Very basic PC studio question

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

<lmiller1220@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1118427323.597318.163060@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> To anyone with some patience to humor a basic PC recording question:
>
> I am currently using Roland VS 1880, synching with my (ANCIENT) PC
> which is running an older version of Sonar, largely for MIDI sequencing
> and ACIDized.wav drum looping/Fruity Loop stuff. The soundcard on my
> old Dell is horrible and noisy, and I have to take an 1/8" output from
> the soundcard's speaker out to get the Sonar audio into the 1880.
> Levels are not great at all, etc.
>
> So- what I am looking to do is get a new PC and get a small box (like
> Presonus Firebox or something similar, maybe USB-based)so I have the
> option to record analog audio direct into Sonar if I want. I will
> still have the MIDI and looping stuff at my disposal as well.
>
> The question: What kind of soundcard options might I consider to have
> in this new PC that will be of decent quality and facilitate getting
> audio out of the PC to the 1880? Or can that somehow come back out of
> the Firebox?? I don't want to break the bank on a soundcard, but I'm
> imagining there are relatively decent cards with good output/input
> connection options? Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated!!

I think the M-Audio MobilePre-USB is pretty good. I have one (and also
one of its predecessors) http://www.core-sound.com/mobilepre-usb.html

Doesn't seem like you need a whole new computer just because your
sound card isn't sufficient for your needs. You can plug the MobilePre-
USB into your current PC and get the same benefit. Can't you use your
1880 to input and output audio (bypassing your lousy sound card)?
Looks like all you would need is some way of doing SPDIF input and
output between the 1880 and your existing computer. Something like
the Edirol UA-1D

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

lmiller1220@gmail.com wrote:
> To anyone with some patience to humor a basic PC recording question:
>
> I am currently using Roland VS 1880, synching with my (ANCIENT) PC
> which is running an older version of Sonar, largely for MIDI sequencing
> and ACIDized.wav drum looping/Fruity Loop stuff. The soundcard on my
> old Dell is horrible and noisy, and I have to take an 1/8" output from
> the soundcard's speaker out to get the Sonar audio into the 1880.
> Levels are not great at all, etc.
>
> So- what I am looking to do is get a new PC and get a small box (like
> Presonus Firebox or something similar, maybe USB-based)so I have the
> option to record analog audio direct into Sonar if I want. I will
> still have the MIDI and looping stuff at my disposal as well.
>
> The question: What kind of soundcard options might I consider to have
> in this new PC that will be of decent quality and facilitate getting
> audio out of the PC to the 1880? Or can that somehow come back out of
> the Firebox?? I don't want to break the bank on a soundcard, but I'm
> imagining there are relatively decent cards with good output/input
> connection options? Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated!!
>
> Thanks!
>
> Larry M
>

Honestly, if you're happy with your current PC's performance, don't get
rid of it. Just upgrade your audio device and you shoudl be happy. For
inexpensive, I'd go with the Emu 0404 PCI card for an internal option,
and the m-audio MobilePre USB. The M-audio Audiophile 2496 is now
selling for $100USD, so that's another good alternative.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Thanks for the info! The PC I have is pretty much a dog so I will be
replacing it anyway, but regardless, I think the SPDIF route is a great
idea! The Edirol might be a really simple way to take a stereo out
from Sonar into the 1880 (or vice-versa, for editing stuff in Sonar
that I recorded into the 1880). If the Presonus Firebox was just a tad
cheaper... I really like the options it offers (including SPDIF).
Might bite the bullet.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Thanks, George- I think the PC needs to be upgraded regardless (it is a
dog). Thanks for the ideas on the lower end of the spectrum for the
AD?DA boxes!

Regards,
Larry

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

<lmiller1220@gmail.com> wrote in message news:1118427323.597318.163060@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> To anyone with some patience to humor a basic PC recording question:
>
> I am currently using Roland VS 1880, synching with my (ANCIENT) PC
> which is running an older version of Sonar, largely for MIDI sequencing
> and ACIDized.wav drum looping/Fruity Loop stuff. The soundcard on my
> old Dell is horrible and noisy, and I have to take an 1/8" output from
> the soundcard's speaker out to get the Sonar audio into the 1880.
> Levels are not great at all, etc.
>
> So- what I am looking to do is get a new PC and get a small box (like
> Presonus Firebox or something similar, maybe USB-based)so I have the
> option to record analog audio direct into Sonar if I want. I will
> still have the MIDI and looping stuff at my disposal as well.
>
> The question: What kind of soundcard options might I consider to have
> in this new PC that will be of decent quality and facilitate getting
> audio out of the PC to the 1880? Or can that somehow come back out of
> the Firebox?? I don't want to break the bank on a soundcard, but I'm
> imagining there are relatively decent cards with good output/input
> connection options? Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated!!
>
> Thanks!
>
> Larry M
>

My advice would be not to worry about a new PC. As long as you have
some ram (256+) and your video hog is kept under control (either with
lower resolution or a nice card), and you can come up with a decent
audio interface, you should really be OK. I have plenty of PC boxes
that are borderline 'ancient', but they work just fine and most of them
(on 98SE) are ok with USB 2.0 devices which are backward compatible
with 1.1. USB speed should not be an issue if you're only transferring
a couple of tracks at a time.

I saw someone, somewhere in today's threads, recommend to a user
that they *must* upgrade to a new OS in order to use USB 2.0 devices.
This isn't 100% accurate. I have USB 2.0 CDRW drives and other 2.0
peripherals on several lap and desktops running Win-98SE and they
work just fine on ASUS MBs with Intel chipsets.

I'm not really up to snuff on the Roland stuff, but the early16xx series
machines were damned proprietary and it was next to impossible to
get material off of them and into any other system.

DM

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Larry,

> What kind of soundcard options might I consider to have in this new PC
that will be of decent quality and facilitate getting audio out of the PC to
the 1880? <

I'm surprised nobody mentioned this: Any decent computer you get today will
be plenty fast to host all the tracks and FX plug-ins you could possibly
want. So you won't even need the 1880 at all, and you'll have much better
editing capability, access to software synths and samplers, and so forth.

--Ethan