My First Build: For Online Gaming & Producing Music

[lilkiduno]

yeah i understand where your coming from, even thought i bought all my hardware pretty quick and didn't really take my time to plan everything out is because i knew everything i bought would work together through first hand experenice. my cousin has basiclt the exact same computer as the one i build the main differences are the video cards (his 2x 8800GTS VS. mine 2x 9800GTX+) and mother board, the basic difference is mine is a step up kind of (his 780i ATX VS. mine 780i FTW).

but im glad your going thought more the one fourm. the more people to help you the better your chances are to get the very best rig for what you plan on using it for.

Good luck. and as soon as you post another reply/post you get yourself your third star...lol...

 

[the_professor]

...at the moment I'm doing some digging into music recording/composing equipment...

 

[lilkiduno]

cool i hope you find the best equpiment for what you need

 

[King Wookie]

Check out these sites for equipment reviews:

http://mixonline.com/

http://www.soundonsound.com/

http://www.musictechmag.co.uk/

http://www.futuremusic.co.uk/

Just to wet your appetite.

 

[the_professor]

The computer has been ordered, purchased, packaged for delivery, and is in transit as I write this.



I'll update my list to version 2.0 or something once I know all the parts I ordered actually work. I'm guessing I'll possibly get a DOA or similar.

I had to order Windows Vista (64-bit)... but ended up getting the OEM so I saved something-hundred dollars. It arrived in the mail really fast, on day 2 (one day after ordering).

Day 3 = my new mouse came in, the Razer Lachesis "Banshee Blue".
Plus.... my new keyboard arrived, the Razer Lycosa (more glowy blue stuff).

Some Arctic Silver 5 + remover was supposed to come in that day but never did. Maybe Monday.

That was Friday. Nothing came in over the weekend.

As of Friday, I had 12% of my new computer gear (I haven't ordered audio recording gear yet).

Today I went out and bought my new desk and chair (and a floor thing for the carpet/chair).

As of Saturday (today), I have 20% of the stuff.

On Monday I should hopefully have at least %52 of it.

I'm hoping all 100% is in by Tuesdays. <crossing my fingers.>

I'm starting to narrow down a "starter kit" for myself as it involves recording audio/music. It will possibly include: 2 AT2020 mics, 2 XLR cables, 2 mic boom stands, M-Audio 1010LT (only if it works in Linux), and maybe a mixer (which is optional since I'll have one in my computer software). I'll use my Sennheiser headphones for mastering recordings until I can budget in a nice pair of studio monitor speakers.

 

[King Wookie]

I'm starting to narrow down a "starter kit" for myself as it involves recording audio/music. It will possibly include: 2 AT2020 mics, 2 XLR cables, 2 mic boom stands, M-Audio 1010LT (only if it works in Linux), and maybe a mixer (which is optional since I'll have one in my computer software). I'll use my Sennheiser headphones for mastering recordings until I can budget in a nice pair of studio monitor speakers.

Sounds like a viable setup. Adding some seperate mic preamplifiers later can give you a nice quality boost, especialy ones with built in eq and compression. Plenty options around, but the Joemeek units can sound quite sweet and are not too pricey.

Now, just need some acoustic treatment maybe. Hanging duvets with a space behind them is a cheap option.

Just have fun, and shout if you need some more advice.

 

[the_professor]

Sounds like a viable setup. Adding some seperate mic preamplifiers later can give you a nice quality boost, especialy ones with built in eq and compression. Plenty options around, but the Joemeek units can sound quite sweet and are not too pricey.

Now, just need some acoustic treatment maybe. Hanging duvets with a space behind them is a cheap option.

Just have fun, and shout if you need some more advice.

Acoustical treatment might be tricky at first. My living situation: I rent, have a noisy fridge on the other side of the wall to the studio, have very noisy neighbors below me (uber-very noisy), have 2 windows in the studio, the floor creaks, and this is all very close to a noisy gas station and major highway. I'd be set if I can cut out the noise from outside/inside and next to/below me... and all in a temporary fashion since I'm renting.

Mic preamps will come in handy, plus they're condensors so it'll help a lot. I think there might somewhat of a preamp in the card, though if I get another piece of hardware to go in between mics and card it could have some phantom power (perhaps the yamaha mg166cx mixer).

I checked out the joe meek site, pretty cool gear!

 

[-Spanky-]

Learning from Head-Fi, the best stock card for gaming and music production would have to be the AuzenTech X-FI Prelude. Otherwise get something more professional and external.

 

[King Wookie]

A good site to look at:

http://www.linuxmusicians.com/

Specifically :

http://wiki.linuxmusicians.com/doku.php?id=hardware&DokuWiki=9c35ecddca14cd5acd0f026bbda8428d

According to this post, the M-Audio 1010LT will work under Linux:

http://www.linuxmusicians.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=268

Do note that it doesn't supply phantom power, which condensor mics use to work.
You can buy an external phantom power supply though, and they tend to be cheap.
If you are handy with the soldering iron, you can evem make one.

Another option, if you can afford it, is the AKG C1000.
http://www.akg.com/site/products/powerslave,id,759,pid,759,nodeid,2,_language,EN.html

One of my all time favourite mics. Also, works fine on internal battery or phantom. It's what I'd buy.

 

[the_professor]

Learning from Head-Fi, the best stock card for gaming and music production would have to be the AuzenTech X-FI Prelude. Otherwise get something more professional and external.

Looks like a cool card, though I don't think it has I/Os for XLR & MIDI, a must have for recording. At the moment I'm leaning toward the MAudio 1010lt. I don't know if it packs a punch for gaming, though it packs a punch for anything else audio-related.

A good site to look at:

http://www.linuxmusicians.com/

Specifically :

http://wiki.linuxmusicians.com/doku.php?id=hardware&DokuWiki=9c35ecddca14cd5acd0f026bbda8428d

According to this post, the M-Audio 1010LT will work under Linux:

http://www.linuxmusicians.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=268

Do note that it doesn't supply phantom power, which condensor mics use to work.
You can buy an external phantom power supply though, and they tend to be cheap.
If you are handy with the soldering iron, you can evem make one.

Another option, if you can afford it, is the AKG C1000.
http://www.akg.com/site/products/powerslave,id,759,pid,759,nodeid,2,_language,EN.html

One of my all time favourite mics. Also, works fine on internal battery or phantom. It's what I'd buy.

Those are great sites, I've been checking them out. The AKG is cool, something I'd go for in the future. I didn't know that about the 1010lt - having no phantom power, that completely eluded me - I believe the Yamaha MG166C has phtanom power (as well as a few other useful immediate goodies and some room to grow as I add mics to the mix).

 

[King Wookie]

Well, looking at the Yamaha, it looks to be a good choice for you.

The only downsides is it only records at 16 bit resolution, and only 2 channels at a time.

Considering most soundcards support 24 bit and multiple channels, that's the tradeoff.

If you feel you can live with those compromises, then go for it!
Otherwise, grab the 1010LT and a phantom adapter box for now, then a reasonable mic preamplifier later to upgrade.

 

[the_professor]

Well, looking at the Yamaha, it looks to be a good choice for you.

The only downsides is it only records at 16 bit resolution, and only 2 channels at a time.

Considering most soundcards support 24 bit and multiple channels, that's the tradeoff.

If you feel you can live with those compromises, then go for it!
Otherwise, grab the 1010LT and a phantom adapter box for now, then a reasonable mic preamplifier later to upgrade.

I didn't know about the 16 bit vs 24 bit... hmm.

What did you mean by it records only 2 channels at a time?

Is there a 16 bit card with otherwise similar features as the 1010LT (like I/Os for XLR and MIDI)?

By the way, my mobo was doa. lol I had to swap it. woohoo!

 

[King Wookie]

The Yamaha documentation is not clear on this, so I stand to be corrected.
Most mixers with usb connections only output 2 channels of audio via usb at one time. More often than not they are sending your main outputs. Not a major problem, but can be a bit limiting as it's preferable to record everything separately so as to give you more control when editing and mixing.

FYI, 24 bit is the preferred format for recording these days, as the increased dynamic range and resolution is always a good thing. Do note that 24 bit equipment will work without issues at 16 bit. The general idea is to record, edit, and mix at 24 bit; then convert to 16 bit just before burning to cd.

If you could post links to the pro audio shops you may want to deal with, it will help me to recommend equipment for you.

As the 1010LT has a proven track record with linux, I'd suggest sticking with it. Lets just build a viable system around it.

These should not be too pricey:
http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1747&brandID=2
http://www.behringer.com/PS400/index.cfm?lang=ENG

And a handy box to have:
http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1650&brandID=2

Samson make some pretty decent budget gear. I use some of their gear, and it's not bad.
Behringer have not always impressed me with the quality of their gear, especially their mixers, but for odd adapters like a phantom supply their stuff is fine.

Plenty more options out there, but this should give you an idea.

 

[thirdshiftdj]

Thank you... where can I find those at? The 1st and 3rd ones ring a bell, though I can't pinpoint it.

Best bet is go on ebay the saffires le goes for $200 while the saffire is $250. Best bang for your buck and will go against higher $400-500 interfaces. Software is a bitch to use and setup though. You can't go wrong w/ the firebox or the edirol ua25. Edirol has the better build quality and same quality preamps. I own the Edirol myself. Has a builit in analog compressor/limiter w/ phantom power 24bit 92khz