MrJoshua

The interesting thing with Vista will be the 64-bit application. I'm wondering if that will have a positive effect on DAW performance or not. Surely the removal of the 4GB RAM limit can only be a good thing, at least.

Using separate hard drives for the system files / program installation and your audio will make a difference, yes. As far as computers coming with Vista, you can find some scattered about with XP still, but most of them have Vista now. And if you want to get annoyed with someone about that, get annoyed at all the programmers who have known Vista was coming for years and still haven't bothered to update their software to work on it. Apple makes a fine product. If you like the OS, that's a solid choice. If you prefer Windows, get a PC. It's pretty much just personal preference at this point.

You don't have to buy every mic from every company. You need to find a mic that fits your application and buy that. I don't have a big mic collection, but if I'm working with a new band and we want to record something, I take all the mics I have and try them on whatever we're recording. Sure, I use my experience with the mics and my ears to take a good guess at which mic will work best, but experimentation is still a vital part of the process. Is there a pro audio store nearby that rents out gear? If so, you should check into renting several microphones that would be in your price range to try out before buying anything.

This is the most entertaining yet least useful thread I've ever read on this forum.

Don't mistake that last couple of sentences in the previous post as saying 'Highs are always better then lows' because that's not the case either. Not criticizing the poster, just making sure it's not misinterpreted. Just having an idea of where abouts in the frequency spectrum you want a sound to end up (in relation to the other sounds) can be a really useful big-picture idea to have when setting up mics etc. Agreed. I was just giving one example, not a general statement.

I tend to try blending different mics. I'll put a 57 close and adjust it until it gives me the sound I want, then I'll put a C414 in a figure-8 pattern several feet away. Sometimes I'll pick one track out of the two resulting, but usually I'll pan them differently and blend the two to get a nice, full sound. But it just depends on what I'm recording, really. The type of sound I'm trying to capture, etc. If you have a great guitar sound in the room, it's a lot easier to get a great guitar sound on the recording. Don't be afraid to experiment, either. I've gotten good sounds by putting a small-diaphragm condensor in the back of an open-back guitar cab and reversing the polarity on the mic, then mixing it with a large-diaphragm condensor in front of the cab where it will capture more room sound. Sometimes an SM-57 a couple of inches away gives me the sound I want with nothing else added. Also, remember that what sounds good by itself isn't necessarily what will sound good in the mix. If you have enough tracks to play with, don't be afraid to lay down a lot of tracks with different mics, preamps, etc (make sure you keep notes on which track used which mic and pre, how they were set, and so forth for future reference) and then listen to different tracks in the mix later with drums, bass, vocals, and whatever other instruments you're recording. Sometimes a track that sounds full and rich by itself just sounds bottom-heavy and muffled in the mix, while a track that might sound thinner alone might cut through the mix and give you a clearer sound. And that's my completely amateur and not-guaranteed-to-be-accurate take on the matter. Of course, I've been wrong before...