Recording Software for an Older CPU
- Thread starter daled
- Start date
Slackmaster2K
Gone
Heh, it's not really the application that requires power when it comes to recording, it's the fact that recording itself takes a serious bit of power.
Even at 16bit 44.1Khz recording, you're talking about 88KB of data per second per mono track. That's 176KB/sec stereo.
Most applications don't suck too much CPU power in themselves...and the features that MIGHT can always be turned off. So technically you should be able to run anything as long as your computer is just capable of recording period.
Your computer is going to be hard pressed because:
1) Software mixing requires a decent CPU. Any amount of software mixing. This is regardless of the application you use.
2) Your hard drive will be out of date. A slow hard drive will totally kill you. Also be prepared in that CD quality audio requires 10MB per minute stereo....so make sure you have space.
3) Depending on the age of the hard drive controller on your mobo, and your hard drive, you might not be able to use bus mastering drivers (DMA). This means that the CPU is going to be involved in all hard drive activity...and will suck most of the power out of your CPU (whereas DMA enabled transfer will only require a small percentage of CPU help)
4) You need enough memory to hold the OS and your application without having to swap shit in and out while you're working. Typically this requires 64MB at a bare minimum.
I'm sorry to be a complete bummer. I think that you could pretty much try out any software package and you'll get similar results. I'm guessing you'll be limited to 3 or 4 tracks tops. Be prepared for crashing and plenty of hiccups though.
Since you're on a budget, try http://www.fasoft.com ... this is an incredibly feature rich mulit-track recording app that can be had for $39.
But don't be suprised if things get frustrating real fast. There's that minimum line that you really have to be above....not because of fancy software, but simply because working with audio is a bigger job than a lot of people realize at first.
Slackmaster 2000
Even at 16bit 44.1Khz recording, you're talking about 88KB of data per second per mono track. That's 176KB/sec stereo.
Most applications don't suck too much CPU power in themselves...and the features that MIGHT can always be turned off. So technically you should be able to run anything as long as your computer is just capable of recording period.
Your computer is going to be hard pressed because:
1) Software mixing requires a decent CPU. Any amount of software mixing. This is regardless of the application you use.
2) Your hard drive will be out of date. A slow hard drive will totally kill you. Also be prepared in that CD quality audio requires 10MB per minute stereo....so make sure you have space.
3) Depending on the age of the hard drive controller on your mobo, and your hard drive, you might not be able to use bus mastering drivers (DMA). This means that the CPU is going to be involved in all hard drive activity...and will suck most of the power out of your CPU (whereas DMA enabled transfer will only require a small percentage of CPU help)
4) You need enough memory to hold the OS and your application without having to swap shit in and out while you're working. Typically this requires 64MB at a bare minimum.
I'm sorry to be a complete bummer. I think that you could pretty much try out any software package and you'll get similar results. I'm guessing you'll be limited to 3 or 4 tracks tops. Be prepared for crashing and plenty of hiccups though.
Since you're on a budget, try http://www.fasoft.com ... this is an incredibly feature rich mulit-track recording app that can be had for $39.
But don't be suprised if things get frustrating real fast. There's that minimum line that you really have to be above....not because of fancy software, but simply because working with audio is a bigger job than a lot of people realize at first.
Slackmaster 2000