Help on creating a good but minimal home studio

Hello, I hope I am posting this in the right place - please excuse me if not and point me in the right direction?
 
I wonder if I could get some help and advice. I wish to update my home recording studio. This is what I currently have: My PC is running windows 7 and I use Cakewalk Sonar for composing (as I can't play or read a note I use the piano roll) I attach my
Microphone (MXL990) to an M-audio fast track pro and record directly into Sonar and listen to output via an old pair of speakers
(Edirol MA-20D) which are connected to the back of the fast track machine.
 
The problems/bugs I have:
* When I record vocals I get lots of popping and clicking
* I quite often get notes with hang on forever
* When I mix I have to rely entirely on headphones as my speakers don't give me stereo.
 
I am a complete technophobe, so simple is best for me, especially when it comes to hardware ( I once had a Mackie 16 track and it nearly made me demented:-/).  I am very much a hobby composer but work with my local am-dram group to make original panto songs etc. so I would like to do the best I can.
 
Has anyone any experience of Sonar Platinum or any ideas to upgrade my Audio interface and speaker setup?
Is it, in fact time to get a new PC?
Any help greatly appreciated
Thanks in advance
 
 

Tips... it's like monopoly, spread money evenly to get all of one color. Better a monopoly of cheap than one property of expensive.

Focus close to the sound source. That means good instruments before good Mics. Good Mics before good converter.

I have a Fast Track Pro and have used it on Win7 with Sonar. It wasn't a great experience. It's an older interface and the latest driver was a bit flakey. The sound quality isn't great either. 
 
That said, if you don't have ASIO4ALL on your system and have no other audio or midi devices installed it should work. Try keeping a minimum buffer size of 256 samples. 
 
If you're looking to upgrade stability a new interface would be the first place I'd look. RME is a brand with a great reputation for driver stability and long-lasting support. It's on the pricier side but if you can afford a second hand Babyface or Fireface UC(X) that'd be a great investment.

Your mic and speakers are more than decent. Check in Prefernces  if you are running Sonar in ASIO mode. If you still have glitches raise latency. If glitches disappear but latency is to high to accept thats when you need to look into computer specs (post it here) and perhaps interface.

Another thing that's important... what do you want to do?  what synths/vsts do you have.  With a 2000$ budget spread over all the essentials I think RME is really OVERKILL... there are a lot of good stable interfaces from focusrite, NI, presonus, among others...for a couple hundred bucks.
 
If I were to "have" or "buy" one instrument that covers virtually ALL the bases and for which there is lots of youtube instructions (skippy at plug in guru) it would be Omnisphere2.  I have a zillion things... that is the one i would keep way above any other piece of gear. It can do pretty much anything you can imagine.

Here are my computer specs I'm not sure which bits are relevant so I am just typing all of it
model: ixtremeM3720 rating 3.3
processor: intel (R) Core (TM)2 Quad Pro Q8300  @2.50 GHz 2.50GHz
RAM 4.00GB (3.75 usable)
64 bit  05
 
I now use only the soft synths that come with Sonar, I used to have a Roland JV1010 but I got rid of it because I couldn't really tell much difference in sound quality and it freed up some space on my desk.
In terms of what I want to achieve. I want to keep to have the ability to write and compose with as few gadgets as possible and then record vocal on top. I would also like to put some of my songs onto the internet and see what other people think of them.
 
I am in the UK so I need stuff that's available here
 
Is it worth me getting a midi keyboard (as I can't play) ? I usually just input via the piano roll.
 
Thanks everyone for your thoughts and advice.
 

Left Click Once on Computer to the right of START menu to select it, The right click and select Properties.  That will show you CPU & RAM as well as Windows Version (Pro, home, etc.).
 
If you need help with PC set up, there are Pros here that can build them for you (
Jim Roseberry for one).  I hear his systems are stable and quiet.  He will also consult with you and give you information if it does not make sense to ship the thing across the pond.  I definitely recommend this path since he has already figured out how to solve all the recoding issues (clicks and pops, slow machine etc.).
 
 

Ken, is that link meant to take me to a shopping cart with stuff in?

I think the advice here is pretty good.  Always difficult to tell on the PC front, but it does look as though that would be probably the most significant purchase (but then you can also use it for other stuff as well!). I got my rig from Computerplanet (good service and custom builds).
 
 Aside from that I would go for something like the Focusrite Scrarlet 2i4 (around GBP149 from most online places) as a pretty solid USB interface for the price.  That will give you 2 inputs which should be enough for what you need now.
 
If you are tracking and mixing using 'phones you should budget for something there.  I have a pair of AKG K702 which are superb, but because they are open backed you may find the noise bleed too much for vocal tracking.  Alternatively get some in-ear buds for tracking, but use the better phones for mixing.  If you go this route you won't need to spend large amounts on monitoring, which then needs room treatment and everything else.
 
Lastly, as Jonesey suggests do get a small midi keyboard controller. 25 key is enough to make your job so much easier.  A bunch of options here, and something like the Arturia KeyLab25 (at around £150) includes a whole bunch of analog synth patches with basic editing capability.  By all means check out Omnisphere but be careful.  I did, and immediately bought it (and the v2 upgrade as well!).

thats definitely do-able for me, thanks Ken and Jonesy - So, along with my speakers and mic I don't need anything else??    
 
PS Jonesy - sorry to sound like a numpty but how would I use a midi keyboard?

No, they both work but if i pan something hard right i don't hear it - i feel its to do with how they are connected to my fast track. Each speaker has a jack plug and they go into a 2 to 1 jack plug and then into the fast track. 

Thanks everyone for all your input - I think I need a new computer as well and I think that carillon is the way i will  go.
 

I disagree, for all of the reasons outlined above by myself and others