Jonboh,

I'm running X1 32bit mode on this Acer Laptop... asio4all drivers - realtek sound card.  I do more midi-based stuff with my laptop but I can record a 45 minute show in stereo thru a lexicon alpha sound card using asio drivers.

http://support.acer.com/acerpanam/notebook/0000/Acer/Aspire5610/Aspire5610sp2.shtml

The processor is a 1.6, dual processor ultracheapy and I have 2 gb of ram and onboard intel graphics. 

It would help if we knew what you were doing when you get the dropouts, ie , recording guitar or some other sound thru the e-mu or are you using a lot of softsynths?

I just did some investigation on the Emu 0204... another site had a comment about the fact that this unit has lots of dropouts in 24-bit mode.  Try swapping to 16 -bit mode and seeing if the trouble still occurs.

Your system should be powerful enough to do everything you want to do.   

The reason I bring up the soft-synths, is that if you have even one that is a cpu hog, FREEZE it then go on with what you are doing. 

In my laptop workflow,

1. record the softsynth.
2. edit the softsynth.
3. get the sound as close to what I think i want.
4. FREEZE the softsynth
5. Create new audio track, rename it according to the sound I just created
6. Shift - click - drag the FROZEN track to the new audio track.
7. Un-Freeze the softsynth.
8. Create new midi track.
9. Shift - click - drag the midi or step seqencer clip to the new midi track so that I can keep using the soft synth to create other beats, sounds, etc.
10.Put all midi clips in a FOLDER and keep them out of my way.

This sounds very long-winded.  But for my weak, little laptop, I've found that softsynths are CPU hogs.  By converting the tracks to audio, I conserve a lot of cpu power.  By moving the midi data to it's own file, I can drag the info back to the soft synth if I want to change something later in the creative process.

I use folders....  love them.  I can mute folders so that what I'm not using at the moment is not processing. 

JonBoh


All of my computers specs meet the minimum system requirements which I thought was odd..
Well I'm using the E-MU 0204, which I wouldn't have thought would cause any problems.  How can you find out the amount of RAM your motherboard can take? I have 3GB at the moment, and it is the motherboard that came with the computer so I assumed it is not powerful enough to hold any more. 

Actually your CPU is barely minimum spec.. it does beat the E8200 on cpu benchmark, but the E8200 has a 30% faster memory and system bus... you certainly need a new computer.
 
I would not bother trying to upgrade the system you have... by the time you get a new motherboard and cpu, then you will need different ram, a new hard drive, new windows..etc etc...  simply go on ebay and buy a manufacturer reconditioned PC at the best performance you can afford... eg.. you can get a great deal on an AMD powered, i5 performance class machine for probably $400
In saying all of that, droputs are audio interface, audio driver and PC optimisation issues, and BSOD are hardware, driver and bios issues... your system should run Sonar "ok"... just slow and have little excess power for softsynths...

Hello again Jon.  If you're pegging your CPU meter, you need a newer CPU. If you see the meter going beyond about 65%,
you're going to have playback problems. You can experience audio cracking at values below 50%.  You can freeze your
completed tracks and bypass effects. If that doesn't help, then I'm afraid there really isn't any other fix or workaround for this.

As I mentioned before, you can upgrade your current desktop. You can use any ivy bridge i5/motherboard combo you want.
Just make sure the socket numbers match. You will also need a cpu cooling fan that fits with your socket number, some
silver paste to seat the fan onto the cpu, and the ddr3 ram you're going for. As you are in the UK, a grounding strap might
not be a bad idea. All this is doable for $300-$400 USD, or less than GBP260.

Another option, for about the same amount of money, would be a complete kit. You can look around Newegg and TigerDirect
or vendors in the UK or Europe to see what might be available. If you can read a manual, you can absolutely do this assembly
without any problem. You can re-use your other peripherals, your current hard drives, and load your copy of W7.

Either way, it would take you about a day or two at the most. Just a final note; Home Premium has, I think, a 16gb ram limit,
so any ram you install beyond that would be unavailable. Windows 8 will be released before year's end, so don't bother
to upgrade your OS before then.  If you need any help or a second opinion on components, just post or pm.

JonBoh


How can you find out the amount of RAM your motherboard can take? I have 3GB at the moment, and it is the motherboard that came with the computer so I assumed it is not powerful enough to hold any more. 

I suggest using this simple scan tool provided by Crucial Crucial System Scanner, it can be a great tool to inform you as to what your system board is capable of. Try that first and see if you're already maxed. If not, you can decide, based on your new understanding, where you'd like to go from there. Afterwards, if you like, there are several system and software tweaks I'd be glad to show you which could certainly improve things for you... 

Below are results from an inexpensive office computer I built to illustrate what this tool will show you; just to give you a better idea of how it works:  

Memory: DDR2 PC2-6400, DDR2 PC2-5300 Memory Type: DDR2 PC2-6400, DDR2 PC2-5300, DDR2 (non-ECC) Maximum Memory: 8GB  Currently Installed Memory: 3GB Total Memory Slots: 4 Available Memory Slots:  2
1GB DDR PC2-5300

2GB DDR PC2-5300

 EMPTY 
 EMPTY 

 
Each memory slot can hold DDR2 PC2-6400, DDR2 PC2-5300 with a maximum of 2GB per slot.* *Not to exceed manufacturer supported memory.

 
Although the memory can be installed one module at a time, the best performance comes from using matched pairs of modules.

How much memory your Windows OS will recognize depends on which version of Windows you are running. 32-bit versions of Windows will see (and utilize) only 3GB or 3.5GB. To utilize more memory, install a 64-bit version of your OS. More information about OS memory maximums can be found here.

Memory or DRAM is the 'working' memory of the computer. It's used to store data for programs (sequences of instructions) on a temporary basis.






Best regards


LabDog

constant drop outs and blue screens

Dropouts in audio processing can certainly be a symptom of an underpowered machine, but blue screens are not usually. Each blue screen (stop error) has a message that goes with it, that tends to point you toward the cause. A new CPU is not usually the answer. If the stop error is hardware related at all, it is more commonly memory.


http://allcomputers.us/windows_7/troubleshooting-stop-messages---stop-message-overview.aspx



That is not to say you will not be happier with a newer faster computer. Buying new hardware and reinstalling everything has a pretty good chance of solving even the most elusive stop error. Of course if you re-install buggy software or drivers you will still be screwed, so it may be worth finding the cause of the problem.

peregrine


Hello again Jon.  If you're pegging your CPU meter, you need a newer CPU. If you see the meter going beyond about 65%,
you're going to have playback problems. You can experience audio cracking at values below 50%. 

not too many people seem to understand this. Those who do seem to have a lot less problems.

Well thankyou for all the advice everyone, but after fiddling around with settings I have found out that it actually is my E-MU 0204 causing the BSOD's! For some reason whenever it is plugged in and I start messing around with effects (or even press play a few times) it will cause Sonar to stop responding and later on the BSOD. When it isn't plugged in, Sonar actually runs fine (maybe slightly slow, but no dropouts or BSOD's.) Is there something I am missing or will I have to get a new audio interface? Or is the computer affecting the performance of the E-MU?
- I tried changing from 24-bit to 16-bit but playback won't work in this mode for some reason.
- Also, I have installed drivers but they may not be the latest ones (if not then I am unsure where to find them.)

- Also, I have installed drivers but they may not be the latest ones (if not then I am unsure where to find them.)

Creative says their driver for the 0204 is Win 7 compatible, but they do not seem to give you access to the driver for manual download for the windows version. If you are feeling lucky, you can try clicking the "software autoupdate" button on this page:

http://support.creative.com/downloads/?h=7

Of course that may be problematic if your computer will not run with the device attached.

I recommend getting away from e-mu hardware. They once had a large selection of sound hardware and now it has dwindled down to nothing. That tells me it won't be long before their product is non-existent or supported. You'd think that they would be all up in the game with their soundblaster background for computer audio but they are junk. Try to go with the usual suspects if you are trying to stay inexpensive but have decent quality... Maudio.... Line 6