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Im going to be running 24 tracks simultaneously at 24/96 whats the best converter and soundcard I can get and interface I have 5500 to spend I spending 2400 on the computer please anyone?

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anonymous Sun, 02/26/2006 - 14:41

Why 96k? You going to DVD or SACD? If not then dont record @ 96k your just gonna waste hard drive space. A soundcard is an interface to let you know.

Before anyone can just tell you what audio card to get you must first tell us what computer your using, Mac or PC. Also what softare are you planning on running? Cubase, PT, Logic DP etc. It would also be good if you can tell us what the computer specs are, RAM, CPU etc.

You can goto your softwares website and check for a good soundcard compatibility list. Secondly if you are gonna run 24 tracks you should get a dedicated second hard drive for your audio (preferrably a fast one).

RemyRAD Sun, 02/26/2006 - 18:37

Ryan Walters, I love posts like yours!

" I've got $5,500 to spend. Should I give my kitty an enema or would I be better off voting for George W. for a third term? Maybe I should try farting while drinking chocolate milk, or should I wait until I'm done?"

Within your budget of recording directly into your computer, I might recommend the Mark of the Unicorn (MOTU) 24 I/O. I don't remember whether it will give you 24 bit or 96kHz but it should give you one or the other, or both? I would opt for the 24-bit before I would go for the 96kHz but I find either rather useless when you're producing standard music CDs which are still 16-bit 44.1kHz. You'll still have to take your master and downgrade, downsample, translate, transcode, circumcise your masterpiece in the end and even after that it ends up on an I-Pod or MP3. CRUNCH!

It's good to plan for the future but extra bits and kilohertz do not accrue any interest rate for future use. Sure it sounds nicer sure but how will that be realized in the end?? Everybody has such a hair up their ass about higher resolution and for what in the end? I'd like to put a V-8 in a Volkswagen beetle. Will it still get 35 miles to the gallon if I move the engine from the back into the front? Who cares?

Now what software do you plan on using? Will expensive software sound better than cheap software? Only if you know what you're doing and then not necessarily.

If you want a really fine sounding 24 track computer oriented recording go for "DSD" or direct stream digital. Much better sounding than anything PCM! I can't afford that! And you can't either.

Why not just blow $1500 on an Alesis HDR24 hard disk recorder? It will do 24 track at 48kHz simultaneously. Conversely it will do 12 tracks at 24-bit, 96kHz. Get 2, they are small, lightweight, affordable. You also get a fire wire adapter so that you can take your disk drives and dump them into your computer for mixing inside the box if that's your cup of tea? Or you can mix down in analog. What a concept!

Don't let my smart ass answers dissuade you from spending your money on ridiculous decisions. You'll still have fun!
Ms. Remy Ann David