Home Studio Question
 

Okay, for starters just to let everyone know what my intentions are. I would like to make my recording sound better than what im getting now, funny static and annoyances. First off, I have a PC based system running Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit and will have a Second OS with Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit. What would be the better way to go between these two OS's.

On the other half, them system specs are:
CPU: Intel Pentium 4 2.6GHz Dual Core
RAM: 3072MB(3gb)
Vid: Sapphire Radeon 2600HD AGP 512MB 400MHz(DAC)
Audio: Diamond Xtreme Sound 5.1 16bit card(want to replace)
HDD: 250GB internal 500GB external

Music Equipment:
Peavey PV8 Mixer board
Peavey Dual DeltaFEX effects processor
Zoom MRT-3B drum machine
Fender Frontman 212R 100watts
Boss Metal Zone MT-2
Boss Chromatic Tuner TU-2
Digitech Whammy
CAD 22 Microphone(will buy a better on in the future)
Ibanez Roadstar Series II(customized w/ EMG 81&85)
Schecter C-7 Diamond Series
Epiphone Acoustic

Now that everyone has an idea of what I'm working with, my plan is to use my computer as a recording station if you didn't think of it yet :P

Just wold like some ideas that you think would work great for my setup. Especially info for good sound cards or audio interfaces. I'm just starting to look around at products but dont really know what to look for. as of right now, I use audacity for recording and in the past it was good to use when i had XP. On my system now(Windows 7) it doesnt seem to produce a good sound anymore, gets some static. I thought it could have been some of my equipment. but i narrowed it down to the sound card or it could be drivers.

if anyone has any ideas of what i could do please let me know. im open for some ideas

Thanks
-Guber

I'd go with something better than Audacity if you're planning on multi-track recording. Maybe look around at Sonar's latest, or Pro-Tools or even Cubase. If that's out of your price range, there are other programs out there but you'll have to search around. The three programs I mentioned are the tits.

For your sound card, it looks like you have an 8 channel mixer, but are you using all 8 channels simultaneously? If not, just find an audio interface that has as many inputs as you need simultaneously. Don't worry about getting an audio interface with XLR connections, as you already have them on your mixer (assumingly), so your interface will just need 1/4 inch TRS inputs, which you can feed to from either the direct outs on your mixer, or your sub-mix outs, or if you're going to be summing everything, your main R/L outs.

Overall, your focus should be on the recording program and the audio interface. Do some searching and come up with a list of items and see if they meet your requirements.