CM Studio in Vista?

[Dougie43]

Hi -

I'm looking to buy a new PC, and I want to get into recording audio. I've debated long and hard over whether to go Vista, and I'm leaning towards gritting my teeth and upgrading, since I plan on using it for more than just audio (and my use for audio will be quite amateurish!)

I plan on using the software and plugins on the CM DVD as a way to get started - before splashing out any serious money. I know that the hardware I have and soundcard I plan to buy have Vista drivers. But I'm worried about whether the CM software will run on Vista. Does anyone have any experience using CM software with Vista, and have you experienced any problems?

Thanks!

[imported_none]

Anybody? I'd like to know too.

[Emperor Fabulous]

No. no no no no no no no no. Don't do it. If you can list five genuinely good reasons to pick Vista over XP, I'll shut up. Otherwise, you're just heading down 'trouble alley'.

There was a reason the computers in the Apollo missions were old technology. It was because it was known, had virtually all the bugs fixed, and was reliable. They never went to the moon with the latest kit you know.

In my job, I've seen countless 'early adopters' switch to the newest OS before it was mature, and time after time after time they end up with huge problems. My motto:- NEVER upgrade to a Microsoft OS that isn't already on at least Service Pack 2.

[ihitterdal]

OR, to me, NEVER use a Windows OS until it crashes less than its predecessor.

That might take a while...

[Auron]

dude, I "up"graded to Vista and now I cry myself to sleep every night.

don't do it.

[Davel60]

I can't speak to the specifics of CM Studio on Vista. You can find discussions of Vista for music making in the forums at kvraudio.com; the opinions there, no surprise, seem to be pretty mixed.

I've recently bought a Dell laptop for the family and had no option but Vista Home Premium for the OS. My feelings at the moment are mixed, but some of that may just be the learning curve for the new OS. The performance on a brand new, reasonably equipped laptop is not what I'd call spectacular but I also haven't done any tuning yet. I'd prefer that I didn't feel I ought to.

My own music making machine is going to stay on XP for the foreseeable future.

DaveL

[dysamoria]

i've had mixed results since going to Vista. i've also had quite a debacle replacing my existing system with a new dual core system and gaming video card (nVidia Gforce 8800 if you care to know).

i've found that Vista has more services eating resources than you'd ideally prefer. More than XP, for sure. Some of them need to stay enabled in order for Vista features to work (depending on what you like and don't like). i've also found that Vista's eye candy is best to be disabled for better system performance (and to avoid my nVidia from crashing!!). Cubase 4 had lots of clicking when moving windows with Vista's Aero enabled and i couldn't get away from drop outs in Sonar 7 until disabling Aero.

What's a good reason to upgrade?

i can't say. WaveRT drivers?? Maybe... maybe not. My Echo Audio Mona and Gina both now have WaveRT drivers and ASIO4ALL supports WaveRT as well. Does it matter? i can't honestly say i've seen an improvement.

Service Pack 1 is now installed on both my laptop and main studio machine. i have XP on my original studio machine and i have a MacBook Pro with Leopard. The most stable machine is the Sony VAIO with Vista, but only because the XP machine had automatic updates enabled (including automatic rebooting and crashing) and some bad power cables on the power line to the HD. i've been impressed with the VAIO's stability since a Vista update fixed the Wi-Fi dropouts, but the machine is hot and loud (so too is my main studio machine).

Other drivers for hardware i own are still in beta... M-AUDIO!!!

No verdict here, yet. i'm still rebuilding that main studio machine and i have a ton of new hardware i have not yet installed and tested. Plus, my ASUS Striker Extreme is apparently a piece of sh!te (buyer beware, especially of memory compatibility). i'll try to remember to come back here and post updates if anything positive comes about...

Play it safe. Stick with XP for now. There's supposed to be another Service Pack release for XP soon, too.

If you can [afford to or handle it psychologically], set up a test machine with Vista SP1 and try it out for yourself. Just beware that Windows Activation can be problematic if you reinstall your license more than once. i had to do my second activation for my one Vista license over the phone with a tech rep (which was not so bad once i got through the waiting) because the automated/built in activation scheme failed and the automated phone activation failed.

Good luck!