KVR Audio

21tones · Post by **21tones** » Tue May 26, 2020 6:04 pm

I'm coming back to home music recording after a decade or so away.
I can't really afford to buy a dedicated PC for this purpose and am thinking of using a 2011 HP desktop machine with the following specs
i5-2400 CPU @310ghz
8gb RAM (might be possible to expand this?)
1TB HDD - don't know what speed it revolves at.

I mainly do recording of guitars and bass and vocals, plus Jamstix drum software, and some VST instruments/effects for other sounds e.g. keyboards, saxophone and (rarely) strings.

On my old windows XP machine with 2gb RAM I was generally running up to 24 tracks without problems and don't expect to go beyond that. (But the last version of Jamstix seemed to be struggling)
I will be using Waveform 11 as a DAW, and am thinking of getting the Motu M2 as the audio interface.

For what I want to do will this setup be okay do you think?
Is there anything else I need to think about?

Thanks in anticipation of your response. I feel very out of date on all this and was never very techy anyway!

Passing Bye · Post by **Passing Bye** » Tue May 26, 2020 6:12 pm

Nothing changed that drastically in last decade (there's better gear for less money), that machine is quite decent and will get the job done, welcome back!

21tones · Post by **21tones** » Tue May 26, 2020 8:00 pm

That's good to hear.
Thanks for replying

Lerian · Post by **Lerian** » Tue May 26, 2020 9:12 pm

Reaper is a daw very friendly with computer resources, you can try that and see how it works for you. Its also very affordable ($60) and highly competent.

Patrice Brousseau · Post by **Patrice Brousseau** » Wed May 27, 2020 3:26 am

Still using a MacBook Pro early 2011 i5 2415m with 16 gb RAM. If you can however, get a SSD...

Distorted Horizon · Post by **Distorted Horizon** » Wed May 27, 2020 6:24 am

Your pc is fine for recording and even adding some fx to your recordings. And some virtual instruments too..

But..

Since you're recording audio, I'd buy a ssd drive. 1tb easily costs under 100€. You can format the old hd and keep it as a sample storage or something.

+1 for Reaper.

Passing Bye · Post by **Passing Bye** » Wed May 27, 2020 6:33 am

+1 for SSD

21tones · Post by **21tones** » Wed May 27, 2020 7:38 am

Thanks to everyone for your responses. I'll stick with Waveform as it looks familiar enough to the Traction I used to use, and will save a steep learning curve. What would be the benefit of putting an SSD in this old machine?
I vaguely recall that 7200rpm was better than 5400 but don't know what this HDD is.
Thanks

GaryG · Post by **GaryG** » Wed May 27, 2020 7:48 am

SSDs are just a lot faster.

I have an aging old Dell (3rd gen i5), I replaced the main drive with an SSD and put the existing 1TB drive (5400) in the DVD slot (with an adapter). It now boots so much faster and is generally much quicker loading plugs, apps etc. Though I still record to the old drive and have never had an issue with that so if the existing drive works for you... give it a go first I'd say.

Passing Bye · Post by **Passing Bye** » Wed May 27, 2020 1:55 pm

21tones wrote: ↑Wed May 27, 2020 7:38 am What would be the benefit of putting an SSD in this old machine?

SSD's are much faster, smaller, less noisier, cooler (run at lower temperatures) and more reliable, every new machine is coming with one nowadays, it's standard.

I doubt you will need more RAM if you aren't using big Kontakt libraries, but if you down the line hit your RAM or CPU limits, you can upgrade for cheap, think your board have LGA1155 socket and best CPU (second hand) you can get for it is something like i7 2600K/3770K, which will double the power you now have for not much money, you can extend life of that machine for few more years easily.

Patrice Brousseau · Post by **Patrice Brousseau** » Wed May 27, 2020 7:41 pm

The SSD in my MacBook Pro is like having a new machine. Not so costly for a 500 gb one. Stay with a good reliable brand (Samsung, Crucial...).

21tones · Post by **21tones** » Wed May 27, 2020 9:42 pm

Passing Bye
Thanks for the possible upgrade suggestions. I'll see how things go first

epiphanius · Post by **epiphanius** » Wed May 27, 2020 10:00 pm

I don't think you've mentioned your audio device which would be the most important piece... it is likely fine regardless, but you might want to add it in...is it USB?

seismic1 · Post by **seismic1** » Wed May 27, 2020 10:35 pm

I just got rid of a 2011 Win7 machine with similar specs. Quad-core (2nd Gen) i5-2310 (2.9GHz), 6GB RAM, 2x1TB HDD. I didn't do very much audio recording, (I work mainly ITB), but I used to run Superior Drummer 2.3, and typically had 16-20 tracks in the sequencer. It worked well and reliably.

planetearth · Post by **planetearth** » Wed May 27, 2020 10:43 pm

21tones wrote: ↑Wed May 27, 2020 7:38 am Thanks to everyone for your responses. I'll stick with Waveform as it looks familiar enough to the Traction I used to use, and will save a steep learning curve. What would be the benefit of putting an SSD in this old machine?
I vaguely recall that 7200rpm was better than 5400 but don't know what this HDD is.
Thanks

An SSD would help quite a bit with read/write access times for your audio tracks and loading sample libraries (if you start using them).

And as someone else mentioned, you'll want an audio interface. USB-based ones are the most common right now, and you don't need to spend more than $200 for a decent one. Of course, the number of inputs and outputs you need will determine your price, but whatever you do, don't rely upon your computer's built-in sound "chip". It's simply not made for real-time recording and playback of high-definition audio.

Steve

Advice on using old PC for computer recording appreciated