PC recording, not for the fence-sitters

Diragor

New member
I've been a proponent of PC recording on these message boards when one of those "PC or stand-alone" debates flares up, but now I've seen the other side. I'm still very much in favor of PC recording but now that I'm living the PC recording nightmare that I'd previously only heard others discuss, I'd have some reservations recommending it to anyone who's not *sure* they know what they're getting into.

For a couple years I'd had no trouble recording on the PC except for using buggy software. Over the past few months, after switching to Logic Audio, I've had a rock-solid recording machine that never crashed and always recorded perfectly clean tracks. Then a week or two ago I upgraded my video card and processor and changed a couple other pieces of hardware, now I'm plagued with clicks and pops. I think I know what's going on, but still - sometimes it's not as easy as it was for me the first time around. When I built my first dedicated DAW I just put the machine together, turned it on, installed Windows ME and my software and everything just worked. No tweaking, no problems.

My point is that if you're really torn between trying stand-alone hard disk recorders or PC recording (seems like a common question here), maybe you should go stand-alone. If you're not sure that you want something specific the PC has to offer and sure that you're ready to deal with the issues that may show up in the process of setting up the machine, then maybe it's not for you. When you get it running right I think it's amazing and I love it, but it can be frustrating getting it started.

A secondary point here is that if you go for PC recording you'll be better off if you build a dedicated DAW machine, on which you plan to do recording and only recording. Put it together, make sure it runs well, then leave it alone and don't change anything. I've already sold the perfect recording rig I used to use, and now I'm ready to shoot myself in the head trying to set up this new one (which used to be my main machine for non-recording stuff).
 
I have never done the DAW thing and I cannot say I never will. The primary purpose my PC is recording, anything else that a PC can do would be secondary. If I load some software that screws up the recording process than an uninstall is in order.
It took me a long time to figure out what the hell was what, but now I got it all semi-in-order. I have had my share of system failures, software crashes and hardrive reformats, this is the nature of the beast.

It has been a bitch to get right and worth every frustrating minute.
 
I feel your pain

Yes, I am solidly in the PC camp vs. stand alone. But I agree with all the comments, you need to be prepared to do your homework and allow for the inevitable cranky driver problem. I just erased and re-installed one of my PCs (not my main DAW fortunately) because it had gotton too software bloated, and I wanted to put in a new motherboard anyway. Took almost an entire Sunday to convince all the newly re-installed hardware and software to happily co-exist with one another. Soon as I finished I made a Ghost image of the whole thing so I wont have to go through that again for awhile.

It hurts, but the rewards are substancial.
 
The other solution is to get a dedicated music company to build the computer for you. I'm trying hard not to be simply a cheesy advert but Carillon Audio Systems was born to solve this exact problem. We spec the system, build and install it for you and provide the support if it goes wrong. These systems are built for music so if you are having driver problems, clicks, lack of volume, midi timing errors etc etc then thats what we sort out. We build machines purely for music applications and aim to remove the "nightmare" part of using a PC as a DAW. Obviously if you want to build one from scratch then do so - its a fabulous learing experience but sometimes its not worth the hassle and its not anywhere near as expensive as you might think.

Robin
Technical Director
Carillon Audio Systems
http://www.carillondirect.com
Also
http://www.pc-music.com
 
It's nice to read this stuff, and I would like to talk more with PC based people so I know when I may be doing something stupid. I have just made the switch over to PC recording. For two years I have recorded on a stand alone BR1180. It's not high end, but I'm not looking for that, it's a hobby for me but I was getting too frustrated pulling everything out when I had the time...and setting everything back up....over and over. Tearing it down over and over. My only reservation to this switch would be I'm worried that my sound quality won't be as good. I know it will be a fairly simple fix but for a stand alone, plugging it in and recording, the sound was amazing! Still my friend conviced me that I would be much happier going this route because of a simpler interface, and much more flexibility. I'm excited, should I be???
 
Well the truth of the matter is, your PC was running fine until you messed with it. So I would say that the old "if it ain't broke don't fix it" might apply here.

When you have a production machine, and by production machine I mean a machine that is critical to the production of a product (in this case recordings), you don't go upgrading it or making changes to it without testing or at the very least enough research to guarantee compatability. When you do make a change to a production machine, you be sure to have a way to undo it, if it doesn't work right. This is true of ANY complex machinery, but definitely applies to both PC based DAW's and standalones alike.
 
yes be VERY careful what you install on your PC, you can take a SEVERE performance hit

Here is the result of installing the piece of shit digi 002 hunk of virus garbage on my PC so I could do a few transfers

SiSoftware Sandra

With PTLE and its associated hijackware garbage:

Benchmark Results
Integer x4 aEMMX/aSSE : 20960 it/s
Float x4 iSSE2 : 26417 it/s

After clearing out all the installed PTLE garbage pornography:

SiSoftware Sandra

Benchmark Results
Integer x4 aEMMX/aSSE : 41211 it/s
Float x4 iSSE2 : 44823 it/s

YOUCH!!!!!!!!

Im sure the impact could be lessened somewhat but DAMN! I suspect just pace and the i-lok dongle, plus the mandatory piece of dogshit quicktime installation did most of this
 
Diragor wrote:
I've been a proponent of PC recording on these message boards when one of those "PC or stand-alone" debates flares up, but now I've seen the other side. I'm still very much in favor of PC recording but now that I'm living the PC recording nightmare that I'd previously only heard others discuss, I'd have some reservations recommending it to anyone who's not *sure* they know what they're getting into.
-------
* Hi....I'm the guy who tried to start "External Sequencer--->then PC"
thread which didn't get off the ground, but this thread has hit the nail right on the head for me. I'm at that point where I'm after is a system that gets tunes out quicker. At the moment, I'm using a Korg Triton and a Roland MC-500 Mk2 sequencer + a Roland VS-1680 HD Recorder. I've been pleased with the results so far but I need to get something that will do the same kind of thing but quicker. With my present setup, I spend way too much times looking for sounds, making up sounds and putting them all together. When it's all done, I then run the data through my PC to Master the whole thing. I just feel that PC recording might be the answer, but because I've had no experience with it, I can only go by what I read in places like this and from the experiences of others. I think that by having libraries of sounds sitting on hard drive and a number of programs such as ACID, Reason, Pro-tools/Cakewalk/Cubebase etc...tochoose from, play with would greatly expand the creative process. Am I on the right track here? I've doodled with the Acid demos and I think the potential is astounding....I can see myself creating bedtracks from a program like that and adding some overdubs with my Triton.....this *seems* to me to be the way get my tunes out quicker? Am I still on the right track here? I'd really like to see this topic opened right up as I think it could me as well as others who are *fence sitters*
Regards.....MAWD
 
DAW to Computer Based and still Sober

This is really a broad question to answer because many factors come into play. Take things like overall usage, knowledge and money and it makes answering this question a bit more easy.

I started with the whole DAW standalone hard drive setup and was pretty happy with it. Two track recording and a bounce and that was it. As our band started getting more serious with recording we also started to get more frustrated with the small setup. It was either spend more money on something that was for only one purpose or build a good system and have something that I could really use for multi-tasking. It was not too hard to make up my mind just with answering that question. I'm not saying to load up your MAC or PC with useless software that could compromise your performance but I like to use my MAC to also work with video and Tiger comes with some pretty good software pre-installed.

Computer based recording also takes a bit more knowledge (something that I am still obtaining) and some people may give up because of the learning curve. You have to understand how all of these components work together such as the software, interface and system hardware. It's not as easy as arming tracks and hitting record. Now don't get me wrong, the DAW can be challenging as well but the external factors don't always exist.

From my experience, computer based setups also seems to be a bit more expensive. Many of the good DAWs are about the same price as a good MAC or PC. But then with computer based solutions you have to factor in all of the external needs such as a good interface, software, hardware upgrades, etc.

I love computer based recording and will never go back. It's challenging and sometimes can be frustrating but very rewarding. DAW users also have their own issues to overcome but in the end, it's all in what you want to put up with or avoid.

Have fun either way you go!
 
The Reason I went For a PC Based Recording Studio is Because I could Not Affort a Non-PC Recording Studio....My Setup Cost me Under $1000 and I can Record Drums,Bass,and Guitar Live with everything Fully Miced and then add an endless Number of Tracks on Top of that with up to 6 Chnnels at a Time (Usually 4),Not Counting the 8 Channels on My Mixer and For me To Buy a Non-Computer Based System that would do the Same thing would Have Cost me a Few Thousand Bucks and not be nearly as Versitile.....

I have only had my system Running for a Few weeks but so Far I haven"t Run into a Single Problem accept for me Not Knowing what the Hell I was Doing...lol

Cheers
 
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