Computer for home recording

[KillerCharlie]

I'm setting up a system for recording my grand piano. It'll probably be a 2 mic setup (condensor or ribbon, not sure) that's decent quality. I need a computer to do the recording. My main computer is in my office on the other side of the room and it's not feasible to use.

I could rebuild an old pentium 4 I have around, but it'll need some new parts and a new monitor. On top of that it still probably won't be quiet and need to be located in my bedroom, which is adjacent to the living with the piano (cutting holes in the wall). The advantage is that I already have a good maudio pci card I can use.

It might almost be cheaper to get a laptop. Can a run of the mill $500 laptop handle recording just fine? I can't imagine it takes much resources to do the recording. I will do post-processing on my main computer.

Are laptops generally quieter than PCs? I like the idea of using a laptop so I can use it for other things. Also, what external (USB?) sound card for recording is recommended?

I'm trying to keep the costs down so I can spend more on the mics.

 

[brotj7]

I'll take a stab at this Q. What recording software do you intend to use? It will provide minimum and suggested specs to give us an idea of what throughput you will generate. Will this be just the one instrument with two streams?

My concern would be case noise getting into the analog recording. With a dedicated recording tower, you could use integrated graphics, a passive CPU cooler, and a SSD to remove the main culprits. Next loudest would be the power supply fan.

If this is just audition recordings, I would choose the quietest device you can find in your price range. To test a laptop, loop a movie demo for 10-15min to make the fan kick on.

 

[Railgun]

IMHO, I'd get a card that will take xlr inputs (or even a usb interface with xlr inputs) and however long a cable you need. You don't need to have the pc in that close of proximity really. The only downside is you have extra dead recording time at the front and end of the file. It's digital so no big deal there.

I did something similar as at the time, 1) my pc was on air and loud as hell and 2) the room I was in was too open and loud (I was using it for voice recording).

My work around to control things was an rdp app on my ipad, so that may be of some use to you.

That said, if your existing pc is up to snuff, then do that.

Sorry...I didn't read everything and didn't notice you already have a card...so disregard the card suggestion.

 

[Jesusthewererabbit]

Instead of buying or building a computer to track with, look at some of the digital multiracks that are out. I have a Zoom R24 that I really like. If you're just going to do two tracks at a time, this one would be perfect:

http://www.amazon.com/Zoom-R8-Multit...ywords=zoom+r8

Boss and Tascam both have similar setups. It's a fairly small, portable gizmo that can do tracking without the need for a computer, and uses SD cards for storage. You can then take it and transfer by USB to the computer you already have and load it into your favorite DAW program. Simple, easy, and you don't have to lug a computer around.