Check out my new quiet computer

My studio at home is a pretty hacked together affair, but I am slowly upgrading. The centerpiece is a custom AMD Athlon XP 2500+ at 1.8GHz, with 1GB of RAM and approximately 120GB hard drive space. I just upgraded to a Soundblaster Audigy 2ZS Platinum Pro sound card: 108dB S/N, 24bit/96kHz recording and playback, an external hub--in my opinion, blurring the line between consumer and pro (really, all that's missing is more connectivity). I also have DVD and CD-RW drives, a 19 inch ViewSonic PF790 monitor, and a keyboard with the Dvorak layout (irrelevant to music, but lots of geek cred).

I have a pair of Alesis M1 Active studio reference monitors, and Sennheiser RS65 wireless headphones (very nice). Also, a pair of old Sony 200W home theater speakers, run off a Sony amp so old I don't know its model number. My mixer is a Phonic MM1202 (what the hell is that!? you rightfully ask, to which I reply, a $50 piece of E-bay junk that is definitely the next part to upgrade).

Instrument-wise, I have an Alesis QS8.1 88-key weighted keyboard, with plenty of sounds that are surprisingly decent. I have an Ibanez RG220B electric (gunmetal grey) with a Duncan Screamin' Demon pickup at the neck. I play through a Dunlop Crybaby 535Q wah, then an Ibanez TS9DX Turbo Tube Screamer (both great pedals), then a cheesy Zoom GFX707 multieffects board, and finally a pathetic Crate MX15R amp (actually 12watts, the cheap bastards!). I also have a Yamaha FG-432S acoustic. Oh, and my long-neglected Bach Stradivarius trumpet in a closet somewhere...

Well, not the most impressive studio in the world. My primary criterion was bang for the...cent. But hey, at the end of the day, I can still get music out of it. As money comes my way it will no doubt head right back out the door into the waiting arms of Mackie, Marshall, MOTU...

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