I currently have a Dell Latitude D520, and it cannot use music software. (cakewalk programs) Since i am a musician, this is a problem. Any body good with computers could help me? I need something that can record music fairly well, fast, and a lot of memory would be nice. I do not know very much about computers, so any help
would be appreciated.
Quite a few things to consider here.
1. What operating system are you using? (XP – home, professional, media center edition, or Vista – 32, 64 bit)
2. What software will you be using? (Sonar, Pro Tools etc.)
3. How many inputs are you looking to record? (Just vocals and guitar or a whole band)
Place all of these things together and you will start getting a better idea of what you need. For starters, know what program you want to use, because for example, Pro Tools will not work on a Vista 64 system. Knowing the program you want will narrow down the operating system that you should be using (sometimes).
The inputs is important because if you just need vocals and guitar or just vocals and most of the music will be made in your program, then a simple USB interface with a mic input will suit you fine. The interface is what will turn the sound we hear into something that the computer can "hear." If you are just using the onboard sound card of your computer, I don’t recommend that cause you wil get poor quality sound and have terrible latency (delay in playback compared to your recording).
If you need more inputs for recording a whole band, then you will start getting into some pricier items, but there is a wide range of products available.
As for the computer, if you are using a 64 bit system (Vista 64), then by all means get at least 4gigs of memory so that you are able to run a couple programs without straining your system. At this point with technology, at least pick up a dual-core processor as performance will suffer from a single-core.
If you are going all out and just getting a new computer all-together, I recommend getting yourself a macbook or macbook pro. These machines handle audio applications very well and typically never crash.
Quite a few things to consider here.
1. What operating system are you using? (XP – home, professional, media center edition, or Vista – 32, 64 bit)
2. What software will you be using? (Sonar, Pro Tools etc.)
3. How many inputs are you looking to record? (Just vocals and guitar or a whole band)
Place all of these things together and you will start getting a better idea of what you need. For starters, know what program you want to use, because for example, Pro Tools will not work on a Vista 64 system. Knowing the program you want will narrow down the operating system that you should be using (sometimes).
The inputs is important because if you just need vocals and guitar or just vocals and most of the music will be made in your program, then a simple USB interface with a mic input will suit you fine. The interface is what will turn the sound we hear into something that the computer can "hear." If you are just using the onboard sound card of your computer, I don’t recommend that cause you wil get poor quality sound and have terrible latency (delay in playback compared to your recording).
If you need more inputs for recording a whole band, then you will start getting into some pricier items, but there is a wide range of products available.
As for the computer, if you are using a 64 bit system (Vista 64), then by all means get at least 4gigs of memory so that you are able to run a couple programs without straining your system. At this point with technology, at least pick up a dual-core processor as performance will suffer from a single-core.
If you are going all out and just getting a new computer all-together, I recommend getting yourself a macbook or macbook pro. These machines handle audio applications very well and typically never crash.
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