Wow, thanx for all the great feedback.

Colin- The brand I used is called silenX. You could go with a water cooled syatem, but it would be totally unnecessary and pretty expensive. Not to metion that it takes quite a bit of know how just to get it set up right. Check out this link. http://www.silenx.com/index.asp. Otherwise just google "silent computer fans" and it will give you a whole host of options.

EDIT:I should add that I have been lucky with mine, but a lot of people say they have had trouble with them getting noisy or freezing up. Another brand to check out would be noctua, they are a bit more expensive, but everyone who has them loves them.

Daklander-Thanx for the info. It appears I have the makings of a pretty good entry level studio computer. Now I just gotta get some wheat harvested so that I can afford to start buying parts.

Big Jim- I would be interested to see what your friend put together, but from reading the specs on a few different studio recording systems it looks like I have a pretty good start. If I was pushing it really hard I would probably upgrade my processor and add some more RAM, but the hardest I ever push it is importing an instrumental track and recording a vocal and some harmonies over the top of it. Ive never had an issue where I didnt have enough computing power. I am interested to see if people prefer inboard or outboard recording interfaces though.

Ray- Yes this mic is scratching the bottom of the barrel, but when I was starting out I really had no idea what I was doing or what I should look for. It came as part of a bundle when I bought a mic boom. Surprisingly though it has fairly good sound. I have AB'd it against some sennheisers and some shures just to see if it was worth the extra money to upgrade, and at that point it was not. I think that had more to do with my setup than the mics though. I am keeping my preamp around because at some point I do plan on getting a condenser.

The setup that I had up to the point of starting this thread was as entry level as it could get (except for the computer itself). Now that I have a feel for it I want to upgrade. Hopefully (with your help) this will lead to a better end product.

Last edited by Bater; 08/11/09 03:07 AM.
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