What Computer Do You Recommend For What I Need?

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jonny deep said:
I would be wary of cheap, mass-producing computer companies. They tend to use crappy components and make them less upgradeable (I'm having memories here of glued in motherboards and short IDE cables). I include Dell in this statement.

I would say that machine is fairly low spec. You could record on it fine for now, but it might not handle more intense projects and isn't very future-proofed. Build your own if you can, spec it up to what you can afford and it will last you much, much longer for cheaper than you can buy elsewhere. Then, you have control of the quality of the components. If you need advice on parts, I can help some, as I researched to build my own relatively recently. The machine I built is very powerful and dead-silent. I can help you choose parts compatible with OS X as well, if you want to go the Hackintosh route and have a Mac (my machine runs Windows, Mac and Linux, all in the same box).
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Thanks, Jonny. I have to admit, building my own does sound like an intimidating task. I'm building my own bass traps without an issue, but building my own computer sounds hard!
 
Studio Guru said:
I have to admit, building my own does sound like an intimidating task. I'm building my own bass traps without an issue, but building my own computer sounds hard!
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You'd be surprised at how hard it isn't.

A lot of people have this mental image of some guy hacking away on a soldering iron and a piece of metal to build a computer, but it's not like that at all.
It's just a matter of researching that parts you need and plugging em together like a puzzle. It's easier than a puzzle I think.

The hard part for me personally is the software.
 
kidkage said:
You'd be surprised at how hard it isn't.

A lot of people have this mental image of some guy hacking away on a soldering iron and a piece of metal to build a computer, but it's not like that at all.
It's just a matter of researching that parts you need and plugging em together like a puzzle. It's easier than a puzzle I think.

The hard part for me personally is the software.
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Agree 100% with this. It's pretty easy. The most worrying part for me was putting the thermal grease on the CPU (and cleaning it off when I had to redo it with what is essentially orange juice). The hardest part was probably installing the huge CPU cooler I bought - could have done with a second pair of hands then.

As well as all this, it's a fun project. Working out all the bits you want, ordering them and having them delivered, then laying them all out and putting it all together into a fully-operational PC. If anything, I was a little disappointed that it was a bit too easy.

There are loads of videos - have a search on YouTube to see if you think it's doable for you. The only tool I needed was a screwdriver.

If it's not for you, I would recommend finding a friendly, local computer shop (i.e. not BestBuy or anywhere like that) that will build to your specification so you can choose all the parts (again, I and plenty of others here can help you pick them, and they should be able to advise as well). You might even be able to buy all the bits off Amazon or Newegg (US only, I think) and take them in to be built, just paying for a few hours labour.
 
Thanks for the help, guys! You've convinced me that building my own is worth a shot! I found this instructional video.

How to Build a Computer - YouTube

Can you give me a rough guess as to how long it takes to build, and what the cost wll be to build a computer for my specific recording needs?
 
Studio Guru said:
Thanks for the help, guys! You've convinced me that building my own is worth a shot! I found this instructional video.

How to Build a Computer - YouTube

Can you give me a rough guess as to how long it takes to build, and what the cost wll be to build a computer for my specific recording needs?
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Maybe a hour. Just hook up the case switches (power, LED, speaker, etc.) to the motherboard correctly. I stopped building PCs because my vision went to shit.

www.mwave.com will assemble the components you purchase from them for a modest fee, make sure everything works, and their prices are competitive.
 
I think it will take longer for your first go. Before I built mine, I'd messed about inside computers quite a lot, but had never built one before, and it took maybe 2-3 hours. Take it slowly and check what to do at each stage.

As for costs, that depends on what your specific needs are. Do you need a silent machine as it will be in your recording room; will you be using lots of CPU & memory hungry plugins; do you need a specific form factor (e.g. rack mounted, small as possible, or is a full tower ok); will you be using large sample libraries (sample tank, or some such); do you want to run Windows, Mac OS X or both; and the biggest question is: how much can you afford?!?!

Dont forget to factor in your audio interface and DAW. Have you considered acoustic treatment? Will you be tracking and mixing in the same room?
 
And how many screens do you have/want to have; will you use the computer for anything else (like gaming); do you need FireWire after all?
 
jonny deep said:
I think it will take longer for your first go. Before I built mine, I'd messed about inside computers quite a lot, but had never built one before, and it took maybe 2-3 hours. Take it slowly and check what to do at each stage.

As for costs, that depends on what your specific needs are. Do you need a silent machine as it will be in your recording room; will you be using lots of CPU & memory hungry plugins; do you need a specific form factor (e.g. rack mounted, small as possible, or is a full tower ok); will you be using large sample libraries (sample tank, or some such); do you want to run Windows, Mac OS X or both; and the biggest question is: how much can you afford?!?!

Dont forget to factor in your audio interface and DAW. Have you considered acoustic treatment? Will you be tracking and mixing in the same room?
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I have a control room and a live room. I won't be cheap on acoustically treating the rooms properly. I won't be using a ton of plug-ins, but would like to have ability to if I decide to later. I am fine with a full tower. I can't see using a large sample library. I am fine with running Windows, and will not be using the computer for anything else but for recording music. No internet connection, either. I would like be equipped to handle Pro Tools 10, and this is the interface that I am leaning toward. Tascam US2000 USB 2.0 Audio Interface at AmericanMusical.com I would probably like to have two computer screens.

Any idea what it would cost me to build my own computer to handle those specifics? I took your advice and watched a how to video on youtube, and I am confident that I can build my own!
 
jonny deep said:
The hardest part was probably installing the huge CPU cooler I bought - could have done with a second pair of hands then.
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Yep.
I haven't built a machine from scratch. BUT I have changed RAM, CPU, and CPU Cooler. The gave me plenty of time to dig around and see how things work.

Without a doubt. Changing RAM is the easiest thing.
Without a doubt. Changing the CPU cooler was the harddest thing. Having to take out the motherboard for the backplate swap was a little difficult with the tight spaces. Me and my dad worked on it together though so it wasn't ridiculous hard.

Thermal paste used to bother me until I found a crazy easy method that's worked perfectly for me. How to Remove and Apply Thermal Compound [Updated Tutorial] - YouTube


To the OP. I think anywhere from like $600 and up will have you covered. Obviously the more money= better parts=better computer.
 
kidkage said:
To the OP. I think anywhere from like $600 and up will have you covered. Obviously the more money= better parts=better computer.
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Thanks for the info! Any idea what the value of such a computer on the market would be?
 
I really think you need to come at this from the other way and work out how much you want to spend then we can help you choose parts to match, getting the best you can for that amount.

The Gateway computer you linked earlier will do what you want it for, but is likely made of lower quality components so they can maintain their margin and is not really future-proofed. To build something similar of high quality parts would likely cost a similar amount (the amount of $600 kidkage quotes seems like a sensible amount to build a 'good enough' PC with decent components).

But, I would plough as much money as your budget will allow into a better PC. Then, when the new version of Pro Tools (and the next one and the one after that) comes out and you want it, you can easily accommodate it; when the latest batch of crazy, processor-intensive plugins comes out, again you're set; when you realise that you want 48 audio tracks all with effects, that's easily done (resource issues can be got around, e.g. by freezing tracks and bouncing sub-mixes, but it's so much quicker, easier and more flexible to just have the resources there).

Now, I'm not saying you should compromise other areas (acoustic treatment, quality outboard components like audio interface) in the name of a more powerful PC. But, look at how much you want to spend in total, deduct what you need for those other things, tell us what's left for a PC and I'll try and suggest a spec for you If that amount is too low for what you need, we'll let you know and then might you need to start compromising elsewhere.

Hope this helps - I'm not trying to be difficult, but I don't think I can provide the answer you're trying to get to. There are too many factors to enable me to just say something like, if you spend $500 it will equate to a $1000 ready-made machine (for one thing, I don't know enough about available ready-made PCs; for another, I've never bought parts or computers at US prices).
 
And I would also consider Reaper (which is around $60 I think and is regarded here as being better than Pro Tools, at least for its intuitiveness).
 
Yeah $600 will meet your requirements but I say like $1k would be where I would sit personally.

And as far as daws. I'm a cubase man :D
 
Okay, a slightly different point of view...

I've built my own desktop computers in the past, a couple of times. Those who have said it only takes a couple of hours are basically right. It's not rocket science as long as you take things slowly and check your work as you go.

However, I did it because I enjoyed the challenge. I'm not convinced I got a particularly better computer for my money. I was buying components one at a time whereas Gateway orders them thousands and a time and probably spends a lot less than I did.

In the early 2000s I owned a Gateway that was my main DAW at that stage. I went with them because they were the first to offer a 1GB AMD processor when that was the "state of the art". The Gateway I had was probably the best mass produced PC I've ever owned. I was able to spend a lot of time on the phone with them selecting the components I wanted--I was able to choose disks, optical disks, video card, etc. etc. and get a computer than I wanted. As far as I know, it's still working flawlessly for the person I gave it to in 2007 when I moved to Aus.

So, by all means build a computer if the idea of the project attracts you. It IS satisfying and you DO end up knowing more about what's going on in your computer. However, don't assume that it will necessarily get you more bang for your buck and don't assume that commercial computers are necessarily inferior, at least if you order from the sort of place that offers some customisation.
 
A lot has changed in the mass produced PC market since then. I wouldn't piss on many of them today.
 
While it is true that these companies will pay less because they buy in bulk, I don't believe all those savings are passed on. Also, many buy what's available at the time for the best price, so there's no continuity in what's put inside (this is the case with Dell, I believe), so there's a lot of luck in the draw as to the quality of the components in your build. This is why I also recommended going to a friendly, local computer store so you can specify exactly what goes in. If a big company will allow you to specify exactly the brand and type of components and you get a good deal, I say go for it. However, I feel it's unlikely that you will be able to beat the price of doing it yourself.
 
Yeah, I definitely want to go with building my own. Nothing wrong with learning something, and you never know when knowing how a computer goes together will come in handy!
 
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