illiterate boy needs help

  • Thread starter Thread starter James HE
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J

James HE

a spoonfull weighs a ton
I hope this post isn't too annoying...

Well, I haven't owned a computer since my good ole Tandy 1000 from Radio Shack circa 1989 (even it was Y2K compliant) Now I'm dependant on my roomate and the computers at school to even talk to you guys. But I'm moving soon (July) and I'm looking to set my self up with a computer. ANd Hell yes I want to do audio!

I read all this stuff about soundcards and yadda yadda yadda... but when Slak or someone start talking about parts and components or even OS's I get really really lost. :(

I haven't really done too much shopping and I guess I'll just have to do my homework, but could you guys push me along? Sure I can do a search but typing in the word "Computers" into any search engine is as futile as trying to download porn without your moms credit card # (LOL :))

I'm not completly illiterate obviously, but I'm just kinda lost. To simplify things I was thinking to just go with your average (but powerfull) prepackaged system (HP, Gateway, G4, Dell ? ? ?) but building up a system seems intresting (and maybe cheaper?) especially for audio (I also would like to run Photoshop and other stuff too)

Hopefully by the time I've figured out how to finance the deal (Hey grandma, I just graduated college and....) I'll know what to get and how to set it up. I'm thinking around $2000(?) would be the minimum that I could exspect to pay for everything. (soundcard and all)

I realize this is pretty vague and open ended, I'm just looking to be a better educated consumer- (please don't laugh at the illiterate boy and his "questions" :( he means well enough....)

any sort of links along with what you think would be very very appeciated! :) :) :)

-jhe
 
James,

Firstly, you've got to decide what kind of computer you want - ie. are you more comfortable with a Mac, or do you use PC's? Also, would you describe yourself as computer literate in regard to hardware? If so, then it's much easier for us to give you ideas - I can talk part names and general computer crap with the best, but it's all pointless unless you've got a reasonable understanding of the bits that make computers go.

Buying a name brand computer (HP, Dell etc.) is easy, and the components generally work together well, but you end up paying premium prices, and the machines themselves can be dogs to upgrade. On the other hand, many people find the insides of computers a scary thing, and the prospect of actually having to play around with a machines guts a bit daunting, so build your own can be out for those people.

That said, a custom built, or clone PC, generally gives you the most flexibility when specifiying and upgrading it. It's generally easier and cheaper to drop a new HDD into a clone than a Compaq box.

From an audio point of view, custom is also the way to go - the requirements are generally quite specific, and name brand machines are usually designed more to be general application-type computers.

I won't give you specs for a machine - there are heaps of posts about that which you would have already looked at - but the basics are - lots of processor power (Intel), lots of 7200rpm disk drive space, lots of RAM, in fact, get lots of everything.

Now that I think about it, I've seen a few companies that produce DAWs - but you are paying a premium for their products - if you know what you're doing, you could probably put together a similarly spec'd box for 2/3 the price. Either way, these sites are useful to see what is being put into audio specific computers.

One other thing to consider, and I don't think many people here seems to do this with their computers, but the machine I'm building at the moment is designed to be taken out gigging (for both recording, and to use as the SFX unit for theatre and stuff). Based on that, I've got a rack mount computer case, some laptop drives in removable drive bays (they tend have better shock mounting in laptop drives), which I can interchange easily, improved cooling (pubs can get stinking hot and humid, and the cigarette smoke apparently does nasty things to solder) and a few other things like that.

About the software (using Photoshop etc.) - not a drama. Purpose built DAWs won't have any problems with 'normal' software, so Office and Photoshop etc will run a treat.

Hope I haven't clouded the issue even further.

- gaffa
 
You've given me a little clarity there, thanks.

So in building a system where do you start. Where can I get the basic shell? Are there any semi or half built systems out there that are designed to be added on to? I haven't used a Mac in years and years, so I'm really not sure which I would perfer. A G4 seems nice, but also a little pricy. (A G4 and digi 001 would be very cool!) Are there any name brands that are easy to upgrade?

I wouldn't consider myself very literate in hardware, I know the basic componets, but the numbers and stuff just fly over my head. And I'm thinking that I actually know less than I think I do (hey, that's unusual :))

So the basic componets would be (?)
Harddrive
motherboard(? is this just where all the stuff hooks up?) processors etc...
disk/CD Rom drives
of course all the periferals...

Man I wish I had taken some sort of class on this stuff.

DOH!

-jhe
 
You've given me a little clarity there, thanks.

So in building a system where do you start. Where can I get the basic shell? Are there any semi or half built systems out there that are designed to be added on to? I haven't used a Mac in years and years, so I'm really not sure which I would perfer. A G4 seems nice, but also a little pricy. (A G4 and digi 001 would be very cool!) Are there any name brands that are easy to upgrade?

I wouldn't consider myself very literate in hardware, I know the basic componets, but the numbers and stuff just fly over my head. And I'm thinking that I actually know less than I think I do (hey, that's unusual :))

So the basic componets would be (?)
Harddrive
motherboard(? is this just where all the stuff hooks up?) processors etc...
disk/CD Rom drives
of course all the periferals...

Man I wish I had taken some sort of class on this stuff.

DOH!

-jhe
 
Basic stuff you need when you building an audio workstation would be

Stuff you NEED:
Motherboard (I think ABit is reasonable well liked)
CPU (processor) at least a 500Mhz Intel (ideally a proper intel, not celeron)
RAM (memory) minimum of 128Mb
Video Card Pretty much anything -Voodoo3 2000, Matrox G400
Hard Drive(s) IBM 7200RPM >10Gb
Keyboard anything
Mouse Love the MS intellimouse - the srolly wheel rocks.
Case Anything (rackmount is great for travelling, but not so practical otherwise
Prosumer Sound card Your choice - MOTU 24i? :D
CD-ROM Anything will do
Monitor A 17" monitor is definitely worth the extra money

Stuff you might want:
Printer
Separate Hard Disk Controller Promise seems well liked (I don't use one)
CD-Burner Yamaha

It's not an easy thing to say what brands, numbers etc - everybody has their own opinion
on what hard drives, disk controllers, CD-ROMs etc to get. Again, some of the older threads tend to point you in general brand directions - Yamaha for the CD burner, IBM for the disk drives, Matrox for video card etc., but none of these are the gospel truth.

I've thrown in my personal opinion about the hardware in italics, but people will disagree with me.

I'm not aware of any semi built systems, but I live a reasonable walk from the US, so they may be available out there.

Putting one together is actually a relatively simple process - generally a component or cable only actually goes in one place (the exceptions being old AT style power supply leads, and some disk drive cabling can be a bit deceiving)

Just muddying the waters

- gaffa
 
Gaffa,

How many spaces is your computer rack? I don't think I've ever seen one and it sounds like a cool idea. Do you have a regular monitor at home in addition to the laptop?
Also how easy is it to find motherbords and other componets that fit inside of it, or is it pretty much the same?
Thanks for your help!

-jhe



[This message has been edited by James HE (edited 04-09-2000).]
 
Ok. You want Scuzzy hard drives. Ohhhh yes...a definate must.
 
And a flat screen monitor. This thing is practically indespensible for pc audio recording.
 
JHE,

The computer rack case is 5 units high, although I believe they are available in larger sizes (and I have seen a 4 unit case before, but it was in a business, not a shop, so I don't know how readily available they are. I spent ages tracking one down - they were pretty hard to find (eventually got it from an electronics shop on special order. Most expensive computer case I've ever brought - $130AUS. The case supports a standard ATX motherboard, and holds 2 5 1/4" drives, and four 3 1/2" drives (albeit it is a tight squeeze).

I use a normal monitor (the laptop reference was about the 2 1/2" hard drives that laptops use - they tend to be able to absorb greater shocks, so are preferable for travelling computers), but I would love to have a flat screen. I have seen a 15" flat screen installed into a 2 unit high rack case. It slid out and up - very very cool, but I think it may have been a custom built case and mount.

Other ace things you can do with a rack mount case - I'm going to get a 1U case, and build the mouse, keyboard and video ports into the front of it, so that all the connections to the machine are front mounted instead of rear mounted. Ace thing number two - get a rack mountable spike suppressor, cos power supplies at pubs are notoriously dodgy, and the last thing you want is to have the lighting guy blow all the fuses, and the machine to crash.

I think KingNothing may have been talking in jest about the 17" flat being indespensible for audio recording, but for actually taking your machine gigging, it wouldn't be too bad an idea - much lighter than a cathode ray tube monitor, and a lot smaller, which in some venues is all important. But you've got to justify the price - they are still fiendishly expensive in comparison to normal monitors.

SCSI gear - well, there's been all manner of discussion here. SCSI IS faster, but on a price/performance ratio, IDE (the normal hard drive type) is better. If you were doing digital video, then SCSI is the only way to go.

Of course, for a properly portable machine, get a laptop. If you want a portable machine that you can upgrade, have 2 CD-ROMs etc, then get a rack case or a normal computer case.

Once you've got all this, you'll have a rockin' portable recording setup. Whack it in a 10-12RU SKB box and on the road we go... :)

A lot of the things I've said are probably a bit beyond the concept of a 'basic' setup. Define what you want to do with the computer, and many of the parts sort of fall into place.

- gaffa
 
James, gaffa is your man. He is giving you good advice. The price of hard drives keeps going down, however, and you should easily be able to afford 20-30 GB.
 
James HE,

Don't forget. When buying hard drives, buy at least two. One to run the operating system, hold the program files, etc. and the other to hold all of the audio.

Rev E
 
OK JHE,

I've tracked down some web sites for you to peruse - these are outfits that prioduce turnkey DAWs - ie. you buy then, take them home and turn them one- no stuffing about.
http://www.wavedigital.com/ http://www.audiotracks.com/workstations.htm http://www.faqsys.com/ http://www.audiocomputing.com/ http://www.soundchaser.com

They seem to have both reasonably cheap systems (~$2000) up to pretty bloody expensive boxes. Have a look at the specs, the nice pictures of the rack cases, etc, and you'll have a much better idea of what is required.

- gaffa
 
You tha man Gaffa!

I had been to audio computing.com before and thought that it was a liitle more than I wanted to spent. Wavedigital looks awsome! The spes on the lower end models aren't all that great it seems, but probaly all that I'll need, and hey I can add on and upgrade. And you get keyboard and monitor in the deal as well (possibly software and soundcard too- but i'd probably get that seperate if I went this rout). I'm going to further investigate these guys to see if they'r easy to upgrade and see what they've been tested with.

Ahh... the search continues...

-jhe
 
For what it's worth, Soundchaser is pretty cool. I haven't purchased a DAW from them, but their CS is good.

.02
Nate
 
Don't break your mom's heart by putting porn purchases on her card.
Cruise the Usenet Newsgroups for free!
More porn than anyone can stand.
For example:
alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.amateur.female
currently serving up 1635 filthy messages.
and hundreds of other groups that are even larger and/or whackier....
 
JHE,

Glad to be of assistance

- gaffa

PS. Doc - you don't need to troll through usenet to get free porn - there are heaps of sites out there just waiting to be surfed....
 
I look at free stuff all the time, and I'm not even talkin bout the internet! :)

Well not really.... :(

-jhe
 
So where is a good place to get all this stuff? I've stumbled onto loads of sites, but I don't know enough to pick out the good from the bad. The companies that put together the systems for you seem to be pretty expensive, so where is a good place to get parts?

P.S I feel like I've learned so much in the past few days- it's like I actually know what I'm talking about! :D

Also, is it important for me to figure out which soundcard and software I want first and configure what I need around that?

-jhe
 
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