Partly inspired by what I hear in The JamZone and wanting to partake in the fun; after years of knowing I want a home studio; and after three years of start -STOP-loooong.... silence.... -start -CRASH -loooooong... silence.... repeat... FRUSTRATION trying to make Sonar 3 work on my PC, I am putting together something very nice, I think. I've never built a computer and I'm confident I can do it with help and support. I've decided I want a digital audio workstation (DAW, for those who don't know, like me a very short time ago) dedicated only to music recording. I've gathered info here and elsewhere, negotiated a rough budget, and have tentatively decided on this:
- Sonar 5 Producer
- Asus M2N-SLI Deluxe socket AM2 motherboard
- AMD Athlon 64 duel core 4200+ AM2 CPU
- CORSAIR XMS2 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM 675 (PC2 5400) memory
- Seagate Barracuda 80GB 7200 RPM 2MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive
- Seagate (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
- Emu 1820M 24-Bit/192kHz Interface with 2 Preamps
- Leadtek PX6600TD-256 Geforce 6600 256MB 128-bit DDR PCI Express x16 Video Card
- SAMSUNG 2M Cache ATA/ATAPI DVD Burner With LightScribe
- Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply
- COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
- Windows xp home w/sp2
- Yorkville YSM1 powered monitors (already owned)
- Shure SM58 mics, 2 already owned, will look into condensor mics
It's relatively powerful and expensive given my limited recording experience, and I'm fairly decided it's what I'm gonna do. I have a number of songs I've been sitting on for too long, much more partially written material, and a head daily full of rhythms, bass lines, chord structures, and melodies that just drift into unrealized creative artistic intention. It's time.
So, does anyone have any feedback, info, or wisdom to dispense on this project? Thanks for any offerings.