Reilley said:
I'm a beginner. I'm going to build a PC-based DAW, to run something like
Sonar + Ableton + an editor, with a decent interface [PCI or USB 2]
providing not more than 4 inputs, and maybe only two, since I'm going to be more or less doing my own projects, one track at a time. I need some advice on buying a computer.
I don't have a big budget, so it will be a mom and pop PC, [Compaq or other,] not a specialized unit. The questions which I need answered are:
1) Lots of posters seem to run more than one hard drive. Why? How desireable is this? Will most Best Buy/Future Shop type of computers have a bay available?
Forget the box stores and look for a decent local builder. The unit won't cost you any (or much) more than a box store and you will avoid proprietary designs and cheap crap that lives inside the Dells and the Compaqs of the world now. Besides you're less likely to get ignored by some jerk who's lucky to have any job at all.
You can also get a local guy to build to your needs - like ordering a quiet computer case from Antec or some other builder that pays attention to noise issues.
Dual drives are very desireable and easily done to nearly any computer. The idea is that if you're recording something, you don't want the read / write heads searching for instructions from the program at the same time. It's asking for trouble and is unnecessary. So: load the operating system and the software on Drive C: and use the second drive (D; or whatever it ends up being) to store all the data - all the cuts and songs. Simple, cheap, fast and foolproof.
Reilley said:
2) Lots of posters and writers run two monitors. I have two CRTs. What upgrading is required to do this, and how necessary is it?
Not necessary but it makes workflow much easier because you can have more information in front of you at one time without bouncing between screens and getting lost. You need a dual head graphics card.
I use two old Dell color monitors - 17" behemoths I picked up used for $20 each because they have no pedestal bases. I use paperback books and a kleenex box; they stay put. You have to do a little research on dual head cards, though. Try to avoid the hotrod graphics cards as they will have fans (noise) and will use resources without giving you any value. I picked up an old Matrox dual head card for about fifty bucks on ebay years ago - no fan and it does fine. Matrox is a pretty solid brand. It can get testy with ASUS motherboards, but Matrox has any driver patch you might need.
Reilley said:
3) Will all such common computers allow installation of a PCI interface card, without complication?
Yes.
It might be worth while to learn about the new
PCI express interface standard; I believe it is backward compatible with PCI cards and the advantage is that each card has its own spot on the buss and does not have to share resources with any other card. Translated: more speed, fewer glitches.
Reilley said:
4) Is a dual-core pretty well necessary? One 'expert' told me that you need lots of computing horsepower not for recording, but for output, since you may have a zillion tracks of output. Another said not so, you can input a zillion, output is still stereo.
Nope.
It means more power and more speed, but its not necessary at all. One way to get a bit more bang for the buck is to get an ASUS motherboard with a "socket 939" chip socket design - that still has a good upgrade path for hotter CPUs in the future. You can also get an AMD 64 bit CPU chip that will give you much more performance than a standard 32 bit chip.
The computer's resources are used not in recording, but in mixing and in the use of effects; that's usually where an anemic rig will stumble. A cost efficient way to avoid resource problems is to upgrade to 2Gig RAM when you get the computer instead of leaving it at 1Gig.
All of the above just reiterates why you should avoid a big box store if you're building a single purpose rig. Otherwise, toss more RAM in and hope for the best. But for the same money and a little planning you can get a really nice DAW. Just don't expect to find it from a major brand. You can do it for under $700.
One other note - forget using any sound circuitry on a motherboard - at all. Forget an Audigy card or any other gamer or Staples - type card. You will need to go one step up here. Look for basic 24/96 or 24/192 cards with minimal inputs and outputs - the catalogs all have the same stuff. You can do pretty well without blowing a lot of money, but just forget using a gaming card.
Reilley said:
Thanks very much for any advice.
Any time!