Thoughts on this PC? Should i buy

1k user, what brand and clock speed on your ram did you settle on? Plus what type does your mobo take...DDR2, DDR3?

6gb 3x2kingstons, 1600mhz, there was a deal for the 3, but im planning on upgrading the ram to more, not worried about it now. and a DDR3. i got a solid state beastly ass drive for the OS and pplications, and a terrabyte SATA3 HD for samples and such. just not sure on what soundcard to get, but it guess its not that importnat as long as im using a pci interface?

mpc1000user wrote:guess its not that importnat as long as im using a pci interface?

more like... as long as it isn't USB 1.0

so pci or firewire interface? pros/cons?

mpc1000user wrote:so pci or firewire interface? pros/cons?

Either should work fine. I'm still working with two pci s/c's and have for years with no problems.

this is a noob question but some of the interfaces ive seen say audio card in them. so do i need to buy an audio card then connect an interface then hook my mic or watever up to that, or is that interface in fact my audio card as well?

mpc1000user wrote:this is a noob question but some of the interfaces ive seen say audio card in them. so do i need to buy an audio card then connect an interface then hook my mic or watever up to that, or is that interface in fact my audio card as well?

an sound card is something you would install into your pc.. most likley pci.. firewire and usb interfaces dont need a sound card, only the firewire/usb cable..

josephnicks wrote:

mpc1000user wrote:this is a noob question but some of the interfaces ive seen say audio card in them. so do i need to buy an audio card then connect an interface then hook my mic or watever up to that, or is that interface in fact my audio card as well?

an sound card is something you would install into your pc.. most likley pci.. firewire and usb interfaces dont need a sound card, only the firewire/usb cable..

so if i got a pci interface, i would also need to buy a soundcard in the pc? and if i bought firewire interface i wouldnt need to buy a sound card when im building my pc? not sure i got what you meant

a pci interface is basically a sound card. your pc has open slots inside.. pci is most likley one of those open slots..

http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=pro ... interfaces

see how all those pci interfaces have cards you install ^^^

http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=pro ... interfaces

fire wire, no card ^^^

http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=pro ... interfaces

usb, no card ^^^


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these are pci slots

http://www.hothardware.com/reviews/imag ... i_slot.jpg

pci interfaces come with the necessary card to install

@ the "electrical engineering undergrad" that don't know sh!t about computers!!!

Don't take my word for it, he said it.

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=130400&start=0

PCI interfaces come with their own special PCI card... You need both the card and interface that connects to the card in order to work those.

Firewire and USB ones use firewire and usb instead of their own special card...

the firewire interfaces have the phantom power and mic input im looking for. Are there pci interfaces with this? If so help guide me to one please Also, if i'm going for a firewire interface, do i need to buy a soundcard at all? (im building a comp from scratch) or will the motherboard take care of everything with the interface


I noticed that the PCI's have midi and the firewires dont? Is there one with both of either interface??

mpc1000user wrote:the firewire interfaces have the phantom power and mic input im looking for. Are there pci interfaces with this? If so help guide me to one please Also, if i'm going for a firewire interface, do i need to buy a soundcard at all? (im building a comp from scratch) or will the motherboard take care of everything with the interface


I noticed that the PCI's have midi and the firewires dont? Is there one with both of either interface??

the interface IS the soundcard... you dont need both because it is both. And yes, some firewires have a midi port on them.

So theres no PCI interfaces with phantom power and xlr mic inputs? I've been trying to find a firewire interface with both the midi and the phantom power/mic input but i cant seem to find one. is it a reasonable solution to just buy one of those cheap usb to midi cables and use that for midi while the firewire for my mic?

mpc1000user wrote:So theres no PCI interfaces with phantom power and xlr mic inputs? I've been trying to find a firewire interface with both the midi and the phantom power/mic input but i cant seem to find one. is it a reasonable solution to just buy one of those cheap usb to midi cables and use that for midi while the firewire for my mic?

I guess so, really you should look around at all the ones available to you in your price range and pick the best one. There are thousands of different ones you can get and each one has some features while others have different ones.

there is no rule saying PCI ones dont have XLR inputs with fantom power.


I think you should look at something like the alesis io 26. it is cheap, rugged, it has a lot of the things you need... and I have yet to read a negative review. It is USB 2.0, but that is not a problem at all because USB 2.0 is perfectly fine.... unless your computer doesn't have USB ports.