Configuring PC

[expaand]

What sort of PC would be best for a high-performance DAW? Would an off-the shelf HP Pavillion (1.6 ghz, 512 mb, etc) be ok? Or is a "custom" job really the way to go? If so, what is important? Scsi 7200/10000 rpm disks? Scsi CD/RW? Certainly some kind of "quality" sound card, like a Delta 44. Is RAID important? How much RAM is enough? etc. etc.

Or, again, would a run-of-the-mill garden variety PC like an HP or something work ok, with, say, additional IDE harddrive, and sound card?

Thanks!

[AcousticPro]

Based on your question of a high performance DAW, if you must go the PC route then custom is definitely the way you should be going.

[TeeCee]

I'll answer with a series of questions and a few comments. I would never recommend an off the shelf PC because of upgradability and expandability. What you need in the PC depends on what you want to do with the PC.

What do you consider high performance?

How many audio tracks do you want to record simultaneously?

How many audio tracks do you want to play back simultaneously?

Are you planning on using extensive FX or synth plug ins?

[shaneperc]

expaand,
Why don't you put one together yourself? It's not really rocket science if you do your homework. It looks intimidating when you first open a computer case, but you'd be surprised how few removeable parts there actually are. A few days of research on the web, and you could build your own PC, learn more about the machine your using, and save a few dollars to boot. Just remember to wear a static band before messing with any of your cards!!!*

shane

*a grounding device that keeps you from electrostatically frying your motherboard :)

[TeeCee]

I build all of my own PCs (and my parents shop computers and some friends - about 40 hand built in 5 years) and I agree that it isn't rocket science. It's especially easy these days where drivers tend to work. But if you don't know what you're doing and drivers don't work, you aren't in for a good time. So, I'll second the recommendation to read up on building your own PC. Go to Pro Rec (http://www.prorec.com/) and read their Roll Your Own article. Then decide if you can build your own. I doubt that you'll save much if you build your machine right, but you'll have a much more upgradable and flexible machine.

Good luck,

[hmurchison]

For me the Ideal PC will have Dual Processors( I believe MP boxes are the future for the Desktop).

It will have extreme memory bandwidth(fast busses and fast interconnects)

It will be reliable of course and run cool without a truckload of fans and other cooling products.

It will be properly designed with solid connectors and easy access Casing.

My next PC will be an Athlon XP system after I purchase a Mac.

[AcousticPro]

I see two different schools of thought in relation to computers, be a tweak-head about the machine and spend a lot of time building it and researching all the necessary information and make that the priority or make the music priority and let someone else do the work. You may save a few dollars doing it yourself, but that is just out of pocket expense, you'll have your sweat equity in it and it may end up costing you more that way. It's just like buying anything yourself. When you build a house yourself you spend less actual money, but you invest a lot of time and it may take you longer to do it right, do you have the time or energy to do it yourself? What is your priority, music or computers?

[TeeCee]

AcousticPro:
I don't see it as that cut and dry. I don't see many people building a PC I can trust. For one, their thoughts on PCs usually don't correspond to what I know about PCs. I keep up on PCs by reading PC news almost daily. It doesn't take away from studio time. I can't do studio work 24/7. Especially when I'm at my "day job" (control system design and programming). I don't save much money, if any when I build a PC compared to something like a Dell. I build it right, though, with a nice future. I guess I could actually buy a similar system to what I build. I've seen nice PCs sold for audio go for 2x to 3x what I build mine for. If I have the ability to build as good of a system or better, then I would be a fool to pay that much more for a system with a motherboard that is just OK versus building a system with the motherboard I know rocks according to Tom's Hardware. Same goes for video cards. I also know what to do to fix my PCs should something go wrong (very rare on my audio PCs).

If your priority is music but you depend on a computer to get much of your work done, you should have a very stable system and hopefully know how to keep it stable. If you have to build it yourself to get that, then so be it.

If building a PC takes away from your music time that much, then you should buy your PCs. Telling me that I should buy my PCs is kind of like telling an auto mechanic turned racer to bring his race car to the shop to get fixed. I know you didn't address me, you were very general. I don't think all people should build there own PCs. I think they should have computer savvy friends build them if they don't know enough to build their own.

[AcousticPro]

I can agree with what you said here TeeCee. I guess that I need to take more time to type these posts and make them longer and clearer. If you're a hobbyist and your job happens to be like mine or yours and spending the majority of our time with computers and technology then I agree (pending the decision to go PC based vs Mac) that you should do it yourself and make sure the system exactly meets your needs. I haven't found many people doing a good job of custom building machines for audio either. They usually know about music or computers and not how computers relate to making audio. I totally agree with the fact that you don't save much money if you build it right and that will probably always be right. I also agree that if your priority is music then you should have it be stable. If you don't know enough about PC's to do it yourself then get a Mac or have someone that you can trust and will back you (i.e. Sweetwater) help you set the system up. I apologize if I hinted otherwise. Having worked on the music side of things vs musical technology side of things for so long my comment comes from that school of thought that is basically stating in different words that building a PC will take away from your time to do music. If that's ok and the music is just a little piece of sanity in a hobby instead of a bread and butter situation then you better choose accordingly. Does that make sense?

[TeeCee]

AcousticPro:
It looks like you've wrapped it up well. And I would have to agree that if you are of the studio type or a classically trained musician that wants/needs a computer to further production of some type, and you don't know PCs, don't stop to learn them now.

Do you think Sweetwater will get into the PC business? You guys are big enough to do it right. If you are taking your music 100% seriously and you don't know computers, you should find the killer application for your production style (or what you think your production style will be) and not worry about what platform it runs on, Mac or PC. But you might be doing things like remixing and that killer app might be Acid (which would be my #1 recommendation for remixing). And the #1 catalog seller of music supplies doesn't offer PCs. In fact, no big reputable music companies sell PCs.

[shaneperc]

It's time for some opposition here. :) I don't buy this point that you should conserve brain power for one major course of study. The brain works by making neurological connections between information centers. You learn things by proximity (evaluating what something is by comparing it to what you already know). For example, if you know what an apple is and you come across an orange, you're brain processes the orange by what you already know about the apple, noting similarities and differences. Not only do you now know what an orange is, you're understanding of apples also increases.

The same applies to the role of computers in the "art" of recording/engineering. Learning something about the computer you're using can only serve to improve your understanding about engineering as a whole.

The problem comes in where people give priority to the the trees, and forget about the forest. If you're a recording engineer learning about computers, you have to resist the temptation to make computers your main focus. If you're replacing your subscriptions to Mix magazine with subscriptions to PC World, then you've gone too far. You have to remember your priorities.

On the other hand, what I see from older engineers is the fear of looking at the trees because they might lose the forest. They're so intent on not losing sight of the big picture (recording), that they think it's heresy to learn a thing or two about computers. Not to mention, most of these people are being severely hypocritical! Ask them something about computers and you'll get an earful of how the question has nothing to do with music, but ask them about how to properly align a 2" Studer and you'll be listening to days worth of answers! Both questions are equally valid, and more importantly, both questions will make us better engineers.

[AcousticPro]

I'm not quite sure I view that as opposition as much as perception. Perhaps there needs to be a differentiation as to what type of an engineer you would like to be. Knowing how to configure a PC doesn't aid in my ability to better EQ a snare drum in a mix. Knowing how an EQ works may. Knowing how to align a 2" deck doesn't help my ability to set levels in a crucial mix, but it does make me more valuable as a technician in a studio environment. Is that what you are suggesting?

[lawbass]

Hi. I am a newbie. I have just entered the PC editing world. I am running Win XP. I have a 60G Maxtor hard drive, a Pentium 4 processor, 1.5 G of RAM installed, and am running Cakewalk Sonar XL 2.0. I am using two Echo sound cards, a Gina24 and a Mona. With this amount of hard drive, the pentium and the maxed out RAM I installed, I expected to be able to record and play 30+ tracks, with effects on most of them. However, I am running into constant dropouts with 16 tracks, with only about 6-8 effects inserted. I have run through the ideas that Cakewalk and Echo listed, but seem to have come up short. I am hoping some kind soul can suggest how to maximize my system for best audio work, or at least direct me to some web pages that walk thru an idiot on how to configure the PC for audio work.
Many thanks in advance for all who may take pity on a newbie, and offer some concrete suggestions. Thanks in advance.

[AcousticPro]

You need to make some tweaks to your system. I never record audio to the internal system drive. For several reasons... It's dangerous first off all, with the amount of information that goes on and off the drive in relation to audio data it can corrupt system files and deplete the integrity of the drive. Additionally, you should check out the PC optimization guide on Sweetwater's site under the Support and Care section and a site called "TweakXP.com". This will help you strip away a lot of the unneccesary stuff the operating system is doing that you don't need using up resources. You do need a seperate drive for audio as well though, especially with that type of track count. When you start doing edits it's really going to crunch your system drive and break it down.

[lawbass]

Hi, thanks Jeff. I have now been to TweakXP.com and am going to try some of their ideas. I did look under support and care, but did not seek a guide to PC optimizing there. Could you give me some driving directions to find it please? Thanks.

[TeeCee]

lawbass:
One of the most important things Jeff mentioned is that you should have a dedicated audio drive. This should not be a partition on your system drive and it should not be on the same IDE channel as your system drive.

[AcousticPro]

Our link may be down as I'm doing a lot of filtering to the Tweak XP site to make our optimization guide more specific to audio applications. I'll let you know where it's at in the next couple of days.

[AcousticPro]

http://www.sweetwater.com/support/ts/detail.php?index=14826&skip=0&max=1&keyword=pc+optimization&PHPSESSID=ebed47d9338cd12f9f37ab10847d9e05