The standard is to have at least two hd's per computer. One for system info and software, the other STRICTLY for sound recording storage.

Before I direct you to an interface, what kind of computer do you have? What are the specs on it? Also, what sequencing program do you currently use?

actually i also have to buy a computer and obviously go with the best available intel mobos and processors i work in sonar 6, the system that i work at home is
p4 3.ghz ht
1gb ram
two hard drives
1 is western digital 120gb and second is maxtor 80gb
intel mobo 915g.
audio interface konnekt 8(having some issues with it and will discuss later in another thread)
only record direct guitars on it.
my main issue is to have an audio interface for a new setup that can take a load of lots of vsts. you can also suggest me for better hard drives and mobos. but i want to stick to an intel mobo and processor coz they are easily available here.
thanks

The number of VST's you can run is dependent on the processing power of your computer not the interface. You could get a device like the UAD-1 that will take some of the burden off your computer of processing those VST's or simply get a better computer.

However, THAT would be seriously tolling on your wallet. The lag or "drop-outs" that you speak of generally only occur with USB interfaces (1.0 or 2.0). Firewire and PCI almost never have these problems unless something is seriously wrong with your system.

Due to the overwhelming number of interfaces out there, I need you to answer a few questions to qualify what direction to point you:
1. How many XLR inputs would you project you need to get what you want done?
2. Are you worried about expanding to get more inputs than that number?
3. Would you prefer PCI or Firewire? Just so you know most professional studios try to keep their PCI slots open for hardware that allows non-native plugin usage (non-taxing on the processor). As expensive as it is, would you forsee yourself doing such a thing?
4. What is your price range? Can it be altered? If so, try to keep a number in your head by how much.

This may seem like a pain, but instead of pointing you to the most overstocked, pop-interface (like at your local chain music store), we want to point you to the interface that will suit your needs. To do that, we need this information.

I'm in in need of a mixing console capable of acting as a DAW and a stand-alone mixer.
At first I'm going to need it more as a DAW but later on I might be using the console on live gigs also. Are there any mixers capable of this?

1. I'd be needing at least 8 XLR-inputs (drums, vocals, guitars, bass..) 12 or more might be a good idea
2. Ability to expand later on without getting entirely new equipment would not be a bad thing
3. I'd prefer Firewire connection
4. Naming my price range is a tricky one. I live in Europe so converting the currency AND the prices in here is a tad hard; I'll give it a try anyways. My budget would be around 1000€ which is (if I'm not mistaken) around 1300-1500$. The budget can be altered but I wouldn't want to go too much over the given amount of money.

I'd also be delighted if someone could suggest a recording program to go with the suggested DAW/Mixing console.

-Calamari

Calamari wrote: I'm in in need of a mixing console capable of acting as a DAW and a stand-alone mixer.
At first I'm going to need it more as a DAW but later on I might be using the console on live gigs also. Are there any mixers capable of this?

1. I'd be needing at least 8 XLR-inputs (drums, vocals, guitars, bass..) 12 or more might be a good idea
2. Ability to expand later on without getting entirely new equipment would not be a bad thing
3. I'd prefer Firewire connection
4. Naming my price range is a tricky one. I live in Europe so converting the currency AND the prices in here is a tad hard; I'll give it a try anyways. My budget would be around 1000€ which is (if I'm not mistaken) around 1300-1500$. The budget can be altered but I wouldn't want to go too much over the given amount of money.

I'd also be delighted if someone could suggest a recording program to go with the suggested DAW/Mixing console.

-Calamari

There are a lot of factors to take into consideration when choosing a mixer for the application you mention. The big choice is between analog and digital mixing. For live work with recording as a secondary feature, many people prefer analog mixing where all the gains, EQs, aux sends etc are available as separate knobs, rather than having to switch layers as on a small-format digital mixer. When it comes to mixdown, however, the digital mixer wins out in that you do not get the additional stages of DA and AD conversion.

Mixers to consider (at your price level):

Analogue mixing: Mackie Onyx with FireWire interface

Digital mixing: Yamaha 01V96 with ADAT expansion and ADAT PCI cards or with mLan (FireWire) expansion board.

Recording program: if you just want to record and replay multichannel with no processing in the box, almost any multichannel program will work: Cubase, Reason, Sequoia, Sonar, Adobe Audition, Kristal, and many others, but not Audacity.

The Yamaha 01V96 caught my eye.
I have so far only had experience with analog mixers but using a digital mixer can't be that hard, can it? Then there's the question of the different editions of the mixer. There are 3 editions of the mixer that I know of. What are their differences?
Yamaha 01V
Yamaha 01V96
Yamaha 01V96V2

The two later ones (if bought new) go way over my budget (2700€ in here) but I found a good offer on the 01V with ADAT card included (950€) which is lower than my budget.
Apparently the 01V has "only" 4 aux-sends as opposed to the 01V96's eight (?). And in the EQ panel there is no Q-control (whatever that is..)
Currently these factors shouldn't be too much of trouble but can anyone predict the future? Will the 01V last some 5-10 years, or is it too old?

p.s. Can the Mackie Onyx be used to control software via Firewire interface?

Calamari wrote: The Yamaha 01V96 caught my eye.
I have so far only had experience with analog mixers but using a digital mixer can't be that hard, can it? Then there's the question of the different editions of the mixer. There are 3 editions of the mixer that I know of. What are their differences?
Yamaha 01V
Yamaha 01V96
Yamaha 01V96V2

The two later ones (if bought new) go way over my budget (2700€ in here) but I found a good offer on the 01V with ADAT card included (950€) which is lower than my budget.
Apparently the 01V has "only" 4 aux-sends as opposed to the 01V96's eight (?). And in the EQ panel there is no Q-control (whatever that is..)
Currently these factors shouldn't be too much of trouble but can anyone predict the future? Will the 01V last some 5-10 years, or is it too old?

p.s. Can the Mackie Onyx be used to control software via Firewire interface?

No, no, no. Don't touch the original 01V. The preamps are poor and there are no direct outs as well as other things you have heard.

The 01V96 V2 is just new firmware for the 01V96. It's fine, and will do your job. Used ones come up regularly on Ebay UK and go for about £900 (€1.4K). Note that the 01V96 has 8 auxes but only 4 additional analog outs (omni outs). The others can be utilised via ADAT DACs. To get your signals into a computer, you would have to add either the MY16-AT ADAT expansion board to give you 24 ADAT channels or the mLAN expansion board to give you 16 FireWire channels.

The 01V96 can act as a control surface for some versions of Cubase and Nuendo and also for programs that support the Mackie control standard. Analogue mixers can't control digital software.