Spike

Hmm.. from what you're describing, a Pro Tools LE setup with an 002R as your frontend would be about right... although, if you're not using a Mac then maybe an Apogee Ensemble into Nuendo I would advise finding out a lot more before buying anything, because it kinda seems to me that while you're enthusiastic and have a lot of hookups, you don't quite have the knowledge to make an informed choice... for example, Pro Tools LE cannot run without the relevant Digidesign hardware (so that Avid bundle is a bit of a scam), you need to start thinking about preamps, most recording interfaces run through Firewire so your soundcard is irrelevant... etc. etc. I guess at the end of the day, a lot rests on how far you're planning to take it, if you want more professional results then the mics, rooms and monitoring system play as huge a role as your analog to digital interface... And, unless you have really fucking great ears, it's gonna be costly. I could probably write a couple thousand words on this, but I'll just say a couple things: 1. Avoid M-Audio like the plague. The pre-amps and DA converters are horrible. Either go for Apogee or older Digidesign (002R, the old mBox, 001) if you're really planning on taking this somewhere 2. Studio time, when you understand what you're actually paying for, is actually excellent value for money (assuming you've got access to a decent studio). There really is no comparison in terms of sound quality - what you're paying for is all the acoustic treatment, range of mics, good quality desk, their Pro Tools HD rig, etc. While being able to record stuff at home is nice and useful, it's unlikely that any mixes made in your room will translate well to, well, anything 3. Pro Tools is industry standard - if you master it, it's extremely powerful (even the LE version) and to be honest for any kind of serious use, nothing out there compares. A lot of people disagree, but the fact that I could probably walk into most major studios in the world (who all, funnily enough, use Pro Tools), sit down and start working straight away is a pretty good sign that I'm on to something here. The only problem is the hardware tie-in, but the old stuff is really, really good - there are actually a lot of smaller professional studios that run 002R rigs, and considering that you can pick one up for about $500 used, it's a good starting point 4. Although you can get good results with analog, to be honest, in terms of value for money, digital wins out (especially if you pirate your plugins). It's great for learning the basics, but with a 16track you're pretty much confined to whatever is in that box, unless you have the patience to import everything track by track into your computer to continue there. And you'll still need good AD converters, so you might as well have started by recording straight into the computer Anyway... I realised I'm kinda rambling without purpose here, no idea how much info you're interested in. Hope this was some sort of help

Hmm... Do you really need HD? Because the hardware investment is huge - unlike LE, where the hardware acts as a "dongle" of sorts, HD/TDM systems actually handle most of the processing and I/O on the Core and I/O cards themselves. You'd need Core HD1 as a bare minimum which runs at about $8000 street, and since academic discounts are between 15-25% off retail you'd probably still be looking at $5000 minimum... and this is assuming you already have good converters (Apogee etc.) since having a poor frontend would defeat the point of moving up to HD. If you didn't, you'd then have to pay around $1000-3000 for either Digidesign I/O units or something equivalent, plus pre-amps... If you're needing the SMPTE ruler for film work, you can get it as an add-on for LE, but unless you're building a serious studio HD is total overkill Out of curiousity, what will this be for?

Bagjack... if you can find it

What I find really funny is that most guys really don't regret losing their virginity, but most girls hugely regret the way it happened..

Well, maybe I should get my eyesight tested, because the pics that Dee posted looked very much like a girl. Either way, whatever

Makros is defintiely not scorpion... I mean uh, not a guy

Well, I can imagine he'd be in no rush to finish...

"Tease" or any variation thereof

Someone should code+animate spacedocking

I'm still trying to get tickets for Mexico for myself and the lady in July.. it ain't easy. Some companies are trying to quote us what's pretty much our entire travel budget for ONE TICKET.. I wish that I'd known what dates we were travelling when the tickets were about 300GBP (about $550) London-Oaxaca.. blah

I'm not a fan, but a lot of people I know swear by Head Automatica

Re: Ask an attention starved filthbox jew You hide bagels AND gold in your hole? Sorry, couldn't resist ..carry on

I can vouch for -Rage-'s hats, mine's been rocked almost daily since the day I got it

Re: i met wifey Did you say squirts?

Your call, I think if he's your grandma's sister's grandson, you only actually share something under 7% of genetic material. And that's a guess, someone who knows what they're talking about can do the maths Just don't give birth edit: and with them having different dads, that figure falls even further And hell, if you're religious, we're all technically descended firstly from Adam, then from Noah, so we're a merry bunch of inbreds. Just food for thought

...but only if you're both really hot too

Incest is hot

4 hours is a good night for me, chronic insomniac since age 11 It's not fun. If I get my 4 hours my body seems to cope ok, but if I don't (which is most nights) I wake up drained and stay that way until the next time I can get a full 4 hours. I seriously wonder if I'd be a whole different person if I started catching 8 hours a night

That's a fucking incredible lineup. I'd give maybe part of a finger to go there, and that means a lot considering the sheer amount of time I spend playing instruments

I know, right?

A good general rule, once you hit 18, is this one: Half your age, plus 7. So, for example (for people too lazy to do the math) 18 --> 16 19 --> 16-17 20 --> 17 etc.

Scott Adams - The Religion War It's written by the creator of Dilbert, which is reason enough to read it But, there's more! The plot is extremely thin, but that's not the point. It's full of interesting insight and extremely thought-provoking ideas about religion, especially with regard to the Islam-Christianity conflict on at the moment

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I vote the title be changed to Hipster v. Emo v. Mero And we can just conclude that Mero beat the tar out of the others and leave it at that