What PC spec do I need to make music?

[cmsdaker]

Hi,

I know it is rather a broad question but I want to know what computer spec I will need to make music on my PC.

I currently have a PC with a 2Ghz Intel Celeron and 240mb of RAM. Not sure what kind of soundcard I have, something basic I imagine. At the moment I record onto a digital 8track (Korg D8) then have to record the the mix or individual track onto my computer (via mic socket) with Sony Sond Forge. I sometimes use Sony Vegas too if I want to mix the song on the computer.

This is OK some of the time but it freezes and crackles a lot and the sound quality could be better.

I want to be able to record direct onto the PC and then mix the tracks on there too. As well as this I want to be able to run drum machine and sampler programs.

What hardware (soundcard, RAM, Processor etc) and software do I need?

I'm not loaded either so I can't afford to buy a top spec mac with all the whistles and bells. I just want to be able to do the basics for now.

Thanks

Dan

[ChuckFickens]

your current one would be ok but for playing with and making music you need firstly ram! add another 1gb at least (don't go mad much over 2gb on XP just isn't worth it!)

and if your serious get a high end sound card, something like the below will help as it will supply you with loads of I/O options too

http://www.soundblaster.com/products/product.a sp?category=1&subcategory=208&product=16559

[ACtheTROLL]

bit of a piece of string question ... same for the answer.
games, video/grahics and music are about the most needy activities you can do on a pc.

having said that ... anything with a dual processor, a couple of gig of ram and as big a disc as you can get will fit the bill.
(which is about 60% of all the machines on offer at the moment) - don't get the cheapest but set a budget (�500.00+) - and stick to it.

power=speed=money

[squarebear]

The guys are correct but I thought i'd just butt in with the fact that I use a PC that is nearly 10 years old with 64Mb RAM, windows 98, a Pentium II 550Mhz, 8 GB hard drive and a soundblaster 64 soundcard and have had music included on films, games and CDs.

This was one of my latest inclusions:
http://hmv.com/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do ?ctx=280;-1;-1;-1&sku=750015

The computer is only as good as the musician.

[rojash]

What you are doing at the moment is taking your beautiful clean digital recordings, converting them to analog, shoving them through an audio device which is sitting in possibly one of the noisiest environments possible (the inside of a computer), and then reconverting to digital to edit them.
Personally I would leave the computer as is, and spend the money on upgrading to a recorder with a USB or firewire interface, such as the D888 or the D3200