LINK 81: 2008 PC NOTES COLUMNS

[Martin Walker]

JAN 2008:http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan08/a ... s_0108.htm

Specifying & Building A Dual-core Desktop PC Update

Double-Blind Audio Tests - does one sequencer sound different from another, or expensive plug-ins sound better than freeware ones, ABX utility

Audio Players - Media Player, Rea Alternative, WinAmp, foobar2000.

PC Snippets - Blue Noise My Drumset, Synergy mouse/keyboard sharing utility.

FEB 2008:http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb08/a ... s_0208.htm

Toxic Capacitors - industrial espionage, visual signs, badcaps.net

Vista Service Pack 1 - bug fixes, security tweaks, better hibernation/resume, support for DirectX 10.1

Universal Confusion - USB low and full speeds discussed, ambiguous terms in circulation.

USB Compatibility - USB 1.1 plugged into USB 2.0 ports, USB 2.0 plugged into USB 1.1 ports...

USB 3.0 News - optical connectors, 10x increase in data transfer rates

MAR 2008:http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar08/a ... s_0308.htm

Can you avoid the PC upgrade bandwagon? - the two rules of thumb

Divergence Of Demand - when the rules started to break down, getting off the bandwagon

VST Library Storage - installation, storing larger libraries on other drives

VST Slimming Part 1 - creating shortcuts to libraries on other drives

VST Slimming Part 2 - multiple vstplugins folders spread across several drives, how to implement this in Sonar, Reaper, Cubase, Nuendo, Acid Pro...

Freeware Spotlight - Ferox Tape Simulator

PC Snippets - Alienware curved screen, 16 new Penryn processors

APR 2008:http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr08/a ... s_0408.htm

Vista's now a year old - but is it loved or loathed by musicians?

Which Way To Go? - bypassing Vista 32-bit and the carrot of Vista 64-bit.

Audio Diffmaker - utility to investigate audio cable differences, hi-fi component upgrades, sequencer mixing comparisons...

Can You Hear The Difference? - comparing plug-in performance.

Emu v2.0 drivers - new DSP plug-ins, input configurations...

PC Snippets - ASIO4ALL update, Drumagog special offer for problem files.

MAY 2008:http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may08/a ... s_0508.htm

A Universal Benchmark - DAWbench DSP Universal test development, initial results discussed.

BIOS Updates Can Improve Performance! - Intel microcode updates & low-latency plug-in performance.

Spyware Doctor With Anti-Virus - mini-review, and the benefits of combining two utilities.

Diagnose Drop-Outs - DPC Latency Checker discussed, initial test results.

JUN 2008:http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun08/a ... s_0608.htm

Audio Clicks And Pops - results of the on-line DPC Latency Survey

Network & Wireless Spikes - audio spike problems with wireless network adaptors and wireless mice.

Nobbled Notebooks - Dell laptop issues, cures with i8kfan utility

Hasta La Vista - spikes on Vista PCs completely cured after installing Windows XP

US Court Allows Vista Lawsuit - 'Vista Capable' stickers, Vista crash logs revealed in Microsoft emails.

BIOS Beware - downgrading BIOS versions can occasionally cure audio issues

JUL 2008:http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul08/a ... s_0708.htm

Windows XP Service Pack 3 - contents, bug fixes, and minor new features

Speed Bump - claims of significant performance boosts discussed

Gigagyte BIOS Issues Resolved - Beta BIOS released that cures audio spikes

The Demise Of Windows XP - June 30th, where to find copies after this date

AMD Phenom X3 - Athlon X2, Phenom X4, possible software issues with three cores

PC Freeware Spotlight - Kieran Foster's Glitch

AUG 2008:http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug08/a ... s_0808.htm

RAM Limitations - Vista 64-bit limits, typical 32-bit availability with 4GB installed

Where's My RAM? - 4GB address space, memory mapping, devices that eat away at the available total...

New Maps Of Memory - memory remapping, BIOS switching versus automatic implementation

The 3GB Switch - allocation to applications & system, the LAA header flag, applications that can benefit, and those that can't.

Freeware Spotlight - Voxengo TubeAmp

PC Snippets - Intel's Q9300 versus Q6600, Intel DP35DP BIOS update benefits musicians, RMAA version 6.1.0

SEP 2008:http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep08/a ... s_0908.htm

Secunia Online Software Inspector - the problems of software version conflicts.

A Little Less Flash - clearing out multiple versions of Adobe Flash Player.

Audio & MIDI Latency - the difference between them, audio buffer sizes, software instruments...

The Key To It All - softsynth 'speaking' time, choosing the fastest MIDI port for keyboard performances.

Record-Breaking Firefox - Firefox 3 world record, new features, caveats.

PC Snippets - the 'Save XP' petition.

OCT 2008:http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct08/a ... s_1008.htm

Tascam Cease GigaStudio Development

Engines Included - Mac/PC software playback alternatives

Gigastudio Future - dongle vs challenge/response protection, Open Source petition.

PC Freeware Spotlight - Revo Uninstaller reviewed

PC Snippets - Mojave Mischief, first GPU reverb.

NOV 2008:http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/nov08/a ... s_1108.htm

How Green Is Your Studio - standby power consumption, fire risks...

Idling Around - the increased power consumption of audio PCs, typical figures when running flat out and idling.

Turning Green - what takes most juice, 'green' and 'full-on audio performance' settings

Standby For Savings - standby S1 mode, the deeper S3 mode and how to achieve it, Vista sophisticated sleep, and projected cost savings.

Power-Hungry Graphics - how fast 3D cards can consume more power than your CPU, choosing an economical monitor screen.

Energy Monitoring - measuring consumption with a mains energy monitor

DEC 2008:www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec08/articles/pcnotes.htm

PC Upgrades - still staying off the upgrade bandwagon after two years

The Bus Or The Clock - is a larger memory bandwidth or more cores better for audio?

Laptop Ground-loop Cure? - replacement universal laptop PSUs.

Thanks For The Memory - bigger RAM Sticks, high-capacity flash drives, and 1.5TB hard drives.

Software News - Sonar 8, Mu.Lab Unlimited version 2 sequencer, Chinee Kong V2 instruments.