Building a machine for friend - hyperthreading question

which version of Music Creator?

MC4 was multicore compatible, but it didn't work the best and sometimes had to be disabled (but that was also using winxp, win7 may be different, I haven't heard any complaints that I remember).  MC4 was based on Sonar 6.  MC5 is the newest version and it is multicore compatible and works fine with hyperthreading as well, so i5 or i7 either one will run MC5 well.  I have a copy of MC5 running on my i5, but EITHER will be fine for MC5.

HT Omega 7.1 soundcard would not be what I would recommend for use with MC5.  in fact unless he's going to be creating surround sound files, he does not need a 7.1 system and if he's doing surround sound he needs Sonar, because MC will not do surround.  I would also not recommend any soundcard for recording that is not designed specifically for recording (as the HT Omega is NOT).

check my website for soundcard recommendations.  I'd look at the line6 stuff if all he's doing is recroding electric guitar.  if he's doing more than guitar I'd look at some of the others on my site such as m-audio.

glad to be of service!

the 1010LT is a good card, but it's overkill for him using MC.  MC doesn't allow more than 2 simultaneous inputs at a time, so the 1010LT's 8 analog inputs are more than he needs unless he plans to upgrade in the future (he'd need to step up to Sonar X1 Essentials to get more simultaneous inputs).

Line6 products are popular with electric guitarists because those products come with amp simulation models that he can choose from to make his guitar sound like he's using different amps.

I would also recommend getting something that has at least one mic input and phantom power if possible because he may want to record his guitar thru a mic'd amp eventually even if not right away.  if he knows he'll never want to do that, then don't worry about it, but that's a typical thing for guitarists to want to do in the future.

If it is a desktop machine i would suggest a Delta 24/96 card for someone just recoding themselves. It is very easy to setup and works great. Solid drivers and such. Add a small mixer to that system.

Remember that even though the delta 1010 does more inputs than MC5 does, your friend is likely to upgrade as his involvement grows, so it is sometims a good thing to start off with a bit more than you need so as not to need to upgrade to quickly.

Many of the options both on Beag's page and other places are going to be USB or firewire external interface boxes. These are great, and very flexable, but for shear ease of install and getting going PCI cards are really great as well. It really boils down to need.

If you use a USB interface the users must remember to attach and turn on the interface prior to starting MC. With a PCI card it is ready to go 24/7

right - the PCI cards (most of them) don't have phantom power or even mic preamps (mic preamps are necessary for microphones).  the USB ones most of them DO come with mic preamps and most come with phantom power.

ALL microphones need a preamp, but condensor microphones need phantom power to turn the mic "on".  dynamic mics do not require phantom power.  condensor mics are typically used in a studio setting and are used primarily on vocals and for recording instruments directly, dynamics are typically used for LIVE vocals and for recording guitar AMPS (however those are not exclusive examples).

even tho the 1010LT has 2 mic preamps on it, it doesn't have phantom power.  I would advise with all PCI soundcards that you also get a small mixer, such as the Behringer Xenyx 802 to add to the soundcard for mic preamps and phantom power as well as a headphone output (which the PCI soundcards don't normally have, including the 1010LT).

Yes, I think the 1010LT with a small mixer such as the 802 would work fine.

but what do you mean by "as well considering the usage of HT..."?

the rest of that system looks good, tho.

oh - sorry, I thought you were referring back to the HT Omega 7.1!

MC5 uses multicore well.  the only problem could be that the drivers for the soundcard could pre-empt the use of multicores correctly inside MC, but I am fairly certain I have not heard of any problems with m-audio's drivers for multicore for the 1010LT.
 
I assume you mean you'd have gone with the i5 if MC didn't use HT well?  since i5 is multicore, but not HT.

I built a screaming fast DAW box last year based on the i5 intel chip. 

As Beagle points out MC only allows 2 inputs at a time. I would recommend going with an EXTERNAL USB interface rather than a PCI card interface. It will provide ALL that he needs in a convenient external box that will work well.

A bigger issue would be the OS. XP is what I use with MC4,  but MC5 will work with W7.

My god man!  You are puting Citreon CV2 wheels on a Masarati!


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