Dan South Posted July 25, 2005 Share Posted July 25, 2005 I've dabbled with a number of software synths over the years. Components of many of these instruments are still lurking on my computer somewhere chewing up disk space and memory. I suppose that I could spend some time disabling them and locating and removing all of their file, including authorizations, but I'm finding it more fun to muse about just starting with a new clean machine and installing only what I really need on it. I could keep the old one around as a "playground" for new soft synths and only promote the best ones to my new platform. But the "clean machine" idea brings up other questions. For instance, what should I use for I/O? I read in Keyboard that some people are having luck with Firewire interfaces plugged into decidated PCI Firewire cards. I enjoyed my MOTU 828 but found that I had a lot of problems with audio running over Firewire busses. Dedicated PCI systems are less flexible, i.e. you can't just turn them on then you need them or move them between machines, but so far, they seem superior for audio. Where should I locate my streaming samples? Internally or externally? 7200 RPM and quiet or 10,000 RPM and distractingly loud? How much RAM should I buy? This is one of the sticking points that makes me want to hang onto my "old" computer, becasue RAM is a HUGE investment on top of the purchase price of a new machine. And of course, the 500 pound gorilla that we'll have to talk about sometimes is the platform. Apple is about to switch the Mac over to Intel chips. That's going to cause more than a few headaches when working with third party products. On the Wintel platform, Microsoft is scheduled to release a new operating system soon. Is it better to buy a mature G5 (Mac) or XP (Windows) system today or wait a few months and jump into the bleeding edge of the next generation of one's chosen platform? Next, I'll have to figure out what it will take to migrate my software to another machine. Do I have to "uninstall" or "unregister" products on one machine in order to get them to run on another one? I don't relish dealing with all of those challenge/response hassles. (Dongles are preferred!) And of course, I'll probably have to download a bunch of upgrades, some of which will probably be buggy. Okay, now I'm starting to get a headache. Maybe I should do my wallet a favor and forget about upgrading for a while. A "clean machine" is tempting, though... The Black Knight always triumphs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeT156 Posted July 25, 2005 Share Posted July 25, 2005 Dan: Anytime something "new" is about to be released, it pays to wait. The previous generation goes for less, and the "new" is buggy and you don't want to buy that anyway. "I feel your pain". I was going through some problems with my Pentium 3 500MHz relic. Pop ups and plugs ins that took the liberty of installing themselves on my system without my permission were driving me nuts. So I gutted it. Reformated the hard drive, reloaded everything, and installed Norton Network. It comes with great firewall software and has kept the crap from getting on my machine again. I don't use my PC for soft synths so I have no clue what to tell you about your current dilema. But cleaning up your current PC would probably make what you have run a little quicker and give you something to do instead of spending money on a PC that maybe you really don't need. Mike T. Yamaha Motif ES8, Alesis Ion, Prophet 5 Rev 3.2, 1979 Rhodes Mark 1 Suitcase 73 Piano, Arp Odyssey Md III, Roland R-70 Drum Machine, Digitech Vocalist Live Pro. Roland Boss Chorus Ensemble CE-1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
program_insect Posted July 25, 2005 Share Posted July 25, 2005 "becasue RAM is a HUGE investment on top of the purchase price of a new machine." Huh....I'm not sure about this one...RAM is amazingly cheap these days. You should be able to max out your machine for about $150. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessica T Posted July 25, 2005 Share Posted July 25, 2005 Whatever you decide to do, keep in mind that latest isn't always best. You may relish the thought of running XP or OSX on whatever platform you prefer, even though the big guys are about to unveil something new. Is your current machine online? If so, your "clean machine" that you dream of probably ought not to be. What I do is use a PC for my everyday business and my Mac G4 as my clean machine just for sound, even though I can't resist doing a little sequencing and audio mixing on the PC too. But in this sence, one can reep the benefits of both platforms, be able to take advantage of a few more goodies spread between them, as long as you can keep from mixing up the key commands, ha ha. Good luck, hope this helps. Regards, Jessica http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=33304014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan South Posted July 26, 2005 Author Share Posted July 26, 2005 Originally posted by program_insect: "becasue RAM is a HUGE investment on top of the purchase price of a new machine." Huh....I'm not sure about this one...RAM is amazingly cheap these days. You should be able to max out your machine for about $150. I believe that the G5's "max out" at 8G of RAM. If you can point me to a link where I can buy 8G of quality SDRAM for a hundredy fifth bucks, I'd love to check it out! The Black Knight always triumphs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RABid Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 I feel your pain. Every time I run Live on my laptop it asks me to insert my Pro52 disk. That was uninstalled years ago. But I want more than just a clean computer, I want a clean operating system. WinXP is starting to drive me crazy with all of the nag bubbles wanting me to install virus protection, remove unused desktop icons, etc... Robert This post edited for speling. My Sweetwater Gear Exchange Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ITGITC Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 Occassionally I'll take my desktop outside and blow some compressed air through it. Works for me... should work for you too. No really... I need to backup/reformat/reinstall too. What a PITA. But it needs to be done every so often. I want to install a newer/faster hard drive anyway. Windows VISTA will be available for BETA testing next week LINK HERE . It would be foolish to install this on my primary machine, but WTF? I'm just kidding... Or am I? Tom "Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent." - Victor Hugo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan South Posted July 26, 2005 Author Share Posted July 26, 2005 Rabid, Sorry to hear about your XP woes. I've heard that XP is quite solid. Weird thing about that Pro52 CD. My clean dream machine would have no hard disk authorizations, only a dongle that I can use everywhere and move from Mac to Mac. HD authorizations are a total PITA. My current Mac went through an OS upgrade (10.3 to 10.4). It was realtively painless, but I still have some old drivers that I'll have to upgrade. Downloading all of those updates takes a lot of time. I have to remember registration numbers and/or passwords for a number of sites. That's another reason for scaling down what I really need to a minimum. The Black Knight always triumphs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan South Posted July 26, 2005 Author Share Posted July 26, 2005 Originally posted by Jessica Tomlinson: Is your current machine online? If so, your "clean machine" that you dream of probably ought not to be.Well, that's a compelling argument. Macs don't have as many problems with virii and spyware, and I'm running both hardware and software firewalls. The web is essential for downloading software upgrades, so I'll probably keep my system connected. The Black Knight always triumphs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeT156 Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 The biggest problem with Windows is Internet Explorer. Unwanted plug ins install themselves on your IE and get into everything. It's a piss poor browser, always was, always will be. Firewall protection is mandatory with anything Windows/IE based. You'd think they would have fixed it by now. Maybe the reason Mac's are more solid is they're OS is Unix based. Mike T. Yamaha Motif ES8, Alesis Ion, Prophet 5 Rev 3.2, 1979 Rhodes Mark 1 Suitcase 73 Piano, Arp Odyssey Md III, Roland R-70 Drum Machine, Digitech Vocalist Live Pro. Roland Boss Chorus Ensemble CE-1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ITGITC Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 WOW Mike, tell us how you REALLY feel. In the corporate environment we use Norton Antivirus and Lavasoft AdAware. We also use Windows XP and IE. There are, of course, some departments that use Apple machines (and others), but Wintel machines are on most people's desks. I figure that if it's good enough for a large corporation, then... I'm a firm believer that after a period of time, it's best to wipe the drive and reinstall the OS and applications. There's so much garbage that can accumulate in the registry and, as you said Mike, so many add-ins, plug-ins, spyware, and viruses that can permeate your system, that if you don't format and start fresh, there is no way to completely get rid of them. It's amazing the speed difference that you will find when you boot up a fresh OS on a newly-formatted disk. Plus, it's a cheap rush to type FORMAT C: and hit the ENTER key. Tom "Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent." - Victor Hugo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeT156 Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 Tom: I think that security on Windows is a freakin joke, so forgive me for being so blunt. Windows in it's present look has been out 10 years for cryin' out loud, and MS can't do a better job with its browser? I guess that's what happens when a first rate marketing company that writes second rate software buys out the competition because their own software SUCKS a big, fat, wet one. Now Tom, that's how I REALLY feel about Microsoft. No more holding back. Mike T. Yamaha Motif ES8, Alesis Ion, Prophet 5 Rev 3.2, 1979 Rhodes Mark 1 Suitcase 73 Piano, Arp Odyssey Md III, Roland R-70 Drum Machine, Digitech Vocalist Live Pro. Roland Boss Chorus Ensemble CE-1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wmp Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 Posted in error. I gave up ranting about MS a long time ago. It seems silly to utter "clean machine" in the same breath with MS. --wmp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ITGITC Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 That's what I like about you, MikeT. When it comes to BS, you can do it with the best of 'em. But when the rubber hits the road, you'll take yours straight up. That's a good thing. Here's to ya, Mike. "Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent." - Victor Hugo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeT156 Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 You're right Tom, I've never been short on opinions. Not many of them are based on FACT, but they are my opinions. That's all that really matters. Mike T. Yamaha Motif ES8, Alesis Ion, Prophet 5 Rev 3.2, 1979 Rhodes Mark 1 Suitcase 73 Piano, Arp Odyssey Md III, Roland R-70 Drum Machine, Digitech Vocalist Live Pro. Roland Boss Chorus Ensemble CE-1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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