The Best and Cheapest Electronic Music Rig EVER
This article is about very low-cost music making.
This would be a nice setup in a school environment. If you already have old computers that is all you need, since musical notes can be entered with a mouse and computer keyboard. All the software instruments mentioned below are free.
You don’t know how good you have it today. In 1988 computers and synths were expensive (a Mac SE was $2000). And I had to carry the gear uphill both ways in the snow.
You can make a better rig today for under $100 than thousands of dollars of gear in 1990.
There was no digital distribution of music, so you needed to record on some medium because there was barely any digital audio recording at all for the home recording enthusiast, and what existed was buggy crap (Alaska Software had something that never worked right). There was no MP3 or streaming. OMG! That meant you recorded direct to cassette, a 4-track, or a DAT. I knew enough to rent a DAT Deck so I could record an album, and I still have the digital masters 30 years later (now on CD). The master DAT was used to make cassettes. Mastering and mixing for what it’s worth was done in a software sequencer and your synths had to be multi-timbral (unless using a 4-track). I listened over headphones or a stereo. Even with these limitations, I think the rise of multi-timbral recording on digital synths is what killed analog synths in the 90’s. Recording off any digital synth was cheaper and easier, and this allowed people to start recording in their bedroom.
I have seen other articles about budget recording. $500 budget setup for recording, $1500 budget setup, etc. I think you can go MUCH lower and still get a great sound. Read on to find out how.
What and Where to Buy
I bought a Dell Vostro 1310 laptop at a thrift store for $20. The CPU is a Core 2 Duo T5670 running at 1.8 GHz. It mostly worked- just had one key that would act up and there was no hard drive or OS. I popped the key off and found a bit of food stuck in it. Once I removed it, the laptop worked perfect. I put in a $20 SSD. I had a copy of Windows 7 at home so loaded that up and immediately I had a system that could run a DAW and VST’s.
You want a 64-bit computer so you can run newer 64-bit plugins.
The speakers on the laptop were not useful- you could barely listen to a video at full volume and the frequency response was all off. The very definition of tinny. Back to Local Thrift for a $12 set of Creative desktop speakers. They sound much better and I could imagine using them to listen to a mix (just as good as earbuds). The other super cheap way is simply plug your laptop into a stereo. Go for that authentic listening environment.
$52 so far.
Ta-DAW
You can undoubtedly find some old DAW software to run for free. But how about brand new software that runs on Windows 7 that is under current development? That is where LMMS comes in. I have not used it, but it looks intriguing. It runs on Windows 7, and Mac OSX and Linux. It also comes with VST’s.
Another good free DAW is Cakewalk. It is also still available for Windows 7.
Still $52
VST’s
First, how do you run a VST? One way is a DAW. Another is get standalone VST’s that you simply route MIDI in and audio out, like for live playing. The third is a VST host application, which is also good for live playing (and evaluating a VST). I am using Nanohost and VSTHost. These are Windows only.
If using Nanohost, you need to put the VST and a copy of Nanohost (either 32 or 64 bit, as appropriate) in the same folder. You then change the VST file extension to ‘dll’ if it isn’t already and rename the Nanohost.exe file to match the name of the dll, but keeping the .exe extension. Then to play it you double-click the renamed Nanohost exe file.
By the way, I keep having MIDI instability with Nanohost. It routinely won’t play from a keyboard without re-selecting the MIDI keyboard that is already selected. Sometimes notes get stuck on the virtual keyboard, too. Can’t tell for sure if it is the synth or the host, but I suspect the host since it happens on many synths. Could also be the old laptop.
What about the VSTs? I thought this would be easy but it got weird quickly, since I found that half the VST’s I tried didn’t work in various hosts I tried. I was only trying free software, though. Really annoying, but I guess that is why CLAP is happening. VST2 and 3 are clearly have problems if half the VST’s I try won’t work in a host (or DAW) designed to use them. See https://synthandsoftware.com/2022/06/clap-open-standard-for-plug-ins-and-hosts-is-unwrapped/
You may wonder how a 15 year old laptop does with a 64-bit VST3 softsynth. The answer is: really good when they are good. Performance is not a problem from a CPU perspective. They stay under 50% utilization, many under %10. I have 3GB RAM and that has not been a problem, but of course if you run too many plugins at once you can cause trouble.
Old laptop playing SurgeXT and TyrellN6
Don’t try high sample rates -they work well at 44100 but fall to pieces and stutter at 96000. Tweaking the buffer size may help, though bigger buffers increase latency. Can they cause perceptible delays in the playback? YES. I set the buffer to max in the TyrellN6 plugin and every note was obviously delayed. Too many notes is also a killer (on the old laptop). Every extra note played raises CPU usage. I can hear the delays on more complex patches so you may find you have to keep the buffer to the smallest size to get good playback and low latency. Or you switch to ASIO and change your audio output (see below).
As another point of reference, I ran TyrellN6 in Nanohost on a desktop with an Intel Core 2 running at 2.66GHz (quad core). It completely destroyed the laptop, running the same arpeggio at around 5% CPU vs 30–50% on the laptop. This machine also cost $20 and needed an SSD and a better GPU.
VST White Noise
I notice after a while that some VST’s are causing periodic noise. Turns out that the noise is white noise being purposefully injected into the audio by an unregistered (demo) plugin. I had grabbed several plugins with a Fruity Loops download. Guess they are not free, like I thought. They are off the list.
VST’s I Tried
There are a ton (hundreds? thousands?) of VST’s. I honestly prefer those based on digital synths, since they can do a much better job at creating the sounds as compared to analog synth sound recreation. Some simply use the same code/algorithms, like Dexed or the Arturia Synclavier, so they sound amazing.
- Dexed — https://asb2m10.github.io/dexed/ Dexed (Yamaha DX-7) is made using JUCE, by the way. Low CPU usage.
- Surge — https://surge-synthesizer.github.io/ I noticed a similarity in the options window with Dexed, and sure enough, Surge uses JUCE, too. Low CPU.
- TyrellN6 — this one works but not at high sample rates. Even at 44100 it would occasionally play the same note multiple times. Keep the buffer small and do not use for more than 2 or three notes, depending on patch complexity.
- PG-8X — This is a Roland JX-8P VST. Uses low CPU. Maybe a little too boring.
- Synth1 — this is really nice, low CPU, plus I loaded in over 16,000 sounds. Download it.
I suggest if you want to build a softsynth you should also use JUCE.
Old VSTs for Old Computers
I did web search for the best VST’s of 2013. Many websites were junk and did not keep their systems running right. They would have the article, for example, but all the links are broken. A veritable Internet Ghost Town. Below are the good links.
- Elektrostudio synths
- TAL synths (and effects)
- Fuzzpilz Oatmeal
- SQ8L
- Synth1
- HG Fortune — 35 synths
- Zebralette (I am not convinced this exists, but U-He says it does)
- TX16Wx
- Kamioooka
Who is saving the old VST software? Archive.org has a bunch. Here is a taste. Be sure to run virus scans!
https://archive.org/details/48764655555566678333
Still $52
New VST’s for Old Computers
What about the new ones? Are they using up too much processing power or not? Well, Surge runs great, so the answer is likely a big NO.
I ran Spitfire Audio Labs. Impressive. Need an account, really large downloads, but they play. Some latency on more complex patches even with minimum buffer size. Bad UI (light gray on light gray when selecting patches?) Low CPU even on several notes played at once.
Here is another source of free ones to check out from Central-Mao.com
Free Samples
How about some samples for your VST Sampler? There are many sites offering free things, and many I would not trust. Reverb, though, is a great and safe place for free samples.
VST Effects, Please
This post is getting too long, so here is a list of where to find effects to try out. I think these have to go in your DAW.
MIDI Keyboard
A trip to Facebook Marketplace should earn you a good, cheap USB MIDI keyboard, like the M-Audio Keystation or even a Keystudio. You want USB MIDI so you don’t need to buy a MIDI interface. If you get something with controls on it you may be able to map them to a VST. There are challenges here, though. IS the VST using 7 or 14-bit controls? 7-bit might get you noticeable digital stepping when you turn a knob. What MIDI resolution does the keyboard put out? How are the controls mapped to different MIDI CC values? More questions than answers, but if your DAW can produce 14-bit MIDI and your VST can use it, you can always replace the MIDI CC curves you recorded from the keyboard.
But can the older software running on a 15 year old laptop do this? Some of this depends on driver support. That may be a problem. Just watch what you do/use. Maybe you want stepping? Maybe you can just use an envelope instead.
The Final Price
I can pick up an M-Audio Keystation for $30 right now near my house (found on Facebook marketplace). The seller is even throwing in the USB cable.
52 + 30 = $82
You could throw in the cost of a Windows license from Kinguin and still be under $100.
Spending More
What would I buy next? I would use a slightly faster laptop (2.6GHz) but if you use the right VST’s you can still do great. To improve sound quality, I would get a small, cheap audio interface. For a laptop, you probably can only use a USB version, but for a desktop you could use firewire. Using this gets you away from the built-in DAC in your laptop. You can also switch to low-latency ASIO drivers for use with the interface. You can even get an old inexpensive interface on Reverb that operates as high as 24-bit/96KHz. You can find some plugins that work at those rates and bit depths, though you may need a more powerful computer. But do you need the higher rates? Very good article on Sample rate and bit depth article from Producerhive.com
I am having trouble finding the audio sample size (which is same as bit depth) in the audio created by a VST. Here’s what I know. If you run 16-bit audio samples out to your 24-bit interface, then extra samples are going to be added so that the 16-bit samples work in a 24 (or 32)-bit environment. What is the mathematical value of these extra samples? 0. Does it change or improve the sound. Not at all. Now if you interpolate when converting from 16 to 24 bit, you can real 24-bit samples, but the values are made up by the interpolation algorithm in use. Hmm. Made up data in my music that affects the sound? Yes, but you probably won’t notice it.
In my opinion, you don’t need the higher quality since listeners won’t notice. Professional use cases still will have you use 24-bit but that is for better mixing control, more headroom, higher SNR. If that is what you want, look for high quality VST’s that publish their specs so you know the sample size/bit-depth.
If using a desktop, you could also get a firewire based audio interface. A windows 7 system with a fast Pentium 4 is actually another great platform and much more powerful and flexible than a laptop. High single core clock rate is really all that matters.
