mixtape makers/mbox/recording questions/help
cas
1,484 Posts
i realize that there seems to be a fucking mac question every other day, but i need some help from the strut massive. i'm finally making the move from 
to a powerbook g4. after fighting sound quality issues for years, i'm amped up and ready to make my shit sound mo'betta butter. i'm not the most computer savy cat by any means and that's where my problems are. basically i don't know where to start as far as what interface to buy. i've been looking at this...
i like the idea of the included protools le. i will be primarily using it to make mixtapes, but i've been working on making beats and would like it to be able to handle all that too. my questions are...-do i have to upgrade to a better soundcard? if so, what ones are good? -a lot of places online recommend an external hard drive exclusively for the music...do you really have to have a seperate drive to store your music on or are you okay with it on your hard drive?there's a spot out here that sells the whole bundle for $349. i'm seriuosly thinking about scidooping this up. just want to get all my ducks in row. i appreciate you guys help.
to a powerbook g4. after fighting sound quality issues for years, i'm amped up and ready to make my shit sound mo'betta butter. i'm not the most computer savy cat by any means and that's where my problems are. basically i don't know where to start as far as what interface to buy. i've been looking at this...i like the idea of the included protools le. i will be primarily using it to make mixtapes, but i've been working on making beats and would like it to be able to handle all that too. my questions are...-do i have to upgrade to a better soundcard? if so, what ones are good? -a lot of places online recommend an external hard drive exclusively for the music...do you really have to have a seperate drive to store your music on or are you okay with it on your hard drive?there's a spot out here that sells the whole bundle for $349. i'm seriuosly thinking about scidooping this up. just want to get all my ducks in row. i appreciate you guys help.
Comments
If you dont really *need* to be super-studio compatable, I would suggest spending the money on really good DA converter and learning some software that is more forward thinking for yourself as an artist... Pro Tools is an industery standard, but it is not a very good one. With Logic being owned by Apple, I think the implementation of OS features is always going to be way ahead of the game. ProTools actually limits its users in a lot of ways by not allowing professional DA/AD cards to be native with thier lower-end systems... [jesus man, they still havent made a multi-application supporting soundcard driver for osx, fucking absurd!]
Thier whole thing with low end systems keeps a stranglehold on the high end users already stuck in a professional work environment.
My .02 = buy a good DA and Logic or Cubase... and you will have much better sound the low end protools boxes, and the ability to expand your DA/AD chain to sound more "pro" at a fraction of the cost.
Cas: sup man... been a minute. Any of the DA/AD devices are technically soundcards... they work to get the signal in and out of your computer's software... which is really all upto preference and should be determined by the features you need. For just making mixes and adding cuemarkers, you should be able to do that in Garageband very easily... wanna make beats on your laptop? I would also second the Ableton live shit (but would be inclined to use a good converter, and probably run a really good softsampler (Kontakt) inside of Live. You should check some of the forums over here (www.futureproducers.com) for a little more insight as to which programs do what best.
Stien: not trying to shit on your decision to buy PT. Most professional recording programs a la cubase, logic etc... are now ProTools compatable via OMF exchange, so anyone telling you that you absolutely need ProTools to mix a home recorded hiphop record is full of shit... and presenting themselves with a 10G minimum to have a fully functional *pro* setup...
Protools consumer sounddrivers and lack of a real DA/AD plus very low trackcounts on small processor machines is not a good look for anyone wanting to make a pro record at home.
It used to be status thing for studios to have PT.
A while ago you NEEDED it on your studios gearlist to make sure you get the clients....Plus there are dozens of oldschool engineers, etc that never learned anything else
dont make the market limit you
peace, stein. . .
I know most of the doods that I deal with for remixes in North America are still using PT, and most that are Euro are using Logic. I sold my Digi002 today, officially fedup with a lack of multi-app support, and wanting a more streamlined system in general. I'm gonna purchase Logic Pro in the next couple of days and finally undertake that uphill learning curve that has kept me in PT for so long. Ill keep you cats posted to the progress.
I learned on Logic and used to work in a Logic/TDM only studio
ouhh I wish I could afford a g5 and logic pro
i've been using one of griffen technologies imic's for the past couple of years and need to step up my game.