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Optimizing Your Computer for Recording
You can't walk into a car dealership and buy a car that's ready to enter a race. Even high-
performance sports cars come tuned for the road, not the race track. Suspension, gearing, timing
all need to be tweaked before a car is ready to be pushed to it's limits.
The same is true of computers. While most new computers will perform well right out of the box,
whether you buy a Macintosh, or a PC, you still have some work to do before you'll see your new
computer perform to it's maximum potential. Recording and mixing audio or video is one of the
most demanding tasks you can ask of your computer, sometimes more taxing than professional
graphics work.
The suggestions below can be used to squeeze more speed, and better performance out of any
computer.
Before you begin, make sure that your software and your product's device drivers (if applicable)
are up-to-date. Of course, visit
our products
(note: some products don't require drivers to be installed, refer to your product's specific
documentation).
Tips for All Systems
1. Don't let your computer's boot drive get too full. Make sure to leave about 20%
of your computer's main hard disk free for system tasks and virtual memory
operations. This is crucial to maintain system speed. If your main hard disk gets
more than 80% full, its time to go out and buy a second hard disk, or either get rid of
some files. External USB and FireWire drives are more affordable than ever. For
example, a Seagate 1TB External USB 2.0 drive is now less than $150!! Internal
drives are even less expensive! While you're at it, buy an extra drive just for backing
up!
2. Get more RAM. Your operating system can use up to 1GB of RAM all by itself. On
a recording computer, you'll want to have more than that so your power-hungry
applications have all the resources they need. 2GB is a great place to start. If you'll
be using lots of virtual-instruments, samplers etc, you'll want to get even more...think
3 or 4GB. Is there such thing as overkill? At this point, yes, there is. While many of
today's' computers can accommodate 8GB or more of RAM, even in virtual-
instrument and sample-heavy projects, it's almost impossible to use up that much
RAM. For the most part, the only time you'll need 8GB of ram is in the Video and 3D
modeling fields.
3. If possible, record to a second hard disk. While even the 5400 RPM drives in
most laptops can handle recording 8 or even 16 simultaneous tracks, you can really
improve system performance by dedicating a 7200 RPM (or even 10,000 RPM drive
to your recording projects. Certain files on your computer change all the time, like
your email, internet search history, bookmarks, etc. Other files once they're stored,
stay more-or-less the same like music and photo libraries, large audio files etc. Your
system will perform better, and won't have to work as hard if you get a second drive
to record on. This will result in less fragmented drive space, and faster loading and
writing of large files. This is also makes things easier when it comes to backing up.
www.ionaudio.com
for the latest software and drivers for any of
2
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