Recording Interface and 64 with Win 7 ?

[Amp Kat]

Just wondering what everybody was using with their Computer Interfaces. I'm kinda torn between several and even wondering where the Technology may be heading now that Win 7 @ 64 bit is the new fad. RME,Lynx and Motu seem to have the best combination of Driver / AD/DA converters but is that really the bottom line ? Other Interfaces seem pretty good but haven't quite supported 64 bit yet and seem to be leaning more towards PCIe as the better support over PCI. I'm also still trying to decide over the USB,Firewire or PCI/PCIe and can't find any real advantages other than maybe a little latency issues but each seem to work quite well if done right. I'm using a cheap M-Audio Mobile Pre right now and Sonar 8.5 and it's ok but until I can lock something down with the best of all worlds that also has Midi connects I'll keep searching. Just wondered what you guys use ?

[Steve Conner]

I've owned all sorts of things over the years :-)

MUSIC

I recently sold most of it, all I have left is a Macbook Pro, a M-Audio Audiophile Firewire, and a Focusrite Twintrak with the ADC option. That gives me 24 bit, 96kHz operation with 4 inputs, 6 outputs and MIDI.

If you want to use Vista Millenium Edition, err I mean 7, then Windows 7 compatibility will of course be at the top of your shopping list. I decided I'd had enough of Microsoft when Vista came out.

[Steve A.]

Just wondering what everybody was using with their Computer Interfaces. I'm kinda torn between several and even wondering where the Technology may be heading now that Win 7 @ 64 bit is the new fad...

Back at the turn of the century when it was a total * bear* to get everything on your DAW set properly so it would actually work, I decided that once I had it working I was not going to go through all of that over again for a new OS. And part of that resolution was to use a dedicated computer for my digital audio workstation, rather than try to have it share other duties.

If space is a problem you can always get a KVM switch so that you can use the same keyboard, monitor and mouse with 2 or more different computers. (You might not need the KVM to switch audio since your sound card will usually go to special speakers- or just a good pair of headphones.)

The "zen" moment for me was realizing that there were embedded computers in all sorts of appliances and electronic devices around the house, yet there was hardly ever a need to update the operating system (although there have been occasional upgrades in software or hardware for some equipment). So why not think of your DAW as an appliance with an embedded computer and not worry about upgrades?

Eventually when all of the bugs and quirks have been worked out you may want to consider upgrading- if you really need it. (A lot of Microsoft upgrades use considerably more RAM and would like a faster CPU, so it is often best to just get a new computer with the upgraded OS installed on it.)

Good luck!

Steve Ahola

[Steve Conner]

The "zen" moment for me was realizing that there were embedded computers in all sorts of appliances and electronic devices around the house, yet there was hardly ever a need to update the operating system (although there have been occasional upgrades in software or hardware for some equipment). So why not think of your DAW as an appliance with an embedded computer and not worry about upgrades?

+1! I stuck with Windows 98SE for a long time, for that very reason. And it was also why I refused to upgrade from XP to Vista or 7.

[Amp Kat]

That's part of the whole problem is that I keep reading on the Cakewalk forum about everyone having problems with the Vista/Win 7 applications in 64 bit when their previous DAW was almost flawless in XP@ 32 bit. The multitasking and RAM usuage which for typical DAW now is about 4 Gig was working great but now they are experiencing dropouts and hangup as well as system crashes. Many say that 64 bit is so much better and faster and just great but since switching to 64 and Win 7 I can't say I've really been able to do anything that I couldn't in XP @ 32 bits and the interfaces are mostly supporting 32 bit and run 24 bit @96 khz but my Mobile pre is 16 bit and works fine. After upgrading everyrthing to the latest and greatest to keep up it's not quite there yet with Vista and Win7 but I think it will be and then the next generation will start with the 128 bit OS and ect........

[Gibsonman63]

Limiting factors

Unless you record, mix and master on a daily basis, your hardware and software probably won't be the limiting factor to achieving professional sounding recordings. I am using a Mackie 1640 w/Firewire interface and Sonar 6 PE on a machine running XP. I have no plans on updating anything in the near future. Working on microphone placement, equalization of tracks and mixing techniques along with a lot of critical listening will result in a better end product than more bits or higher sampling rates, 64-bit processing, etc...

Also, a single purpose machine will give you much fewer problems. Do not load programs that aren't needed for recording or mixing and do not connect to the internet with this machine...ever! This means no virus protection is needed and no need to constantly upgrade the operating system to defend against the latest cyber attacks.

[Amp Kat]

Unless you record, mix and master on a daily basis, your hardware and software probably won't be the limiting factor to achieving professional sounding recordings. I am using a Mackie 1640 w/Firewire interface and Sonar 6 PE on a machine running XP. I have no plans on updating anything in the near future. Working on microphone placement, equalization of tracks and mixing techniques along with a lot of critical listening will result in a better end product than more bits or higher sampling rates, 64-bit processing, etc...

Also, a single purpose machine will give you much fewer problems. Do not load programs that aren't needed for recording or mixing and do not connect to the internet with this machine...ever! This means no virus protection is needed and no need to constantly upgrade the operating system to defend against the latest cyber attacks.

Thanks, and agree with the technique part and mastering skills. Fwiw I have put this machine on line twice and one was to register Guitar Rig 3 and the other was to download the quicktime player so I could run the Sonar VTC training program I purchased for $100 and has been really helpful. Cakewalk claims their help guide and tutorials to teach you the ropes but they are very vague and really should do better in that category as well as some workflow issues but I'm a big fan of Roland so no pun intended. This machine will never see the internet again and is solely a non-internet machine from here out.

[Steve A.]

Unless you record, mix and master on a daily basis, your hardware and software probably won't be the limiting factor to achieving professional sounding recordings. I am using a Mackie 1640 w/Firewire interface and Sonar 6 PE on a machine running XP. I have no plans on updating anything in the near future. Working on microphone placement, equalization of tracks and mixing techniques along with a lot of critical listening will result in a better end product than more bits or higher sampling rates, 64-bit processing, etc...

Also, a single purpose machine will give you much fewer problems. Do not load programs that aren't needed for recording or mixing and do not connect to the internet with this machine...ever! This means no virus protection is needed and no need to constantly upgrade the operating system to defend against the latest cyber attacks.

Amen to all of that! One thing that I didn't mention about upgrading, etc., is that the software companies will eventually come out with a version that is compatible with Windows 7, adding new features that take advantage of the new OS. Once that happens wait for a few updates and patches until everything seems to be stable and at that point you might want to finally jump on it (after replacing or upgrading your hardware well above the minimum requirements).

One other point about hardware, in some of the tech support forums it was highly recommended to have your audio data files on a different physical disc. And it is always good to keep just the operating system on the boot partition, with your programs and plug-ins on a separate partition. Once your computer is very stable and working properly, save an image of the boot partition with a program like Norton/Symantic Ghost so that you could restore it later if necessary. (You can do normal backups of your apps drive and your data drive, and you will want to do that regularly.)

Steve

[Amp Kat]

That's a good idea Steve and you can never be exempt from the what if this happens ? I'm even considering a backup for the backup.