Audacity Forum

Hi everybody,

I m a composer, I have instruments, a good studio mic (Rode nt2-a or Neumann tlm 102), cables etc... and I'd like to rec my stuff at home.

1) I'm looking for an audio interface which can work efficiently with my computer and Audacity at the same time.

2) I have a Notebook that is not very quick...
Intel Celeron
CPU 550 Ghz (just one processor)
More than 80 GB available
I never use these 80 GB cause I have an external 2TB hard-disk where I put data
RAM 3 GB
Windows 7, 32-bit
USB 2.0 interface

3) I've put my eyes on:
- FOCUSRITE Scarlett 2i4
- Roland UA-55 Quad-Capture
which are both alimented with a USB 2.0 device

4) I'm not thinking about multitrack recording. I mean 1 record = 1 track
I'm just interested in recording a sound of good quality without any kind of problems.
Nowadays I "take note" of my songs connecting the guitar jack cable to the computer with a convertor (from jack 6.35 to 3.5mm) and I have no problems. Audacity works speedly and I feel comfortable with effects and so on...

My questions:
1) Once installed the audio interface drivers, is one of these audio interface compatible with audacity?
2) Is my notebook "quick" enough to support one of these audio interface and audacity at the same time? (Do I need to by a new computer at first?)

Thank You in advance

Is it Windows 7 Starter? If not, the computer doesn't strictly meet Windows or Audacity minimum requirements http://audacityteam.org/download/windows#sysreq .

Why do you need the interface? Have you read the system requirements of those interfaces?


Gale

Hi Dale,

I hope to be precise:

Intel Celeron
CPU 550 @ 2.00 Ghz (just one processor)
More than 119 GB available (over 148)
I have an external 2TB hard-disk where I put data
RAM 3 GB
Windows 7 Ultimate, Service pack 1
32-bit
USB 2.0 interface

I want to record my songs at home with good quality
I thought it could be done with:
Good mic (I have it)
Guitars, bass guitar, midi keyboards, good cable (I have it)
Audacity 2.0.3 (I have it, and now it seems to run properly)
Audio Interface (still to buy)
It is possible?
Do I need something else to buy (including the computer)?

I had examined these audio interface manuals to see if I meet the requirements.
This is what they report (manuals are also attached):

FOCUSRITE Scarlett 2i4
System requirements / Windows / Windows compatible computer with a USB 2.0 compliant USB port
OS: Windows 7 (32- or 64-bit)
This is the manual link:
http://d3se566zfvnmhf.cloudfront.net/si ... -guide.pdf

Roland UA-55 Quad-Capture 192hz
There is not a paragraph on the system requirements but Window 7 is mentioned many times
so I guess the interface it's compatible with every version of Windows 7
This is the manual link:
http://www.roland.com/support/article/? ... ls&p=UA-55

Thank You again

realdenser wrote:Intel Celeron
CPU 550 @ 2.00 Ghz (just one processor)

That's OK for Windows 7 Ultimate, so should mean (given your other specifications) that you can use either interface on your computer.

(You wrote "550 Ghz" before, and since no consumer-available processor is 550 GHz, I assumed you meant 550 MHz, which will only suffice for Windows 7 Starter).

realdenser wrote: I want to record my songs at home with good quality
I thought it could be done with:
Good mic (I have it)
Guitars, bass guitar, midi keyboards, good cable (I have it)
Audacity 2.0.3 (I have it, and now it seems to run properly)
Audio Interface (still to buy)
It is possible?
Do I need something else to buy (including the computer)?

Audacity doesn't record MIDI. See http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Midi . So the keyboard needs an audio output - see http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/fa ... #keyboards .

For freedom from noise you are generally going to be better with an interface.

But almost certainly you won't be able to record more than two channels at once because Audacity as shipped does not support ASIO . You said that did not matter.


Gale

Ok
Thank You again
: )

Hi there,

I've just a read through your PC specs and they look totally fine for use with one of our Scarlett interfaces.

On a further note, the 2i4 ships with Ableton Live Lite which is great for MIDI as well as audio!


If you have any further questions, please free to contact us at http://uk.focusrite.com/answerbase/contact


Cheers,

Miles.