Acoustica User Forums

New here..been using 7 pro, EZDrummer2, with an HP laptop for last couple of years...just got a new desktop.. Dell i5, 16G... wondering if theres anything to watch out for when loading programs...turned on new machine and immediately encountered windows 10 issue with getting on internet...also want to upgrade to pro 8... looks like you can for $39....should I worry about what order to do/load things..should/can i buy the upgrade 1st before I load it or just do it after...also any thoughts on a touch screen...thanks...appreciate any info

Hi,

Mixcraft should work just fine with Windows 10*. You can have both Mixcraft 7 and 8 installed at the same time if you want; they go into separate folders. It doesn't matter which order you install them. You could download Mixcraft 8 Recording Studio and try it out, then buy the upgrade, and install Mixcraft 8 Pro Studio right over Mixcraft 8 Recording Studio.

Greg


*Every once in a while, somebody's microphone will have privacy settings turned on with Windows 10, preventing it from working, but you can fix that by going into Windows privacy settings and changing a setting.

Acoustica Greg wrote:Hi,

Mixcraft should work just fine with Windows 10*. <snip>

Yes, I'm using Windows 10, and Mixcraft works perfect.

Hi
I am not familiar with Mixcraft, but am constructing a new PC for a friend who will be using Mixcraft Studio 8.
I was thinking:
i5 processor, (go to i7?)
8 GB RAM (would 16 have a significant effect?)
1TB HD
Would integrated sound (Intel) work, or is an internal or external sound card better (recommendations?)

Thanks
JIm

techjim wrote:Hi
I am not familiar with Mixcraft, but am constructing a new PC for a friend who will be using Mixcraft Studio 8.
I was thinking:
i5 processor, (go to i7?)
8 GB RAM (would 16 have a significant effect?)
1TB HD
Would integrated sound (Intel) work, or is an internal or external sound card better (recommendations?)

Thanks
JIm

Hi Jim

Acoustica Mixcraft 8 System Requirements
Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, 8, or 10 (32 or 64 bit)
2 GB RAM
1.8 GHz Dual Core CPU (Quad Core or higher recommended)
Sound card, USB, or Firewire sound device.

But of course more ram and faster would be better.

Oh and a good external audio interface is recommend.

The bottom line.... Varies.

"System requirements" is a minimum.standard parameter that sets a base line core program operation and has little to do with actual performance.
IE: using a system that meets minimum requirements means the program will run and little else. This is true of most any software in my experience.

The answer to the question is- depends.
One user may find a dual core 4 gig machine meets their needs. Perhaps pretty limited, but needs vary.
I would suggest anyone but the lightest user should consider a 4 core processor and 8 gigs RAM a minimum standard. More is always better.
Generally, a "power user" will benefit from a premium processor and 16 or more gigs of RAM.
As to drives, again, needs vary.
Generally avoid conventional slower laptop drives. Problematic performance.
Beyond that, again-
Some users will find a quality hdd is fine. Others may be running sample libraries and need more.
Size depends on need. I archive to larger drives for storage.
I moved to operating off of an ssd and have to offer the opinion that I would never go back.
Of course you can archive to any old thing, performance being irrelevant.
Hope that helps!

And yeah, the computer sound card isn't really a big deal, as any serious DAW/audio system really needs a dedicated interface and audio driver. Typically, computer sound cards arent going to be satisfactory for recording especially.

i7, at least 8gb ram, ssd is best as main drive and then hdd for second drive. If you've never had an ssd you'll be blown away and will never go back.

M

i7 CPUs generally deliver higher performance, but there's some overlap: the top-end i5s will be more capable than the low-end i7s. My (desktop) PC has been happily handling all I can throw at it with an i5 CPU that was pretty high-end two years ago. There's a lot of comparative benchmarking info at https://www.cpubenchmark.net/desktop.html

Number of CPU "cores" is also potentially important: I'd want at least 4, ideally with more than 1 logical core per physical one (can increase throughput for more computationally intensive tasks). Xeon chips are probably overkill for most musical production purposes...

Definitely agree that 8GB RAM is a minimum (probably need 64-bit MC to take full advantage) and SSDs are wonderful!

--Mike

Good info everybody
Thanks!

Hi,

Fast hard drives (7200 RPM) and multiple cores are also helpful.

Greg

Acoustica Greg wrote:Hi,

Fast hard drives (7200 RPM) and multiple cores are also helpful.

Greg

Evening,

So MC is a multithreading application? Does that mean that number of cores is preferred over clock speed?

- N

Hi,

Hmm, good question. It couldn't hurt to have both.

Mixcraft divvies up the processing of different tracks onto different processors if possible.

Greg

Hi,
I had a computer built two years ago. I looked what was in computers used for music being sold by music stores, then looked into what it would cost to have one made locally. If you look at the bottom of this post, you will see the specs. For me it was cheaper to have it made locally. They loaded the Windows 10 64bit OS, setup the sdd and hdd drives. I had to load the Mixcraft software ( download ), and other music software / virtual instruments.

- Myran