Still slow going - lingering tennis elbow, technical issues with my studio PC, new gear update

It's getting somewhat frustrating - elbow pain limiting pretty much everything I do, from simply resting my arm on my chair while typing, thru picking things up or moving my hand around, and then of course the most worrisome is when I pick up my kids. There's a fear that my strength will fade with the pain and I'll drop my kid - so far no such thing has happened.

In other news - my PC is acting up, coincidentally after I decided to do a full disk image (effectively migrate my 120GB SSD C: drive sector by sector to a larger 256 GB SSD) I started seeing blue screen of death appear on that PC. At first I wondered if it was the new SSD that was causing the problem which prompted me to roll back some Windows Updates, try scanning drives, etc.. Then, just because I didn't know what it could be, I opened up my system monitor and checked out details for memory load, CPU/GPU temperature, etc...

Lo and behold - all 4 CPU cores showed temperatures riding around 100C!!! Seems like my processor fan is having issues of some sort - I haven't quite dug into it yet, but it could be anything from dried out silicon paste through a failing CPU fan... I'll be digging in either Saturday or Sunday morning this weekend. Hopefully I can resolve and the DAW will be back in service again.

Now, as part of my investigation, I started looking at drivers for all my external devices - started with the USB stuff (since it seemed like after installing Logitech drivers all my problems started) and updated everything, then to my firewire based M-Audio 1814 interface. To my horror, Avid (who bought M-Audio a few years ago) had sold that division off to inMusic - and neither of them are supporting any driver development for what is now a legacy device!!! No Windows 8 drivers ever... and any problems with Windows 7 - nope... I'm SOL on this device!!

Here's where Craigslist and EBay become my savior - the M-Audio 1814 and Octane preamp (yea, two devices that are both solid performers and were very expensive) go for sale on CL. Then research what is the best option to replace... found the Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 to be the highest rated in my price range, and its on firewire as well with 20 in/outs and compatibility with Intel's Thunderbolt interface! It's universally rated 5/5 stars - and I found a store on EBay who sold it for 25% less than anywhere else! With someone now committed to purchasing the M-Audio devices, my actual out of pocket investment in the new hardware is roughly $100 - nice! The new hardware is also compatible and has drivers available for Windows 8 - so if the new Windows 8 update at end of June actually delivers the improvements promised, I'll be looking to update my DAW in July.

So it seems that I've already started digging into the new gear update without formally announcing it. I have some other updates I made:

• new 27" 2560x1440 LED monitors - two of them
• 2 small condenser mics (one hihat, one ride cymbal) - got these on Musician's Friend Stupid Deals site
• Epiphone EL-00 parlor guitar with Fishman pickup/mic system
• SoundTrax audio insulating foam panels for the vocal booth - a lot of it
• sold old Ultimate Support keyboard stand, bought a new one with 3rd tier
• Seymour Duncan JB SH4 Humbucker pickup (for the HRFiii)
• Arturia Minilab  - for my Ultrabook enabling me to do stuff on the road
• two SMS-6000 adjustable heavy duty audio monitor stands (to properly position the Mackies)
• Soundblox Multiwave Distortion stomp box (I couldn't resist)

I've had my eye on a Godin MultiOud now for a long time - I'd love to have a more Middle Eastern vibe get into the music in spots and this is a wonderful instrument that sounds like an original Oud, but more stable and has a pickup. Doing the Tea Party cover tune and digging back into their catalog really has me wanting more exotic stringed instruments going forward - there's a lot of new instruments acquired the last four years that will provide exceptional timbral variation in the new material... not to mention simple replacements of stuff to get better results (such as replacing the Lark in the Morning mandolin with the Epi Mandobird, or an actual lap steel guitar instead of faking it with one of my electrics). I'm particularly excited about the EL-00 since I've always been highly influenced by Jethro Tull and specifically their Thick as a Brick and Songs from the Wood albums - the latter using parlor guitars to get a more period accurate sound.

The EL arrived today :) I'm going downstairs to go get my new axe - cya later all!