Any Recomendations?

[yungboss]

Right now I'm using a Toshiba Satellite and everytime I use 3 to 4 VSTs the sound begins to bend, crack and clip. The CPU usage meter goes off the roof and my machine even shuts down sometimes. This is obviously because my computer isnt specifically built for music so does anyone have any suggestions?

I was looking into this Rain Laptop but its something like 3gs and I really dont have any money like that. I need some thing cheap and affordable with enuff specs to suit my needs.

 

[eldiablo]

upgradde. if you want to save $$ look into a bare bones system and try to re-use as many of your old parts as possible.

 

[yungboss]

upgradde. if you want to save $$ look into a bare bones system and try to re-use as many of your old parts as possible.

what do you mean like build my pc from scratch? O no, that's too much, and overall I think my whole PC needs an upgrade, the Memory and Hardrive. If I'm gonna have to do that much upgrading then I might as well upgrade my whole system.

 

[daproduct]

up your buffer level in asio settings.. may affect your latency in an undesirable way though. also you may want to change your audio settings to "linear" to minimize cpu usage

 

[7thangel]

a barebones is something like a prebuilt system from tigerdirect, new egg, or a any computer store that also sells components. something like this


Barebones > Intel Based Kits > Core i3
Gigabyte X-Blaster Barebone Kit - Gigabyte GA-H55M-S2H Mobo, Intel Core i3 530 CPU, OCZ 4GB RAM, Seagate Barracuda 750GB HD, Ultra X-Blaster Black ATX Mid-Tower Case, Ultra LS500 500W PSU

$429.97* http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicati...3&cm_mmc=EML-_-CanadaMain-_-CANEM1643-_-email


Barebones > Intel Based Kits > Core i5
Intel Core i5 Barebone Kit - Intel H55HC Mobo, Intel Core i5 650 CPU, Corsair 4GB RAM, Hitachi Deskstar 1TB Internal HD, Lite-On DVD Writer, NZXT Tempest Mid-Tower Case, Ultra LSP650 650W PSU

$699.97 http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicati...3&cm_mmc=EML-_-CanadaMain-_-CANEM1643-_-email

the advantage is besides getting some nice quality components, there's nothing stopping you from upgrading certain parts like the mobo or vid card, unlike something like a dell

 

[yungboss]

That's cool...what um really lookin for is a laptop though since i dont have much space. But umma look into that barebones thing...it looks interesting.

 

[konceptG]

Right now I'm using a Toshiba Satellite and everytime I use 3 to 4 VSTs the sound begins to bend, crack and clip. The CPU usage meter goes off the roof and my machine even shuts down sometimes. This is obviously because my computer isnt specifically built for music so does anyone have any suggestions?

I was looking into this Rain Laptop but its something like 3gs and I really dont have any money like that. I need some thing cheap and affordable with enuff specs to suit my needs.

your laptop is probably fine for music, it just sounds like you need a good audio interface.

Post up the specs of your current laptop.

 

[yungboss]

AMD Athlon X2 Dual Core Processor for Notebook PC's QL-62

2 GB SDRAM, 250 GB HDD

 

[konceptG]

AMD Athlon X2 Dual Core Processor for Notebook PC's QL-62

2 GB SDRAM, 250 GB HDD

yep, all you need is an interface, even a Fast Track USB would do you good. I had one for my old 2.0GHz Pentium M laptop and I could see 5-8ms of latency with no pops or crackles.

 

[yungboss]

So what I need is an external sound card??

Which one would you recommend? I see price ranges from 100-300 dollarz.

 

[L'Architect]

http://www.tim-carter.com/music-production/optimize-your-pc-for-music-production.php

^^This website was useful for me to get my cpu usage down a bit.

 

[daproduct]

cakewalk vstudio 700R, its got a built in fantom

 

[konceptG]

So what I need is an external sound card??

Which one would you recommend? I see price ranges from 100-300 dollarz.

if your primary focus is hip hop, then you'll eventually have to touch ProTools. You can go for the Mbox Mini which comes with a copy of ProTools LE 8 or step into an M-Audio device for cheaper which gives you the option of buying ProTools M-Powered at a later date.

MBox Mini - http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Digidesign-Mbox-2-Mini-?sku=700498
M-Audio Transit - http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/MAudio-Transit-USB-Mobile-Audio-Interface-?sku=241211
M-Audio Fast Track USB - http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/MAudio-Fast-Track-MKII-USB-Interface?sku=703669
M-Audio Fast Track Pro - http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.co...ro-Mobile-USB-Audio-MIDI-Interface?sku=241710

 

[yungboss]

i was looking into the mbox 2 mini,, it seems like this is going to be my investment

what i want to know is, how is this supposed to work with fl studio and how is this supposed to take out the pops and crackles in my audio?

 

[konceptG]

i was looking into the mbox 2 mini,, it seems like this is going to be my investment

what i want to know is, how is this supposed to work with fl studio and how is this supposed to take out the pops and crackles in my audio?

It's an ASIO device as well.

Here's a test for you:

Click on this link: http://tippach.business.t-online.de/asio4all/ASIO4ALL_2_9_English.exe

That will download ASIO4All, this will give nearly any WDM soundcard an ASIO layer to be used in pro applications.

Once you've downloaded and installed it, open up the control panel for ASIO4All and set your latency to, let's say, 20ms (either 1024or 2048 samples, I can't remember).

Now, open up FL Studio and change your audio output device to the ASIO4All device.

Load up a session that had previously given you problems and play it. It should stop the pops and crackles.

Thing is, you're still gonna want a better audio interface to get even lower latency. 20ms is barely noticable, but 8ms pretty much can't be detected.

 

[yungboss]

OMG Bro that solved the problem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Increasing the buffer size on the ASIO Driver fixes the problem.

Do I still have to get the MBox thing though :-(?

 

[konceptG]

OMG Bro that solved the problem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Increasing the buffer size on the ASIO Driver fixes the problem.

Do I still have to get the MBox thing though :-(?

Good to know that worked for you. However, in order to get low latency, you'll need a proper audio interface.

If you're going to shop beats, you should get into ProTools. You can still do your composition in FL Studio (which is how I do it), but if you sell to a rapper that's recording in a real studio, they're most likely going to want a PT session. In order to run PT, you need either a Digidesign interface, which comes with ProTools LE, or an M-Audio interface, but you'll have to buy ProTools M-Powered for about $250 to go with it.

The cheapest way is with an M-Box Mini. $250 to get a proper audio interface and a copy of ProTools.

 

[yungboss]

I already have an interphase though........TASCAM MKII.......and it does have the latency options when I check for it on FLs but it doesnt do much. I like the ASIO drivers waaay more.

What I would like to knoe is how would I get my FL Files into Pro Tools.

Do I export it as a WAV file then import it into PT and then save it, do I export all of my sounds into MIDI Files or is there a special kind of way to go about this situation?

Also I was recording some vocals recently on Audition and I notice that after I open up some effects, it clips the same way FLs used to. Do I have to go into the Audio Settings and change the buffer size on this program to?

 

[LouBez]

You dont need pro tools for hip hop production boss...when u decide to upgrade try demos of different sequencers and see what complients your workflow...if your using fruity loops now you'll probably like ableton live the best. Dont buy into the the pro tools hype, you dont neeeeeeed it for anything.