I know this question has been asked before, but I have a little different situation.
This is what I have. A dell P4 1.8 ghz desktop, 2 gbs ram, built in video, an 80 gb drive and another older slower 40 gb drive. I bought Reaper a couple months back because I really liked it. I only use this computer for this so it doesn't have much istalled on it.
I also have a Studio projects VTB1, and an old Alesis 3630 compressor.
I have an Alesis Multimix8 Firewire mixer that I currently use as my interface.. I like the fact that I have 4 mic inputs, eq, pan, hpf, and can monitor pretty well with it. I don't need all this, but basically its pretty flexible.... When it works.. Which leads me to my problem. I spend as much time getting this darn thing to work as I do using it. Half the time the computer doesn't recognize it. The other half weird things happen like the project I am working on will lock up, or it clicks and pops, or it just says audio device error would you like to view your device settings. I have many, many hours logged messing with this thing. I have all but stopped trying to record because of it.
I have tried everything. New installs of XP, every different drive Alesis puts out, back to the old drivers, different buffer settings, you name it. The thing just gives me crap all the time.
My first question is this. Is this an inherent firewire problem? Is this an inherent Alesis problem?
My next question is this. If I only really need 2 mic inputs minimum, and a gain/volume, a decent monitoring option what can I find pretty cheap that won't give me these problems?
I don't need effects, eq, pan, or anything crazy, just the basics. and I need it cheap. I would love to pick up something like a firebox or a focusrite sapphire or something like that used and cheap if they are worthwhile. When it works the Alesis is plenty good for what I do.
This is what I have. A dell P4 1.8 ghz desktop, 2 gbs ram, built in video, an 80 gb drive and another older slower 40 gb drive. I bought Reaper a couple months back because I really liked it. I only use this computer for this so it doesn't have much istalled on it.
I also have a Studio projects VTB1, and an old Alesis 3630 compressor.
I have an Alesis Multimix8 Firewire mixer that I currently use as my interface.. I like the fact that I have 4 mic inputs, eq, pan, hpf, and can monitor pretty well with it. I don't need all this, but basically its pretty flexible.... When it works.. Which leads me to my problem. I spend as much time getting this darn thing to work as I do using it. Half the time the computer doesn't recognize it. The other half weird things happen like the project I am working on will lock up, or it clicks and pops, or it just says audio device error would you like to view your device settings. I have many, many hours logged messing with this thing. I have all but stopped trying to record because of it.
I have tried everything. New installs of XP, every different drive Alesis puts out, back to the old drivers, different buffer settings, you name it. The thing just gives me crap all the time.
My first question is this. Is this an inherent firewire problem? Is this an inherent Alesis problem?
My next question is this. If I only really need 2 mic inputs minimum, and a gain/volume, a decent monitoring option what can I find pretty cheap that won't give me these problems?
I don't need effects, eq, pan, or anything crazy, just the basics. and I need it cheap. I would love to pick up something like a firebox or a focusrite sapphire or something like that used and cheap if they are worthwhile. When it works the Alesis is plenty good for what I do.