pc recording problems

[tbonejc1]

hey yall.
I record directly to pc using a preamp mixer and the Vegas software.
I'm recording full band stuff one track at a time(even if some of them are taken from 4 track tapes).
my problem is most likely, my computer is too crappy.
it's an intel celeron 400mhz with about 192mb ram.
using win 98.

the problem is that, even if it is the first track of a session, I can't get through a take with out the recording "skipping" and getting out of place.
I want to be able to record my piano parts, add guitars and bass with playback, etc....

my overall plan is basically to save up to buy a new computer, but I'm not even sure really how powerfull of a machine I'll need, and if it'll fix my problem.
so two question:
1, any advice on how to fix/deal with current situation?
2, any suggestions on mimimun requirments as far as processor, ram, and HD...

thanks for all your help
Jeff

 

[thajeremy]

the first PC I used for recording was a 450mhz Pentium III. It was pretty much scrapping the bottom of the barrel. My next PC which was a 750....made a big differance. I had 128mb of ram in the first one. The second I upgraded to 512 right off the bat.

On the 450, I would have some skipping but never with the first track. It was usually only if I made it to like 6 or so. And even that was if I was sampleing at 96khz. at 44.1 I could get a few more tracks before I had problems with skipping.

I would suggest upgrading the computer ASAP.

 

[FunkSoulRhythm]

Basic PC

I have my PC set up for gaming as well so some of the stuff came in handy when I began home audio. I have an Athlon 2.7 Ghz and 1 GB ram. sound blaster 2 audigy ZS for my sound card. The video card is not so important for sound editing as the monitor.(personal preference). That's not to say a good video card doesnt matter. I'm just suggesting that when I have multiple windows open I prefer to have a large viewing surface over a good dot pitch or contrast. I would say the 3 elements you need to worry about the most are processor, ram, and sound card.

I would start with a motherboard that is upgradeable to the highest processor speed available today.(for exapmle, it should handle about a 3.2 ghz processor) Then slap a slightly less expensive processor in there. This leaves room for growth. Your sound card should have atleast the capability to have multiple inputs. I have 1/4 inch headphone and mic jacks, midi in/out, spdif in, and a firewire connector on my front bay. You can plug in and record directly to the pc. last, the ram is your computer's ability to multitask.I have found anything less than 512 ddr in most pc editing programs to be the computer equivalent to ADD. Computer starts skipping and stuttering and cant remember what it was doing last.

I would also suggest using a more stable platform than 98. I prefer xp pro. I hope this helps, lemme know if you have more questions.

 

[NYMorningstar]

Here's a link for getting more out of your ride. It's for XP but there's tips that will help with 98 also.

http://musicxp.net/

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

While a Celeron 400 with 192MB RAM is certainly an anemic system for doing more than a half dozen tracks or so with R/T effects, that in and of itself should not be causing one or two tracks to sputter. Probably the weakest point there is actually the amount of memory more than the CPU horsepower, but even still, you should be able to get plenty enough throughput through that hardware to at least record in stereo without any framedrop or hiccup. As recently as three years ago I used Vegas on a Win98 system to edit and produce wedding videos. The system was only a Pentium3/450MHz with 384MB of memory. Fairly comparable to your setup; a few more MHz and twice the memory, but I was working with multitrack video and audio simultaneously, which is far more demanding than audio alone. And I had no real problems. Yeah there were some performance bottlenecks, and rendering video wipes took a while, but the performance and results were error-free.

Basics I would look at for your current system from bottom up would be:

1.) Check your hard drive for fragmentation and make sure you give it a good defragging.

2.) Check the memory and buffer options/preferences setups in Vegas; refer to the Vegas help files to see what adjustments.

3.) Make sure before you start you sessions that you have all unnecessary applications and TSR programs cleaned out of your memory. Things like resident virus checkers, schedulers, stuff like that. Give Vegas, your data and your CPU as little competition for resources as possible.

4.) If you have more than one physical hard drive - which is far preferable to only a C: drive or even a C: and D: partition on a single drive - set your system up so that the two drives are using different EIDE buss cables off the motherboard and make sure that the D: drive is the primary drive on that buss. If possible, move any CD ROMs or burners or other drives to the same buss as the C: system drive and leave the D: data drive as the sole drive on the second buss. Then set up your software to record all data to that D: drive.

5.) If you have the room on your motherboard, expand you memory to the mobo's maximum (I stopped at 384MB because that's all my vintage 1999 mobo was built to handle.) But the extra memory should give your apps and your data more breatheing room with more cache and buffer space as well.

There's probably one or two other things I'm forgeting off-hand, but those should give you somethingto chew on for a while.

HTH,

G.

 

[tangerine]

Set your software to record and minimise the window, this sometimes works.
You are using a celleron and they are not to good at coping with audio intensive proccessing. Good luck.