OMG it's working! Those tweaks from Sweetwater PC Optimization Guide seemed to have really cleaned up my laptops audio recording performance!
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Thanks Electriclight, what a find!
I also figured that to get the FSP synced every time, I have to plug the FSP into the FW express card (already plugged into the laptop) first with the FSP turned on, BEFORE I turn the laptop on.
Worked a dream so far - did a test record with 2 mics with no ASIO troubles & no pops or clicks
Will see how recording 8 tracks at once will pan out..
Still looking into getting an external hard drive anyway - was wondering, USB2 or Firewire? I'm leaning towards USB2 as I don't wanna jeopardise my current settings with 2 Firewire's being used at once...
What do you think?