Ill check back in a while

Or are you thinking?

nevermind the behringer PCI question,

I should have asked about your MOTU 896′s performance(regarding latency & software interaction).

Are you able to play a riff and software monitor it with no noticeable latency?

Piper Man,

although I am good at making music and using computers to record it, I dont know about building up my computer with the right hardware (ex: sound card).

Are all sound cards plug ang play (driver installation?)?

Thanks again

Sounds like can answer some questions I have.

But before I ask any, I’d like to say I also like behringer equipment. I use a behringer guitar preamp, and has all the ins/outs I could ever need and sounds great! Also, your right, I do play several different instruments, and record tracks seperately, and later edit and arrange.

Now, on to questions,

Ive looked over PCI interfaces such as the behringer 8x you mention using, seems great.

Could you tell me a little more about your experiences with it? (regarding latency and performance with you DAW)

Also, what software you rockin’?

Thanks Man!

I’m no expert, and my setup is scarcely professional. But there are some things that professional studios tend to have:

A patch bay. Saves you from having to rip everything up whenever you want to do something unusual. Use normalled connections for a typical setup. All the required cables quickly add up, though. I saved $$$ by making my own cables.

Rack-mounting the gear looks very professional. But it makes access to the rear-panel awkward. Again, a well-designed patch-bay means you won’t often need to access the backs of your gear.

I don’t know what kind of recording you usually do. With your analog interface, I would guess you play most of the parts yourself, as separate takes. That’s about all you could do with only two analog inputs.

If you wanted to record a band (which is what I usually do), you’d obviously need many more inputs. There are lots of options around. I like my MOTU 896 alot. 8 mic preamp inputs, but it’s $$$.

I also have a Behringer 8x analog I/O (ADAT on the digital side, so the PC needs an ADAT interface of some sort.) It also has mic pre-amps. That’s a very economical box, but its sampling-rate is limited. Many people seem to dislike Behringer gear, but I think that’s mostly just elitism.

I guess the real pros probably don’t like the analog ins with integrated mic pre-amps, since they’re so fussy about their pre-amps. You can get line-level analog ins, and use them with separate high-quality pre-amps. That’s even more $$$. I don’t have the golden ears to notice the difference between expensive and cheap pre-amps.

I have lots of analog outputs available, but I rarely use more than two (my stereo main outs). Aside from the main outs, the other uses that come to mind would be:
- Routing signal through an external analog processing box.
- Sending customized headphone mixes to the musicians.

I have no external processing gear (all VSTs), and rarely ever have occasional to use headphone mixes.

You need some decent mics, and practice using them. My selection of mics will not be envied by any professional studio, but it works for me. You can spend as much or as little on mics as you want.

If you get into this alot, then you’ll want isolated booths. I have no isolation. Most of my recording tends to be riddled with cross-talk between instrument tracks, which really limits the options on editing and mixing. There’s lot of information around about building sound-proof walls (staggered studs, things like that) and acoustics. I haven’t yet got into any of that.

Your PC is probably capable of recording 8 simultaneous inputs over firewire, and probably a few VSTs at the same time. Mostly its just a matter of keeping Windows running well, which can be quite a challenge sometimes.

Microsoft Windows XP MCE
Version 2002
Service Pack 2
Intel Core 2 CPU
6300 @ 1.86 GHz
0.97 GB of RAM

I am currently running SONAR 7.0 Producers Edition, along with too many VST DXi Plug-ins to list.

I am useing the M-AUDIO Fast Track Pro USB audio/midi Interface with no problems at all. (latency ect…)

But here’s my problem,

I want a more professional studio set up! I want to know if I can convert to a more professional setup with my computer.

Any Suggestions???

Maybe you know a great sound card that would work on my computer???