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Old 12-10-2010, 06:33 PM
Cue Zephyr Cue Zephyr is offline
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Default System upgrade and new interface/pre-amp advice needed

(copied off of GearSlutz as I'm not getting any replies yet)

Howdy folks,

So soon, I hope to get my dad's desktop for my home recording studio and at some point I'll need an interface upgrade.
The system will feature a 2.4 GHz x4 processor and now 1.5 GB of RAM (I'd want to expand it to 4). The OS now installed is XP and the system is 32-bits (I think). Do I need to change that?

I'm now using an E-MU 0404 USB as I'm working on a laptop, but when the time is there I'd want a nice PCI soundcard with possibly ADAT.
Because, then I'd get a nice sound-card (I was thinking of the E-MU 1212M) and I'd be able to choose an 8-in pre to go along with that.

The interface/pre-amp must feature 48V phantom power (either one switch or per-channel), and either seperate XLR/TRS or combined XLR/TRS inputs (like those on my 0404 USB) and enough gain (current pre gives me about 60dBs and I've got some quiet mics and sources).
One or more direct monitoring outputs for headphones are an absolute must, too. Outputs for monitors are not necessary but I don't mind - it'll probably go through the card and not the pre-amp (unless I avoid the card alltogether).

OR I could just drop the ADAT alltogether, install a FireWire card (haven't looked at prices yet) and get a firewire interface instead. Now I've heard great things about MotU and Mac, but I'll be running on Windows. What are my possibilities here?

I could get a mixer, but the problem with that is I want to be able to record every channel seperately, and not get just a stereo signal out of a mixer.

I might have missed something, but I don't see that at this time.

Thanks in advance.

CZ
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  #2  
Old 12-11-2010, 01:24 PM
Yoder Yoder is offline
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If you are intent with sticking with Windows, then you should seriously consider upgrading to 64-bit Win7. Win7 is light years beyond XP, and the 64-bit architecture will serve you well. I have found Win7 to be far more robust than XP, and with 64-bit you have a lot of room to grow.

The E-Mu's you have are decent and will get the work done for you, especially if you decide to spend some money on 64-bit Win7. Most computers have at least one FW400 port on the mother board and maybe the front of the box. You can get FW cards for fairly cheap, and if you do you should seriously look at getting FW800...far faster than USB2 and has a much wider bandwidth. FW800 is backward compatible with FW800, and you can get the conversion cords for cheap.
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Old 12-27-2010, 10:01 AM
Cue Zephyr Cue Zephyr is offline
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So, the laptop I'm getting (for education) soon is a 64-bit system with W7. The 0404 gets the work done, I just don't have the number of channels I'd want at this point. The system I'm getting will not feature an FW port, but I'm okay with it if I have to get a PCMCIA card for FW.
Is FW800 faster than USB3.0 though?
I was also hoping there was an ADAT-supporting PCMCIA card so I'd be able to get the OctoPre, but apparently there isn't one.
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Old 12-28-2010, 12:25 PM
SimplyLuo SimplyLuo is offline
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USB3.0 is significantly faster than FW800. Gotta wonder what happened to fw3200..
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Old 12-28-2010, 01:15 PM
Cue Zephyr Cue Zephyr is offline
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Looks like I'll be wanting a PCMCIA card with USB3.0 and FW of sorts. Only if it fits the bill, of course!

I have my eye on an interface... it's the FocusRite Saffire Pro 40. Please, either pull me away from it now or make me buy it. FocusRite seems to be a reoccuring name in the business as is the Saffire line. So does anybody have experience with it?
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Last edited by Cue Zephyr; 12-28-2010 at 07:39 PM.
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Old 12-31-2010, 07:03 PM
Cue Zephyr Cue Zephyr is offline
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Nevermind, I ordered it!
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