vlab


Hey guys ! 

I've been doing so many songs on Sonar on Dell computers ... 

From an old P4 3.2ghz, to a Q6600 Precision desktop, now I'm on a Vostro 3750 business laptop .. 

Never had a problem with Dell computers with Sonar ... 

Dell might not have the right firewire chipset, or ram a little slower than someone would like, 

but dismissing them in favor of HP, ends pretty much the same, Sonar works great on most computer, 
and marginally worst on some system... and truth be told, the problem is always on the software/drivers/user side. 

I don't see the point in dismissing a whole brand of computer maker to help anyone. 

Cheers! 

V

Couldn't agree more

Heroics


The Dell I owned could not even handle USB audio !
 
I was soOOoOooOOo shocked , I spent alot of money on my first laptop .....1300
 
If you wanna be super sure --get ADK laptop or Rain PC laptop -----
 
ALso 4 real HP seem 2 work for many freinds I know who work on audio

I used Sonar on a Dell for YEARS without any trouble whatsoever.


I also concur with other posters in my disagreement with the notion that Dell computers cannot run Sonar, and that as long as the posted Sonar system requirements are met, and even sometimes when they are not quite met, with PROPER configuration and decent drivers Sonar runs just fine.


I do not know the percentage, but I believe it to be HIGH, that most of the time problems are caused by one or more of the following (certainly not all cases, but a high percentage):


 User error
 Ancient hardware
 Mismatch between ASIO sample rates in Sonar and interface
 Not using ASIO drivers
 Using the wrong/outdated drivers
 Having NO drivers (like for Windows 7 or Windows 8)
 
I am sure I am missing many, but the general theme of the above is user and/or configuration errors causing a high percentage of the problems seen.

To be sure, there are legitimate bugs and those will exist in many if not most cases, regardless of the hardware situation.

But to blame Dell for issues across the board is unwarranted.

Bob Bone

If the specs are good and the parts are of reasonable quality it doesn't matter who slaps it together. Heck... I knew jack about building computers when I slapped mine together and it works great. I'm sure the dudes over at Dell know a lot more than I do. It's just when they use inferior parts but that probably won't turn into a problem unless there is a failure somewhere. You just need to know what to look for and what to avoid.

However you are far more likely to get quality parts that have been thoroughly tested for audio stuff from the DAW builders and they sort out all the config stuff which is a bonus. They save you from having to research stuff and they'll be far more helpful if something goes wrong. You're essentially paying for someone to do your research for you and the peace of mind that things are far less likely to go wrong... then if they do you've got support.

No matter who builds the machine, the best case scenario is a custom build. You choose exactly what goes into the machine... and exactly how it's configured. Make good choices... and you've got a great DAW. Another advantage of a custom build is standard format parts (ie: ATX power-supply, ATX motherboard). If you want to upgrade (or if a part fails and needs replaced), you can easily do so...

Hi, Jim. For sure. The one thing I noticed when I was looking around at all this stuff is a lot of systems were either lacking power in crucial areas and/or had expensive extras that weren't necessary for audio (mainly graphics stuff). The gaming systems seemed to be the closest to what I needed but they were expensive and had crazy graphics cards and cooling systems that just weren't needed. What I ended up doing was looking at as many DAW building sites and resources as I could and tried to duplicate those builds as best I could. I did have to get creative with some parts though. Particularly the motherboard which aside from a legacy PCI issue is pretty awesome. I'm curious as to what you think about what I came up with.

Here are the parts I used:

MOBO: ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3

CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I72600K

RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

Case: ZALMAN Z9 Plus 

PSU: COOLER MASTER Silent Pro M700 RS-700-AMBA-D3 700W ATX12V V2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC

HDD Programs: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500413AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" 

HDD Storage: Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

DVD Burner: PLEXTOR Internal DVD Super Multi 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model PX-L890SA LightScribe Support 

CPU Fan:  Noctua NH-U9B SE2 92mm SSO CPU Cooler


Graphics Card: GIGABYTE GV-N210D3-1GI GeForce 210 1GB 64-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Ready Video Card  


OS: Win 7 Pro 64 bit OEM



Sorry for the long descriptions but that's copy/pasted from my original notes. The whole build ended up costing just over $1500 Canadian including tax/shipping. I was having trouble with my old Layla Echo 3G which might have been because of the legacy PCI on the motherboard but I can use it now after optimizing the system. However I bought a Focusrite Scarlett 18i6 to replace it anyway and that's what I use now (still have the Layla hooked up though if I ever want to use it). I used the Sweetwater optimization guide as advised by Cake tech support (minus that page filing step or whatever the step is that doesn't agree with Sonar... I forget now). It took me about six months to research and acquire the parts and an afternoon to build it. I did have a tech friend helping me via email but essentially they agreed with all my choices and more just helped keep me from getting ripped off. All parts came from Amazon and Newegg.



Anyway it's not an insane powerhouse but it should do me for quite a while I think and it was the max I was able to spend. Works great so far although I should research some more tweaks and stuff. I'm sure people ask you about their rigs all the time so I hope I didn't bore you but I was just curious as to what you thought. It was very educational for me considering, as I said, I had never built a system before and knew next to nothing. I'm pretty confident I could repair it myself if it ever came down to it and it's good to know that when the time comes to upgrade to a new system if I don't have the cash for a custom build I could probably do it myself again.



Cheers, dude. I always make sure to read your posts. It's great you hang out here and help people out. :-)

Good to know you're getting there Bruno!

Sitemester


Hi again from Denmark.

I have located the source of distortion from a very unexpected part of the chain.....

Everything was connected to a Furman power protection unit. I use Furman protection on all my gear from studio to amps, home cinema, computers... You name it. 
But this particular unit apparently has a defect so instead of filtering noise from the electric system in the building it was generating some sort of noise but only sometimes....
I was very frustrated because i didnt understand why i couldnt get rid of all the artifacts in the sound including distortion.....

But by pure instinct i bypassed the Furman, and now it works great. 
Unfortunately the ZED R-16 has suffered some damage in the firewire section but it seems that solutions are in sight....

Rgds
Bruno

Hi Bruno,
 
Glad to hear you are nailing down the problems.
Not so great that equipment is damaged, but at least you are now on your way to a solid stable working system.
 
Thank you for keeping the forum updated.
This information can help others who come to the forum looking for solutions.
This is good information to have logged away for future troubleshooting.  
 
Hope you are able to get this completely nailed down and it doesn't cost too much.
 

robert_e_bone

Heroics


The Dell I owned could not even handle USB audio !

I was soOOoOooOOo shocked , I spent alot of money on my first laptop .....1300

If you wanna be super sure --get ADK laptop or Rain PC laptop -----

ALso 4 real HP seem 2 work for many freinds I know who work on audio

I used Sonar on a Dell for YEARS without any trouble whatsoever.


I also concur with other posters in my disagreement with the notion that Dell computers cannot run Sonar, and that as long as the posted Sonar system requirements are met, and even sometimes when they are not quite met, with PROPER configuration and decent drivers Sonar runs just fine.


I do not know the percentage, but I believe it to be HIGH, that most of the time problems are caused by one or more of the following (certainly not all cases, but a high percentage):


User error
Ancient hardware
Mismatch between ASIO sample rates in Sonar and interface
Not using ASIO drivers
Using the wrong/outdated drivers
Having NO drivers (like for Windows 7 or Windows 8)

I am sure I am missing many, but the general theme of the above is user and/or configuration errors causing a high percentage of the problems seen.

To be sure, there are legitimate bugs and those will exist in many if not most cases, regardless of the hardware situation.

But to blame Dell for issues across the board is unwarranted.

Bob Bone

I use PC since 1988
 
 
 
got used to its "tasks"