Hi All

I have been using my windows laptop for the best part of 4 years now to make tunes but as I have learned and grown I find the projects are getting to big now for my CPU to cope.

I use ASIO, I have a US 122L external soundcard, I use the built in FL studio plugins and FX where I can, I even tried to bounce to wavs and reimport but even after all that it still freaks out after 30+ channels.

I also have been using ableton and find although it seems to be better on the CPU the same issues with buffering occur after a while, it ruins my creativity and fun because I like to just add stuff on the fly while im loping a certain section.

So I think I need a new computer the problem is I am not sure where to start. I have head people tell me about using SSD in raid arrays, using 64bit plugins, 8Gb RAM and so on.

I probably could stretch to £2000 for a custom built PC. I would not use a mac I am more than happy in FL studio I do not want to learn logic for the sake of using a mac. I can use ableton but I am by no means an expert there, I know may way around FL studio so would like to stay with it if I could. I cannot find a certain answer though if FL studio cannt use dual cores or not. If it still cannot then perhaps a new PC and ableton is the way to go.

Sorry for the giant write up but any advice would be awesome.

___________________
Help ID this lost Planet Perfecto / Trouser Enthusiast track

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj2uIleonh4

Scan do some pretty sweet deals for far less than £2k. You'll notice a monumental increase in performance changing your laptop to decent spec desktop too.

With that budget I'd probably look at swapping out the US-122, as when I had one several years ago I found it to be lacking in terms of sound quality and driver efficiency.

Just having a quick look you can spec one of their audio machines with an i7, SSD OS drive, 2TB storage drive, Windows 7 64 bit and an NI Komplete 6 audio interface for about £1500 or so.

http://3xs.scan.co.uk/ConfigureSystem.asp?SystemID=1381

Maybe you could spend the £500 change on some decent monitors if you don't already have them?

___________________
Soundcloud

just use less than 30 channels, if you need to use more than 30 channels chances are you arn't making music you are making?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? I'd seriously quesiton getting a new system until your old system fails. Either that or consider leasing a computer. Personally I wouldn't spend 2000 sterling on a hobby in one injection unless I was rolling in money. Its pretty much just a waste of money, where creativity should be able to pick up. Computers really havn't changed much in 4 years to be honest.

You can get more bang for your buck for production with a solid desktop computer with a dedicated soundcard or two.

I'm not making professional music so I can't really recommend a studio system. I've been able to keep myself amused with just around a 2 to 2.5ghz laptop with 4 to 6gb of ram.

just go for the best specs on what you want to spend.

It all gets old anyway.

this was written on a toshiba satellite with no glitches (aside from my resident cracker who likes to crash my system and cause me to loose a few patterns of music when the sound is peaking.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h__U3C_efbE

all I can say is that windows 8 is sort of handicapped as a system, but it is suppose to offer more protection, but I am skeptical of this since I'm pretty sure my system is more or less compromised regardless.

I'm putting my 2000 sterling equiv into a camper.. I don't make money on music so I don't spend money on music.... pretty simple. (except for the odd buy for the hobby, always toys rather than pro though like the maudio axiom, sb external, and condenser mic (and headphones but the headphones were stolen in mexico) bought in december


Why not just get a faster processsor and more ram, your board speeds arn't going to be faster anyway.. maybe a new external soundcard? that is only $300 to $400

You can give me the other $1700 to start making up for the $14000+ stolen from me in mexico.



SSD is going to improve sampling times off the harddrive but you can only use a given block a few thousand times. the raid will help with a system crash. just remember that the ssd can only read so many times before it fails, that is each time it is loaded into memory takes off one time if can be loaded. it will improve speeds though.

What are you making post up a sample or flp..

have you tried adjusting the latency?


If your old laptop hasn't died I'd hold onto your money unless you are on contract for it for work or school or something. Something better will be out after you spend your money. You don't need it.

Just don't go to mexico and leave the $2000 you saved on the beach some jackass will steal it.

___________________
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4w7i2GqeV0

Last edited by communica on Mar-17-2013 at 15:24

You forgot to specify your laptop specs. If it's 4 core and 4G RAM, the problem is not the computer, it's you. Spend 2 grand on monitors or something. As for creativity, try writing the MIDI first using whatever, then do less creative production work and learn to love bouncing to audio.
Alternatively get a 16 core £5k PC (your method will probably still cripple it), or a Cray, or a 1mil+ hardware studio.

quote:

Originally posted by tehlord Maybe you could spend the £500 change on some decent monitors if you don't already have them?

Thanks for the reply and that system looks sweet, never knew about that site and your advice has helped me a lot. The sound card is something I never thought about, that one looks real good.

I have Yamaha HS50m for a couple of years now, combined with AKG K271 headphones and a PRO-ject headbox headphone amp for night time.

quote:

Originally posted by communica just use less than 30 channels You can get more bang for your buck for production with a solid desktop computer with a dedicated soundcard or two. I'm not making professional music so I can't really recommend a studio system. I've been able to keep myself amused with just around a 2 to 2.5ghz laptop with 4 to 6gb of ram. What are you making post up a sample or flp..

Yeah exactly mate, That is what I am in the market for now a proper PC. Already have an external sound card but may upgrade to what tehlord has suggested it looks solid.

Examples of what I've done on the laptop in FL (old stuff but a lot of these really were pushing it with my CPU):

Remix of Oen Bearen Feelings Shore
http://www.beatport.com/track/feeli...a-remix/3159158

Original Track called Jetstream (Original mix was played by Jaytech, Kosmos Epsilon played a remix of it)
http://www.beatport.com/track/jetst...nal-mix/3167882

Remix of Walsh & McAuley Global Warning
http://www.beatport.com/track/globa...a-remix/3244602

Remix Of Rainey Render on Republika
http://www.beatport.com/track/rende...-n-remix/688240

quote:

Originally posted by vercetti You forgot to specify your laptop specs. If it's 4 core and 4G RAM, the problem is not the computer, it's you. Spend 2 grand on monitors or something. As for creativity, try writing the MIDI first using whatever, then do less creative production work and learn to love bouncing to audio.

Dual core 2.0Ghz with 4gb Ram and a standard 500Gb internal hard disk. Bought it in 2007/2008. Never upgraded. I also think FL studio does not recognize dual core CPUs maybe the newer versions do now but as I say it was slightly better in ableton.

I don't think its possible to change someones creative process. Everyone has a different workflow, I only do it for fun anyway and thats how I enjoy music.

___________________
Help ID this lost Planet Perfecto / Trouser Enthusiast track

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj2uIleonh4

Some info regarding SSDs was mentioned and it is rubbish like so much that gets posted here. The short version, it will have a life cycle of about 5 years with a load way beyond what you are currently using. If it fails , it isn't because you exceeded your write cycle limit.

___________________
"This is why Superman works alone." GC
old stuff from days gone by (2001-2004)
Mad For Brad's gay little contest

quote:

Originally posted by communica just use less than 30 channels, if you need to use more than 30 channels chances are you arn't making music you are making?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? I'd seriously quesiton getting a new system until your old system fails. Either that or consider leasing a computer. Personally I wouldn't spend 2000 sterling on a hobby in one injection unless I was rolling in money. Its pretty much just a waste of money, where creativity should be able to pick up. Computers really havn't changed much in 4 years to be honest. You can get more bang for your buck for production with a solid desktop computer with a dedicated soundcard or two. I'm not making professional music so I can't really recommend a studio system. I've been able to keep myself amused with just around a 2 to 2.5ghz laptop with 4 to 6gb of ram. just go for the best specs on what you want to spend. It all gets old anyway. this was written on a toshiba satellite with no glitches (aside from my resident cracker who likes to crash my system and cause me to loose a few patterns of music when the sound is peaking. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h__U3C_efbE all I can say is that windows 8 is sort of handicapped as a system, but it is suppose to offer more protection, but I am skeptical of this since I'm pretty sure my system is more or less compromised regardless. I'm putting my 2000 sterling equiv into a camper.. I don't make money on music so I don't spend money on music.... pretty simple. (except for the odd buy for the hobby, always toys rather than pro though like the maudio axiom, sb external, and condenser mic (and headphones but the headphones were stolen in mexico) bought in december Why not just get a faster processsor and more ram, your board speeds arn't going to be faster anyway.. maybe a new external soundcard? that is only $300 to $400 You can give me the other $1700 to start making up for the $14000+ stolen from me in mexico. SSD is going to improve sampling times off the harddrive but you can only use a given block a few thousand times. the raid will help with a system crash. just remember that the ssd can only read so many times before it fails, that is each time it is loaded into memory takes off one time if can be loaded. it will improve speeds though. What are you making post up a sample or flp.. have you tried adjusting the latency? If your old laptop hasn't died I'd hold onto your money unless you are on contract for it for work or school or something. Something better will be out after you spend your money. You don't need it. Just don't go to mexico and leave the $2000 you saved on the beach some jackass will steal it.

u drunk, mate?

What tracks you've already done on your computer are toally irrelevant. People were making kickass tracks on computers with less power than your 5 year old phone.

A 4-5 year old laptop is unlikely to be a good candidate for audio, PC laptops are almost universally built down to a price, unless you spend Macbook money. Even then it's a bit of a lottery.

Your monitors are fine, although I'd still consider upgrading the HS50s. They're good monitors, but seriously lack low end. The other consideration of course is your room. Room treatment would help immensely, especially if you upgrade to something like a 6-6.5" monitor.

___________________
Soundcloud

quote:

Originally posted by Looney4Clooney Some info regarding SSDs was mentioned and it is rubbish like so much that gets posted here. The short version, it will have a life cycle of about 5 years with a load way beyond what you are currently using. If it fails , it isn't because you exceeded your write cycle limit.

Excellent post thanks for the assurance.

quote:

Originally posted by tehlord What tracks you've already done on your computer are toally irrelevant. People were making kickass tracks on computers with less power than your 5 year old phone. A 4-5 year old laptop is unlikely to be a good candidate for audio, PC laptops are almost universally built down to a price, unless you spend Macbook money. Even then it's a bit of a lottery. Your monitors are fine, although I'd still consider upgrading the HS50s. They're good monitors, but seriously lack low end. The other consideration of course is your room. Room treatment would help immensely, especially if you upgrade to something like a 6-6.5" monitor.

Yep I would fully agree with all this.

If I do get around to getting new monitors it will be after I get something done in the room they currently reside in as there is nothing regarding treatment. That will have to wait until I get this PC.

___________________
Help ID this lost Planet Perfecto / Trouser Enthusiast track

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj2uIleonh4