$2800 To spend - What PC/Mac to get for sampling

[Empneo]

I everyone

I am about to upgrade my studio. I have $2800 to spend on a new PC or Mac.I am currently using a Intel Pentium Core Duo 2 with 2 Gig Ram. My motherboard only allows for 2 Gig ram so i am at the limit.

I do everything on 1 computer. I run Soner Home Studio 6 as my Sequencer, Kontakt 3 as my sampler wich I used as VST in sonar and I use EWQLSGO, Garritan, Vienna Symphonic, etc. etc. as my samples. Currently I only have one harddrive 350 GB that Windows XP 32bit plus all my programs and samples is installed one. Yeah... I know.. not the ideal way to go. But so far it has worked for me. I do see that the memory issue is starting to kreep in and a lot of CPU overload when I use more than 7 tracks of samples (percussion, violins, woodwinds... etc. etc.)

I was thinking of buying Symhonic Choirs, but EAST WEST told me that 2 Gig ram is not enough to load multiple voices and use them with orchestra sounds. Thats a bummer. No i have to settle for Symphonic Voices which is an old library and no word builder. (By the way... is there any other company that does choral samples ?)

So here I am now, wanting to buy a new PC or Mac. I have never worked on a mac and dont know if my programs are support or able to install on a mac.

So my question is this. What should I get ? I here XP can only go up to 4 gig Ram, but then using 64 Bit XP I can get more ram, but Sonar and Kontakt3 is not support. So I am confused.

What setup can I buy or build to make me effectively score for film without having memory issues ?

I was looking at the new Intel Xenon Quad Core with 8 gig ram, but having xp on that wont even matter. XP will not use the ram on the system pass 2 Gig.

How are you guys doing it ? All I want is to seemlessly run my sampler, sequencer without any memory CPU overload problems. I am willing to use 2 PC's if need be, but I have not knowledge of how to do that. I will get 3 HD for my new setup.

So what are you guys's setups like ? Is it working great for you ?

Remember I need to run Sonar, Kontakt3 and be able to used big samples as EWQLSGold + Stormdrum and Vienna etc. etc.

I will need to get this in th next 2 weeks, so any answers and help will be VERY MUCH appreciated !!

Thank you guys !!

[taylorchandler]

The new motherboard will help along with 8 gb of ram with a fast (3.0 or higher) processor (ref intel.com) dedicate 1 hd to 64 bit. Sonar 7 PE has 64 bit drivers, not so with NI. ram should be 800 or higher with a 1066 fsb or higher. 64 bit is probably the best way to go for now for sequencers however, we are still on hold for ARIA and its associated programs. Talk with David Plogue, he is a wealth of good advice. Samplers so far have a long way to go to catch up with 64 bit processing and may end up relics due to many sample lib. that are available and the advance in sample player/editors. Best of luck.
John

[Reegs]

Sonar will not run on Mac.

So we're limited to PC, which is good anyhow because you can get a whole lot more computer with 2800 going the PC route.

64bit operating systems (on 64-bit chipsets) allow you to access more RAM than you'd ever need, provided the motherboard can handle all that RAM.

Yes, XP64 is soon to be deprecated by Microsoft. That would leave us with Vista64, which is not highly recommended at this time because Microsoft needs to get its priorities straightened out. You can still get XP64 off newegg however. Sonar will run on it, and if it uses its 64-bit version which I think it will but can't confirm, it will access more than 2GB, and provided your audio interface has XP64 drivers, you will hear it.

K3 is not a 64-bit application, so you won't get any benefit from 64-bit with it. There are plans in the works to upgrade it on NI's side.

High clock Core 2 Duo's are the way to go, IMO.

That all said, you should definitely be able to get more than seven tracks out of your current setup. What are its detailed specs, and can you throw another hard drive in it for samples?

[klassical]

For PC's, XP64 will let you use lots more memory, but be sure to do your homework first and make sure that all your software and hardware will still work.

EastWest has a new Play engine that supports 64-bit, but they haven't released it for their Symphony Orchestra. Likewise, Garritan is working on
their new Aria engine which will support 64-bit. As taylorchandler said, Sonar 7 already supports 64-bit.

The general advice is to research everything so that you're not disappointed, and get a dual-boot system with both 32 and 64-bit OS's. I'd avoid Vista for the time being. Some people are having success with it, others hate it. I'd stick with XP until you see lots of people who use samplers saying they are happy with it.

Another way to approach this, is to buy a custom audio computer. That way you can be sure that everything will work the way you want (assuming you've described EXACTLY what you want to the builder). Jim Roseberry (www.studiocat.com (http://www.studiocat.com)) is highly recommended in the Sonar forum. I'm considering getting a system from him myself.

[Haydn]

If your running mostly VSTi's for playing samples, then a Core 2 Duo is just fine. The issue is with memory not CPU power for most of these libraries. Now is you run virtual synths like Arturia MiniMoog or others like this, then you may opt for a Quad Core. All of these processors in the PC world are $200-$300. Motherboards are usually anywhere from $100-200. Get a decent fanless video card which are around $100. Memory is dirt cheap now. You can get 8 GB of DDR2 800 memory for under $200!

I run Windows XP x64 for orchestral type work. Talking to folks at the Cakewalk booth at NAMM I found out that most use Windows XP and that Sonar 7 works fine in x64 Windows XP.

The ARIA player is x64 which is how I've been running it while beta testing the Steinway. Haven't had a single crash with it. VSL libraries are x64. Many of the developers have announced x64 versions although I wouldn't hold my breath for Native Instruments. They seem to be on the slow side with updates so I doubt it will be ready this year. Kontakt 2 works in x64 but is limited to 2 GB of memory and sometimes hangs when loading even though it doesn't appear to have more than 1 GB loaded.

I have 2 partitions on my system drive with both 32 bit and 64 bit Windows XP. I still use the 32 bit partition for projects that use plugins that aren't x64 compatible or don't work well.

I recommend having a minimum of 2 hard drives. One for OS and the other for samples. My system has 4 drives - one for the OS's and projects, 2 for samples and another to backup to.

Jim

[darrob]

Hi

There was a similar sort of post a little while ago. (http://www.northernsounds.com/forum/showthread.php?t=59756)

People here also talk about a dual boot system. If you're able to get them, OEM versions of XP and XP64 would be a good way to go. Avoid Vista for the time being.

Windows 7 is said to be coming out late 2009 or early 2010. That's not too far away. (By that time, Vista may well be stable enough to look at :D )
Seriously though, software may well have evolved enough to be stable on Vista, and maybe even Vista64 by the time Windows 7 is announced.

But, as has been stated before, research the products that look at, and consider the after sales support that each vendor offers.
Getting the newest and fastest will only result in tears if it breaks and there is no support, or support is limited to sending the faulty equipment off overseas and waiting for a month while the product is repaired/replaced.

Cheers...

Daz :0)

[bmdaustin]

Your absolute best bet is contact Jim Roseberry at www.studiocat.com and have him build a system for you. He makes great machines specifically for music/audio work and has great prices. He's also a top notch guy and iwll do his best to meet your needs as they are. For your $2,800 he can build a screaming quad core machine and give you back plenty of change to stock it with more VSTi's.

[Empneo]

For PC's, XP64 will let you use lots more memory, but be sure to do your homework first and make sure that all your software and hardware will still work.

EastWest has a new Play engine that supports 64-bit, but they haven't released it for their Symphony Orchestra. Likewise, Garritan is working on
their new Aria engine which will support 64-bit. As taylorchandler said, Sonar 7 already supports 64-bit.

The general advice is to research everything so that you're not disappointed, and get a dual-boot system with both 32 and 64-bit OS's. I'd avoid Vista for the time being. Some people are having success with it, others hate it. I'd stick with XP until you see lots of people who use samplers saying they are happy with it.

Another way to approach this, is to buy a custom audio computer. That way you can be sure that everything will work the way you want (assuming you've described EXACTLY what you want to the builder). Jim Roseberry (www.studiocat.com (http://www.studiocat.com)) is highly recommended in the Sonar forum. I'm considering getting a system from him myself.

Thanks for great INFO. I have found my answer. My problem was I was trying to do everything on 1 machine. I just found out about MIDI OVER LAND which will take care of all my problems. I will rather spend $3000 buying 3 more 2 Gig ram, 2.4 Ghz computers to run as slaves. BUT THING IS... I NOW NOTHING ABOUT MIDI OVER LAND. I dont know how it works and if I know can take my sonar en Kontak and all my registered software off my NOW DAW and put it on a better PC to be my master and use 3 others as my slaves ?

How does that work ? And how does the license thing work ? Can I remove my samples and everything from my current computer and put them on a new pc and register them again ?

[darrob]

Midi over LAN essentially does away with midi cables between two computers, and replaces them with one network cable.

So where previously you might have had two computers, each with a midi interface with 8 midi i/o (4 in 4 out) and 8 midi cables running between them, you now have just two computers with 1 network cable running between them.
If you have four computers to connect together, it will be 1 hub/switch, and 4 cables. 1 cable each from the computer to the hub/switch.
A *lot* less dollars

You will still need a midi interface if you're using keyboards or hardware that *requires* a midi cable, but I cannot see that being an issue for your new machines, as they're to be sampler slaves only.

As far as the licensing thing goes, most sample libraries allow just that. Check with the support pages for each library to make sure. Should be no problem though.

Cheers...

Daz :0)

[jmpaquette]

Thanks for great INFO. I have found my answer. My problem was I was trying to do everything on 1 machine. I just found out about MIDI OVER LAND which will take care of all my problems. I will rather spend $3000 buying 3 more 2 Gig ram, 2.4 Ghz computers to run as slaves. BUT THING IS... I NOW NOTHING ABOUT MIDI OVER LAND. I dont know how it works and if I know can take my sonar en Kontak and all my registered software off my NOW DAW and put it on a better PC to be my master and use 3 others as my slaves ?

How does that work ? And how does the license thing work ? Can I remove my samples and everything from my current computer and put them on a new pc and register them again ?

"Midi over LAN" is essentially a closed local system. That is, a Local Area Network made up of your own machines. You'll need a Network Switch* (not a "Hub"), a network cable from each machine to the switch, and a setup process for getting up and running. Most modern motherboards include built-in LAN, but you should double check before you make your purchase.

[*A Hub divides the total bandwidth between each machine, while a Switch provides intelligent management to maximize the available bandwidth of each "node." Many currently available Routers provide both functions, so you might look into those.]

Licensing is not a major problem. Sonar can be moved to whatever you're using for your main computer. Kontakt can be registered on two machines, although technically you're only supposed to be using it on one of them at a time. You wouldn't have to do any "transferring" of licenses for that unless you wanted to move it to a third machine - at which time you'd have to "unregister" it from one of the other two. And, as Daz pointed out, you'll want to check with the support folks on this issue for all of your other sample libraries.

Keep in mind the options for making use of these samples from slave machines: as Rewire devices, as network-aware slaves, etc. It's fairly flexible, but there are a few places where there are limitations. An instance of a limitation: Gigastudio (with it's own approach to "rewire," can be used in this way very easily . . . but unless you're using it on a machine with a "GSIF" enabled sound card you don't get the kernel level drivers that can make it extremely fast and efficient. Just a "heads up."

Best of luck in your choices. Also, as others have pointed out, there are folks who specialize in building the hardware itself, and they've been very helpful to people in getting up an running.


Joe

[Styxx]

Some really good advice here. ;)

[Empneo]

"Midi over LAN" is essentially a closed local system. That is, a Local Area Network made up of your own machines. You'll need a Network Switch* (not a "Hub"), a network cable from each machine to the switch, and a setup process for getting up and running. Most modern motherboards include built-in LAN, but you should double check before you make your purchase.

[*A Hub divides the total bandwidth between each machine, while a Switch provides intelligent management to maximize the available bandwidth of each "node." Many currently available Routers provide both functions, so you might look into those.]

Licensing is not a major problem. Sonar can be moved to whatever you're using for your main computer. Kontakt can be registered on two machines, although technically you're only supposed to be using it on one of them at a time. You wouldn't have to do any "transferring" of licenses for that unless you wanted to move it to a third machine - at which time you'd have to "unregister" it from one of the other two. And, as Daz pointed out, you'll want to check with the support folks on this issue for all of your other sample libraries.

Keep in mind the options for making use of these samples from slave machines: as Rewire devices, as network-aware slaves, etc. It's fairly flexible, but there are a few places where there are limitations. An instance of a limitation: Gigastudio (with it's own approach to "rewire," can be used in this way very easily . . . but unless you're using it on a machine with a "GSIF" enabled sound card you don't get the kernel level drivers that can make it extremely fast and efficient. Just a "heads up."

Best of luck in your choices. Also, as others have pointed out, there are folks who specialize in building the hardware itself, and they've been very helpful to people in getting up an running.


Joe


AGAIN.. WHAT AWESOME ADVISE AND INFORMATION

Now my question is this. How to you place your software over the machines. What should be on the master and what should be on the slaves ?
Should I have just Sonar (seq) + WIndows XP on my master computer, with my audio interface, montiros etc. etc. and then just installed Kontakt + Samples on the other machines ? Do I need a soundcard for every slave ? Or just for my master ? How many harddrives should be in my master, and how many harddrives in my slaves ?

Using my info - can you describe if this was your setup, how you would have spread and installed everything from the Master to the Slave. What would you put where ?

(MY INFO)

Sonar 6 - Sequencer
Kontakt 3 - Sampler
Sample Libraries:
Vienna Symphonic (32 Gig) came with Kontakt 3
East West QL Symphonic Gold Pro XP
Stormdrum
Garritan

MY PC's I have available

1 Pc = (Core Duo, 2 Gig Ram, 350gig Hd, 256 NVidia, 2,7 Ghz)
1 Pc = (Core Duo Extreme 2, 4 Gig Ram, 2 x 350Gig HD, 256 Nvidia)
I can get another PC

THANKS SO MUCH GUYS !!! AWESOME HELP !!!

And by the way... what is the difference between Midi over Land and FX Teleport. Some say you dont even need Midi Over Lan if you have FX Teleport. Which one is the best. I just will use it for Film Scoring and just use my controler keybaord with Soft Synths and VST instruments.

THANKS !!!!!!:D

[Haydn]

FX Teleport sends both MIDI and audio over the network cable. MIDI over LAN only sends MIDI so you will need audio cards in both machines. I used to use both and had 3 machines in my setup at one time. I now only use one machine as it got to be a pain in the butt to boot up all the machines to do music. I have 4 GB in my main machine and just freeze tracks when I need to load more samples.

BTW, if you use FX Teleport, then plan on going Gigabit on your switch. The latency is too high using a 100 Mb network.

Jim

[klassical]

I just learned about ipMIDI on another forum.

http://www.nerds.de/en/ipmidi.html

I'm not recommending it. Just letting you know it exists.

[Empneo]

FX Teleport sends both MIDI and audio over the network cable. MIDI over LAN only sends MIDI so you will need audio cards in both machines. I used to use both and had 3 machines in my setup at one time. I now only use one machine as it got to be a pain in the butt to boot up all the machines to do music. I have 4 GB in my main machine and just freeze tracks when I need to load more samples.

BTW, if you use FX Teleport, then plan on going Gigabit on your switch. The latency is too high using a 100 Mb network.

Jim

What is freeze track ? And how do you do it ? I have only one machine now Core Due 2 with 2 Gig ram and 1 Harddrive (350gb). Will my cpu overload and memory usage problems sees if I only use on computer with 4 Gig ram and 2 or more internal (fast Baracuda) harddrives ?

Ok... I did not understand the statement about the FX Telport and Midi Over Lan. Do I need a audio card in both master and slave for Midi over lan, or just for FX Teleport, or both ?

Will it be worth getting another machine. It seems that is what everybody is doing.

All my software only supports 32bit except my sonar. So it does me no good to get a quad core 64 bit with 8 gig ram. I need a solution now, because I am suppose to start scoring a film in 1 month. I need my setup tested and figured out by that time.

My biggest problem now is latency, CPU overload and Mem Shortage. Whatever I need to do to get rid of this problem I will. Considering it falls in my budget.

What would then be the best way to go ? And if I was to setup over LAN using 2 computers. What should be loaded on the Master and what should be loaded on the slave ?

Please explain.... thanks so much !!!!! I appreciate all the help !!

[jmpaquette]

Empneo -

Indulge me for a bit, if you will. I may be telling you some things you already know, and certainly some things other posters have expressed well before me, but I'd like to present an outline of what I see as the main considerations you need to take into account in order to make an informed decision.

Throughout this forum you'll find much more detail and more specific information, but I'd like to try to save you a lot of searching.

First, take a look at your needs, Front End and Back End. You need processing power and speed to compose, mix, and master. For this you'll want the "best" machine to be your Master [Front End]. From this machine you can easily access your resources (i.e., samples, etc.), but to avoid bottlenecks that overload the CPU and introduce unwanted latency you'll want to offload the obvious drains on your system. If your programs have to operate from one hard drive (which means accessing that drive to load program segments when needed) you'll want your resources (samples, etc.) on another drive.

Next, the processing of resources [Back End] takes up CPU cycles. Different libraries operate in different ways, but for a rough idea of what you want to do, think of it this way: load a library into memory, then have your sequencer pull from that library only the portions you need. That takes up memory--and CPU cycles. If you can "offload" most of that processing to another machine [a Slave] which then sends only the portions you are actually using to your Master you'd be minimizing the load on your Master, reserving that processing power for your mixing/mastering. It's the equivalent of having a dedicated hardware sampler to produce the actual sounds you are using . . . but with the added flexibility of being controlled by an independent computer (that is, without the built-in limitations of the hardware sampler). On that second machine you would also have more than one hard drive so that the samples are not competing with each other for access to the same drive. You'd want the Slave machine to do the work of sifting through the samples and sending you only the portions you actually need at any point in time.

The path between the Front End and Back End is perhaps the trickiest part of this because there are so many possibilities to choose from. MIDI will allow you sufficient control over your processes to access all of your resources, but if you have a Slave machine doing some of the work the output will be in audio form (read that "larger blocks of data"). MIDI will only provide the commands and controls, not the resulting Audio. As Haydn pointed out, FX Teleport will serve, but will want a gigabit LAN card (or built-in gigabit capabilities) in each machine, and a gigabit switch. These are readily available, and within your proposed budget. This is to allow the largest possible "pipe" through which you'll be sending the audio needed for the final mix.

Keep in mind that this is only one of many possible approaches. You might also consider reversing this process by having the final audio output from the Slave, or having all of the audio routed to an external hardware device. However you go about this you'll want the best quality sound cards you can afford to produce the actual audio.

I hope this can be helpful to you. I do have one question, though: you posted earlier that you had this available:


1 Pc = (Core Duo, 2 Gig Ram, 350gig Hd, 256 NVidia, 2,7 Ghz)
1 Pc = (Core Duo Extreme 2, 4 Gig Ram, 2 x 350Gig HD, 256 Nvidia)Those are two different machines. Do you have both of them? Also, some of the Core Duo Extremes are quad core. Is this what you have?

Best,


Joe

[Empneo]

Empneo -

Indulge me for a bit, if you will. I may be telling you some things you already know, and certainly some things other posters have expressed well before me, but I'd like to present an outline of what I see as the main considerations you need to take into account in order to make an informed decision.

Throughout this forum you'll find much more detail and more specific information, but I'd like to try to save you a lot of searching.

First, take a look at your needs, Front End and Back End. You need processing power and speed to compose, mix, and master. For this you'll want the "best" machine to be your Master [Front End]. From this machine you can easily access your resources (i.e., samples, etc.), but to avoid bottlenecks that overload the CPU and introduce unwanted latency you'll want to offload the obvious drains on your system. If your programs have to operate from one hard drive (which means accessing that drive to load program segments when needed) you'll want your resources (samples, etc.) on another drive.

Next, the processing of resources [Back End] takes up CPU cycles. Different libraries operate in different ways, but for a rough idea of what you want to do, think of it this way: load a library into memory, then have your sequencer pull from that library only the portions you need. That takes up memory--and CPU cycles. If you can "offload" most of that processing to another machine [a Slave] which then sends only the portions you are actually using to your Master you'd be minimizing the load on your Master, reserving that processing power for your mixing/mastering. It's the equivalent of having a dedicated hardware sampler to produce the actual sounds you are using . . . but with the added flexibility of being controlled by an independent computer (that is, without the built-in limitations of the hardware sampler). On that second machine you would also have more than one hard drive so that the samples are not competing with each other for access to the same drive. You'd want the Slave machine to do the work of sifting through the samples and sending you only the portions you actually need at any point in time.

The path between the Front End and Back End is perhaps the trickiest part of this because there are so many possibilities to choose from. MIDI will allow you sufficient control over your processes to access all of your resources, but if you have a Slave machine doing some of the work the output will be in audio form (read that "larger blocks of data"). MIDI will only provide the commands and controls, not the resulting Audio. As Haydn pointed out, FX Teleport will serve, but will want a gigabit LAN card (or built-in gigabit capabilities) in each machine, and a gigabit switch. These are readily available, and within your proposed budget. This is to allow the largest possible "pipe" through which you'll be sending the audio needed for the final mix.

Keep in mind that this is only one of many possible approaches. You might also consider reversing this process by having the final audio output from the Slave, or having all of the audio routed to an external hardware device. However you go about this you'll want the best quality sound cards you can afford to produce the actual audio.

I hope this can be helpful to you. I do have one question, though: you posted earlier that you had this available:

Those are two different machines. Do you have both of them? Also, some of the Core Duo Extremes are quad core. Is this what you have?

Best,


Joe


JOE !!! Thanks so much for taking the time to explain this to me. Makes much more sense and you did a great job explaining it.

Here is my specs again. I posted it wrong. I have 2 Intel Duo Core's with 2 Gig ram. One has 250 Gig + 350 Gig 16mb chache and the other just one harddrive 350gb. The extreme thing was wrong. I wanted to buy that, but then saw this is quad core and that duo core is better for 32 bit apps.

Forgive me if I repeat myself or questions already answered. It is just so vital that I get this right, cause I really don't know who to speak with that already has a setup that works, that can just tell me what to get.

I read somewhere in this forum that one guy said he uses only FX Teleport and not Midi over land, and only his Master PC has an audio card. It works for him. That is the kind of setup if want. I do just sampling. I hardly ever record live musicians or instruments. So I work mosty with midi and nothing else.

My soundcard that I am about to buy is an Emu 1616 PCI $349. There is cheaper soundcards, but I need something with a Headphone jack, that most PCI's do not provide. My budget for the soundcard for now is $400. I was planning on just using that on the Duo Core with 2 Gig rams and 2 separate Harddrives and then my current Duo Core with 2 Gig ram and only one harddrive be my salve. I will also purchase another harddrive for the slave.

Here is my questions though. Would there be any increase in performance if for budget reasons now, i just spend on getting 3 hard drives in my PC and have on one, my Operating System + Sonar + Kontakt3 and on the other two my samples.

Question 1:

1 PC (Core Duo 2 - 2 Gig Ram + 3 Harddrives)
Drive 1 = Sonar + Kontakt + WIndows Xp
Drive 2 = 32 Gig East West Symphonic Gold Pro XP
Drive 3= 32 Gig Vienna + Stormdrum

Question 2:

Say I get 2 PC's. The stronger my Master, the lesser my slave. What installation should go on the Master ? Windows Xp, Sonar, kontak software ? And on the slave 3 harddrives with the samples spread over all 3 drives ?
Would this be a correct setup ?

THANKS AGAIN for the replies. This has been SO helpful !!!
Thanks JOE

[Haydn]

I'm not quite sure what the CPU is that you have. Is it actually a Core 2 Duo? What speed is it?

I'm only running a Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz chip and easily run most libraries except for not having enough memory.

I'm not sure if Sonar 6 Home Studio freezes tracks. I use Sonar 6 Producer Edition. When you freeze a track, the VST plugin such as Vienna will create an audio track of the sounds in the plugin and then remove all it's samples from memory. This frees up memory and CPU cycles that the plugin uses.

If you go the multi PC route, then you want your most powerful machine as the host machine. This will have your sequencer and most plugins on. You will still need at least 2 hard drives in this machine.

Jim

[jmpaquette]

My soundcard that I am about to buy is an Emu 1616 PCI $349. There is cheaper soundcards, but I need something with a Headphone jack, that most PCI's do not provide. My budget for the soundcard for now is $400. I was planning on just using that on the Duo Core with 2 Gig rams and 2 separate Harddrives and then my current Duo Core with 2 Gig ram and only one harddrive be my salve. I will also purchase another harddrive for the slaveFor that price you should be getting the PCI card and the daughtercard. I have that card in the PCI version, as well as in Cardbus version for a laptop. The card has hardware DSP built in, which can save you a lot of processing power. It can be a good choice--just be sure of which revision of the card you are getting. You want the newer card which does not have a Firewire port built in. That can be important later on, if you decide to add the external docking station. Just keep that point in mind, and put it on the back burner. (I'll gladly elaborate later on, if you want, but it won't matter for the moment.)

Per Haydn's point, yes, Sonar Home Studio does allow freeze, unfreeze, quick freeze/unfreeze--of tracks and synths. Also, as Haydn pointed out, the faster machine should be the Master. I would consider boosting the RAM of both machines to 4 Gig. You'll only actually see about 3 Gig, but the upper 1 Gig can become usable through workarounds.


Question 1:

1 PC (Core Duo 2 - 2 Gig Ram + 3 Harddrives)
Drive 1 = Sonar + Kontakt + WIndows Xp
Drive 2 = 32 Gig East West Symphonic Gold Pro XP
Drive 3= 32 Gig Vienna + StormdrumWorkable, but again, boost your memory, and put all of your samples on the second and third drives.


Question 2:

Say I get 2 PC's. The stronger my Master, the lesser my slave. What installation should go on the Master ? Windows Xp, Sonar, kontak software ? And on the slave 3 harddrives with the samples spread over all 3 drives ?
Would this be a correct setup?Yes, this is also workable. Again, your operating system and the programs would work from the primary drive, but you want your projects and saved audio output on a different drive and/or different machine. You can save your projects/output to the primary drive if the samples don't need to access that drive while your programs are accessing it. That's why you want to separate them onto different drives.

I hope this sheds a little more light on things for you. It's always a matter of choices and compromises, but it helps if you know how to make those choices that don't limit you later on. I also think its useful to know you haven't put money into a paperweight that will be obsolete in six months.

Best,


Joe

[Haydn]

Another PCI card to look into is the Echo Gina 3G. Price is around $250. Has a headphone jack on the breakout box. The Echo drivers are quite good and they have drivers for XP and Vista and 32 and 64 bit versions.

I'm using an EMU 1212M card right now but I'm not totally happy with the latency I'm getting. With the x64 ASIO drivers in Windows XP I normally can't go below 12 ms without getting pops.

Jim