Fear and Loathing and Another New Computer

The last time I bought a new computer was five years ago. For the next fifteen to eighteen months I did very little on it except fight with it, trying to get things to work, especially the audio hardware and programs. I did not draw or paint. I did not write new poems. I did not create new audio mayhem. I just butted my head against a machine (as a figure of speech, though smacking my fists on my desk was quite tangible).

It was a Vista 64-bit system. I say that and everyone nods knowingly. Goddamn Microsoft! Except the problems were never actually with the operating system. It was always the third party developers pretending it didn’t exist and refusing to deal with it.

For instance, Sony Creative Software‘s ACID Pro 6 was not operable on Vista, 32- or 64-bit, even though the OS had been on the market for over a year. After five months I was about to go in search of another music program when they released version 7 and solved the problem.…So, all the people who bought a new, top-of-the-line PC in that eighteen-month window could not use ACID Pro. I think the popularity of the program was already in decline but that would certainly contribute to it. (Their audio editor that I use, Sound Forge, gave me no problems.)

I think I ended up buying a new printer or scanner—I forget which—or both. And I upgraded from Adobe‘s CS1 to CS3, more out of preemptive fear than actual problems. In general the graphics side of the transfer was not that painful. Expensive but, considering that it all worked within a few months, it felt painless.

Knowing that my computer was in decline, a year ago I started replacing both hardware and software. I think I had hopes of finishing the process while Windows 7 was still the current operating system but since I’m no longer buying on credit it was a goal doomed to failure.…The Epson printer I had was not working that well anymore, so instead of buying more ink I spent an extra $40 or less and bought a new all-in-one. And I wanted to dump firewire so I’d have less to deal with on the new computer, even though the Focusrite Saffire audio interface I had seemed to be working—a false assumption, because as soon as I started using an M-Audio Fast Track Pro USB interface my computer no longer had problems booting up. That was a surprise.…The timing was perfect for me to subscribe to Adobe’s Creative Cloud rather than upgrading to CS6, making a monthly payment rather than having to come up with $1200 for the upgrade.…I bought a new monitor but preparing for a new computer was just an excuse to get my fantasy screen space, all 27″ of it.

I’ll probably want a new backup drive because the one I have is smaller than the new hard drive, and to take advantage of USB 3.

I’ve just ordered Native Instruments‘ Komplete 9, which is compatible with Windows 8. Still, I expect the biggest headache will be when I try to install all the older product I’ve gotten from them. They have gorgeous sounding software instruments and when they are running smoothly are a pleasure to work with. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to bash them.…Part of the problem is that they want to guaranty that everything you install gives you that beautiful experience, so they don’t want you installing their old product. I understand that, but they have a tendency to discontinue wonderful sounding instruments that I want to keep using.…I was introduced to NI with a few ACID promotional instruments and then a close-out deal on Komplete 3, their multi-instrument software package, just as they were releasing version 4, a couple computers ago. Version 3 had something called Spektral Delay that combines delays and graphical, realtime, adjustable filters (that is, you can draw filter shapes as the sounds are playing) to process an audio signal (exceptional for creating ambient soundscapes and drones). The next version of Komplete I bought, 5, did not have it. I have managed to install it on new computers but NI hesitates to activate old programs because they can’t promise the software will work. This problem extended into a few other instruments as I upgraded versions of Komplete and changed computers. The real headache, though—very close to being a deal breaker in my continued relationship with the company—was the implementation of Kore 2 (software edition, they also packaged it with a hardware controller). It’s an instrument for layering and combining other instruments and effects to create something totally unique out of familiar tools. Fabulous idea. But it didn’t work very well and integrated poorly with their other instruments, even though half the marketing was promising it would. I jumped through so many hoops to get it to work.…Funny thing, even though their tech support kept trying to convince me that I was doing this or that wrong, everything began to function as intended in September 2009 when I upgraded to Komplete 7. They had finally adapted to Vista 64-bit.…It seems highly likely that those old synths and processors from Native Instruments—specifically Spektral Delay and Pro 53—will not even install on the new machine. I’ll be pleasantly surprised if Kore 2 works. I have not even come close to the depths of these or any of their other instruments.

Since ordering my new computer (an HP ENVY 010xt or something of the sort, with an Intel i7 processor and a second, non-bootable hard drive) I’ve been looking into Windows 8. I expect the worst.

Epson is pretty good about developing new drivers for their printers and scanners. From what I’ve been reading about Windows 8 it won’t matter: it seems they have legacy drivers for almost all common printers.

So, again, I’ll probably have no problems with the graphics side of the computer.

But what about my MIDI controller and audio interface? It looks like Avid has an up-to-date driver for the M-Audio Fast Track Pro interface (confusing—is it Avid or M-Audio?). When searching the M-Audio sight for drivers for the Oxygen 61 MIDI controller it looks like they are not keeping up. Does that mean I’ll have to get a new keyboard? While browsing the Sweetwater website it looked like very few keyboard controllers have Windows 8 drivers.

I don’t want to go through this again.

It’s bad enough all the days it’ll take to re-install software and transfer files. That I again have to fight with both hardware and software because third party vendors aren’t adapting to the new technology and market makes me want to give up. I’ve spent close to fifteen years digitizing my art and, really, my whole creative process, yet I want to give up.

Did I mention yet that Windows 8 has an all new user interface?