Computer for Music Production

[ill mindset]

Try changing your RAM, maybe that'll work. My friend had a 4gb RAM and had the same problem especially with complex synths and effects such as fade to grey, even on 2 tracks. He changed his RAM card, formatted his laptop and he was good after it.

Hmm, I;ve heard upgrading the ram can sometimes only increase performance by 3% and that put me off. If I'm going to see only slight change it won't be worth it

Fletchur, take a deep breath and relax. You're not getting everyone's point at all and you're difficult to give advice to. You were given very sound advice in an previous thread http://dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?f ... 7&start=20

Quit worrying about spending your money and focus on working out a more efficient workflow. You should start recording your midi tracks to audio and not use so many instances of plug ins. I'm guessing your project files are a mess. If you can upgrade your RAM, do it.

You can save alternate versions of your projects and be able to go back and change things and re render on the older versions.

If you're working in FL Studio make sure you're using the "FL Studio- Extended Memory" startup icon in the FL Studio folder. It allows you to use more of your system resources than the normal startup icon. Also, go to Tools menu and click on Macros and use the "smart disable for all plug ins" feature. IF a plug in is not making sound, it will be turned off and not draw on the processor. That should help a lot.

[bkwsk]

Just resample some bars of the dry sound, then get rid of the soft synth and start mangling it.

[Fletchur]

do the right thing and get a macbook pro

OP go with an i5 or i7 get a sizable amount of RAM, grab an SSD for your OS drive.
1000 quid is a hell of a lot to piece together a beastly production PC especially if you already have an LCD and such.
Hell it's enough to make a pretty damn beastly gaming rig.
DON'T buy a prebuilt system or laptop (unless you're constantly traveling), it'll be a waste of money.
You can build a hackintosh with mac pro specs for about half the cost just FYI.
http://9to5mac.com/2012/06/18/how-to-bu ... -for-1148/

Thanks for the suggestion

[Fletchur]

I'm mostly new too this.

then why spend so much money on it
format your computer, only install the stuff you need, keep your HD clean and not too full, always have the latest drivers
and try using fx-chains more efficiently

if you really need to buy a new computer google the falcon guide, try to find the newest version. it's 4chan's guide to building your own pc using single parts, that way you get everything you need without unnecessary extras and most of the times more power for less money than buying a prebuilt pc.
OS not included of course.

too big to embed
http://images.wikia.com/4changboard/ima ... _Guide.png

and the way you talk about hardware... of course it might be too early to buy dedicated hardware but if you're already willing to invest so much money into your new hobby just go to a music store and try one out if possible. there's a reason most if not all producers get hardware once they've had a bit of success so they can afford it.
again, for 1k bucks you could get a hard/software hybrid like the virus or something like a UAD card, both help out your cpu greatly and offer you sounds not possible otherwise, even if you don't want a "toy" (wow... and i thought massive was the toy not the other way round)

The 1k budget is something I'm not wanting to just throw away. If I put a lower budget range I might have gotten lesser parts suggested which is fine, but they might let me down in the future. If I know exactly what I'm going to need then I can start working on saving for it. And thanks for that falcon guide image, that looks very handy.

[Fletchur]

External FX (as in VST plugins) or FX within the synths?

Also OP you run FL right? Try: Tools>Macros>Switch Smart Disable...
That saves me a lot of ballache when I'm playing/editing a final project.

I've tried that but thanks anyway. and FX within Massive.

[Fletchur]

Try changing your RAM, maybe that'll work. My friend had a 4gb RAM and had the same problem especially with complex synths and effects such as fade to grey, even on 2 tracks. He changed his RAM card, formatted his laptop and he was good after it.

Hmm, I;ve heard upgrading the ram can sometimes only increase performance by 3% and that put me off. If I'm going to see only slight change it won't be worth it

Fletchur, take a deep breath and relax. You're not getting everyone's point at all and you're difficult to give advice to. You were given very sound advice in an previous thread http://dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?f ... 7&start=20

Quit worrying about spending your money and focus on working out a more efficient workflow. You should start recording your midi tracks to audio and not use so many instances of plug ins. I'm guessing your project files are a mess. If you can upgrade your RAM, do it.

You can save alternate versions of your projects and be able to go back and change things and re render on the older versions.

If you're working in FL Studio make sure you're using the "FL Studio- Extended Memory" startup icon in the FL Studio folder. It allows you to use more of your system resources than the normal startup icon. Also, go to Tools menu and click on Macros and use the "smart disable for all plug ins" feature. IF a plug in is not making sound, it will be turned off and not draw on the processor. That should help a lot.

Thanks for the suggestions. I was going to upgrade my RAM but I found online somewhere that when some PC magazine upgraded their ram it only increased performance by 3%. Also, its ok saying don't worry about spending money, but how can I when some people are saying just get a new machine? I don't want to struggle by with what I've got if saving for a better machine is the more sensible thing to do.

[mthrfnk]

I'm struggling to understand how your CPU is being crippled by Massive in eco mode, using native Massive FX and not external FX.

Even my ultrabook with a 1.7GHz i5 can handle multiple versions of Massive running simulataneously in ultra mode.

Could you perhaps post a screenshot of a project where the problem occurs, to see exactly how many synths you are running and with what amount of modulation?

[Fletchur]

I'm struggling to understand how your CPU is being crippled by Massive in eco mode, using native Massive FX and not external FX.

Even my ultrabook with a 1.7GHz i5 can handle multiple versions of Massive running simulataneously in ultra mode.

Could you perhaps post a screenshot of a project where the problem occurs, to see exactly how many synths you are running and with what amount of modulation?

Its easy enough to explain. I have a lot of Massives, mostly ones with a lot of massive fx on not external such as reverb which I know is heavy. The track is meant to be building atmosphere so I do have a lot of layers. The problem occurs when I play back the song, when a new layer comes in it spikes and stays at 90 and above while I playback its unbearable.

[deadly_habit]

http://www.piriform.com/speccy run this and post a screenshot of the results and I'll tell you what your bottleneck is.

[daeMTHAFKNkim]

Go build a computer at Newegg.com ...place is a buffet for computer parts. Don't buy a computer from iBUYPOWER...they rip you off like a mofo...that's where the computer noobs usually go aka my friends.

I have a Quadcore AMD Phenom II Processor with 8GB of Ram, and 1GB 256-Bit Video Card(helps with the synthesizer graphics ram etc.), 250gb Hard Drive, blah blah for only $700. I'm running over 40 massives, 5 Gladiators, effects etc. etc. and it's handling well, barely laggy...and but the CPU is cracked out.

It depends on what you're making honestly...if you're making dungeon..you're probably set with the comp you have...if you're creating an orchestra within your DAW, I recommend getting a new comp.

MacBookPro is realllllly good...there's 0% lag on this thing. If you're looking to do shit on the road I would get that<---. If you get a PC, make sure you get an Intel processor instead of AMD. It's better but more expensive.

[Depone]

I7 for the hyperthreading. Dont skimp on the motherboaed either.
8 gig ram minimum, and an ssd boot drive. Dont bother with a gpu unless you are planning on gaming

[fiveone]

is it just me or do u guys also find the more u mix down a track properly, the less cpu is used?

[deadly_habit]

is it just me or do u guys also find the more u mix down a track properly, the less cpu is used?

Well it should seeing as you'll be bouncing out wavs of tracks that have loads of fx generally.

[Fletchur]

Go build a computer at Newegg.com ...place is a buffet for computer parts. Don't buy a computer from iBUYPOWER...they rip you off like a mofo...that's where the computer noobs usually go aka my friends.

I have a Quadcore AMD Phenom II Processor with 8GB of Ram, and 1GB 256-Bit Video Card(helps with the synthesizer graphics ram etc.), 250gb Hard Drive, blah blah for only $700. I'm running over 40 massives, 5 Gladiators, effects etc. etc. and it's handling well, barely laggy...and but the CPU is cracked out.

It depends on what you're making honestly...if you're making dungeon..you're probably set with the comp you have...if you're creating an orchestra within your DAW, I recommend getting a new comp.

MacBookPro is realllllly good...there's 0% lag on this thing. If you're looking to do shit on the road I would get that<---. If you get a PC, make sure you get an Intel processor instead of AMD. It's better but more expensive.

Thanks for the advice

[mikeyp]

it's been said plenty in here already but I just wanna +1 it:

you've got a beast of a computer. you need to start bouncing to audio, use less fx or use them wisely instead of just throwin em in there cause you think you need to, and improve your workflow and use a cleaner project. I couldn't even play a full track through in my daw once upon a time and then I started doing these things and have no problems.

[Fletchur]

it's been said plenty in here already but I just wanna +1 it:

you've got a beast of a computer. you need to start bouncing to audio, use less fx or use them wisely instead of just throwin em in there cause you think you need to, and improve your workflow and use a cleaner project. I couldn't even play a full track through in my daw once upon a time and then I started doing these things and have no problems.

Are there any disadvantages to bouncing to audio if I keep a backup of the original midi?

[mikeyp]

it's been said plenty in here already but I just wanna +1 it:

you've got a beast of a computer. you need to start bouncing to audio, use less fx or use them wisely instead of just throwin em in there cause you think you need to, and improve your workflow and use a cleaner project. I couldn't even play a full track through in my daw once upon a time and then I started doing these things and have no problems.

Are there any disadvantages to bouncing to audio if I keep a backup of the original midi?

none at all