Noob recording.

[dvf]

Hello.
I am a beginner at this recording process and I have a few questions.
Currently I have been using my old Dell to record my band. And I use MixCraft. The sound quality is not that great but it is not horrible either. But it has a hard time putting different tracks so the sound sometimes does not work. I was just wondering would you suggest that I buy a recording sound card like let say huh some M-Audio one or should I but an external USB Interface like the MBox 2? All at a reasonable price that is.

Thank you for taking your time to read this.

[jmail]

What you get will be a trade-off in one regard or another. 1st of all, how many separate tracks do you want to record at one time? How many tracks can you "get by" with? In other words "I want to record up to 16 tracks at once, for the full band, live." and "We can do with 4 at a time, I supppose..." Do you want/need S/PDIF (very desirable)? Do you want ADAT (also very desirable)? Do you want SMUX with that ADAT (quite useful for higher resolutions)? Then, figure out a budget (budget might have to come 1st...). If the whole band chips in, you might be able to get more - However, if the whole band breaks-up, then you've got financial obligations complicating things... M-Audio, Edirol, EMU, etc., all make decent interfaces for the money. Most will come with a Lite edition of recording software. Stay away from USB interfaces (since they are "bandwidth challenged"), unless you're only going for 2 channels. Firewire devices are good, but be careful of your computer's interface. PCI devices are good, but won't work with laptops. PCIe devices are starting to appear, and will hopefully be the answer to the performance issues complicating matters for audio on the newer PCIe motherboards... I could go on, but won't ("thank goodness", they say...)

Go to www.sweetwater.com and start browsing through the Computer Recording area. They've got a wide selection, and have links on their site with other info & pix for what you'll be looking at. Another idea would be to go to the public library, if you have one nearby, and request some books on home recording, digital recording, etc., with the newer publication dates being of higher priority... Read-up on your subject and become an "inform consumer" [big echo effect]... Have fun & good luck

[TimOBrien]

Good guide and recomendations:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards_for_the_home_studio.htm

(as a noob, I'd suggest you read his ENTIRE guide)

Also: Immediately get a good beginner recording book (spend $20 before spending hundred$/thousand$) that shows you what you need to get started and how to hook everything up in your studio:
Home Recording for Musicians by Jeff Strong - $15
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0764516345/102-9059220-3248917?v=glance&n=283155&amp%3Bn=507846&amp%3Bs=books&v=glance
(Wish I'd had that when I started; would have saved me lots of money and time and grief)

21 Ways To Assemble a Recording Rig:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/rigs.htm

Also Good Info:
http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/directory.htm

Other recording books:
http://musicbooksplus.com/home-recording-c-31.html


Plenty of software around to record for free to start out on:

Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net

Kristal: http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/

Other freebies and shareware: www.hitsquad.com