Hey Trev,

You've come to the right place. Let me be the first to say welcome.

You will find that there will be many opinions, quite a few of which will be entirely contradictory as far as specifics are concerned, but all the same in that almost all of them will be thought out, intelligent and well and honestly meant.

Personally, go with a computer DAW system. I use a Mac G4 733mhz, total 800 gigs, Pro Tools (PT) Digi 002, Audio Media III card and Digital Performer (DP), lots of outboard stuff accumulated over the years. If you decide to go Mac, go with the MOTU Hardware and DP. I really like the combination of MIDI and digital audio power, and it's ease of use. If you go with a PC you'll have to ask the PC gurus.

You'll need mixing of some kind, mics and preamps, some dynamic processing and maybe some effects, depending on your plugins if you use a DAW. You're budget will, of course, dictate most of your choices. DON'T FORGET TO PUT 1/5 TO 1/4 OF YOUR BUDGET ASIDE FOR CABLES, RACKS AND ALL THE OTHER VARIOUS AND SUNDRY THINGS THAT, WITHOUT WHICH, YOU JUST HAVE A LOT OF EXPENSIVE DOORSTOPS.

Remember to take all the opinions and advice with a grain of salt. Read a lot, ask lots of questions, and, if you can, try as much of the hardware and software you can.

Good luck!!!

Uncle Bob

if you don't break any rules, you miss out on all the fun. - Katherine Hepburn

Thanks for the reply !!

I really think I am going the computer route.. it is the future. I am pretty sure that I am getting a mac ....

Is the 002 and the 002 rack basicly the same? what are your thoughts on the 002...

as far a the 001 coming with a PCI card... do I need to get one for the 002?

I know it's going to be outdated in a year, but the sound quality won't get that much better.. is that right? ... Thanks for your help. Just wondering how the 002 hooks up and it's advantages over the 001??

thanks again ... I am greatfull.

I really like to Digi 002, which is firewire and not a PCI card. It's very nice to have the tactile surface. The current package has lots of niceplug-ins including the Pro-52 and SampleTank LE. Just for fun pick up the Pluggoplug-ins about 120 of them for $200.00. They're real CPU hogs, but if you use them in audio suite or bounce the softsynths to track they are okay. If you don't care about the controler surface the 002R will do just fine. Remember that it is CPU based processing, so 32 tracks max and be judicious with theplug-ins However, since all of the processed tracks are non-destructive and the replace function works almost perfectly this should no be a problem.

Still love DP. For a great combination of MIDI and digital audio it's my personal fave.

Peace

Uncle Bob

:p:

Forgot to mention that the 002 has four Focusrite mic pres

Good advice, uncle bob!

Trev, I would like to mention something about the order of operations here. You intend to record your tracks at home, and then take them to a pro studio to mix, right?
Some people might be inclined to do that the other way around, and here's why.
The most important thing is having quality tracks to work with, which is one of the reasons recordings from big studios sound so good. Good acoustics, preamps, and microphnes, as well as knowledge are all important in creating great tracks with ease.
I'm not trying to say you should do things this way. If you want to track it yourself you can get great results, the key thing to remember is that if you do it right, the sound shouldn't have to be changed much at mix time.
A lot of guys think you can fix anything in the mix, while this is somewhat true, it doesn't come without sonic sacrifice.

Best of luck with your tracking. If you haven't already looked into acoustics for your tracking room, check out the Studio and Control room acoustics forum, for some great advice from Ethan and Wes!

Steve :c:

Thanks Steve,

That is very interesting... so you would say that It may be better to bring the equipment to the studio and lay down the tracks there?

That way I get the best quality... yeah, that is interesting thanks.... more money for studio time though..... thanks again

Trev, I wasn't relly trying to convince you going to a big studio is the way to go, just that big studios get thier sound by making sure each step is perfect. Ideally, your tracks should need only fx and panning when it comes to mix. It rarely happens that you don't have to touch anything with an eq, that's just what to shoot for.

By all means track your record personally, if you take th etime you will learn much.

Steve.