Ableton Forum

G'day there.

So, i've recently purchased the Live 7 Suite, which i'll hopefully be recieving soon in the mail. However, at the moment, i don't exactly have a beast of a computer.

And at this point, i'd also like to point out that i plan on getting a Mac in the future, but in the mean time i'll have to make do with my PC.

So, my PC specs are "AMD Athlon 64bit 3700+", "1GB DDR1", and a "Creative SoundBlaster Live! Value". I'd just like to know what you guys think of this as an Ableton Live system - does anyone reccomend that i upgrade any particular feature? I'm mainly looking at the sound card, but i must stress that i don't plan on doing much audio recording for at least a little while - perhaps i will later this year though.

So are there any cheap audio interfaces that anyone would like to suggest? Or should i be able to get by with what i have?

Try out what you have first.
the soundcard is the first thing to upgrade, but dont worry, you'll be able to use a nice soundcard on that new Mac once you get it.

In the meantime, though... see what the PC can handle... i bet it'll do a nice job.

The soundblaster will probably not do so well, especially if it has no ASIO drivers.
check out www.asio4all.com if you find you get amazing amounts of latency with the soundblaster (i.e. there is a second difference between what you hear, and what Live is recording, meaning you can't play along in time)

i used to have the same soundcard (and a slower system - but running live 5). it was fine as these things go.

if asio4all doesn't work (probably your best option if it does), try the kxproject drivers (which I used at the time).

obviously pricier soundcards will sound cleaner but you don't necessarily need them. the sb live value is a very good product for the price (35 quid I paid).

if you want to invest in more hardware before you get a new computer, how about a midi controller? bcr2000 for example.

Okay, thanks for the help guys. I'll try those drivers once i get the software alright.

I don't suppose there's an external Audio/MIDI interface (USB or Firewire) which i could use now with my PC and then use on my Mac when i get it?

To be honest, i don't really know what i need in this department. I plan to use Live Suite and Logic Studio on the Mac when i get it, so what sort of interface should i look at getting for MIDI and Audio? I don't want anything too expensive, but something that will allow me to do a bit of everything (recording audio/midi etc)... I was looking at this Edirol UA25 (http://www.onlinemusicstore.com.au/inde ... d=ROEDUA25). Would this be suitable? Or even an MBox?

And as for the MIDI controller, i would like to purchase one of these, but preferrably one that is a keyboard controller, not like that Behringer one you suggested, ciw. Has any one got any suggestions of a good cheap MIDI controller? I was looking at this Edirol PC-50 (http://www.onlinemusicstore.com.au/inde ... d=ROECPC50).

You'll have to excuse my lack of knowledge and experience in this area, i'm just starting to learn about all this stuff, and i'm struggling to make sense of it all . Thanks for making the effort to help

i don't know about keyboard controllers. the presonus firebox, echo audiofire and emu 1616 are popular audio/midi interfaces for plugging into anything with firewire (you may need to buy a firewire card for your pc). edirol is a bit substandard allegedly, and not much cheaper than the firebox. i'm not sure the echoes do midi, but if you're getting a controller keyboard this will likely run over usb and include a midi interface with ports on the back of the keyboard anyway. like I said I don't know much about these (I have other keyboards I plug in via midi to the audio interface/bcr) - but cme are meant to be good.

If you recommend CME, i've also found this controller:

http://www.onlinemusicstore.com.au/inde ... &id=CMEUF5

Looks alright. I spose i'm just gonna have to go into my local store and check out what they have. This company whose website i keep linking to has a store near me, so i might check out their range, and ask a few questions.

Well, thanks heaps for the help guys, it's much appreciated