ANTEC CASE: SLK1650B-UK

Antec case, inside and out


350W SmartPower2.0 ATX12V power supply, runs cooler and quieter, removable side panels & drive cages, 8 drive bays

Antec Features:

• Single Fan 350W SmartPower2.0 ATX12V power supply for AMD™ & Intel® systems; SmartPower runs cooler and quieter; Active PFC environmentally friendlier
• 2 Front USB 2.0 ports with shielded cables
• Removable Side Panels
• Removable Drive Cages
• 8 Drive Bays (External: 3x 5.25", 2x 3.5"; Internal: 3x 3.5"; Quick-release drive cage allows easy installation and replacement of 3.5" drives; Rubber grommets for hard drive mounts reduce vibration and noise
• Cooling capacity: 1 rear 120mm low speed fan; 1 x 80mm front (optional)
• Fits Micro ATX (9.6" x 9.6") and Standard ATX (12"x 9.6") motherboards

INSIDE THE BOX:

• CPU Manufacturer: Authentic AMD
• Number of CPU: 2
• CPU Type: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3500+
• CPU Speed: 2209.6 MHz
• Cache size: 512KB
• O/S: Windows XP
• Total RAM: 1073192960 Bytes (1GB)
• Available RAM: 732921856 Bytes
• Video settings: 1024x768x32
• Video driver: Radeon X1550 Series
• BIOS: 133-A676L8-10A
• Drive Letter: C/D Total Disk Space: 160 GB (2 X 80 GB) - SATA Drives
• Cluster Size: 4 KBytes
• File system: NTFS

M-AUDIO AUDIOPHILE 2496 SOUNDCARD

The M-Audio Audiophile 2496 is a professional quality inexpensive audio solution. Despite the word "audiophile" in its name, the card will, first of all, be of interest to a computer musician, and only after that a lover of high-quality music playback.

The 2496 has:

• excellent sound (high-quality converters located in the professional I2S codec AK4528);
• wide capabilities (multifunctional Envy24 processor which provides a great number of settings)
• excellent VxD and WDM drivers (support of all operating systems including WinXP)
• superb quality of the digital-out (due to the separate transceiver chip CS8427);
• MIDI input and output with standard DIN-5 connectors
• support of professional interfaces (GSIF, ASIO, EASI) and low latency (in the WDM drivers as well)

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 features:

• 2 x 2 analog I/O
• 24-bit/96kHz fidelity
• S/PDIF digital I/O with 2-channel PCM
• SCMS copy protection control
• digital I/O supports surround-encoded AC-3 and DTS pass-through
• 1 x 1 MIDI I/O
• zero-latency monitoring
• software controlled 36-bit internal DSP digital mixing/routing
• gold-plated RCA jacks
• frequency response: 22Hz-22kHz, -0.4, +/-0.4dB
• dynamic range: 104dB (A-weighted) (D/A)

Compatibility:

• ASIO 2 (important!)
• MME
• Sound Manager
• OMS
• DirectX
• GSIF 2
• Mac OS X Core Audio / Core MIDI

Conclusion

"This is a good sounding card that will work well for the home/enthusiast studio. It is ideal for making high-quality demo recordings, and when combined with other high-quality gear will provide professional results on more ambitious projects. At its price point, the card is rather remarkable in what it provides to the user and what it is capable of." (pcrecording.com)

TAPCO MIXER

Choice:

• Tapco Blend 6 (recommended)
• Tapco Mix Series (alternatives)

The choice depends predominantly on number of inputs and auxiliary sends required.

The Tapco Blend 6

The compact Blend 6 is a great-sounding six-channel mixer with genuine Mackie-designed mic preamps and all the features needed for small recording and live mixing. And in terms of sound quality it's the clear leader in its class.

• High Quality Microphone Preamps
• Convenient Instrument Inputs
• Perfect Tone
• 2 Auxiliary Sends
• Solid: The chassis is built from lightweight super-strong steel, and the polycarbonate side-cheeks can absorb bashings that could reduce lesser mixers to crumpled heaps.

The Tapco Mix 100

As above but with more inputs and 1 less Auxiliary Send (Aux output)

Jump to:

• Audio PCs (main page)
• Background
• Current Build: Specification
• Prices & Options
• Why PC? Mac vs. PC
• 6 Different Types of Home Studio Setup (opens in new window)
• Rivalling the Professional Studio Sound (opens in new window)

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