DAW Help !!!!

[Studioplayer]

Need advice guys. Nick was asking me in another thread what my daw was... (Sorry Nick, I can't find that thread and didn't get around to answering.) What I have is really not that great. 

P4 1.5
Windows 2000
Acid Pro 4 for recording. I have Sonar, Reaper and others. Just don't know how to use them that well. I'm use to Acid Pro. Acid Pro 5 or 6 seems to eat up too much cpu so I can't use it properly. They crap out on me.
Soundblaster card that only allows 16bit 
2 - 40g harddrives
& only 768 ram..

Now.. the thing is I can't really afford a new machine so I need to try to make this one work without it bagging out on me.

I have a new E-Mu 1212m soundcard - 24bit
I could upgrade to XP
A larger hard drive or 2
1 gig ram, maybe 2 if the board will take it.

What I want to be able to do is - record at 24bit, play dry and use the input monitoring for effects and use a midi keyboard for sounds. Right now I have cpu and latency issues with certain programs. For example I can't run Guitar Pro for recording. I can only use it after I have recorded for changing the wav file.

Will the new soundcard help? Is there better recording programs to use other than Acid Pro for less cpu power? Reaper? Sonar?

I really need to get my recording quality better and short of buying a new machine I don't know how. 

Dave

[BassPlayer]

I used to be big on input monitoring but have since switched to hardware monitoring. True  I can't use VST effects when recording but I get a better feel for the music I'm playing with. Now I use my amp to monitor my bass and send the direct and preamp out signal to the DAW. The audio interfaces output is sent to monitors via mixer.  I must the monitoring of my recorded bass in the mixer software. The reason I do this is the Presonus Inspire interface.  It does not like anything lower than 10ms mix latency on my laptops FW card. 

Hardware Monitoring Cons
Can't use inline effects
No external effects required
Mix delay

Hardware Monitoring Pros
Less system impact which allows you to use a less powerful system
No mix delay
Some recording configs cannot use headphones (If your forced to mix your amp)

If you really want use input monitoring then I would:
Optimize your system as much as possible (The biggest win is to make sure you have page files on both dirves. This will dramatically increase performance)
Add more RAM
Get a better card (From what I've seen using Cakewalk and PCI cards with WDM drivers, the higher the sampling rate the lower the latency. I'm not sure why.  When I was using 96khz/24bit with 128byte mix buffers I got great latency < 1.2ms. But that seriously bogs your system so I was able to get the same thing at 44.1khz/24bit using 64 byte buffers)

I'm sure there are smarter people here that can give you better advice. Just letting you know what I wnet through....

[Tacman7]

My computer is getting to be quite a dinosaur, but you may have his grandpa.

So you have a P4 running at 1.5gHz? That's a 133bus I think.

Still a lot you can do with it if you manage it properly.

Using a midi keyboard as a sound module and not using any soft synths (I think that's what you were talking about) is a good start.

Usually stuff, having a clean computer without a lot of TSR programs running, no extra junk, games, animated cursors, etc.

You have a 1212m? Why ain't it in the computer? Throw that SB out!

I run my guitar into the computer but don't listen to it, It gets recorded dry and is also sent out to the modeling processor(pod type deal) which is put back into the computer where I hear only the effected sound of the guitar(realtime) along with what's recorded, none of that puts a big load on your computer.

I don't know if the 1212m has the I/O to do that, I think it does but it would probably mean you have to pull cables when you want to record the keyboard or mic.

I would do XP if you have it laying around. I use Cubase, don't think acid can do the guitar setup I was talking about. Sonar would though.

Sonar and the 1212m should do a lot for your setup if configured properly.

[Studioplayer]

Thanks guys. Yeah, I've had the 1212m pci card for months now. Still sitting in the box.  I'm afraid to make changes. That and stop recording for a bit. I really need to improve my sound a notch. I was afraid the new card would be more a cpu hog and my machine wouldn't handle it.

I run my guitar into the computer but don't listen to it, It gets recorded dry and is also sent out to the modeling processor(pod type deal) which is put back into the computer where I hear only the effected sound of the guitar(realtime) along with what's recorded, none of that puts a big load on your computer.

Yep. Basically that's what I'd like to do. I just want some options for recording. It would be nice to record dry but I need to hear effects at the same time.

I'm not sure what the difference is between "using a midi keyboard as a sound module and not using any soft synths" I've never used midi but would like to experiment. I would like to use a midi keyboard to generate sounds much like a real keyboard if possible. 

Dave

[BassPlayer]

Actually while they are plug ins and generate some load soft sythns are much easier to work with than external synths since you don't have to do all that cabling.

[CosmicDolphin]

Hey Dave...

I think on an old machine like that the extra ram and Hdd's may not be worth the outlay as towards putting it to a new machine down the line.  I was in the a similar situation with my old laptop..a P4 2.8 with 512mb ram and a 40gb Hdd.

I costed the upgrades and it was about 40% of a cheap new PC that was much better so I waited and saved up.  I did post somewhere the spec ( I think it's on the famous studio thread ) but I can't over-emphasise the massive difference a modern processor has made ( Core2Duo 2.4ghz )....It's like night and day, I'm so glad I didn't upgrade the old system now.  My Dell was pretty cheap but does all I want for the next few years.

One thing I've never bothered with is recording at high bit-rates...my soundcard will do 24bit but I leave it at 16....at the level of gear I use to record with, the other compromises of budget mics and pre-amps and room acoustics make the 24bit thing slightly redundant.  Yes it's better, yes you can measure it, some people may hear it, many wouldn't.....if you've got really high class gear then I'd do it but a good mix/arrangement and sensible recording levels will make more difference than the extra bits.  So on an elderly PC I'd stick at 44k / 16bit and keep the processing and storage overheads lower to get more performance.....the new soundcard will sound better anyway without using 24bit.

It'd be worth getting the extra HDD if you can use it down the line...if your PC uses IDE drive then you could always put it in a caddy later when you upgrade the PC.

I agree to use direct hardware monitoring if possible. 

Cd ( former PC sales person ! )

[Tacman7]

Yep. Basically that's what I'd like to do. I just want some options for recording. It would be nice to record dry but I need to hear effects at the same time.

The setup I describe uses a mono input for guitar, (which gets recorded dry, but you don't hear it) and then a mono output which goes to the effect box. The effect box then goes into the computer where you hear it.
So you hear what the effect sounds like but you don't record it, only the dry guitar.

But in looking at the 1212m the only two outputs are used to run the monitors or headphones, which I guess would require a mixer or amp.

So the only way I could see to do reamping with the 1212 is if your effects box has Digital I/O or you have the extra I/O from an ADAT converter.

I don't think a soundcard puts that much of a load on the computer, I think it adds horsepower. You can add hardware based VST effects in your sequencer that the sound card does with no load on the CPU.

I also wouldn't sink any money into this machine, just save up and use the machine as best you can, the card should help.

Sounds like your talking about a midi controller keyboard, I thought you were talking about a synth. The controller keyboard doesn't generate any sounds but it could trigger them if you had a soft synth/sampler or an external sound module. You could make up a part that you like with the keyboard then record it and shut down the module if it's putting too much strain on the cpu.

Just have to do some experimenting...

[Studioplayer]

Some great advice guys. I'll put the card in and see how it goes and just start saving up for a better machine. My effects box does have a digital I/O. Boss Gt6 (24-bit converters and coaxial digital output for recording applications). I was hoping to use that instead of 1/4 jacks. I wanted to see if there's any noticable sound difference. I also have a small mixer. I'll start getting it together and if I can't figure it out I'll ask for advice. It would be pretty cool to record dry. I can't do that now. I guess that would be a step up for me if anything.

Great help guys !!! 

Dave