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GMC Forum _ GEAR & PRODUCTION _ Sound Card And Daw

Posted by: gnarkill Nov 8 2016, 12:02 AM

I just built a boss gaming computer, and I also wanted to use it to finally set up my recording too. I know the motherboard comes with a basic sound card. I am using a Behringer Audio Interface to record.

Do I need a sound card? Is that going to help? If so, what do you recommend?

My DAW I got with my Audio Interface is Traction. It was free. What do you guys recommend? My friend says he can get me Protools 10. Should I go with that?

Posted by: yoncopin Nov 8 2016, 01:44 AM

The sound card is just fine as it is. I actually used Traktion a long time ago, it should be good to get you going. I use http://www.reaper.fm/and am very happy with it and it only cost $60.

Posted by: Mertay Nov 8 2016, 09:13 AM

Unless you experience a technical limitation (something not working, traction limitation etc.) there's no need for an update. Congrats on the new computer

Posted by: Darius Wave Nov 8 2016, 11:26 PM

Mertay as usually has got the point here. If you do not experience any technical issues, there is no need to change anything. You can also preapare a list of things you would expect to change after buiyng an interface. We can halep you by verifying which expectations are true or false

Posted by: gnarkill Nov 8 2016, 11:55 PM

Yeah, I was talking with a guy who said I NEED TO HAVE a sound card for recording music. That didnt make sense to me, as I thought the Audio Interface would handle it all. I though the sound card was used if you were gonna go full on surround sound 7.1 for your headset and gaming. I didnt think it was required for RECORDING. But how about studio monitors? Just my basic motherboard sound guy will do fine eh?

As far as DAW, I am far from versed. I do not know what I am looking for. I have used Traction, and it seemed fine. Does a DAW make or break your songs? Or is it all basically the same, only difference is what tools are available to you and ease of use? Protools 10 is coming at me free, so I was wondering if that is considered a good one.

Also, I am looking at getting a drum machine program. Any recommendations there?

Posted by: Todd Simpson Nov 9 2016, 12:02 AM

The sound card you have is just fine if it's working for you and the way you record/play/etc. As for the DAW, I'd say go download REAPER. Just google REAPER DAW and you'll get the download link. I have posted the link many times but they may change it at some point, so this time I'm gonna skip it suggest googling. as this question gets searched for quite a bit and this very response might come up for a future viewer.

PRO TOOLS is a great DAW and used at many pro studios. If you get a free copy, take it! It's worth having. It's worth learning. You can use/learn more than one daw It may seem daunting at first, so I'd say start with reaper as it's a bit more widely used by folks at GMC so you can ask questions/get answers and such (I've not taken an official poll, but I'd bet diamonds to doughnuts that reaper use far exceeds pro tools use @ GMC, where pro tools use gets more traction in the studio end of things/broadcast/post production of movies-music-games-etc)

In the future, you may outgrow your internal sound car and want an "audio interface" which is just a fancy phrase for an external sound card. For a couple hundred bucks, you can get something nice with more than one channel, mic inputs (XLR) etc. But, as with all your gear, if what you have is working for you, save the upgrade for later I would upgrade your daw right away though as tons of folks use reaper which makes it a good daw to learn so you can share projects, work with other folks, etc. I've never heard of the daw you mentioned so I'd just leave it be, to be honest