Advice on a new PC & audio interface

[Johnny Robbo]

Hi Chaps,

I'll start by admitting that I know little about current PC recording tech. I do what I do on an old machine running Windows XP with a 15 yr old Soundblaster Live sound card. Lately, my PC has been getting very slow & clunky, and stuff keeps crashing. For the most part, I just put up with it, but it's getting to be a pain to be honest.

Anyway, I have about £100 to spend on a new (refurbished) PC - just the tower, I don't need a new monitor/mouse/keyboard etc. I've checked out the new version of my favourite DAW (Cakewalk Music Creator) and it's system requirements state:

Windows 7 or 8.1
Minimum processor speed 2.6Ghz
Minimum RAM: 4GB
Audio interface: ASIO compatible hardware is recommended (whatever that means???)

With that in mind, I've been looking at this machine on eBay:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201548148422?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Two questions...

a) Will this machine be OK to run Cakewalk? And...

b) If I need an "ASIO compatible" audio interface, how much would that cost (roughly), and is this the kind of thing that just plugs in via the USB hole?

Thanks in advance for the help, chaps.

Cheers,

John 

[Pine]

John, I have the solution/answer to any tech issues.

Ask 64...the guy is a genius in my book.

 

[64Guitars]

Anyway, I have about £100 to spend on a new (refurbished) PC - just the tower, I don't need a new monitor/mouse/keyboard etc. I've checked out the new version of my favourite DAW (Cakewalk Music Creator) and it's system requirements state:

Windows 7 or 8.1
Minimum processor speed 2.6Ghz
Minimum RAM: 4GB
Audio interface: ASIO compatible hardware is recommended (whatever that means???)

With that in mind, I've been looking at this machine on eBay:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201548148422?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Two questions...

a) Will this machine be OK to run Cakewalk? And...

b) If I need an "ASIO compatible" audio interface, how much would that cost (roughly), and is this the kind of thing that just plugs in via the USB hole?

Windows 7 or 8.1 - eBay says it comes with Windows 7 Home Premium, so you're okay there. Although, Microsoft no longer supports Windows 7 so it's a security risk. Fortunately, you can upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 for free till the end of July. Music Creator 7 works with Windows 10 according to the cakewalk site.

Minimum processor speed 2.6Ghz - eBay says the processor speed is 3.0GHz so that should be okay.

Minimum RAM: 4GB - eBay says it comes with 4GB of RAM, so that's okay.

The system requirements for Music Creator 7 on the cakewalk site say "at least Intel i5 or AMD A10 APU recommended". According to eBay, the Dell computer you're considering comes with an Intel Core 2 Duo. That's a couple of years older than the i5. It's probably good enough but it doesn't meet cakewalk's recommendation.

Audio interface - This is the means by which you'd connect microphones, electric guitars, etc. to your computer so that you can record them. So the first question is: do you intend to do that? How do you record your guitars and vocals now? If you have a hardware recorder like a Boss or Zoom, you can record your guitar and vocal tracks on that, then load them into Music Creator as WAV files for mixing along with any MIDI or other tracks created in Music Creator. Do you have a USB audio interface? If so, what brand and model? ASIO stands for Audio Stream Input/Output and is a standard for sound card and audio interface drivers. If you already have a USB audio interface, there's a good chance you can use it on the Dell computer and simply download the ASIO drivers from the web. You may be able to get ASIO drivers for your specific audio interface from the manufacturer's website. Or you can download the hardware independent ASIO4ALL driver for free.

If you don't currently have a USB audio interface, there are plenty available. The cost varies greatly depending on features. For example, on this page at Dawson's, they range from £55 to £1,449. The Focusrite brand is very good and quite popular. If the prices at Dawson's are beyond your budget, maybe you could look for a used Focusrite.

[Johnny Robbo]

Thanks 64!

It was the ASIO thing that was really confusing me - I googled the term but wasn't any the wiser, so thanks for the explanation. At the moment, I record my guitar (I don't do vocals - you REALLY don't want to hear me sing!) by plugging the guitar into a Vox Tonelab ST, then taking the output of that and going into the Line In on the Soundblaster Live. There is a USB socket on the Tonelab, but I've never used it.

Just to clarify... I need a USB audio interface, then I need to download an extra set of drivers for it (which meet the ASIO standard), and install those over & above the drivers that (presumably) will come with the hardware. Is that correct?

As far as the processor is concerned, this is another area of confusion - the manufacturers don't give simple names to their processors... MkI, MkII, MkIII & so on, so I had no idea that an "Intel Core 2 Duo" was lower spec than an "Intel i5 or AMD A10 APU" - I just looked at the processor speed. I think I'll pass on this machine as I'd rather spend a little more money on something I know will work rather than end up having to buy twice, because the first one I bought wasn't suitable.

Thanks so much for all your informative advice. I feel such a dummy having to ask what are probably stupid questions, so thak you for your patience. It is appreciated!

[Hook]

You should go with a br800, I think it even comes with and controls a version of Cakewalk.
Rock on!

[Johnny Robbo]

You should go with a br800, I think it even comes with and controls a version of Cakewalk.
Rock on!

Good idea, but as I said in my initial post, I have about £100 to spend. A BR800 costs roughly three times that new and double what I have to spend if I buy a used one. If I had £200-£300 to spend, I'd be spending it on a higher spec PC.

Just been checking out prices of refurbished PCs with the processor that I need to run Cakewalk. It looks like I'd need to pay about £150, plus the cost of the audio interface, at least another £50. That's way more than I can afford, so I guess I'll just have to stick with my current antique set-up.

Thanks chaps.

[Oldrottenhead]

you should have a look in your local cash convertors johnny. they usually have decent towers with good specs and at reasonable prices. and going in store you can check if pc has a decent soundcard onboard.

personally i think the one you are looking at on ebay is not much cop.

[alfstone]

Ciao John

I think the PC you're looking on eBay is OK.

Couple it with this one:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ROLAND-DUO-CAPTURE-mk2-UA-11-MK2-Audio-Interface/dp/B00B3S4XM4/ref=sr_1_82?ie=UTF8&qid=1459154843&sr=8-82&keywords=audio+interface+pc

...et voilà!

Ciao
Alfredo

[Johnny Robbo]

Ciao John

I think the PC you're looking on eBay is OK.

Couple it with this one:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ROLAND-DUO-CAPTURE-mk2-UA-11-MK2-Audio-Interface/dp/B00B3S4XM4/ref=sr_1_82?ie=UTF8&qid=1459154843&sr=8-82&keywords=audio+interface+pc

...et voilà!

Ciao
Alfredo

Thanks Alfredo, but I'm nervous about spending money on a machine unless I know it'll do the job I need it for. Knowing my luck, I'll buy the damn thing and it'll run slower than what I already have due to it having the wrong processor.

you should have a look in your local cash convertors johnny. they usually have decent towers with good specs and at reasonable prices. and going in store you can check if pc has a decent soundcard onboard.

personally i think the one you are looking at on ebay is not much cop.

Thanks James... was in there on Saturday but they didn't have much choice. I was spoilt for choice when it came to smart phones & tablets (neither of which I would have any use for), but only two low-spec PCs & a Mac Book that was way out of my range. Plus... I'd rather buy a refurbished machine, as opposed to a 2nd hand one which might be riddled with malware - I know I could always flatten the hard drive & do a fresh Windows install, but that would be more expense as I'd need to shell out for Windows 7... which isn't available any more, so I'd need Windows 10... which would mean I'd need an even higher spec machine... which would cost even more...

On balance I think I'll just admit defeat and stay with my current, albeit old glitchy slow, machine - format it & re-install XP to speed it up a bit. As a way of getting round the security risks of continuing to run Windows XP, I might just disconnect it from the internet & buy a cheap laptop for about £50 purely for web & email. I'm happy enough with the sound quality of the recordings I make on my XP machine & I know my way round my current version of Cakewalk (MC4) like the back of my hand, so there's a lot to be said for staying put, I guess.

Might spend the £100 on a new tattoo instead... mid-life crisis? What mid-life crisis?  

[Oldrottenhead]

you should have a look in local pc repair shops and computer supply shops.

i got a great hi spec refurbished lenovo laptop from 3000rpm.com a while back for £200 and i can run daws on that using my br800 as audio input, but i much prefer using my pc tower.
3000rpm have some good deals on refurbished pcs. great company great service etc, have bought loads from them, printers, tablets etc.

here is the link for their pcs.

http://www.3000rpm.com/acatalog/Custom-Build-PC-Systems-3000rpm-Dundee-Scotland.html