amonte
New member
It's been a while since I've been around here, but I always found this place to be a great resource. Since I'm now in the market for a new PC, I thought I'd come back again.
I'm replacing my old Dell Dimension 2350. For all of the negative things I have read about Dells, I have to say this machine has performed admirably over the last 7 years. It is a P4 1.8 Ghz processor machine. Parts have been swapped out over the years (it's up to a GB or RAM and has a 160 GB hard drive in it now), but for the most part it's done the job. I've been recording with Tracktion 2.0 using an Emu 1212M card. Despite the limited setup, I've had good results with tracking. Mixing can get to be an issue, especially as submixes and plug-ins come into play. I've got an external 1 TB Buffalo drive that I use for my audio drive (over an eSata port), I'll continue using this with the new system.
My budget is pretty small - I would say $700 shipped is the ceiling. I know this isn't much. I'll be keeping my old keyboard, mouse and monitor and I'm hoping to at least start off with the Emu. I'll be able to spring for Tracktion 3 (a whole whopping $25), but again, for now I'll have to keep things lean. In the event T3 isn't doable, I'd probably go with N-Track (unless there is another super-affordable DAW out there that works pretty decent).
I started my search at Dell and was able to put something together in this range, but I'm hesitant to buy another Dell. I was originally buidling out a system at AVADirect and was able to get a much better system for the money, but then I read a whole bunch of nightmare stories about them. I also spent a little time exploring ADK, Sonica and a few other audio based builders, but the ADK Qube seemed to be the only thing close and it was still a bit out of reach. I've built systems in the past (it's been a while), but I'm really interested in having a working PC that I can keep recording on right now
So what is the best option in this range? I know of the things I listed, the ADK is the best, but besides that what PCs/PC builders would you guys suggest?
I'm replacing my old Dell Dimension 2350. For all of the negative things I have read about Dells, I have to say this machine has performed admirably over the last 7 years. It is a P4 1.8 Ghz processor machine. Parts have been swapped out over the years (it's up to a GB or RAM and has a 160 GB hard drive in it now), but for the most part it's done the job. I've been recording with Tracktion 2.0 using an Emu 1212M card. Despite the limited setup, I've had good results with tracking. Mixing can get to be an issue, especially as submixes and plug-ins come into play. I've got an external 1 TB Buffalo drive that I use for my audio drive (over an eSata port), I'll continue using this with the new system.
My budget is pretty small - I would say $700 shipped is the ceiling. I know this isn't much. I'll be keeping my old keyboard, mouse and monitor and I'm hoping to at least start off with the Emu. I'll be able to spring for Tracktion 3 (a whole whopping $25), but again, for now I'll have to keep things lean. In the event T3 isn't doable, I'd probably go with N-Track (unless there is another super-affordable DAW out there that works pretty decent).
I started my search at Dell and was able to put something together in this range, but I'm hesitant to buy another Dell. I was originally buidling out a system at AVADirect and was able to get a much better system for the money, but then I read a whole bunch of nightmare stories about them. I also spent a little time exploring ADK, Sonica and a few other audio based builders, but the ADK Qube seemed to be the only thing close and it was still a bit out of reach. I've built systems in the past (it's been a while), but I'm really interested in having a working PC that I can keep recording on right now
So what is the best option in this range? I know of the things I listed, the ADK is the best, but besides that what PCs/PC builders would you guys suggest?
