I finally succumbed to the temptation (see this post) and upgraded my laptop with a Crucial 512Gb M4 SSD.
UK Readers: Crucial 512Gb M4 2.5-inch SATA 6Gb/s (SATA III)
USA Readers: Crucial 512Gb M4 2.5-inch SATA 6Gb/s (SATA III)
It’s fast! The old drive had a Windows Experience Index rating of 5.9 and was the slowest part of the system. The Crucial rates 8.1 and is the fastest. The slowest parts now are the graphics but as it’s not used for gaming this isn’t a problem. continue reading…
I recently bought a laptop (i7, 8Mb RAM), not specifically for music, although I reckon it could easily handle most music applications, and installed Windows 8. Well, you ought to try these things…
It’s supposed to start up much faster than Win 7 and it sort of does. You get to the login screen pretty quickly but it can then take a while to come fully online, although it also depends on what apps you’ve got running and which ones start up with the system.
I run msconfig (now integrated into Win 8′s Task Manager) to keep an eye on what’s starting up with the computer. There’s actually not much starting up that doesn’t need to and I really don’t see much increase in speed over Win 7. continue reading…
SSD (Solid State Drive) discussions have become a semi-regular feature here at Making Music and, as usual, we defer to the On Test expertise of Tom’s Hardware. Their round-up of the best value-for-money SSDs for October is here.
As SSDs develop, the question is no longer Do You Want an SSD? – Answer – of course you do! – but which one? continue reading…
The question is – do you need – or simply want! – a SSD (Solid State Drive)? The answer to the second question is certainly Yes!
We’ve discussed using SSDs for music in the Making Music Newsletter – sign up on the right if you haven’t done so already – but once you’ve decided you want one, which is the one for you?
As usual, Tom’s Hardware has the answer and you can read their monthly round-up of the best value-for-money SSDs for the month of August, here. continue reading…
After banging on about backing up, I had an email from JJ Jefferson saying he got himself a USB drive to backup his audio data and music files – good going, JJ – but now his computer can’t see the drive when he plugs it in.
This seems to happen with some drives but not others. I don’t know exactly why it happens but there is an easy fix. The problem seems to be that Windows hasn’t assigned the drive a drive letter.
I’ll run you through the process using Window 7. continue reading…
Regular readers of the Making Music Newsletter will know we’ve discussed the pros and cons of SSDs – Solid State Drives – for use with music applications.
They are fast – oh yes! – but you need to take the usual precautions such as making regular backups. They simply haven’t been around long enough to provide reliable, er, reliability, data.
The main con at the moment is price but, as with all technology, the drives are getting bigger and cheaper. continue reading…
Headphones or monitors? The question used to divide much of the mixing community – and probably still does – but recent developments in music-listening habits have placed the subject back in the headlights.
At one time, virtually all professional mixing engineers would have said don’t mix on headphones full stop, but many are now relaxing their position. A little. In addition, many home studio owners don’t have any option but to mix on phones, or at least do most of their mixing on phones, so are these mixes doomed to failure?
Creating The Perfect Mix was written in 2006. The advice is still solid – sound doesn’t change that much! – but I’ve had a few questions from readers and a couple of topics need expanding so I’m in the process of rewriting it.
Mixing is a massive subject and the purpose of Creating The Perfect Mix was simply to act as a primer with a list of hints and tips you could follow when mixing down your recording. And that’s still its aim.
If you have any mixing questions, now’s the time to get in touch. Can’t promise they’ll make it to the book but if I can help, I will. continue reading…
The New Look Making Music
Hi – Welcome to the revamped Making Music website!
It’s taken a while to do the conversion – from XSite Pro to WordPress – but it should now be easier and faster to post new material and keep in touch.
There are Comment boxes so you can, er, comment and an easy Contact Us form for you to get in touch. If you haven’t done so already, join our Newsletter and grab a free copy of Creating The Perfect Mix - fill in the box on the right! > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
Enjoy the site,
Ian