Computer suitable as a DAW ( Windows OS ) Max RAM and huge SSD
Good sound card
Great microphone
Anything else ( please specify )

My daughter Kelly wants to prolong my legacy after I exit the stage and will need a lot of help from you wonderful friends.

She has about US$1000 to throw at it.

I would add a pair of audio monitors.

I think we would need more information on what she intends to do prior to making and recommendation. For instance is she only going to use BiaB? Will she being using RB? How many people will she be recording at once? Info like this will help determine how powerful a computer she would need, how many audio inputs needed for an audio interface (sound card), RAM size, etc.

Mario, my friend, I've already given Kelly my Berry MS-40 Near-
Field Monitors so I think she is all set on speakers.

She will be using BIAB ( Thanks Peter and Callie ) but I'm way out of date on microphones and interfaces.

My techie friend liked my Dell computer but I doubt it's still available.

Some great recommendations from Rob Helms:


1. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AudioBx96Stu--presonus-audiobox-96-studio-usb-2.0-hardware-software-recording-kit

2. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AudioBx96Ult--presonus-audiobox-96-ultimate-usb-2.0-hardware-software-recording-kit

Someone I know just got that Audiovox combo.
Looked nice to me for handling the hardware side of things.
It's 2 IN/2 OUT if that matters. If you want to record more than 2 MONO Audio tracks (or one stereo) at a time, it will not. But for many users this is not an issue.

Now to decide on a computer. There are plenty of other threads dedicated to that.
It helps to know if a desktop or laptop is preferred.

For a starter set up, that audiovox combo looks kind of nice.
Again, I only say 'starter' because of the 2 in/out limit. If that's enough for you it's probably more than fine for this purpose.
I can get along with that many inputs on many projects..

I would go with this one.

As been previously mentioned does she want a laptop or a desktop.

Note that https://www.tigerdirect.com/ has a number of refurbished computers. I have ordered a number of them for family and friends and all but one have been working flawlessly for years. The bad one was DOA and Tiger Direct offered to replace it or give us our money back. She replaced it and it has been working perfectly. Tiger Direct is a very reputable company.

Note that I do not work for them.

Don, will she be working just with BIAB, or with previously recorded audio? I'm thinking about a stereo audio editor that can burn CDs (or you can do this in a DAW). Will she have any video and want to make DVDs or movies for the Internet? Some DAWs are much better for video than others.

As others mention, a bit more info would be helpful

Re: the CPU, you'll probably want to get a quad core, especially if she does stuff with lots of synth action or oversampling/high bit rates. A 4th-7th generation i7 quad will do very nicely, or if that is outside the budget, you could also get an unlocked quad core i5 and overclock it a little.

Thanks all.

Kelly was steered to a laptop so that part is settled.

For a sound card, probably the most popular ones our users buy are from Focusrite - the 2i2 is especially popular. Steinberg makes some excellent interfaces as well, as does Presonus. Typically stick to the bigger names as they will have MUCH better driver support.

For microphones, what exactly are you gonna be recording with said microphone? Any particular mic I might recommend could be great for one purpose but terrible for yours. I personally have a suitcase full of mics for that very reason.

S-O-L-V-E-D-!

Practically any decent computer off the shelf will work. Just add the HD size you want or even consider adding external hard drives.

SOund card: Focusrite or Presonus..... again, almost any brand will work. Just be sure it has the number of inputs you need, phantom power built in, and that it runs NATIVE ASIO and not some proprietary codec or off brand driver.

Mic: It's amazing what some of the cheap condensers sound like. Back in the day, I paid $400 for a nice RODE' but some friends bought a condenser that was $60 and really sounded good. DO NOT buy a USB mic. Get a real mic that plugs into a mixer or an interface.

All of that is easily under a grand. Of course, you will want to buy a few plugins like Ozone and Melodyne.... but hey, no need to break the bank to get started. Once started, she will learn what she needs beyond the basics as she learns and runs into problems that will come up.

Matt, mutual friend, Rob Helm, got Kelly going with an adequate complete system so she ordered it from Amazon yesterday.

Thank you ( and everyone ) for tossing out a lifeline yet again. I absolutely love my PG family.