Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
At The Back => Time Out => Topic started by: Johnny Mac on May 02, 2009, 08:12:20 PM
-
Anyone got any suggestions on new DAWs? Mines a bit long in the tooth for some of the things I'm doing with it and crackles or crashes. Midi with it is always hit and miss.
-
Anyone got any suggestions on new DAWs? Mines a bit long in the tooth for some of the things I'm doing with it and crackles or crashes. Midi with it is always hit and miss.
Crackles and crashes are usually a sign of CPU overload... Maybe time for a computer upgrade?
As far as DAWs go I assume you're using a PC... The new Cubase (5) is supposed to be very good!
-
Reaper! :P
-
Time for a dozen different answers, John!
I'm still a Cakewalk devotee... I love Home Studio 6. If I were going to pay any more, I'd probably upgrade that to the pro version.
Mark.
-
Seeing as you've already spent a lot of time getting to know Cubase I'd say stick with that, go for the latest version as above and also see if the computer needs upgrading.
As for the MIDI stuff that you're getting into, Cubase is supposed to be one of the best but some say that Logic is better, you'd need to buy a Mac for that though.
-
Thanks for the replys. I was looking at Sonar last night but they all seem really good.
The PC I'm using is an old one. I thought it may be able to handle it though, it's a P4 3.2ghz, 1G Ram, 400G HD with XP pro edition. Its always crackled when Cubase plays back audio and midi until it's mastered into a .wav.
Is this CPU really lame compared to whats out there now? What if I put more ram in it? Its super fast still so I hoped it would be ok.
I really only need it to be a recording PC and I'm hoping to put some of the high end software on it from Native Instruments ect
-
I'd expect that CPU to handle simple playback tasks just fine! Although if you plan on using a lot of plug-ins then you may need to think about upgrading as a lot of them can really suck resources (especially things like convolution reverbs, sample-based midi instruments etc.) My 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo struggles quite often if I'm running a lot of amplitubes and reverbs. Check the recommended specification requirements for software before you buy it. I'm not overly sure how much extra RAM will help, but if your motherboard supports it you'd might as well max it out - RAM is cheap nowadays and can make the world of difference to general computing functions. Wait for the real computer nerds to drop by for some useful help, lol.
-
Yeah I was running Reaper fine on a 1.73GHz, 1gb laptop. Slowed down a bit when running more than 2-3 instances of Amplitube 2 but it was still usable. People often say that reaper is just as good as Cubase but uses less resources and is cheaper/free (if you dont mind a nag screen on every startup). I used to use an old version of cubase (when it was still called cubasis) on my laptop and it was ok but reaper was a lot quicker and easier to use. Gets a great review from sound on sound (I think) as well.
-
Thanks for that Indy & Tom. The PC spec still exceeds minimum requirements for most DAWs. I'll max the ram out like you said as that will help a lot.
I've been looking at Cubase 5 this morning and the demos of it on youtube are really something. It has the pitch correction software built in, so vocals could be on the cards! Playing around with vocal pitch is really good fun and I used to do it with Acid years ago by transposing the key and it can make your voice sound downright scary! Its 460 quid which seems like good value as years ago cubase could be nearly double that.
The version I've been using for the last 4 years was old when i got it and was only bundled in with the recording interface. Looks like an expensive year but hopefully it will be worth it as i want to record all the time now after finally getting my head around it to a point.
I suppose it will be a mare getting it all to work correctly but then again some get lucky.
-
For me, Cakewalk SONAR is still the best software out there in Windows land. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg_1dDUBry4
-
I don't understand (other than financially)why pc users would use anything other than protools, the new pt8 is amazing too-has some shiteethot plugins
-
I don't understand (other than financially)why pc users would use anything other than protools, the new pt8 is amazing too-has some shiteeeethot plugins
A lot of people don't like having to use DigiDesign or M-Audio gear (I know I don't!), and the only ProTools REALLY worth having is HD and it's far far too expensive a set-up for the average person.
-
with the PC, you may need to install windows fresh. those specs should be enough for a DAW indeed. you know how windows collects bugs the more stuff you install on it.
i would buy a new hard disk. and put the old disk in a USB caddy, so you can access the old data is a hassel free way.
2 or 4 gb of RAM is a nice thing to have. 1gb is a bit small as indy and tom said already.
DAW-wise i'm using Ableton Live, which I heartily recommend.
-
Yes I think I will do a fresh windows install. All my itunes are on my C drive so if I buy a new hard disk to run off a USB I can copy my music folder to the new HD and let itunes access it from there, can't I? Thats the only thing i'm concerned about loosing. I've found some 2G DDR ram strips so will get two of those to up it to 4G.
I've checked out the video of Sonar Mutley posted and looked at some Cubase 5 demos but can't choose between them. I'll probably stick with Cubase.
-
Yes I think I will do a fresh windows install. All my itunes are on my C drive so if I buy a new hard disk to run off a USB I can copy my music folder to the new HD and let itunes access it from there, can't I? Thats the only thing i'm concerned about loosing. I've found some 2G DDR ram strips so will get two of those to up it to 4G.
I've checked out the video of Sonar Mutley posted and looked at some Cubase 5 demos but can't choose between them. I'll probably stick with Cubase.
You'll be copy your MP3 from your old harddisk to the new one using USB. It'll be a bit slow, but you only need to copy it once.
I have a couple of old harddisks from old machines which I access sometimes over USB occasionally to get something off it I forgot. I had to do that only last week as a matter of fact, to recover an old song I was working on years ago. maplins have a massive range of these USB enclosures, they cost about 30 quid.
-
At least try Reaper if you havent allready, its free! :P Sorry I'm a bit of a Reaper fanboy haha, I've used Pro Tools at uni but I just dont find it as intuitive, plus it costs a lot more!
-
I've found some 2G DDR ram strips so will get two of those to up it to 4G.
It might be worth checking first to see how much RAM your motherboard is capable of using; I'd imagine that a Pentium era PC may only be compatible with a maximum of 2GB of RAM.
-
At least try Reaper if you havent allready, its free! :P Sorry I'm a bit of a Reaper fanboy haha, I've used Pro Tools at uni but I just dont find it as intuitive, plus it costs a lot more!
Just had a read up on Reaper and it does sound good and you do ok with it so I'll see what its like. Does it support VST Instruments?
-
Indeed it does.
-
Indeed it does.
Blimey, sounds like a vast saving of dosh has been made, cheers! :D
-
Blimey, sounds like a vast saving of dosh has been made, cheers! :D
I'm sure you'll find a way to fill the gap!
-
How does Reaper play with Windows Vista 32 ?
I've used Cubase for years, but it really doesn't like Vista, which is what I've got now. So my options are either to get another DAW or set my machine up again with XP (which would be a monumental pain in the @rse).
-
Been working fine in Vista 32-bit for over a year for me now.
-
Been working fine in Vista 32-bit for over a year for me now.
Thanks for that Tom, that's very useful to know.
-
Blimey, sounds like a vast saving of dosh has been made, cheers! :D
I'm sure you'll find a way to fill the gap!
Yeah spend it on Kontakt!
-
Tom I've had a play around with Reaper for an hour but its all new to me layout wise. What i did find out was it won't let import .wav and .mp3 so how do i do that? Is there a plugin or codec i need?
-
You should be able to just drag and drop wav or mp3 files straight into the timeline (or whatever you call it) :?
To export as mp3s you need to download the lame.dll and put it in the reaper program directory.
-
I've had a mare all afternoon, I've lost Audio and Midi in Cubase, let alone Reaper. :( It took my ages to get all that setup and it was so long ago I can't remember how I did it now.
Its all down to the DSP Patchbay software that The E-MU 1820 soundcard/interface came with. Its so frustrating. It could be anything. Its looks like a big mixer with all this ASIO stuff, effects send/return buses. I need to learn this shite properly so I can stop it happening. Recording has to be hardest thing I've done with computers!
I'm going down the pub! :lol:
-
haha I have no idea what all that patchbay software even is. I just use my usb interface and have never had any problems with setup or anything..
-
I think I'll start again from scratch. I haven't re-installed the E-MU software since I bought it in 05. I do have a LE Cubase version i could try that came with my Axon unit. It will take ages though. The soundcard, as good as it is is so overly complicated. One little thing in the wrong place and you get no Audio or MIDI signal in your DAW and if you don't know where to look to correct it or understand wtf the terminology means, your $%&#ed, like me!
-
That's a real bummer Johnny :(
I could give you the technical author response ("RTFM, mate") (=Read The F-ng Manual), because I am, er, a technical author :lol: but I shan't...
I haven't used my cakewalk stuff in ages - I'm ALWAYS worried that some driver cr@p is going to screw it all up and I won't be able to remember how I set it up in the first place (took about two days I seem to recall).
It's partly why I'm using my little BOSS MICRO BR to do everything. I'm just exporting mastered WAV and MP3 files on it at the moment - takes an age - so hopefully I shall be posting my latest offering sometime later this afternoon (assuming no horrible issues when testing the track on various machines - if that happens, it won't be for a few days... :roll:)
-
I've been clicking away all afternoon. I updated the drivers and installed Cubase LE 4, which came with my Axon unit. I got somewhere with it but after the E-mu Asio driver was selected things stopped again. I have found some useful things on the patchbay software that I'm reading as I think a lot of my problems are in here. There's so many options and your right Andy it is a case of reading the manual, but it may as well be written in mandarin!
I just want to play, record and create, not faff around like a nerd!
-
I just want to play, record and create, not faff around like a nerd!
Unfortunately faffing around like a nerd is all part and parcel of the whole experience of setting up computer recording. :(
-
I just want to play, record and create, not faff around like a nerd!
Unfortunately faffing around like a nerd is all part and parcel of the whole experience of setting up computer recording. :(
I know my brother says he is going to buy me geek bins for my birthday, so it must be showing already. Once I get somewhere with it, I find it interesting.
-
Just in case anyone else is having grief I found this site to be useful, lots of topics covered here.
http://www.tweakheadz.com/troubleshooting_audio_cards.htm (http://www.tweakheadz.com/troubleshooting_audio_cards.htm)