Hard Disk vs. PC

[AikiPat]

Hi there,

I'm researching equipment for a home studio. I am debating whether to get an all-in-one hard disk system like a Tascam 788 or whether I should go the mixer/pc/soundcard/software route.

I have a budget of around 5k. I will be recording my original tunes for eventual release. I will be recording mostly analog with a little midi and I currently own no recording equipment. I do have an old Peavey 6 channel PA. but I don't suppose it would be useful for anything other than playing gigs.

If I get a pc, it will be dedicated to recording.

Your opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Pat

[Rochey]

PC

my opinion anyway. You can easily update the software. Use free plugins (some of which as better than released ones).

Configure your PC properly, and you will have a really REALLY good recording system.

In fact, if you look inside the mackie 24/96 Hard disk recorder, you'll find a celeron processor and an Operating system based on BeOS. (I seem to remember a mackie sales teckie telling me that)

So.

Configure a PC properly, and for a better price, you have a stable system.

You may want to consider PARIS or PRO TOOLS though. They are pretty sexy systems, and PARIS is down to $1800 now. Thats pretty good, although there is talk that EMU are discontinuing the PARIS system.

Good luck, your choice is one I took over 3 months to make (of intensive reading and questioning) before I began building my studio.

Cheers & Beers

d

[AikiPat]

Thanks Rochey for the fast reply.

A follow-up question: Do you think I should buy a PC "off the rack" (like a Gateway, Dell, etc.) and then fit it with the proper sound card and software or is it better/more cost-effective to have one custom built. I'm pretty computer geekish and can manage the tweaking of an off-the-shelf system.

Also, I was thinking of a 1.5Ghz with a 40 gig and built in CDRW. Does that sound beefy enough?

Thanks again,

Pat

[Rochey]

oh god, what makes a good computer for Music is a completely different thread, and is something that is ALWAYS argued over.

I built my own computer for music, because I didn't trust Dell or any of those other companies. They use parts which aren't always optimized for audio use.

My personal opinion on this (and no flaming!!) is that you should go for an Intel System with a good motherboard.

Add to that a pair of IBM 'ericsson' Hard drives, a MAtrox Video card (dual monitors) and a pair Delta 1010's (That should cover the soundcard etc.)

The reason for selecting Intel is that a lot of Hardware manufacturers are only beginning to test with Athalon systems as well as Intel systems.


The most important thing to remember is... DONT GO CHEAP ON PARTS because the strength of a necklace is it's weakest link. In other words. Go cheap, and you'll get a system that is unreliable and will start popping and crackling accross the outputs.

If you intend on spending say $2000 on a PC, then instead of getting the fastest one, but saving on things like the hard disks and the case, go for a lower spec PC but where all the parts are sturdy and reliable.

You will want to consider a silent power supply, as well as a silent CPU fan.

Good luck, Cheers & Beers,

Rochey

[AikiPat]

Yikes - sounds pricey there laddie.

Seriously - thank a lot for the input - now back to my researching!

Pat

[Rochey]

shop in the right places, and it wont be.

I built my whole PC (including 1 delta 1010) for about $1400 dollars.

it's easily outperforms any internet games machine that dell will try and sell you.


d

[ola]

Build your own. The only decent off the shelf computers I've come across are Dells. I have one but I would never have bought it if I hadn't gotten it so cheap. 667MHz PIII, 256RAM, 20GB HDD and a 19" flatscreen monitor for $100.

If I could spend the money at the moment, I would build a DAW similar to the one described in the article "Roll Your Own Thunderbird" from Prorec.

/Ola

[AikiPat]

Thanks Ola,

I just followed some links through ProRec and found this prebuilt DAW - looks good based on what you and Rochey have said:

http://www.advanceddesignky.com/

[wheelema]

The comment on the Mackie recorder is especially noteworthy. Manufacturers have a much shorter development-to-retail path by using PCs instead of building custom boards. I bet if you tore the covers off of a lot of equipment you would find PC cores running small dedicated OSes.

[mikeh]

I agree - if you go the PC route, build a system optimized for recording. If you buy off the shelf the parts may not be the best and you'll get a lot of software added that has nothing to do with recording which eats up processing time and memory.

If you plan to have someone build it (rather than building it yourself), find someone who understands digital recording and MIDI.

Many times the cats who work in pro level music stores (no not the mega stores) can be great resources - which is one of many reasons to support local music stores (vs. buying everything on line).

[VOXVENDOR]

-Digi 001 (Pro Tools LE)
-PC built properly to Digi's requirements.....

You could set that mother up for way under $4000

You don't even need a console right now with that set up.......




BG

[BobHaymond]

I had a local shop with very competent people build a PC for me. They were completely willing to follow the formula for the RYO at ProRec and also look at many extras I found on these posts [ e.g. dual monitors and the shift from Me to 2K ]. I had also to get recomendations for sound card, preamps, mics, software. The point I'd make is that there's so much to gather advice on, that it's not much of a convenience to get the PC off the shelf and then find out how to change it later. It has taken more patience than I would have prefered but I do have the feeling that it's going well. I'm out in the country so there's no hope of finding the collective knowlege of these posts at local shops. [ I didn't do much better in Atlanta-=-not withstanding that I hate to go to Atlanta ]

If I had it to do over again, I wish I could learn faster but I'm convinced it's the way to do it.

Good luck.

Clemson, SC