£500 I have to spend...

[dergit]

What bothers you the most about your current setup?

[Sammm]

Probably the fact that the interface I am using throws a wobbly sometimes and that i keep getting crashes in cubase (not sure if they are related).

[JC Biffro]

Maybe this is as good a time as ever to invest in a better interface.

[chaosgow]

There's so many goodies out there for £500.

What styles of music do you play/record/make?

What do you already have?

[tc_live]

Sounds like you need all sorts doesn't it!

eBay will be your friend. I'd be thinking some Alienware computing and a new interface really. Reaper could be worth a look it doesn't cost much if you're not making a lot of money.

[Sammm]

I mainly do mixing in my studio and it tends to be classic band set up of drums guitars keys bass and vocals, occasionally a mandolin, but I might start to get into making some electronic music soon

[dergit]

If mixing is your main thing and you're happy with your speakers, I'd go down the computer route as well... that way, you're prepared for electronic music, too.

[Sammm]

tc_live I have a licence for Cubase 6 and the disks, but I was unsure whether it would work properly on xp so I asked for the Cubase 5 discs as well, so I have a daw sorted, thanks for the suggestion though. What I really want to do is save up for a macbook, but I shall see what the future brings and if I really need one, but I thought that maybe upgrading my monitoring for the moment, whether it is really worth shelling out for another set of monitors if they are only going to be £500/pair.

[funkynuts]

Looking at your setup I would state :

Computer
Audio Interface

You will notice a massive change using Win 7 on a core I7 or If Mac is your game then a similar spec macbook.

Prices will be dropping quickly on the 2011 then 2012 refurbs or even new as the first 2013 models have just been released

You can run it as a dual boot with windows bootcamp so you can go into Windows for old projects etc.

Otherwise next is audio interface

You should notice a large change in speed of workflow as well as sound quality by looking at these two items first.

This is the core of your setup after all and as such should be built strong

[homestudioguy]

Originally Posted by Sammm

tc_live I have a licence for Cubase 6 and the disks, but I was unsure whether it would work properly on xp so I asked for the Cubase 5 discs as well, so I have a daw sorted, thanks for the suggestion though. What I really want to do is save up for a macbook, but I shall see what the future brings and if I really need one, but I thought that maybe upgrading my monitoring for the moment, whether it is really worth shelling out for another set of monitors if they are only going to be £500/pair.

Cubase 6 will not work with XP.
I ended up upgrading to Windows 7.
I'd suggest starting with your computer and interface as well.