What equipment should i get?

[Tony B]

i just got a new comp for christmas so.....

i have a Shure PG58 vocal mic
and adobe

..thats it, not even speakers. where do i go next?
as far as a budget, within the next month i'm willin to spend about 4-5 hundred

i'm gettin the studio projects c1 from eye ronic and buyin an m-audio mini.

i need good speakers as well....decent ones atleast
i don't even have a pop filter anymore so any assistance is helpful
cables??


ps, i DO NOT have a FIREWIRE PLUG!!!!!

[Tony B]

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...X0DER&v=glance

maybe that interface, fasttrack.....i'm just wondering whether or not i can use adobe audition 1.5 with it and if i need a soundcard or not

[Paze]

M-Audio interface or the MBox mini? Mbox mini is a rip off... Look at the M-Audio interfaces like the firewire solo... Its only $200.

[Tony B]

firewire solo? meaning...?
i don't have a firewire plug lol
though i am trying to find out if i can possibly get one put in

[Opie M.]

buy a firewire card.

[Paze]

^^ What he said. Theres also a thing called USB to firewire and firewire to USB. It costs $2.00 for it and it sometimes can make firewire hardware work in USB ports depending on what the hardware is... I dunno about interfaces though to be honest but it works for my scanner

Edit - Its a lil metal thing that you plug the firewire input into and its got a usb in on the other side.

[Tony B]

how much does a firewire card cost?
someone told me about a hub you can plug into the usb which has a firewire plug and also a few other plugs.

[Tony B]

ok i see what you're saying but i'm pretty sure my computer isn't compatible w/ any firewire cards. i should've probably added that my computer is an HP SLIMLINE 3200a. the cpu is small as shit and space for the soundcard/firewire card is like 2.5 inches wide lol

[Tony B]

ok another update, i didnt realize they had low profile firewire cards for slimline models lol
so now....what's the best interface i can get for less than $300 and whats the best for less than $250? and then, should i pay the extra money for the more expensive one or is it not worth it?

[Opie M.]

you can get an M-Audio 1814 off of ebay. I got mine for $250 about 2 years ago. It takes a little patience tho.

[dren]

I'd get you the sound card, some cheap but ok monitors and a pair of headphones. you can mix on monitoring headphones but you'll want some monitors as well. so you probably should get the headphones first if you are on a tight budget, and then cop the monitors. I've got some AT monitoring headphones which are nice, comfortable for long use, but there are plenty of other good brands. Sony makes some reasonably cheap monitoring headphones as do several others.

Oh and it looks like your comp has a PCI-e slot. You may be able to cop a soundcard and put it in there. My MAudio card is a PCI card with a seperate interface that plugs into the PCI card. I'd open up your comp and make sure it isn't being taken up by a video card though. I don't know exactly what your comp came with. I'd go that route before I went with a USB interface. I'm guessing you'll have latency issues with USB (but I could be wrong).

[Tony B]

I'd get you the sound card, some cheap but ok monitors and a pair of headphones. you can mix on monitoring headphones but you'll want some monitors as well. so you probably should get the headphones first if you are on a tight budget, and then cop the monitors. I've got some AT monitoring headphones which are nice, comfortable for long use, but there are plenty of other good brands. Sony makes some reasonably cheap monitoring headphones as do several others.

Oh and it looks like your comp has a PCI-e slot. You may be able to cop a soundcard and put it in there. My MAudio card is a PCI card with a seperate interface that plugs into the PCI card. I'd open up your comp and make sure it isn't being taken up by a video card though. I don't know exactly what your comp came with. I'd go that route before I went with a USB interface. I'm guessing you'll have latency issues with USB (but I could be wrong).

where would that leave me as far as preamps?

[Brandon Heat]

the pres etc... would be apart of the interface... pci card just connects to the comp... interface is connected to the pci. just get the firewire card... and a maudio 410.

[dren]

Oh, my bad. I was thinking you'd get an interface that plugs into your PCI-e slot. The interfaces usually have preamps.

If you want to go a real cheap route, just cop a cheap preamp and upgrade the tube in it. Run the preamp output into your existing soundcard on your computer. No need for an extra sound card that way. You'll have more noise in your recordings but if this is just for internet/mixtape/fun you'll be more than fine. I'd download the most up-to-date drivers for your onboard soundcard if you go that route.

[Opie M.]

USB is faster than PCI.