How much PC do I need for 24x24 with plugins?

[JApthorp]

I'm ready to go to 24 tracks! The new standalone 24 track recorders are very interesting but seem a step back from the abilty I now have with SONAR. So for sake of discussion, how much computer do I need to be able to record 24 discreet tracks at the same time and then play them back at the same time with plugins? How many plugins? (Tell me what you have actually achieved.)

My current PC (PII 350) obviously can't cut it so I need to put dollars into a new PC or standalone. The PC flexibility and scaleability seems hard to beat.

Two other questions:

1. Do the Lexicon reverb plugins sound as good as their outboard boxes? Any difference?

2. What hardware is recommended for 24 in and 24 out (to and from SONAR)? I'm wanting quality on par with the a/d/a converters in the MACKIE MDR 24/96 or the TASCAM MX 2424.

[Darnold]

i noticed most people dont reply when you are talking about PCs around here. 24 tracks of recording does not take much with modern computers. Its the effects that really put up the load on the drives. This all of course depends on what other things you are using your computer for, and also how optimized it is. My studio is using a PIII 800 MGz with 256M RAM, 2 ATA100 7200RPM drives. With that i can easily record and playback 24 tracks, but when i start to use alot of effects, thats what starts the system loads.

Darnold

[Geeheeb]

Originally posted by Darnold
i noticed most people dont reply when you are talking about PCs around here. 24 tracks of recording does not take much with modern computers. Its the effects that really put up the load on the drives. This all of course depends on what other things you are using your computer for, and also how optimized it is. My studio is using a PIII 800 MGz with 256M RAM, 2 ATA100 7200RPM drives. With that i can easily record and playback 24 tracks, but when i start to use alot of effects, thats what starts the system loads.

Darnold

Get more RAM while its still cheap.

I'd recommend getting a dual processor computer with Win2000. Its the best for SONAR. Put 1 Gig of RAM in there, and check out the new Western Digital 100 gig drives with the 8MB cache. I've been looking into this a lot recently, and this is some "can't lose" stuff, IMO.

check out http://www.tyan.com/products/html/tigermp.html that.

[everett_chris]

yup. Most any new PC (with decent disk) can record and play back 24 tracks, but plug-ins will eat processor like mad. If your software supports windows 2000 and dual processors, I'd go that route to get max plug in count. Reverb is a very processor intensive plug-in, so you might want to stick to external boxes for that job.