i am currently using my onboard sound card which on the ASUS striker extreme gamers republic 680i nforce
it is 7.1 24khz etc
that is not good enough for a home studio no?
if you believe that is sufficient then please let me knw so i dont waste money on another sound card
but studio monitors is a must i am currently using creative 5.1 speakers which are really old now the dtt3500.
my maximum budget for monitors and sound card together is £250.
thanks
oh im searching on this site by the way
http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/home.html
because they have a buy now pay later scheme
thanks
For home studio, you usually are not interested in 7.1 surround, you want very accurate 2.0 stereo or 2.1 (stereo + subwoofer). "any monitor" will not do --most computer monitors hype the bass for game playing,and do not give you accurate sound. For recording, you want to be able to hear accurately what you recorded, you don't want the speakers to be hyped or 'exciting' or 'party sound'.
The 24 KHz specs or whatever do not address the quality of the sound from the sound card. You may consider an external audio interface (which will give you more options for recording sound as well)
Audio Interfaces are available from
Alesis http://www.alesis.com/
Edirol http://www.rolandus.com/products/productlist.aspx?ParentId=114
Emu http://www.emu.com/products/welcome.asp?category=610
Focusrite http://www.focusrite.com/products/
M-Audio http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=products.list&ID=mobileinterfaces
Presonus http://www.presonus.com/products.html
TC Electronics http://www.tcelectronic.com/audiointerfaces.asp
RME http://www.rme-audio.com/english/index.htm
Yamaha http://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/CDA/Catalog/Catalog_GSMFCX/0,,CTID%25253D207600%252526CNTYP%25253DPRODUCT,00.html
and others
If you want to use a pro microphone, look for an interface that has at least one Balanced mic input, with phantom power. Many condensor microphones
require the preamp (interface) to provide 48V power.
Hit the library and read up in backissues of magazines -- Sound on Sound, Electronic Musician, Recording, Keyboard, FutureMusic, Computer Music, MIX,
EQ. They often have how-to articles and comparative reviews of software, speakers and interfaces.
Yamaha MSP3 Powered Studio Monitor @ frontendaudio.com
Necessities for a Basic and Low-cost Home Recording Studio Setup
To record your own music at home and begin building up a studio you need some elementary parts to get going. They are:
1. An instrument and/or microphone 2. Something to record into like a basic mixing board 3. An port from your mixing desk into your computer 4. A computer with decent speakers and/or headphones. 5. Some software to record and manipulate your work.
These days you can purchase a combined solution for items 2 and 3 in the form of a computer audio interface. This is a device that you can plug an instrument or mic into and the other end is plugged in to your computer either as a soundcard or via a USB cable. This will work as an audio input and the mixing board part is all managed in the software program.
Depending on your requirements this might be the way to go or it might not. If you intend on just recording one audio part at a time then a computer audio interface makes sense. If you require to record a whole band with a few parts at once then you'll need a mixing desk with enough channels to handle this.
One thing you will have to handle when attaching your interface and putting down your instruments and voice is latency. This is the time lag between the sound you make and it being played back to you by the computer. Latency can completely throw off your rhythm if you don't minimize it. A means to do this is to use ASIO drivers for your computer interface. You can download free universal ASIO drivers at asio4all.com. Also be sure that your interface includes a preamp.
When you have your audio interface set up and can record and monitor your work without latency you're about good to go. All you want now is some decent computer software to behave as a mixing desk, sequencer and sampler. Just about every good computer interface will come packaged with some recording software, normally a cut down edition of a full product but enough to get you started.
Other than that there are several low cost and even free programs you can download. There are also many communities on the internet where you can share your ideas, get help and support and find royalty free samples to apply in your music.
Those really are the bare requirements for a home recording studio setup assuming you intend to record your own material (as opposed to just play with loops) and that you already have an instrument and/or microphone with the necessary leads. Apart from these it's also necessary to have some high quality speakers and headphones. These days things like effects and processors can all be found in computer software, although as you develop you may want to acquire some hardware versions of these down the line.
You'll also have to make sure that the acoustics in your recording environment are optimal. Don't forget soundproofing as well. There is a lot to learn and do to get a good home recording studio setup but in the beginning you can just focalise on the essentials. A sufficient computer, an audio interface and some software can start you out very nicely. For more information there are some great free guides you can download off the web to get you started.
About the Author
Peter Webber is the owner of dot-funk.com which has a free ebook download Home Recording 101 which will get you started on your home recording studio setup
