# Home Recording Dummy



## Rex Lannegan (Mar 2, 2006)

Yup...that's me, the dummy... 

I'm hoping someone can help me out. I was given an old computer that I was hoping to turn into a recording machine. It has the following characteristics:

700 MHz
20G hardrive
64M RAM

I'm wondering:

1. If this machine will be enough to handle what I want to do?
2. What is a good soundcard to buy and install?


Thanks!! evilGuitar:


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## Lester B. Flat (Feb 21, 2006)

I'll let others with more digital experience advise you on the sound card, but you are going to need a lot more RAM.


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## Baba Rumraisin (Mar 17, 2006)

The 700 mhz is marginal but it'll do. Depends what you want to do and how fast you want to do it.
The 20 gig drive won't last long but that's not really a problem either, just put in a bigger one as a slave.
As Lester B. said 64 megs of ram just is not enough. Multiplying that by ten would be more like it. The good thing is that its an older computer so the ram isn't going to be priced very high.
Soundcard. You could look at the Creative Audigy 2 ZS Platinum. It has a bay mounted IO. Should cost you 250 or thereabouts, maybe less. They're also the easiest to find in stores.


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## Deadwrong (Feb 9, 2006)

Baba Rumraisin said:


> The 700 mhz is marginal but it'll do. Depends what you want to do and how fast you want to do it.
> The 20 gig drive won't last long but that's not really a problem either, just put in a bigger one as a slave.
> As Lester B. said 64 megs of ram just is not enough. Multiplying that by ten would be more like it. The good thing is that its an older computer so the ram isn't going to be priced very high.
> Soundcard. You could look at the Creative Audigy 2 ZS Platinum. It has a bay mounted IO. Should cost you 250 or thereabouts, maybe less. They're also the easiest to find in stores.



Ok, so I have one of those cards and plenty of power in the PC. So......just plug the mic to the card (or box in my case). 

I have an amp I want to mic but it is in another room and dont want to wheel it my office at home, is there another solution to recording?


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## Baba Rumraisin (Mar 17, 2006)

You can plug your guitar right into the Audigy I/O in the front and play through there. The card comes with effects that resemble stomp box effects or you could use whatever stomp box you have before your signal gets to the card. The amp gets fed from the lines 1&2 plug at the back of the card. You'll have to either join the stereo into mono before you get to the amp, if you only have one amp, or split the signal left and right , if you have two.
You don't have to run the output of the card to an amp. You could run it out to headphones if you wish. It'd sure be cheaper. Or to your computer speakers. Headphones from the headphone jack, of course, but any speakers attached to line out must be self powered.
You could mic the amp in the other room with a long extension. (Radio Shack)

What do you want to do? Have music in your head you want to put out there? The Audigy can get you quite a ways down the road.


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