Douglas Taylor asked: Recording on a computer can be a great experience. It also can be bad if you do not get the basics right when you are setting up your computer. You will need to research what type of equipment you will want to go with before you start shopping. This article will look at some things you need to think about before purchasing that all-important sound card.
There are a few different types of soundcards you can buy such as the PCI soundcard and USB interfaces. We are not going to get into what type of card you will require as you need to look at the features you or your band will need in a soundcard before you decide what type to buy. You need to know how many tracks you will want to be able to record at one time. Will you want to record your audio using microphones and if so you need to decide if you will need to buy separate preamps. Deciding how much you have to spend before you buy can save you hours of looking at equipment that is not within your budget.
Deciding how much am you are willing to spend is essential to get in your head before looking at that first catalog or website. You can buy a soundcard or USB interface in many different price ranges. You may not be able to get as many features as you want if the price is the most important thing to you. By having a budget in your mind you can clearly see which soundcards fit into this price range.
The next thing you need to look at is how many tracks will you need to record at one time. If you are only going to record yourself or you and a buddy your needs will be modest. If recording a whole band at one time is what you want to do you will need more inputs in your interface. Audio interfaces can be bought with as few as two inputs, which is fine for one or two people. You will need a more elaborate setup if you want to record eight tracks at a time.
You will need to decide if you want the preamps built into the audio interface or whether you would prefer separate preamps. The advantage to using built in preamps is everything is in one tidy package and will be designed to work with your setup. If you already own some good preamps you may not want to pay for them again in your recording setup.
Everything should fall into place if you think about what features you need before you start shopping. Buy the best soundcard you can afford, as a lot of your sound quality will come from the card. In the end you are the one who will decide what you need and want in an audio soundcard.
Lucy
