Moving from Roland VS to DAW

[wardshorsehead]

This kinda pulls from a variety of the current "soundcard" and "computer building" threads, but since I didn't want to get it buried, here it goes...

I'm finally considering setting up a DAW on my current computer...will still use the VS for its portability (i'm a teacher, and an old building after hours is like a goldmine for an apartment dweller).

I have a P4 1.6g, 400mhz buss, 82845 chipset on an Elpaso2MB. I have 2 7200rpm HDs, 20gig and 40gig. I have 768mb ram. CD-RW, and the usual array of serial, usb, and firewire ports.

I'm considering the Aardvark 24/96...4 in, 6 out, midi in/out, mic pres, DSP effects, headphones bundled with Cakewalk Pro Audio 9.0 for about $500 and change. I've used other Cakewalk products to some extent (I regularly use Plasma for loops) and find myself pretty comfortable with the interface.

At home, I can't really see myself needing more than 4 ins at a time (too small to track more than myself or a couple of acoustic musicians. ) I'll be using the VS for live drums and group recordings at the school.

I have some outboard gear, mostly pres, but the inserts on the Q from Aardvark makes me a little jealous (but the absence of the onboard DSP effects, as I have little other gear, seems to be a downer). BTW...anyone with opinions on the DSP verb, eq, and comp on this card?

Does this seem like a livable setup? The computer is hopefully going to be ok, as I don't have the cash to do much about that.

Any other solutions, or advice, would be great.

I'm also considering the Red Rover to avoid having to use the mouse all of the time.

Thanks!

Frank

[apropos of nothing]

I've got an Aardvark DP2496. I like it. But I have to say that it hasn't been without its foibles. From what I've read, no sound card is. the discussion forums at http://www.audioforums.com the Usenet archive on Google, and http://www.cubase.net have been invaluable resources in troubleshooting. I would recommend doing searches the soundcard you're looking at plus various components of your setup prior to purchase.

The Aardvark worked fine under Win98. When I upgraded to Win2k, I had driver problems like nobody's business. My feeling is that rather than write Win2k drivers from scratch, Aardvark ported the 98 drivers to the new spec (but not fully).

Seems it doesn't like to share attention during with boot-up. My situation is exacerbated since my motherboard has onboard RAID/extra IDE ports. If I say disconnect my USB MIDI interface, causing the system to spend extra time looking for it, the Aardvark does not initialize properly. I've had to disable all system-tray components. After spending the time with it, it now works pretty close to flawlessly. I've been able to play 50 tracks of audio and software synthesis. Not bad off of an AMD XP1600+.

Even with those caveats, I can still recommend the card. It sounds great, has great construction and price/value is awesome. I've used the phantom power and gain on it, and everything sounds marvellous.

Like I say, no sound card is going to be completely bug-free, unless you're very lucky or have one totally stripped-down system. Even RME-owners get the occasional system conflict.

Enjoy.

[apropos of nothing]

Oh, re: the Aardvark's hardware DSP:

Better to do it in software. The only one of the EQ/Comp/Verb combo I use is the reverb, and then I don't record it -- just keep it on the monitor chain to make the vocalist feel more comfy. The EQ is okay for minor tweaks on input (say the bottom end of the signal is way out of control), and the compression is . . . not good.

There are a decent spot of freeware DSPs available, and even some good ones. =%>

Take care

[JES]

Another vote for plugins. They're a lot easier to deal with than something like hardware DSP. THe other option is outboard units, but I'd start with plugin FX first and see what you need before you go out and buy more stuff in FXland.

Can't comment on the Aardvark end, as I'm a Mac/MOTU user, but seems like a decent piece of gear.

Best,
--JES

[AGCurry]

I have the Aardvark 2496 and the Direct Pro Q10 on the same PC. They are wonderful. Great sound, great features, and you don't need a separate hardware mixer.