I apologise in advance if this turns out to be a long post, but it is really important to me (of course) and I thank you all in advance for your advice and time spent in replying.
History:
My existing pc has as good as died and it’s time to catch up with the modern world.
My existing rig is as follows:
Pentium R4 3.6 Ghz with Windows XP
4Gb of Ram although XP only recognises 3.25Gb
Dual 21” monitors
250Gb Main Drive (7200 Sata) with a 1Tb secondary drive (7200 Sata)
No idea of the graphics card on it and I’m totally ignorant about chipsets!
Soundcard/audio card is Creamware (Scope/SonicCore) Pulsar II PCI – amazing “ DSP studio on a card”, but 12 years old and I think it died last week (can’t tell ‘cos the PC & graphix card died)
On the Pulsar II card I use midi in, stereo audio in and stereo audio out (more on this later) and I also have a Korg NanoKontrol on USB.
Cubase 4.5 plus other applications such as Recycle.
VST’s mainly are Spectrasonics (all of them), Kontakt3, Vanguard, Superwave bundle, Mtron, Garritan Personal Orchestra and EWQL Symphonic Choirs plus other VST synths & some 3rd party effects such as OhmBoyz.
Background:
It’s time to upgrade and so I’m seeking your advice on getting all the right components to give me a stable rig (as far as Cubase can be stable, but I love it anyway)
I’m not a techy, so I’ll be getting a computer shop to assemble and support the pc for me. Simple answers for me will be great.
I’ve had a look at the DAW components section on the Steinberg site, but it’s last update was 2011 and some bits are too technical for me!
I’ve also had a look around the forums (confusing), but found it interesting to see what other members have listed as their equipment at the bottom of their posts.
I’m a bedroom-studio hobbyist, so I don’t want the ultimate expensive rig that is overkill. Using VST’s, effects, samples etc I like to write trance (huge fan of Above & Beyond Group Therapy podcasts), dance, urban, Berlin School (Tangerine Dream style ambient), choral and orchestral, then mix the tracks down. I love the composing & learning to produce better results. And at 60 years old, I’m not the slightest bit ambitious, but a bit of future proofing would be useful to get me to 70 plus!!!
A couple of recent track examples can be heard – search Neil Buxton on Soundcloud (if you’re into self-torture).
Cost:
As stated above, I don’t want to spend an arm and a leg, but at the same time, I don’t want to try to do it on the cheap. It’s a big part of my life, so a good stable rig that’s capable of handling the stuff I’ve mentioned above at a sensible price will be ideal.
Onto the Upgrade then:
I’m moving to Windows 7 & Cubase 7.5. I’ll have 2 * 1Tb drives & dual monitors.
Soundcard/Audio Card: I simply cannot stay with SonicCore. To replace my Pulsar II card would require an Xite box and I cannot justify £2500 approx for something that is way above my needs. So, I have to take a decision to go purely on the VST route with Cubase and perhaps buy some better components.
Question one: What is a good soundcard for my needs?
I have a M-Audio 88es keyboard with midi out to a Kenton Control Freak Controller. This in turn is midi out to the midi in of my soundcard.
I also have a Korg NanoKontrol as a USB input (works like a dream with Spectrasonics).
I have a mini-mixer (preamped) to audio in of my existing soundcard and audio out to Spirit Folio mixer, then amp & Spirit Absolute 2 speakers. Headphones are on the folio mixer.
I would like to keep the same functionality, but I believe that some sound/audio cards now don’t have midi, but use USB. I’d prefer a midi in and out but I’m open to advice
I suppose a sub-question here is what is a good midi to USB converter box/cable for my workflow?
And another sub-question is do I use an external audio card or internal and where to externals plug into anyway?
Question two: Which processor would best suit my needs, given the details above?
I wish to maintain dual monitors. I’d like a quiet(ish) DAW, although I don’t use any mic recordings. It’s just that my current rig was quite noisy.
I know nothing about dual core, quad core, hyper-threading or anything, so keep it simple please.
Question three: Chipsets?
The Steinberg Daw Components page mentions these. I’m clueless – please advise!!
Question 4: How much RAM?
Now, I know that XP would only access 3.25GB, but I believe Windows 7 is different.
Should I run in 32 or 64 bit mode? Why?
Does Windows 7 access more RAM depending on 32 or 64 bit modes?
Can you have too much RAM? (i.e it has a knock-on effect on other things)
When I last upgraded my pc to Pentium R4 & Win XP the loading time of one patch in Atmosphere went from 70 seconds to 2 seconds!! Can I expect such noticeable improvements again? Speed isn’t the issue so much as stability.
Question Four: Graphics Card?.. Damn I put 2 question fours - make this one 4B
Again, I’m clueless on these, so good advice for a stable rig with 2 monitors and good speed will be welcome.
Question Five: Cost?
Just a ball-park figure (UK) based on your recommendations will be fine.
Question Six: Anything else?
Please share with me any other tips, pitfalls to watch out for or anything else that can help me get this rig ordered and up and running would be appreciated.
Bear in mind that this computer will be used ONLY for music/Cubase
As the new DAW will need to be on the internet, are there any anti-virus packages to avoid due to conflicts (I currently use Panda on other PC’s but may be changing to AVG.
How about Asio considerations, latency etc etc.???
Finally, thank you so much to anyone who has waded through this mighty tome and a bigger thank-you to all those that I hope will reply. I owe you a virtual single malt whisky or two!