Two audio card questions (VST latency and recording quality)

Computers move along so fast that even our Government are happy that a two year old computer is worth nothing at all, in your tax calculations - so must be true!

I'm NOT knocking XP, it was a really nice OS, and it's still capable of running some things ten years old, but like music, life moves on. The kids writing the latest software won't have ever used a computer with XP on it, still in their early school years, so they don't make any provision for making their latest offerings run on it. Legacy software suddenly being dead is just how it it. I spent thousands on software that suddenly was abandoned by Adobe, who just pulled the plug - perfectly good software, but with the authentication servers switched off, that was that.

It's like old cars, but speeded up in time. Modern ones do so much more, but are more complicated, less reliable and cost lots of money. The old ones keep on going. Latest versions of windows are NOT more complicated, they're just different. My 3 year old grandson can swipe touch screens, and hates using a mouse.

Old systems doing old software, doing old tasks are perfectly OK - but you cannot buy the latest gizmos, or even consider some really good software. If this doesn't matter - why change. My friend still insists on recording on hardware - he just cannot do computers of any kind. It's cool, it's just him. However, at some point he will HAVE to change.

Looking back at XP, I just can't see any reason to limit myself any longer - and you need a modern computer and OS to be able to read a magazine, think that looks useful, and buy it.
 
A "mixer" with only one mic input? Sheesh...what's the point of that other than to con people who think they need a mixer?
 
Bobbsy said:
A "mixer" with only one mic input? Sheesh...what's the point of that other than to con people who think they need a mixer?
Click to expand...

I suppose "they" would argue that if you were making a video, all you need is a one mic V/O and the ability to squirt in music from other sources?

No 'effing good for even basic music tho', can't even have a yodel and DI a guitar with a cheap traff box.

Caveat Emptor!

Dave.
 
Pretty much with you all the way there Rob.

Microsoft seem to have even stopped the download of W7 Enterprise that would give me 90days of W7 to save for a disc. The MS site SAYS you can download it but then only presents hated 8 and 8.1 and I don't want either because I know all my present hard and software will run on 7. I shall probably update this laptop to W10 as and when then if all is ok, do the two biggies.

If anyone knows of a link or has W7 Ent' I should be most obliged.

Dave.
 
ecc83 said:
Pretty much with you all the way there Rob.

Microsoft seem to have even stopped the download of W7 Enterprise that would give me 90days of W7 to save for a disc. The MS site SAYS you can download it but then only presents hated 8 and 8.1 and I don't want either because I know all my present hard and software will run on 7. I shall probably update this laptop to W10 as and when then if all is ok, do the two biggies.

If anyone knows of a link or has W7 Ent' I should be most obliged.

Dave.
Click to expand...

Digital River seems to be taken down ( :( )...

Have you tried this?

Microsoft Software Recovery


More random info, not particularly helpful for someone looking for the Enterprise edition:

How to: What are my options for obtaining Windows 7 reinstall - Microsoft Community
 
Good evening!
Actually, I can plug in the extra two microphones using the mixer, because they are dynamic. I have only one condenser microphone yet. But this scheme looks a bit complicated. I will see if I can find more elegant way of plugging the microphones into a new audio interface. Wait! Could it be that I have my microphones connected to line inputs already? I guess it is so, for the labels on my Xenyx mixer clearly say "line in". Is it... too bad?
These two days I've been thinking - do I really have to worry about the recording quality? Yesterday in the night I've been just sitting playing electric guitar, and I felt so peaceful, and I thought - look, I will never build a real studio anyway, and I don't want to, do I really need to care about that slight noise?
There is still that latency problem. By the way, I've found that the latency is about the same with and without the ASIO4ALL workaround.
Ivan.
 
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Pinky said:
Digital River seems to be taken down ( :( )...

Have you tried this?

Microsoft Software Recovery


More random info, not particularly helpful for someone looking for the Enterprise edition:

How to: What are my options for obtaining Windows 7 reinstall - Microsoft Community
Click to expand...

Ha!Ha! Took nearly an hour to download then another while to burn a disc and when I put it in the XP PC I was told it was no good and I needed an "install disc" !

However, I then changed the boot sequence on the PC to boot from CD and Lo! It started a W7 install procedure!

No time tonight to sort it properly and I have used the code from my existing W7 64 PC but this will tell me what I need to know and do, then I can buy a disc. I am told an OEM disc will work for private use, can anyone confirm?

Thanks mate! Nice find!

Dave.
 
ivanlychkov said:
Good evening!
Actually, I can plug in the extra two microphones using the mixer, because they are dynamic. I have only one condenser microphone yet. But this scheme looks a bit complicated. I will see if I can find more elegant way of plugging the microphones into a new audio interface. Wait! Could it be that I have my microphones connected to line inputs already? I guess it is so, for the labels on my Xenyx mixer clearly say "line in". Is it... too bad?
These two days I've been thinking - do I really have to worry about the recording quality? Yesterday in the night I've been just sitting playing electric guitar, and I felt so peaceful, and I thought - look, I will never build a real studio anyway, and I don't want to, do I really need to care about that slight noise?
There is still that latency problem. By the way, I've found that the latency is about the same with and without the ASIO4ALL workaround.
Ivan.
Click to expand...

Dynamic mikes need to go through the XLR input, same as condenser. It is likely that you have them connected to line inputs, and consequently, you will hear hardly anything from them. Latency will plague you until you decide to get an interface.
 
I recently upgraded my laptop to W8 with 8 GB ram. It's compatible with my Lexicon U42S which is about 7 years old.
Seamless and runs faster and with less CPU overload and dropouts with Sonar. My previous had W7 and 4GB RAM and it was a pain.

I'm a programmer too and it is not complicated. I didn't buy a touch screen which I personally find annoying as hell.
If you refuse to upgrade you will eventually not be able to use any modern software as they are constantly upgrading.

I running asio and have 5ms latency.
 
Good night!
I've made up my mind. Tomorrow I'm going to buy a Behringer U-Phoria UM2 interface. It stills supports Windows XP. Yeehaaa!!1
ido1957, I'm conscious that I will have to move ahead someday. I'm already making inquiries about moving to Linux. Only I can't find any free Linux-compatible VST instruments. I'm especially interested in good ol' Hammond B3 (with drawbars) and two-oscillators vintage analog organs. By the way, analog synthesizers are SO interesting! Such sounds can be made by pure electronics.
Thanks to everyone for helping me out. I will tell you as soon as there are some news.
 
Hm, I wonder. Can I use my Behringer Xenyx 502 mixer as a preamp for my dynamic microphones by setting the gain levels to max?
If not, surely I need to buy some preamps too. Something tells me that it just may help to enhance my sound.
 
ivanlychkov said:
Hm, I wonder. Can I use my Behringer Xenyx 502 mixer as a preamp for my dynamic microphones by setting the gain levels to max?
If not, surely I need to buy some preamps too. Something tells me that it just may help to enhance my sound.
Click to expand...

Does it have phantom power?
 
ivanlychkov said:
Hm, I wonder. Can I use my Behringer Xenyx 502 mixer as a preamp for my dynamic microphones by setting the gain levels to max?
If not, surely I need to buy some preamps too. Something tells me that it just may help to enhance my sound.
Click to expand...

The 502 only has one mic channel, never tried one but I do have the 2 mic input 802 and that is not at all bad. You should not need the mic gains anywhere near max for normal sound levels but quiet speech or acoustic guitar at a mtr might be a challenge.

Pinky: The 502 does have phantom power but the early models had a lower voltage, 24V IIRC. Later units were I think given the full 48volts?

Dave.
 
ivanlychkov said:
Hm, I wonder. Can I use my Behringer Xenyx 502 mixer as a preamp for my dynamic microphones by setting the gain levels to max?
If not, surely I need to buy some preamps too. Something tells me that it just may help to enhance my sound.
Click to expand...


Hmmm this makes me nervous. Turning gain to max? Sounds like a recipe for hiss paradise.

I'm not quite sure what you have in mind here. If you have the U-phoria, just plug the dynamic into that. If you want the XLR input for condensor, you can plug 502 output into U-phoria line in, and plug dynamic into 502 and set gain for normal levels.

But it's getting all a bit messy. Why not bite the bullet and go for the U-phoria UMC204, which gives you two mike inputs straight up?
 
Pinky said:
Digital River seems to be taken down ( :( )...

Have you tried this?

Microsoft Software Recovery


More random info, not particularly helpful for someone looking for the Enterprise edition:

How to: What are my options for obtaining Windows 7 reinstall - Microsoft Community
Click to expand...

I am now completely Windows 7!

I thought at first that the W7/64 download was not going to work because I got so far then Red X! And I was told again that I needed an "installation" disc. I thought that if I formatted the C drive I could do a fresh install but then found I could not format the drive!

After much reading I found running an XP disc allowed me to format the drive then I swopped that for the W7 burn. The screen sat ay "0" % files copied for what seemed ages with no sign of progress then, just as I had all but given up, One Percent. After that and an endless series of updates and reboots later I had a very stable OS install.

Oh yes! This is SO much better than XP! BBC radio not a problem, boots without a 30 sec BSOD. My ESI 1010e was a trial to install but then it always is!

Now, PC gurus! Please tell. I have used the license key from my Asus home build and obviously cannot keep that on this PC. I intend to buy a W7 disc soonest. Can I just register the install on the new disc's number and NOT have to go through this install again?

Dave.
 
ecc83 said:
Now, PC gurus! Please tell. I have used the license key from my Asus home build and obviously cannot keep that on this PC. I intend to buy a W7 disc soonest. Can I just register the install on the new disc's number and NOT have to go through this install again?

Dave.
Click to expand...

I am not sure of the question, but if you are asking if you can register that computer with a different number, without re-installing. Yes. You just have to re-activate it with the new number.
 
ecc83 said:
Now, PC gurus! Please tell. I have used the license key from my Asus home build and obviously cannot keep that on this PC. I intend to buy a W7 disc soonest. Can I just register the install on the new disc's number and NOT have to go through this install again?

Dave.
Click to expand...

That (Windows 7?) key / product code sticker is good for the life of the other computer. Technically it's illegal to use it on more than one machine. It *could* cause issues if both PCs phone home at the same time if they're both activated with the same key, but I suspect the Asus computer is using a built-in OEM specific key and hardware validation to activate windows, and not the exact one on the sticker (they do this to save time when imaging computers for mass production).

So what I'm saying is the key you used is intended for that Asus computer. Until that Asus needs windows reinstalled and you have to use that key, Microsoft won't likely know/care. IMO it would be best to get another key, but don't use it until one of the machines needs another/fresh windows install. I won't try to explain the activation issues you may encounter later, other than I think this is the best course of action to keep you in compliance but not invite activation problems. Don't fix it if it aint broke. Think of the keys you'll have as a pool. M$ doesn't necessarily care in this instance what keys you have as long as you have one per machine (technically this is incorrect, but in practice M$ won't care).

If you need to trigger the activation prompt to enter a new key there's two ways to accomplish that:

https://social.microsoft.com/Forums...e-product-key-windows-7?forum=genuinewindows7
 
Thanks chaps.
Pinks, I know I could likely get away with it, I ran an XP Home clone of my son-in-law's OS for years( I was mis sold WMCEd years ago and neither PCWorld nor Msoft would trade so I nicked it!)

But, to download the software from MS I needed a code so I gave that one and it worked. Now I am up and doing I am quite prepared to buy a legit license, especially so I can get W10 in the future. I could just do without all the hassle again.

Now you tell me I CAN do it I shall investigate.

BTW. The Asus is a home build with an AMD 3G 6core Black, purty quick, I bought W7 64 and 32 bit discs, £120!

Dave.
 
Try this:

1) Click the Start button
2) Right-click Computer
3) Select Properties
4) Scroll down window and check the status of activation.

Does it say "activated" or "X days until activation"?
 
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