Buyng a PC

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Phogi

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Hello everybody. I'm a musician by trade, looking to do some home recording.

I'll be buying a computer soon. I've been away from the tech world for a while, so I'm not really sure what would be best. Basically, I want to be able to put together demos, and I want my setup to keep me happy for a long time. I don't want to endlessly tinker with equipment. My current PC (a laptop) is dying, and so I'm looking to invest. What advice would you give to someone in such a situation? I've read a good bit here and around; I don't see much about 64 bit, how many procesesors, is it worth it to buy a PC made for music, etc...
 
Any modern PC has more than enough horsepower for a typical home studio setup. That being said, the more RAM the better. And if you can have a 2nd hard drive to keep your audio stuff on, it won't be interrupted by OS related I/O.
 
I would put together a DAW if I were you....that way you get to specify exactly what you want, and it's cheaper that way...you can cash in on hardware sales. I ran some music software on Quad Core 2's a few years ago and it worked pretty well. i7's seem to be the rage right now. Check your music software for 64-bit compatibility, also some VSTi's don't play well with 64-bit. The main touted advantage to 64-bit is access to more system memory, particularly overcoming the 4 GB 32-bit limit.

I am in the process of putting together a new DAW and I think I'm gonna go with an i3 or i5 processor on a Gigabyte motherboard. I've had good luck with Gigabyte in the past and they use TI chips for their firewire which from what I've read will cut down on potential firewire issues.

As to the number of processors, it would also depend on your music software. Some have been optimized for multiple core, some not so much. It used to be that processor speeds were increasing, now the industry is more core-oriented.

Hope this helps.
 
i built my pc with
a gigabyte p35 ds4
a c2q 9550 (o/c to 3.4)
2x nvidia 8800gt
4x2gb ocz reaper 1066 ram
2x WD raptor HDDS,

the only thing i'd change is i'd sell the raptors and buy one ssd,
but i'm not going to cos the pc is hitting the attic for a year while i'm at uni.

the above list was all used gear, all cheap, and that was a while ago.


sure, this isn't the current technology, but i'd guess it'll see me through for a good while.


what OS do you plan to run?

i'm askin, cos if it's 32bit XP, then the 64 bit lark doesn't matter, although that said, i think any c2duo or c2quad will have the capability anyway.

just means if you're running xp, buy 4gb ram.
 
There are several questions you need to address.....

1. Whats your budget?
2. How computer/tech savvy are you (have you ever built your own machine)?
3. What do you envision recording (are you a guitarist looking to track pretty much all audio tracks or are you a keyboardist looking to run lot's of vst instruments?
4. Do you already have a pc and are you thinking of using any parts/pieces of it on the new machine?
5. Do you plan on using the system as a dedicated home studio system or are you thinking about using it in as a mobile rig for playing live gig's?
6. What DAW software are you thinking of using?
7. What audio interface are you thinking of?
8. Will you be wanting to record multiple tracks simultaneously (ie...drums)? If so, how many tracks do you think that'd be?

If you think you can pick up a PC at Best Buy (even a pretty nicely spec'd machine...on paper) and it'll run well as a DAW....well.....I'm not sure you can count on that. DAW's can be very persnickity beasts.

I'd suggest you do a lot of reading and ask a lot of questions on a lot of forums before you open your wallet. You can spend an enormous amount of money and frustration trying to put together a stable, good running machine.
 
My budget will probably be about $500 for the PC, and For an interface I want something that can record four tracks from four different sources (say, to record a four piece band) at the same time, and I want to also be able to run virtual instruments at some point in the future. For now I have a roland X8 which serves my instrument needs well enough. When I've tried to run Virtual instruments on my current machine, latency made it unplayable, so I'm not so hot on the idea. Also, I want to run looping software (like Mobius) ,be able to control it with a midi pedal of some sort.

While I've never built my own machine, I certainly not averse to the idea. I would only do so, though, if it would realize improved performance and lower cost.

I'm thinking I would use it as a dedicated home rig, BUT, if I can do it mobile that would be nice.

I have no idea what daw software I want, and I"m not sure about the audio interface.
 
I have Sonar PE, and I am about to try Reaper.....if you're on a limited budget, Reaper looks excellent and is only $60.

Be sure to get an ample amount of memory if you are running lots of VSTi's.... they can be RAM hogs......at least 4GB.....if you go over that, be sure to install a 64-bit OS
 
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