KVR Audio

memyselfandus · Post by **memyselfandus** » Thu Feb 26, 2015 6:03 am

What reasons do you have for sticking with Windows XP for your DAW? Any benefits over windows 7? or is it a upgrade thing?

crimsonwarlock · Post by **crimsonwarlock** » Thu Feb 26, 2015 7:38 am

Still on XP, so for me: if it ain't broken, don't fix it

I'm hoping to move to a new, especially faster machine later this year, and I'm weary about all the work to get my DAW running on a new OS

xoxos · Post by **xoxos** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 12:19 am

yeah it's the whole sad pointless destruction avoided by not buying new stuff basically.

highkoo · Post by **highkoo** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 12:29 am

I think 'aint broke, dont fix' is all around the best advice for a DAW.
That said, Win7 is great.
There is no reason to update unnecessarily, but there is no reason to be afraid of 7 either.
Although sad pointless destruction doesnt sound super fun.

thecontrolcentre · Post by **thecontrolcentre** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 12:50 am

XP has always worked fine for me so I had no reason to upgrade. This month tho ... have had issues with new plugins not working, and now Ableton announced they are dropping support for xp from v9.2. I could upgrade to win7 but my pc is 8 years old so it's time for a new one with a new OS. Have been pricing pro-audio laptops today. It's going to be expensive.

Zombie Queen · Post by **Zombie Queen** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 1:43 am

It only makes sense to upgrade to 7/8/X 64 bit, which smells like re-installing everything, then I've got big load of 32 bit plugins that I will have to bridge and pray to make them work to take advantage of 64 bit, or upgrade, if possible. For some plugins may not be easy/possible to re-authorize on new system. It may be not possible to open some older projects after the move. Big mess, little gain, actually only advantage to me is to be able to run some newer plugins that won't work on XP. Not worth the trouble. I may consider to make dual boot to run non-music/graphic software (that would be... games I guess... in which case, it may be easier to just lease my son's machine).

ZapAxe · Post by **ZapAxe** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 4:09 am

I'm still running Win XP 32 bit, and on three Intel quad core machines. I sync them together as needed, though most often I work with one machine at a time, depending on what I'm working on. One is a dedicated VSTi machine, one is a dedicated audio machine, the 3rd was more recently added, and still working out to find the best ways to make use of those extra resources. All together I have a total of 12 CPU cores & 12 GB ram to work with & split up the loads of my projects...all with Win XP

I also have a collection of older Aardvark cards which will only work with up to Win XP, and it's more important for me to keep using them than upgrading to Win 7/8 64 bit. For this reason I'm sticking with Win XP. Basically everything I have is at least a handful of years old, software, hardware etc.

I simply won't install any newer software or hardware that won't run on my current Win XP spec machines which will cause me to have to abandon all of what I have, and then jump on that upgrade band wagon, I don't need to. I have all the resources I need to run my audio tracks, I have great sounding VSTi's that work on 32 bit. What I have works very well, and if that XP 3rd machine isn't enough I can always add another, but for the most part 2 just Win XP machines together have been just about enough. With a multiple XP machine set-up, I may never need an upgrade to Win 7/8 64 bit.

Dúnedain · Post by **Dúnedain** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 7:38 am

Anyone still using xp but might consider switching to Vista. It is solid and has a more pretty interface. The bad reputation is really bases on false facts. I even think it is the best Microsoft OS ever.

chris.r · Post by **chris.r** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 8:28 am

Zombie Queen wrote:It only makes sense to upgrade to 7/8/X 64 bit, which smells like re-installing everything, then I've got big load of 32 bit plugins that I will have to bridge and pray to make them work to take advantage of 64 bit, or upgrade, if possible. For some plugins may not be easy/possible to re-authorize on new system. It may be not possible to open some older projects after the move. Big mess, little gain, actually only advantage to me is to be able to run some newer plugins that won't work on XP. Not worth the trouble. I may consider to make dual boot to run non-music/graphic software (that would be... games I guess... in which case, it may be easier to just lease my son's machine).

Quite nailed it.

I work on Sonar X1 and my XP system is pretty much well configured for all my musical and non-musical stuff. When I decide to move to the new Sonar I'll have to move over to Win7 or newer but only when buying another, newer machine. I just wonder how good is the native Sonar's 64 bit-bridge dealing with 32bit plugins. Anyway, this laptop is planned to work on XP lifelong, for the purpose of coming back to old projects always when needed.

pc2000 · Post by **pc2000** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 8:51 am

I still have an XP machine, but it has long since been retired from actual use. I got tired of the limitations of trying to get newer programs and vst's to work properly. XP is approximately a 14 year OS, not counting it's first development or conception. Imagine having a child that was born when XP was released to the public and now your child is 14 years of age and is now in high school or soon to be. Some people don't keep the same car pass a few years! I can't understand trying to keep the same OS for nearly 20yrs!

Ingonator · Post by **Ingonator** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 12:36 pm

Since 1993 I have used every Windows version since windows for workgroups 3.11 and my favorite OS so far is Windows 7 64-bit. I never owned Windows 8 myself but my father has it on his new computer since around 1 year (now v8.1) and it looks OK too, esecially with the 8.1 update.

Also looking forwared to Windows 10 whch AFAIK will be 1 year free for Windows 7 and 8 users.

Vista IMO was one of the worst, especially in terms of performance.

treebeard · Post by **treebeard** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 1:29 pm

Still with XP 32 here too! I tend to agree with what others have already said.

If it aint broke...

The whole re-insatllation and setting up all your preferences again just takes so long - not to mention the expense of a new computer along with the possibility that your old hardware and accesories might no longer run on a newer platform - yet more expense both time and money!

I don't have much interest in newer software these days (there are one or two things on the horizon but these are midi only and are promised to run on XP) - vsti's are continuing to grow in power and use up more CPU and RAM so instead I have turned my attention towards hardware synths and instruments. They remain usefull regardless of the next tech advancements, unthreatened by OS updates and driver revisions, and they can be used standalone too. I have begun using the PC almost exclusively for recording and have found this much more fun and inspiring - there is alot to be said for being hands on with your kit avoiding the mouse clicks as much as possible.

ZapAxe · Post by **ZapAxe** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 5:44 pm

The only reason I had even considered a possible 64 bit upgrade a few years ago was that I needed extra resources to run more VSTi's on my XP machine. Other than that, everything I had was great as far as I was concerned, VSTi's, FX's, plug-in's wise. Due to the lack of resources being the main limitation, I began to think about externalizing...

I heard of various ways to offload resources from the DAW. Using a midi sound module & my keyboard for external sounds was a good solution, but I really was used to using the VSTi's I've come to know & love. I experimented with my old DAW as my external midi sound module with my favorite VSTi's, via old school midi/audio sound card networking. This worked out so well, I decided to build a replica of my current, more powerful quad core XP machine. This solution proved to provide better integration with my main DAW than external modules... having a full monitor rather than tiny screen, much easier to adjust parameters, having total recall, and multiple instances just to name a few!

As I had mentioned in my previous post, I've since began syncing my XP computers instead of audio/midi sound card networking. This eliminated the need to send midi between machines, recording all midi directly in my dedicated VSTi machine, leaving my main XP DAW with more resources available for audio. All the limitations I had Win XP 32 bit have now been eliminated. The possibilities are endless. Even if upgrading to 64 bit, you can still use your XP box as a dedicated VSTi machine to run all your 32 bit VSTi's.

She Changed Her Mind · Thu Mar 05, 2015 9:01 pm

Upgrading doesn't have to be a waste. Some DAWs come with multiple licenses.. so you can make overdubs while listening back