hey guys. i was hoping someone can help me out here. i'm having a problem with my computer. i use reason alone and i can rarely finish a track becuase my computer can't handle everything i'm doing in a sound. the dsp meter goes into the red and sounds like shit. sometimes it just stops and says my compter isn't fast enough.

i went to guitar center and the guy working there suggested i use a sound card because all i'm using is the one i got with the computer (realtek or something). i bought the m-audio fast track hoping it would help. same problem. so i read around a bit and found out its my processor (AMD Athalon 64x2 Doul-core processor 4800+)

so it's obvious (i think) that i need to get a new one. does anyone have any suggestions on what i might need?. i don't know much about computer stuff and i don't want to gt ripped off or buy something that isn't good enough. i'm think i want something twice as good?? not too sure how much something like that cost but...

also (get ready for this noobie question haha), i was wondering what a souncard does and if i really need one. i don't have a very good set up pretty much just a comp, keyboard and some headphones. i didn't notice a differance when i used the fast track.

thanks in advance

oh yeah , i have a HP Pavilion a6030n PC
2048MB system memory
320GB hard drive
Vista home premium
and the comp is almost a year old, maybe exactly 1 year actually

thanks again

You just bought a soundcard for nothing. Well its usefull but it wont fix your problem. How much memory you have in your computer? The processor seems fast enough for what your doing. Turn off any programs that are running that dont need to be. You have more than enough memory! Strange man! Cant figure this one out right now.

i first started on a comp that was 512, then 1gb, and now 2gb and it's always been the same problem.
i just talked to a freind actually and he said to just get a new comp, which i'm gonna do. he said that there's no point getting a new processor becuase the mother board won't be able to handle it and it will over heat.
hopefully i dont run into the same problem.
also i only have reason running on this computer im talking about, thats all i use it for, so theres nothing else that should be slowing it down.

I doubt it's your processor. I'm running an amdx2 4600+ and it works just fine. Try checking your settings in Reason maybe?

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You PC should easily be powerful enough. I run a AMD 3400+ and can run my DAW (Reaper) + vst/i's easily enough.

I wonder if you have a conflict or have some crap installed on your PC. If you Ctrl+Alt+Delete how many processes have you got running? Is there any HP crap loaded and running you dont need? AV, anti-spyware, messenger programs?

You defragged recently or is it not needed in Vista? XP apparently didnt need it but you do still need to do it every now and again.

Also what latency have you got on your soundcard? What drivers are you using? Have you disabled on-board sound?

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The guy the shop doesn't know what he was talking about. I guess you can still use the card or take it back. The PC is fine you dont need another one.

How does the pc run when not using reason?

Yeah mate your computers a dual core running at 2.4ghz right?. With 2 gigs of RAM thats well powerfull enough to make very complex dance music.
Also soundcard will have nothing to do with your processing in most cases. Somethings not right but its definately not the lack of power in your pc.

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Are you using ASIO drivers, instead of the default windows drivers, and check your latency. You can try ASIO4ALL's drivers, its free.

http://www.asio4all.com/

quote:

Originally posted by Lucidity Are you using ASIO drivers, instead of the default windows drivers, and check your latency. You can try ASIO4ALL's drivers, its free. http://www.asio4all.com/

Every now and then I read on forums about ASIO drivers but I still do not understand why/when one should use them. Would somebody please explain this to me quickly? Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by cenik Every now and then I read on forums about ASIO drivers but I still do not understand why/when one should use them. Would somebody please explain this to me quickly? Thanks.

Why? Because they're designed for low-latency, so you'll get much lower latency without any clicks/pops. How? Providing your soundcard comes with ASIO drivers, just choose the ASIO option as your output in your sequencer. The other options will be Directsound or something to do with Multimedia (cant remember the exact name off the top of my head).

As to the original question, it might be worth checking you're using ASIO drivers, but if the CPU meter is going into the red it does sound like you're maxing out your CPU. You have a pretty good CPU though, so I would've thought it would take a LOT to max it out.

Does anyone know what Reason is like with multiple-core CPUs? Maybe it's only using one of the cores, or is it capable of using them all?

quote:

Originally posted by Sanguis Mortuum Does anyone know what Reason is like with multiple-core CPUs? Maybe it's only using one of the cores, or is it capable of using them all?

Reason only allows for 1 data stream for audio, so only one core is used for synths and effects.
Though there is moderate increase in performance, since the one core handling the audio don't have to fight so much for cpu cycles with other stuff going on in the background.