Help for another newbie

[NuWaveRx]

Hello all, first up let me apologize for the length of the post and what I'm sure to many experts on this forum seem like ridiculous questions.  I figured there was no better or more accurate forum to request help from

I'm a long time hardware synth guy and have owned various keyboards and synths over the years.  But after hearing and seeing the V Collection 6, I was so blown away by the number of synths and the sounds generated that I am strongly considering getting the Collection as my first softsynth(s). 

Now keep in mind that as a (fairly) old guy, my main interest in the Collection is to play live or to noodle around in my music room.  I really have no intention of heavy recording so would be using the Collection as a stand-alone instrument, not with a DAW.

So reviewing on various sites what I would need, here is my tentative plan for getting the collection:

For my MIDI controller I plan on getting the Keylab essential 61.  Makes sense to me that for the best performance I should use the controller made by the company that makes the software

I plan on getting a new(er) laptop to run the Collection.  I've been looking at refurbished PCs that have at least:
2 USB 3.0, i7 processors that run at least 2.8Ghz, 8 GB of RAM (at least) and 128 GB SSD (at least).  Is that a reasonable machine to play the Collection from with minimal latency and sound abnormalities?

From what I've read its a good idea to get a external sound card or audio interface for the best sound.  This is an area I don't know a lot about but again I'm literally going to connect the sound from the computer to a roland amp to play through so I don't need recording level clarity.  I'm thinking something like this:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/behringer-u-phoria-umc22/j18446000000000?cntry=us&source=3WWRWXGP&gclid=CjwKCAiAlL_UBRBoEiwAXKgW581ZlcR_jWCc5b-x6LoYmhb_6zVew_DreGWMixC33RtgcD-kDh-VyRoCzKAQAvD_BwE&kwid=productads-adid^221957300099-device^c-plaid^323968843383-sku^J18446000000000@ADL4MF-adType^PLA
But I readily admit I need advice on this.  Especially the best setup to go from computer to amp

Finally a question about the CMI V--can you record samples from external sources like a CD or MP3 player and use the CMI to modify and play the sample?  I'm using a Yamaha Motif ES for this purpose, but if the Collection works for sampling I may remove that from my current setup

Any and all help appreciated and I apologize again for the dumb questions

[LBH]

Hi and welcome to Arturia forums.

No it's not dumb questions. But they are'nt that simple to answer either, as it among other things depends on your needs.

When you say play live, then what do you exspect to do? In generel, what do you exspect to be able to do?
Why not use a hardware synth?

The computer you mention don't have a huge amount of CPU power. That van give some difficulties. For live performance stabilty is also important. Perhaps a cheap laptop is'nt the most stable because of things like computing power and heat, but perhaps it's enough for you. 128 GB SSD is'nt much. Especially not if you need room for audiofiles.
I see that you in generel mention things that don't cost that much. You need to find out about what you wan't to do, and then estimate what equiptment you need.

For some of your questions i can't give better answer than in this thread and in the links there:
https://forum.arturia.com/index.php?topic=92217.0
More info is to find on the web.

CMI V use recorded audiofiles. But there are free recording applications to create the audiofiles to use in CMI V with it's limited functions as far a samplers go.
If you need to record analog audio, then the quality off the soundcard or whatever used to catch the sound is important. When it come to audio quality then the Analog to Digital and Digital to Analog converters are most important.
If you need a microphone for recording, then the quality of that is important just like the recording enviroment.

The answers is pretty much he same, no matter you use a DAW or not. And depending on what you wan't to do live, then using a DAW might be helpful to use.

[NuWaveRx]

Thank you LBH for taking the time to respond.  I'll try my best to answer your questions

When I say play live, I'm a member of a couple of cover bands that locally play bars and events.  We do a lot of 80s and 90s music but both are pretty traditional rock bands.  I also will just set up a beat and background in my music room  to noodle along to

The reason I am interested in getting the collection is to hopefully cut down on time programming my current synths for a certain sound I want to get.  I'm decent at subtractive and ok at FM (barely), however with all the presets in the Collection I can not only practice different types of synthesis I can also just tweak classic sounds to fit my bands' needs.  Besides at my age I realize that I will never get a chance to really play or own a Jupiter or Oberheim  so this may be the closest I will ever come to those classic machines

Yes I am on a budget, so trying to get a decent setup at the least expensive price point is important to me.  I read the link you had on your reply and will try to get the best CPU I can for the budget I've got.  I will also look at bigger SSDs,  Again any advice on an external sound card or interface given what I will be doing will be much appreciated or what you or others would feel would be a decent computer set up is also appreciated.  Thank you again for replying

[LBH]

Your welcome.

First - I forgot to say that the Essentiel Keyboard don't have aftertouch. Just so you know, in case you need it.

So you perhaps are planning to use many different applications. As it take time to load applications, then be aware, that you shall have the equiptment to have more applications open, and there a DAW can help.
But perhaps you can manage just to use Analog Lab when playing live. Keep in mind you can't tweak as many parameters in Analog Lab, but any sound you create in the individual applications will be availble in Analog Lab.

Sounds like you play chords, and perhaps also use sustain pedal. The more voices that are playing at a time, the more demanding it is on your CPU. And the more applications used at a time the more demanding on the CPU too.
Keep in mind a laptop is small, and a hardworking CPU generates a lot of heat. Also a room with audience can get quite warm. The more heat the slower your computer can get, and the more unstable it can get. A unstable computer can crash during performance, and it takes time to get it up running again.

I will not recommend any equiptment.

In one of the links i provided in the other thread you can read about soundcards.
I can say, that live then the outputs from your soundcard and thus the digital to analog conversion is responsible for the sound quality you get.
And latency can be an issue. A soundcards drivers is important for that. You need to be able to play at a low latency, and that's demanding on the CPU.
The soundcard you have posted a link for might not be that good a solution. Try to study it more.
I would not recommend a standard PC soundcard, but you can try it out.

If possible for you, then i recommend you try out some PC and soundcard (internal and external soundcards) combinations before buying. Or at least some setups so you can get a felling of how this works and what it require. I'm in doubt about what power and soundcard you need for playing live.
Perhaps someone else have something to add.

Keep in mind it take some time to learn to use the software and hardware.

I hope you find a solution that work for you.

[NuWaveRx]

That does help--I will study the soundcard issue more.  Again I appreciate you help and anyone else who replies