Ok, thanks for the headsup Moujik, Ive done a little research & I believe your right with regard to there being better value for money cards out there & more importantly better suited to music production. It had crossed my mind when I popped into PC World & saw them selling it there, PC World cater for the 'man in the street' rather than the prosumer (new word I learned today hehe!)
Incidently the card I was looking at was the Audigy Soundblaster XFI Platinum at £149. Having taken a look at numerous websites I came across this one which I think kind of puts the subject into perspective from a 'prosumers' (
) point of view.
http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop/news_story/a/news_id/e/1006
Im gonna give the guys at dolphin a bell tomorrow so I can decide which one is best.
So then ragsy my boy! I hear what your saying about thinking longer term regarding plugins VST's etc.... (shhh....whats a VST m8?) and it does make sense. Ive been using Sony Acid Pro which I purchased 2 weeks after downloading the cheap & nasty Magix Music Maker 11 which crashed on me & I lost everything, backups the lot!
.... Ah thats why it was only £20! It did however help to plant the seed......and from little acorns.....(Im sure you know the ending m8)
And so entered Sony Acid Pro & that was completely reliable & after banging out 5 or 6 tracks of what I thought was the pinnacle of my music career I was about to tick off yet another 'life goal' & retire from the scene feeling inner peace & complete contentment when Jay J my little bruv, whilst we were working on Genesis together decided to introduce me to a little gem, yeah Dancetech & having listened to countless tracks, sounds, influences, genres etc... on here, well, in short you lot pissed on my parade!!!
Retirement has been put back until further notice for the time being. I digress Rags I have been playing on Sonar 6 prior to messing on with Reason before feeling completely out of my depth, too much too soon I think. And I know Reason is very busy too but I think it suits me for now & inevitably I ll move on to the next step, probably Sonar 6, Cubase looks ok, dont know any of the others to use just yet.
...An outboard you say?........no, Ive no need for a boat where I live m8, hehehehe, just joshing fella!
Im assuming outboard is referring to external hardware, plug in keyboards, guitars samplers & so on. Whilst it should be noted that I dont play an instrument, read music etc... as such, (despite mumsys best efforts to have me learn Spanish Guitar from the age of 10, well it was that or ballet with my sister!!! Dont laugh, thats straight up! Shit, how I wish I had stuck at it now....... the ballet I mean!! LMFAO). Yes I can see me going down the route of outboard gear as my skills develop & the biggest inhibitor/factor, time allowing, work gets, well its difficult to describe without profanity so lets say unbearably hectic! So from the end of Jan 07 it could well be late Oct before you see me back on here, around about the time you will have finished reading this email! hehe.
Having looked into it today Im considering an external soundcard rather than inbuilt, is this a term you would use for an outboard device as such? I had read on the BBC website about most of this software we've discussed & they too widely regard Pro Tools as the market leader, but I think it'll be a little while yet before I roll up my trousers & dip my toe in the Pro Tools pool!
Maarten.....you mean to say you work in B&Q & at night frequent the red light district????
Thanks I will check out Ableton as soon as! Ive heard good things about it but not managed to get my grubby mits on it yet! With regards to the soundcard check out dolphins link above if your thinking of upgrading, they have a decent selection & there saying all the right things such as suggesting the card that fits with your needs rather than a one size fits all. Your right too about not underestimating the part hardware plays in reproducing sound quality which I think 'loops' (artists terminoligy, eh
) us back to the start of the opening conversation.
Thanks for your comments fellas, it has helped me consider my approach a little clearer. Feel free to comment further if the need arises. And despite my messing cheers too for keeping it in simple speak, for a simple guy! haha
Right, thats me back off down the 'bar' (last artist punn, I promise) Im in danger of sobering up here.
Oh, one more thing, prosumer, the definition,
"A consumer who is an amateur in a particular field, but who is knowledgeable enough to require equipment that has some professional features" ("professional" + "consumer").
I like that!
.........Cold beer awaits