Dedicated DAW, advice please

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cindyp16

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Hi there,

I was planning on getting a stand alone multitrack, but someone on this forum got me thinking about buying a 2nd hand pc that would be dedicated just to recording music. I have an audiophile 2496 that I was going to install in my current pc (that I use mainly for photo editing). I'm not that knowledgable with pc's and was wondering what to look for. I'm hoping to spend like $200-300 on the pc, should I go the AMD Athlon route or maybe grab a Pentium PIII? I will be recording live instruments (guitar/bass etc) track by track and I guess I'll end up wanting to run 12-16 tracks with effects etc. on mixdown. Am I being a bit optimistic here? Should I go back to looking at 2nd hand Akai DPS 16's?

thanks

cindyp
 
if you post your current pc config cindy i'll try and advise on suitability.
for a NICE DAW confign read teachers post in the thread below this one with the internet subject heading. but this is quite expensive.
if you dont have much money i would look at a used athlon no older than 2 years with 512 ram. you can always get a tech to add a fast 7200 rpm hard drive. for 48 track recording (better than standalone) try what i use powertracks from pgmusic.com. you wont need to spend any other money on software. its 49 bucks and includes many features you wont find on a standalone like very deep audio and midi editing, built in effects,
and vocal harmonisation to name a few. just try the demo.
just put the 2496 card in the athlon in the pci slots by itself.
dont put other fancy cards like tv tuners and gaming cards in as they
can lock out the audio card.
if you got any more Q's just ask.
also search under my name for lots of tips posted in last year.
about general recording tips etc.
peace.
 
Thanks for the good advice Manning, I wonder if I could pick your brains a little more? I have been on e-bay and there seem to be lots of Athlons for sale for between $199 and $350. I know it's a bit cheeky, but if I list some specs can you cast your vastly more experienced eye over them and let me know if one would be better than another?

Starting with the cheapest:

1.6 AMD Duron 266FSB Applebread core (new)
512 MB PC2100 VIKING RAM (Retails $70) (1 Stick) (new)
40 GB Maxtor HD 7200 RPM
PC Chips M811LU KT266A Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A -Brand new

Supported CPU: Socket A AMD Athlon/Duron Processor
Chipset: VIA KT266A + VT8235
FSB: 200/266MHz
RAM: 2x DIMM for DDR200/266 Max 2GB
IDE: 2x UltraDMA 133 up to 4 Devices
Slots: 1x AGP 4X, 5x PCI
Ports: 2xPS2,1xLPT,1xCOM,6xUSB(rear 4),1xLAN,Audio Ports
Onboard Audio: VIA VT1612A Audio Codec
Onboard LAN: VIA VT6103 10/100Mbps
Form Factor: ATX
400 Watt ATX Power Supply
3dFX Voodoo 3 video card AGP
TR2TT (Designed by Thermaltake) TR2 M4 CPU Cooler for Socket ( PCI control that you can increase the fans speed) Linked to CPU with ARCTIC SILVER 5

40x12x40 CDRW

this is $199

there are a few others, such as:

AMD Athlon XP 2800+ Barton 333MHz FSB Processor
Memory 512MB PC2100 DDR
Hard Drive 80GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
Optical Drive 52X32X52X16 CDRW/DVD Combo
Video Integrated 2D/3D Graphics 64MB Shared Memory
Audio Integrated 2-channel Audio
Media Reader 6-in-1 Memory Card Reader
Ethernet LAN Integrated 10/100 Ethernet
Modem 56K V.90 Fax Modem

Slots: AGP, 2xDIMM, 3xPCI, IDE
This system features Foxconn KM400 Motherboard.
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (Northgate OEM)
Software Cyberlink PowerDVD 5 (w/original registration key)
Nero Burning Software

for $329 and one that is currently $300, but will probably go higher

Lian-Lee aluminum full-tower case with filtered forced air intake 475 watt power supply
Tyan dual AMD MP motherboard, with 2 onboard SCSI channels
Dual AMD 1.2 GHz MP processors
1 GB Micron DDR RAM
Plextor 40x ultra wide SCSI CDROM
Iomega 100MB SCSI drive
3 channel DPT Ultra Wide LVD SCSI RAID card with 16 MB cache
6 Seagate Cheetah (2nd generation) 10K RPM SCSI hard disks, 4.34 GB ea
ASUS GeForce 3 video card with 64 MB graphics memory

and lastly:

AMD ATHLON XP PROCESS BUILT SPECIFICALLY FOR WINDOWS XP
512 MB OF DDR RAM
WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL EDITION WILL COME WITH A FRESH INSTALL
MCAFEE VIRUS SCAN PROFESSIONAL WILL BE INCLUDED AND INSTALLED
SOUND BLASTER AUDIGY PLATINUM SOUND CARD WITH DIGITAL OUT AND MICROPHONE (ALSO INCLUDES A FRONT PANEL CONTROLLER AND REMOTE CONTROL!
SOFTWARE FOR SOUND BLASTE AUDIGY PLATINUM WHICH INCLUDES AUDIO HQ
60 GB 7200 RPM HARD DRIVE
ATI RAEDON 8500 SERIES 128 MB DDR VIDEO CARD
1.44 MB FLOPPY DRIVE
INTERNAL ZIP 250 DRIVE WITH SOFTWARE PACK INCLUDED
PIONEER DVD-116 48X DVD ROM FOR SUPER FAST PLAYBACK OF DVD'S
PLEXWRITER PX-W2410A 24/10/40 A CD-R/RW BURNER (24X WRITE / 10X RE-WRITE / 40X READ)
NERO BURNING ROM 6 FOR USE WITH THE PLEXWRITER INSTALLED
FAST 10/100 ETHERNET CARD INTEGRATED INTO THE MAINBOARD FOR BETTER PERFORMANCE
POWER CORD WITH UPGRADED 450 WATT POWER SUPPLY

Sorry for the insanely long post, but I really appreciate any help you can give to me. Is there anything I should avoid like the plague if I am dedicating it to music only. I've read somewhere that intrgrated graphics cards are bad, is that true?

Thanks again
cindyp
 
cindy. some people have good experiences buying off ebay. then there is the odd bad one. my BEST advice would be to find a clone builder near where you live. take along the 2496 ...see it working with the powertracks software i recommended in the store. ie...take along a small synth , record some tracks etc. then pay the seller and get a guarantee/warranty . theres nothing like a hands on test !
all those ebay listings will probably do the job BUT and it IS a BUT
its just words until one does an actual test.
by the way there are lots of people running daws fine with on board graphics. two things to NOTE. DONT CHINTZ ON THE POWER SUPPLY.
some clone builders put awfull power supplies in to boost profit or power that operates under amd's required stated spec.
in THEORY that duron system offers value for money but without a TEST
in real terms i cant say. a duron system properly set up will do 40 tracks.
if you want to go wild on plug ins for example i would suggest amd barton.
if you want the TOPS. wild on plug ins and tracks then teachers AMD 64.
its a crap shoot frankly till you test a system. remember to budget for the fact you will need to buy win xp. some sellers will include it others WONT.
peace.
 
thanks for the advice, appreciate it. I will have a look around and see if I can find someone in my area that can put together a reasonably prices system for me

cindyp
 
cindy..just be aware....a top range amd 64 system here NEW where i am is about 800 bucks retail . now it doesnt get any better than that for a daw.
so it might be worth saving up for a bit.
also try and get 8 mb cache 7200 rpm hard drives.
and if looking at used stay away from anything that says CELERON.
some people are tring to dump them on unsuspecting buyers/newbies who dont know computers.
peace.
 
Or you could get one custom built just for your needs but it still might cost almost the same as a new around $500-600 just depends on what u want.

The PC I am building myself has these specs

P$ 1.8 ghz
2 80 gb hard drives (one is gonna be in a removable drive that way easy changout each artist is going to have a separate hard drive)
dual vga card
going to max out the ram on it as much as the motherboard will take I am at work so I can't remember exactly what.
dvd-burner
cdrom
250 mb zip drive
floppy disk
smart media reader
video card-transfer camcorder to dvd

So basically I am building a multimedia daw all of that I am getting a good deal on the parts I am assembling it myself So all together I thing I am spending about $500 on it
 
rd. i'm a puter engr. just be aware of a few issues.
the max ram i recommend is 1gig. the reason is internally win has to keep track of a lot of things. ive seen systems where too much memory actually can slow down a pc. so maybe try tests of memory increments and check performance. you shouldnt need more than a gig ram due to the
way programmers code up their AV applications internally in programming code. they use what are called "arrays" of memory. normally small chunks of memory which they release all the time. for AV work i suggest you look at fast drives with 8 mb caches.
also watch out on some video cards. some can lock out the bus and take control. the matrox line tends to be well behaved in this regard.
just some ideas to think about. peace.
 
Thanks manning I know u have good advice here and on the protools board I never knew u could have 2 much memory
 
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