Windows 7 + Production

[drew_drummer]

Heya,

I'm using a Hackintosh at the moment. And due to my eSata ports not working properly, and due to me hating all this maintenance, I'm considering a move back to Windows.

Thinking about Windows 7; anyone using it for audio recording and production? I'm aware that Pro Tools isn't currently fully supported on Windows 7, but that isn't a problem for me particularly, as I don't fully rely on PT (I use it sometimes when I have to) and anything I need to do with PT, I can do in the office studio.

So anyone here got any stories? I want to know what to expect!

 

[Ermz]

I wouldn't jump to an OS that's prior to release stage for professional audio production. That's essentially asking for trouble. You could always dual-boot XP and W7 as a safety net.

 

[Morgan C]

There was a thread about this in the Equipment subforum.

I'm using it at the moment, upgraded from XP. Runs MUCH better although am having some troubles with pops n crackles in playback but I haven't really gone to much trouble trying to fix it yet. Running Sonar 8 with an FP10. Only plugin that doesnt work is Drumagog (and that works but doesnt install properly, if you're upgrading and you've got it installed it'll be fine).

 

[Razzee]

so what will you do, when the build in timebomb runs out?

 

[Morgan C]

I'm sure it'll be out by then, or at least another phase of beta. I think its planned for an 09 Xmas release, and it runs out in March or so.

 

[LeSedna]

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/equipment/491809-windows-7-a.html we started to talk about it. For the moment it works great for most stuffs, you should be careful about hardware issues, such as DSP cards etc, and yeah drumagog seems to have some pbs. For many other cases it seems it works ok.

 

[KillDivision]

I had hardware issues on W7-32bit. W7-64bit was a nightmare to install drivers.

Back to XP-32bit.

 

[ApolloSpeed]

I'm running Windows 7 with Reaper and Dual Firepods.

It took a while to figure out the Firewire driver problem (you have to use old legacy drivers)....but now it works great!!! 10 times better than XP... 100 times better than vista.

I do have mine set to dual boot XP and Windows7....just in case.

 

[Razzee]

I'm sure it'll be out by then, or at least another phase of beta. I think its planned for an 09 Xmas release, and it runs out in March or so.

yeah I know but you'll probably have to reinstall (no upgrade?) ?
don't know never done an upgrade to 7 so far.
and upgrading from 7 to 7 sounds weird ^^

 

[drew_drummer]

I'd just format and start from afresh; no big deal.

 

[Morgan C]

I'd just format and start from afresh; no big deal.

Yeah
Reinstalling programs will be annoying, but all my data is on an external HD and Windows 7 takes literally 15 minutes to install.


edit: just got Drumagog working. I had to install it on another computer and copy the files over. Then the 'gog files' folder was not working, but you can change that under the 'advanced' tab.

So, zero issues with Windows 7. My CPU usage has dropped about 20% in Sonar.

 

[-Gavin-]

Been rolling Win 7 since 7000 build in Jan and been on every leak (almost) since... and currently rocking the RC

Not had a single problem, great CPU usage and it looks sexy!

Also runs better with aero in Sonar than XP...

 

[cqchris]

I use win7 x64 since two weeks for my audio productions.
No problems for the moment. Very fast and stable

I work with Cubase 5 + Drumagog and Revalver MK3 as Plugins. Everything works

 

[kev]

I use win7 x64 since two weeks for my audio productions.
No problems for the moment. Very fast and stable

I work with Cubase 5 + Drumagog and Revalver MK3 as Plugins. Everything works

As I have access to a Microsoft developer licence and therefore all versions of Microsoft's OS's I've grabbed myself a copy of 64 bit W7 Ultimate.

I have jumped over to windows 7 for a few needs at the moment, and although my first impressions were not good at work, installing it on the home/production system has been OK so far, with no compatability issues apart from a belkin wireless card (Im never buying anything belkin again unless I have to because their support is plain dire by the way).

You definitely have to change your mindset a bit with it and try to understand what Microsoft are trying. For instance, initially I was pretty peeved you are never an actual administrator on a windows 7 PC.

 

[Ermz]

I'm getting a bit fed up with XP since my current audio installation is rather prone to memory-related crashes. I'll be installing W7 64-bit shortly to make use of all my system's RAM and pray for some more stability.

Weirds me out though because my last XP install which shared games, apps, internet, audio and everything else ran rock solidly.

 

[kev]

I'm getting a bit fed up with XP since my current audio installation is rather prone to memory-related crashes. I'll be installing W7 64-bit shortly to make use of all my system's RAM and pray for some more stability.

Weirds me out though because my last XP install which shared games, apps, internet, audio and everything else ran rock solidly.

I havent had a single major crash yet on W7 so hopefully all things will be good downunder too Ermz! Cubase feels pretty rock solid so far. When you get a crash in windows 7, have you noticed you can actually manage to escape it when the programs are "not responding", as opposed to XP where your system will hang around for ages whilst it tries to clear, and sometime never does.

 

[Ermz]

Thanks Kev, it's good to hear the vote of confidence.

Yes W7 handles failures much better than XP. I don't think I've had a single system hang-up with it yet. The only time it bluescreened on me was when the nVIDIA drivers screwed up the OS.

XP and Cubase have been horrid for me lately. I don't know what's going on but I could barely get through some of my work from the amount of CTD going on. There's some weird memory issue with my install and if I run any amount of sampler VSTs and UI intensive plug-ins it just dies in the ass. It's been pretty infuriating. That and Cubase 5 is almost a joke of a DAW, but that's another discussion.

 

[Jind]

I've been using Windows 7 x64 since the release date. Aside from a few issues with VST bridging in Sonar (I had to get jBridge for use with the Toontrack products), I'm have a great time with it. It's been stable as a rock for me on my AMD dual-core system with 8GB of RAM. I'm in the process of looking for a new MB and CPU, probably going with an i7 based combo, but waiting till after Christmas.

One thing going x64 has done is make me reconsider my plugin folder - I have been trying to go mostly x64 based plugins, but have not gone completely over, but close.

 

[blackcom]

Running Windows7 64-bit with RME MADI soundcard and two Powercore PCI cards, Matrox graphics...very smooth, fast and stable. Thumbs up!!

 

[nwright]

Another vote herefor Windows 7. I've been running 64bit for about 2 or 3 weeks now and it's been great. I initially had issues with my Waveshells not being recognized when I installed them, but found out it was due to a conflict with IE8...So I disabled IE8 and run Firefox, and the Waveshells magically appeared in my plugin list in Nuendo. the Beta drivers from M Audio for the Profire2626 have been working fine as well, although the DSP mixer will crash if I try to manipulate things too soon after I start it...Usually if I wait about 3 or 4 seconds after bringing it up I'm fine, though.