Running old MC, should I upgrade to new Music Creator or Home Studio?

If the software no longer meets your needs, then yeah - it's time to upgrade. If the system has become unstable - that could be more than just the program itself - it could go fairly deep really.

I think most all of the Cakewalk family of products have a similar interface and functions - some do more than others. I think in the end you'll be right at home and the extra stuff to learn won't feel so daunting...not like it was the first time you booted MC anyway.

As far as an audio interface goes - what's the budget?

I lean toward Robos' philosophy, but I really like my toys.
What are the specs on your base computer(CPU,RAM,etc)? The software can be demanding to varying degrees, and this could be a big factor.
Since you have the mixer, I would be inclined to look at internal PCI cards, like the M-Audio 2496 or E-MU0404.
The Lexicon Omega is a decent unit, but it is USB1, and you can't get much less than 10Ms latency from it.

thanks guys for all the help and reponses. as far as my specs robert , my computer says its got a 2.80 ghz intel celeron processor with 80 gb and 512 mb of ddr sdram. and i am running xp. hey i heard the m audio delta 44 can only send 2 seprate tracks instead of four to your hard drive at the same time. i also read that you need a seperate pre. what is a pre...i am only confused when I see that. my problem in a nutshell is , i have always used my eurorack mixer to mic all my drums , then I send the signal via the phone jack on the mixer to the phone jack on my computer recording all on one track of Music Creator. What I want is too be able to record my drums on at least four tracks at my time on different tracks on the music creator or other software. then I can go back and mess around with the sounds of each indivial track. the way that i do it now...all i get is everything on one track , so I cant really mess around or eq. I almost have to get a great sound on the mixer before I even record!!! now I cant spend alot of money...and I know that you get what you pay for ..but I would really like to find a good software like the Homestudio and a interface that will allow more fuctions. shoot I might even settle for two similtiously recording tracks...one for the bass drum and the other for the mixer with everything else(toms, snare , overhead). what do you guys think??????????

Or just add a hard drive to the other IDE port and then up the ram to 1 gig. And yes the M-Audio or E-MU 0404 are stereo cards you can send two signals as mono to two tracks. For multiple tracks, get a Delta 1010 around $195 on the net. it will give 8 analog inputs, then later save up and get an 8 channel mackie mixer with inserts on each channel, you can patch the inserts into the delta and have a very nice 8 channel setup. The beauty is to buy a 16 channel board and add another delta down the road and have 16 tracks going in.

That mixer would allow you to do 4 tracks, as it has 4 inserts. On most mackie boards the inserts if you plug the cables into the first click only will act as outputs only allowing you to connect directly to the sound card. If you want 4 track capability that will do it, couple that with a delta 44 card or two 24/94 cards and WaaLaa! If you plan to do more tracks at the same time, like tracking a band, a delta 1010 and a mackie board that has 8 inserts will do. Another option coupled with the delta 1010 is a Behringer ADA8000 http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Behringer-ADA8000-Ultragain-Pro8-ADA-Converter?sku=182483 it will front a delta 1010 and make a decent setup for the money Of course at $249 plus the $195 for the delta, you asre getting very close to the price of some of the nice firewire interfaces, like the firepod, or many others.