Couple of questions - a bit new.

[ichrius]

Well, so far I have cubase, reason, and guitar rig 2. Good start right?

I'm gonna go on a little shopping spree and I need to know some things:

PC/mac? Any recommendations, pros, cons? A nice little laptop and a good soundcard.

Preamp/processor device: I'm plugged straight into the line-in atm(Guitar Rig 2). What's different on using one of these? Not too familiar.. I plan on getting a keyboard(my next question) and recording with microphones. I'd like to have something with a pedal for GR2 effects too. All into the pc.

Keyboard/midi keyboard: What's the difference? Can a normal keyboard be used the same? What all is a midi keyboard used for?

Speakers: Is 2 monitor speakers plenty? I see they have a surround sound set and a subwoofer.. Is there a standard set for use of a keyboard/guitar/everything?

I think that's it for now.. thanks much in advance for the advice!

[SnappleMan]

I suggest you get a PC. Macs are good, but my guess is that you've "bought" the PC versions of all that software you have... Also, there are very few differences these days between mac and PC.

If you want a laptop computer, you pretty much have to get yourself a Pentium Core 2 Duo machine if you are gonna use Guitar Rig 2 and other amp simulation. As for the laptop itself, try to get a WinXP machine, but remember that for music production you'll have to do a clean install to get rid of all that "bulkware" that will most likely be installed on it. You want as much ram as possible, at the very least 1gb (recommended 2gb), and at least 120gb storage (SATA).

Now, you have a few options when it comes to the soundcard. The most reliable option is getting an Echo Indigo, this is a PCMCIA card, so if you want to go this route, make sure your laptop comes with a PCMCIA port, these are old and are getting phased out in favor of the newer ExpressCard slots. Then your second option is USB or FireWire. This is a tough one, USB 2.0 is a tiny bit faster than FireWire 400, but that doesn't really matter because the best audio interface manufacturers are working only with FireWire. I use an Echo Audiofire, I get extremely low latency, no dropouts, great audio clarity. The problem is that the Audiofire series is relatively new, so drivers for it (while very solid) have a couple of annoyances.

The preamp thing is necessary because unless you have an active guitar (if you need to have a battery in there, it's active) you'll need the input boost to make Guitar Rig 2 work perfectly. I don't know about any of the other USB or FireWire interfaces, but the AudioFire 4 has build in preamps (research this so I don't mislead you by accident).

As far as monitors go, you definitely need monitors, two of them. Don't worry about mixing in surround sound or any of that bullshit because you wont be working on feature films anytime soon (and if you ARE, I'm full of shit and more power to ya!). Get yourself a pair of entry level monitors by KRK, Event, or Alesis, and be sure to also pick up some Auralex isolation pads for your monitors.

[suzumebachi]

Keyboard/midi keyboard: What's the difference? Can a normal keyboard be used the same? What all is a midi keyboard used for?

Pretty much nearly all digital keyboards are MIDI these days. MIDI means that the keyboard is sending note data rather than an audio signal. Your computer can then use the note data to record your playing, or to control whatever softsynths or samplers and crud. Also, why on earth would you record a keyboard with a microphone? The majority of keyboards also have an audio out (usually 1/4" TRS, but some use RCA) that you can record directly, without the use of a microphone.

Unless you are confused and you mean actual acoustic pianos, in which case you will need a microphone, and you won't have MIDI.

[Kanthos]

With a keyboard, consider what you want it for. Assuming you don't want an acoustic piano, you would get a keyboard either for sequencing on your computer, live performance, or both. Pretty much every keyboard and digital piano has MIDI output, as Suzumibachi says, but not all have audio output. I use an M-Audio Axiom 61 which only has MIDI output, so if I wanted to use it to play live somewhere, I'd have to bring my laptop along too, since the keyboard *only* outputs MIDI data (events saying when notes are pressed and released, how hard they're pressed, and a bunch of other things). That said, the laptop is becoming a vital piece of equipment for live performance for many keyboard players, so that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Anyway, there's not much we can do to recommend anything specific unless you know whether you want a MIDI keyboard, keyboard with audio output, or digital piano.

[ichrius]

Thanks for the reply guys, much appreciated.

I'm not looking for any real recommendations really.. I'm doing this with my dad - and he kind of alway shad his eyes set on like a Korg Triton(or one alike) Now assuming it has a MIDI control or whatever, it will double as a normal keyboard with it's own effects, and still be able to play as a MIDI board? What's the difference of recording when using the MIDI and normal?

As for the preamp - is there good ones for say a 4way line in? mic/guitar/keyboard/bass

to suzumebachi: I meant mic for voice/guitar.

[Kanthos]

Tritons will definitely have MIDI outputs. For recording, it just depends what you want. If you want to use built-in sounds on the Triton, record using your line out and maybe a DI box depending on your audio interface. If you want to use sounds from other VSTs on your computer, record the MIDI output into Cubase/Reason and have it trigger the appropriate VST instruments.

[ichrius]

Ahh ok I understand now.. thanks soo much for the help.

Last question is still the preamp device.. What exactly do they do? Would it be viable to have one with 4 inputs for keyboard/mic/guitar/bass?

[SnappleMan]

A preamp boosts input. I've never used a keyboard for audio recording, only midi, so I don't know if you'll need a preamp for that. If you want to record all 3 at once, you'll need an audio interface with multiple inputs and multiple channels. So make sure whatever you get has at least 4 independent inputs (your best choice would be something by MOTU or RME). Then you would have to route each input to seperate audio tracks in Cubase.

So yeah, if you want multiple inputs on a laptop, your only option is FireWire, and spending at least $300. (again, do some research in case I don't know what I'm talking about.)

[ichrius]

Thanks so much guys. Got all my questions answered, now I will just look around for the right things to buy:p