.

Sen

Lady J, I use the 828...wicked wicked wicked is all I have to say.

Input to record sound sources, output to mixing desk for outboard processing if necessary

pure sweetness and light

lady-j

Sen wot is the 828? it sounds like a Digidesign product am i right? keep in mind i am going to be using this with a laptop (iBook). i've sucessfully ported my studio to Reason so i'm set now

lady j

Sen

The Mark of the Unicorn 828 - a wikkid firewire audio interface...stick this thing in a rack case (it's 1u) with a few fx or a sampler or something and you're set.

Read all about it at http://www.motu.com/

The new 896 looks heavy too

cost was about $1000USD a year ago.

Does you laptop have firewire? if so, this is THE way to go.

bionicbooty

ProTools has a new thing, now, too...I think it's called the MBox, but I don't think it has multiple outs.

The good news with it is that you can run ProTools software, which will make you compatible with most major mixing rooms.

Just another option.

Sen

The 828 is 8 in 8 out DISCRETE plus SPDIF and Optical ins/outs for those of you with digital mixers/gear.

the Digi001 was pretty sweet too...haven't checked out the MBox yet...

lady-j

Ok but here is my question, what good is Pro Tools if you don't have the core system or whatever lets you use TDM plug-ins? u know wot i mean? like all i see it as is Peak with a sequencer that isn't as good a s Logic. maybe i am wrong but i thought unless you had the specially made system you couldn't do all that much with it. am i wrong?

lady j