New puter in crosshairs. Advice needed

[SOUND DIAGNOSIS]

I have a Dell 333 p2 with a Turtle Beach Montego soundcard. I think it is high time to give this puter to my kid'. If I were to purchase a new 2 gig p4 puter from Dell for dual use as a surfer and recorder, what would you guys suggest I do? Tell them to not give me a soundcard and get a "real" one? Hard to install myself? What card is a no-brainer/great performer all around? Money is "kinda" no object. I am at your mercy. Thanks in advance ~~~~LEE

 

[Badger]

First of all, ditch the intel crap and get an Athlon. Build it yourself. Its not hard, and you'll come out better.

the sound card should say Delta and M-Audio on the box somewhere. If it doesnt take it back and get one that does.

The Delta 1010 is kick ass.

 

[SOUND DIAGNOSIS]

I have been hearing and reading about the quality of that Delta card as well as observing the ratings on this site as well: Sound card tests
Pretty neat site. Athalon is preferred to Intel by you for what specific reason? I have heard this preference voiced before as well. Thanks ~~~LEE

 

[jake-owa]

Geez bdgr....

A bit of unbiased fact there from the fuzzy freak.

Installing a soundcard is a breeze, nothing to worry about. The one you get depends on your I/O needs. I like the Echo Mia for a simple high quality card. If you need to record 8 inputs at a time go with the Delta 10/10 or Aardvark Q10. The AMD computers are better for the price/performance ratio but the Intels will work fine too. Just make sure you have an individual HD for audio only. Most important: do not use the computer for the internet and audio if at all possible. If the 333 is working on the net leave it alone. A streamlined audio-only computer is the only way to fly IMO.

 

[Bigus Dickus]

Athlon processors have very powerful legacy floating point execution units (floating point numbers are non-integer numbers, i.e., numbers that contain digits to the right of the decimal place). The Pentium 4 does not. It relies on software optimization for it's SSE2 instructions to be fast. Now, when software takes advantage of this, the P4 is a screaming chip (partially due to clock speed, but who cares... it's the end result that matters). When software relies on legacy "raw" floating point execution (also referred to as FP or FPU - as in floating point unit - or x87) then the P4 isn't so spiffy.

As far as I know, digital audio processing (applying effects, eq, etc.) requires lots of "raw" floating point math. Hence, the Athlon is well suited for this task.

You might check to see if the software you are interested in using is optimized for SSE2 instructions. If so, the P4 would be a very good choice as well... in that case, you probably couldn't go wrong either way.

Also, if you decide on a soundcard other than one of the M-audio Delta cards, do just a bit of reading to make sure it doesn't have any compatibility problems with Via chipsets (a common chipset supplier for AMD Athlon processors).

Or, if you go with Dell, don't worry about it... they only sell Intel.

 

[Badger]

I have been hearing and reading about the quality of that Delta card as well as observing the ratings on this site as well: Sound card tests
Pretty neat site. Athalon is preferred to Intel by you for what specific reason? I have heard this preference voiced before as well. Thanks ~~~LEE

Athlon as fast, cheap and campatible. Intel you pay for the name, and get less for more money.

 

[SOUND DIAGNOSIS]

Most important: do not use the computer for the internet and audio if at all possible.

I ask why? I am sure there is a great reason for your statement. I wanna use the same puter for both, dude! No-can-do?

 

[SOUND DIAGNOSIS]

Gothcha! And thanks! Appreciate it mucho!

Athlon as fast, cheap and campatible. Intel you pay for the name, and get less for more money.

 

[Badger]

Re: Geez bdgr....

A bit of unbiased fact there from the fuzzy freak.

Installing a soundcard is a breeze, nothing to worry about. The one you get depends on your I/O needs. I like the Echo Mia for a simple high quality card.

I know at least three people who have bought Echo cards that had to dump them because of compatibility/driver issues.

If you need to record 8 inputs at a time go with the Delta 10/10 or Aardvark Q10. The AMD computers are better for the price/performance ratio but the Intels will work fine too. Just make sure you have an individual HD for audio only. Most important: do not use the computer for the internet and audio if at all possible. If the 333 is working on the net leave it alone. A streamlined audio-only computer is the only way to fly IMO.

The idea of not using the computer for internet etc is obsolete information. It dates back to the win9x machines running at 200 mhz. Modern machines running 2k or XP can record wiht a ton of plugins, surf, download MP3s, and burn CD's all at the same time without missing a beat.

My Athlon XP 1800 can record 8 channels of 96k 24 bit audio while surfing without even breathing hard.

 

[jake-owa]

I ask why? I am sure there is a great reason for your statement. I wanna use the same puter for both, dude! No-can-do?

Can do, can do. I just would advise against it if at all possible. I have had various problems with other software and virus protection getting in the way of audio production. I even had all my audio files changed by some auto loaded program which screwed all my cool pro files once...hassles.

If it is a standalone DAW you will be much happier in the long run. Many people can get away with an all in one DAW, I would never do that again.

 

[SOUND DIAGNOSIS]

Thanks for that wealth of information. And the scary thing is that I am able to follow 99% of what you are stating. Thanks Mr. Dick-us.

Athlon processors have very powerful legacy floating point execution units (floating point numbers are non-integer numbers, i.e., numbers that contain digits to the right of the decimal place). The Pentium 4 does not. It relies on software optimization for it's SSE2 instructions to be fast. Now, when software takes advantage of this, the P4 is a screaming chip (partially due to clock speed, but who cares... it's the end result that matters). When software relies on legacy "raw" floating point execution (also referred to as FP or FPU - as in floating point unit - or x87) then the P4 isn't so spiffy.

As far as I know, digital audio processing (applying effects, eq, etc.) requires lots of "raw" floating point math. Hence, the Athlon is well suited for this task.

You might check to see if the software you are interested in using is optimized for SSE2 instructions. If so, the P4 would be a very good choice as well... in that case, you probably couldn't go wrong either way.

Also, if you decide on a soundcard other than one of the M-audio Delta cards, do just a bit of reading to make sure it doesn't have any compatibility problems with Via chipsets (a common chipset supplier for AMD Athlon processors).

Or, if you go with Dell, don't worry about it... they only sell Intel.

 

[Badger]

Also, if you decide on a soundcard other than one of the M-audio Delta cards, do just a bit of reading to make sure it doesn't have any compatibility problems with Via chipsets (a common chipset supplier for AMD Athlon processors).

Or, if you go with Dell, don't worry about it... they only sell Intel.

Almost all(if not all) Via chipset problems have been fixed. Just be sure to load the latest 4 in 1 drivers, and you shouldnt have any problems. Echo cards are a differant story, they require very specific hardware to work, because their driver developers are morons.

 

[SOUND DIAGNOSIS]

Understood. I will take that under advisement! Thanks to all of you dudes! Great, quick responses...."Homercording.com style"

Can do, can do. I just would advise against it if at all possible. I have had various problems with other software and virus protection getting in the way of audio production. I even had all my audio files changed by some auto loaded program which screwed all my cool pro files once...hassles.

If it is a standalone DAW you will be much happier in the long run. Many people can get away with an all in one DAW, I would never do that again.

 

[jake-owa]

Re: Re: Geez bdgr....

The idea of not using the computer for internet etc is obsolete information. It dates back to the win9x machines running at 200 mhz. Modern machines running 2k or XP can record wiht a ton of plugins, surf, download MP3s, and burn CD's all at the same time without missing a beat.

My Athlon XP 1800 can record 8 channels of 96k 24 bit audio while surfing without even breathing hard. [/B]

I didn't say it can't be done. People do it all the time. How many pro's do it?

The idea of even needing anything faster than a 400mhz computer for the internet is just silly.

 

[SOUND DIAGNOSIS]

Re: Re: Re: Geez bdgr....

Especially with cable modems. Fast as shit!

I didn't say it can't be done. People do it all the time. How many pro's do it?

The idea of even needing anything faster than a 400mhz computer for the internet is just silly.

 

[jake-owa]

Sound, I would just say if the computer you have setup on the net is working great don't bother replacing it. Get a monster for audio only.

 

[SOUND DIAGNOSIS]

Sound advice, for sure Jake...thanks. I would need to make space...and to also get a kevlar vest on account of my wife's fine marksmanship skills! ROFL!

Sound, I would just say if the computer you have setup on the net is working great don't bother replacing it. Get a monster for audio only.

 

[Badger]

Re: Re: Re: Geez bdgr....

I didn't say it can't be done. People do it all the time. How many pro's do it?

The idea of even needing anything faster than a 400mhz computer for the internet is just silly.

I would say plenty of pros do it now.

Depends on what you do on the internet, the slowest mahcine in my house is my 900mhz laptop, I only use it for surfing.

If you hit sites that do a lot of flash, or java stuff, or if you remote other systems over the internet, or if you play online games, then 400 mhz is painfully slow.

Again, under XP, with your security settings at a reasonable level so you arent getting spam software installed wihtout your permission, there is absolutely no reason to have seperate DAW/internet machines. Not anymore. Not for a very long time.


Hell, I was running my Delta on a 750 athlon under ME, and still didnt need a seperate machine. If you have problems running it all on one machine, fix the problems. Its science, not voodoo.

 

[jake-owa]

"I know at least three people who have bought Echo cards that had to dump them because of compatibility/driver issues."

Bdgr, do you mean people you "know" on forums? I have seen tons of issues with all soundcards including 10/10's. That's kind of a silly reason not to buy one. Out of thousands of people you are bound to have a few problems.

 

[jake-owa]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Geez bdgr....

I would say plenty of pros do it now.

Who?

Hell, I was running my Delta on a 750 athlon under ME, and still didnt need a seperate machine. If you have problems running it all on one machine, fix the problems. Its science, not voodoo.

Again, it can be done...duh. I just choose to use the method that has been totally trouble free for me.