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building the machine
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___squidbyte
Old Forum Member
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Posted : Dec 17, 2001 19:09:41
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i got a very pleasant xmas bonus this year so i plan to outfit myself with a quality PC! now i'm wondering what is best for the sound-maker's system... so i begin this thread to initialize discussion on the topic of computer hardware in relation to music production!
i would appreciate recommendations on motherboards, CPUs, ram, hard drive types [i know that there are kinds that are better for cubase and HD-reading!], and especially SOUND CARDS... whats the best?
anyhow, thanks and i hope people can learn something from the collective knowledge of the experienced users here..! |
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___Cyber_Punk
Old Forum Member
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Posted : Dec 17, 2001 19:14:30
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As for computer, take Intel P IV, with motherboard that supports RDRAM(not SDRAM) For example Garibaldi.
Memory 256MB of RDRAM at least.
Hard Disk, 7200 RPM a must !
Video - GeForce2 (if you can, take GeForce3)
Sound Card - don't know... Do you want professional or consumer type ?
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___PROSECT
Old Forum Member
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Posted : Dec 17, 2001 20:17:05
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don't buy pentium 4, buy some amd processor (athalon)... |
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___squidbyte
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Posted : Dec 17, 2001 21:26:41
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i was thinking of going with an AMD athlon with at least 512 megs of ram, a good HD... most of my unknowing has to do with the sound cards. i've been reading up all day... seems like most pros use the echo products or creamware pulsar? |
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___Jerusalem
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Posted : Dec 17, 2001 23:47:07
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cpu - Pentium 4 1400Mhz and up
ram - 384Mb and up
h.drive - 7200RPM / scsii
s.card - Delta66(half profesional) / pro tools(frofesional)
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___Trip-
Old Forum Member
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Posted : Dec 17, 2001 23:52:28
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ok - so here we go again - but this time I will make a complete liste of explanations included :)
IMHO this would make a very powerfull machine:
CPU: AMD AthlonXP (all the models) better the last one 1900+ for now.
Motherboard: AMD 761 or VIA KT266 based motherboards such as: Gygabyte (they allways have new models), Asus (A7V266 or A7M266) and other brands... AMD chipset is considered the best chipset to handle DDR DIMMs - so it is taking most advantage of the memory speed.
Memory: 512Mb DDR SDRAM minimum. ny kind - Hynix or Kingston.
HardDrive: For sound editing it's better to have a SCSI UWIDE3 harddrive which is a very high speed harddrive - as Seagate Cheetah or Fujitsu. (don't buy IBM - they just suck) Western Digital SCSI might be ok also. for this you'll need a good fast PCI SCSI card - the latest from Adaptec - need to check their site - one that supports UWIDE 3.
You can also have the regular IDE/ATA100 7200RPM(better 10000RPM) which is fast also - though it's IDE 80-wire cable - Maxtor or Quantum or Seagate or Western Digital are all well...and you won't need a SCSI PCI card for it.
Graphic Card: VEry important also - for letting the card do all the graphic stuff so the CPU will rest from this - when working in window we just need a very good 2D acceleration cards like:
Riva TNT2 - which chipset can be found on various of cards.
another VERY good 2D accelaration is Maxtor 450G and 550G cards -with 32MB DDR oncard. you can find Elsa a pro graphic card also, I don't knwo about the model just now - but it's not so hard to find the right one for 2d. (remember these are not cards for 3D games - although they can support 3D also).
and now for the soundcard - Alot of ppl here can help you getting the best soundcard you'll need.
Yes Creamware Luna and Pulsar are pretty much Pro - M-Audio cards are very good also.
There's whole variately of them and I could even give you a whole list now - but I leave it for the fellas here :)
anyway, there are important points to remember:
you need a good reliable motherboard so it will work with every PCI hardware and AGP you'd want to work it with.
it's very important that your soundcard and graphic card and SCSI card will work perfect together.
if you want to buy a CD-RW also - it's good to keep it on IDE with the CD-ROM - that way nothing will interrupt the HD :)
the last important thing but not least is the OS - which now i think WINdows98SE is best, some say it's ME or XP - which I doubt alot , but who am I right ?
check every little detail out and to be honset with you, Pentium IV reaches 2Ghz when AthlonXP 1900+ reaches only 1.6Ghz - and it's proven in alot of tests that the AthlonXP eats the Pentium anyway.
hope I gave you enough info - ask if something not understood correctly...
Trip- |
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___Trip-
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Posted : Dec 17, 2001 23:55:41
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sorry for amistake -I"m tired -but the 2D graphic card mentioned is Matrox - not Maxtor (which is a HD)
sorry... |
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___Maxim_Kai.
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Posted : Dec 18, 2001 02:03:34
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Philip - did you ever count how much that shit costs? :) |
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___bilbobagginz
Old Forum Member
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Posted : Dec 18, 2001 14:35:20
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it's a very vast topic, your question
you need to learn what exists, and what you prefer in what exists. after this you can simply take your budget and spare it in the most efficient way.
for as far as i noticed there's 2 separate streams in electronic music:
"virtuals" - the guys/girls who don't care to draw the melody with the mouse, they prefer less space for the equipment - the better.if everything is done in the PC - the best.
and the
"hands-on" guys/girls - those who need to press keys, see the instruments, touch them with hands.
they use the computer only as the recording/mixing tool.
the complete electronic sound is diffirent mixtures of each of these 2.
if you wanna go for the 1st approach - you need a really fast CPU, tons of RAM, and a DSP card
fast CPU - 15Ghz and higher, RAM - 512 and above
and lots of softwares - they are your tools.
DSP cards like Creamware's Pulsar/Luna, or Kyma5(don't remember the company).
check the prices easily, and you'll understand pulsar is better than kyma, and much cheaper.
it isn't a bad ide to buy a dual-monitors graphic card - one for the arrange, another for the Virtual instruments.
now for the "hands-on"
you use the pc as recorder. therefore you need a really large and fast HD, better ultra wide SCSI HD, CPU can be slower than 1G.
the audio card better be multi I/O in high quality - check brands like:
MOTU, Digidesign, Aardwark, Echo,Midiman, Hoontech.
besides this the "hands on" approach needs you to invest in hardware equipment - mixers, multi effects, analog/"virtual analog" synths/ keyboards, MIDI hubs etc. which cost more money.
and of course in the end, in order to make your sound clean and exactly the way you meant it , you need to monitor it with a pair of good active monitors.
it is obvious that virtual way is more money friendly... e.g. because if you buy all the softwares it will cost you less than all of the hardwares...
hmm for now, choose the approach, and we can proceed to the prices ;)
bom
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___squidbyte
Old Forum Member
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Posted : Dec 18, 2001 16:39:16
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thus far my interests in building this machine is dual purpose: on one hand i want something sweet for my graphical applications but i wouldn't say that requires anything too fancy that i don't know about [i work in the graphics industry already]... but aside from that i have my luvly virus kb and hope to have a machine good enough to control it. now, i'm probably getting into this whole synth thing with a lot of misconceptions but my main aim is to have the kb to fiddle with and do most of the rest on the computer [since buying this machine is probably the only big hardware purchase i'll make for the next 6 months]...
in all my research, one big question pertaining to sound cards has arisen... i see that many people use darla24, gina24 etc - but these cards/boxes come with no midi in. what is the normal piece of equipment to accomplish the midi connection with the computer if not the sound card? or, when artists are using those brands of cards, do they control with something other than the computer?
er, ya.. i know all these topics of interest are broad and none-too-defined... nonetheless, all these answers are 10x as helpful as any web page i've found, so thanks already :) |
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___bilbobagginz
Old Forum Member
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Posted : Dec 18, 2001 17:58:46
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hmm... let's put things right:
sound card = non pro (referred as "crappy") sound + 1 or more gameports;
audio card = pro sound (2 or more audio ins/outs), no midi/gameports (only as an addition);
midi card = no sound, only midi in/out/through as many as possible...
if you're into "Echo" - Layla24 has MIDI in/out through (according to the specs, never held it in hands), but there's a great M-audio Delta series, somehow in israel known as "semi-pro" for unknown reason ( i guess decent price made people suspicious).
there's also a great system called Aark24 (or something like this) - it too works nice.
for midi ports you can get a pci/usb midi card (within 200-300 shek i think) or use your soundcard's gameport. and for controlling your virus, it's enough to have a celeron 500mhz :)
the midi control is really easy to do.
now for the whole system - RDRAM is nice and fast, but expensive. 2G intel CPU is nice, yet still.... you don't need these Ghz for breaking RSA2 128bit encryption keys ( or maybe you do :) ), and the last:
the P.C. (with windowz), in any way, whatever you do - anyways will still give you hard time on this or that, so if you do buy it, buy the minimum you really need with a little security coefficient, and spare money on the equipment that doesn't fail - monitors, amplifiers, synths, etc. ahh .. don't forget to get a UPS :)
it's a real bummer to change harddisk because of power supply... especially if it is with your last 10 unfinished tracks.
bom
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___951
Old Forum Member
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Posted : Dec 18, 2001 18:20:12
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MUST CHECK soundcard named RME greatest sound and convertors+all in/out you can ask for THE BEST value per money at the moment, BETTER sound then echo products by deffinition. |
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___MichaelA
Old Forum Member
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Posted : Dec 18, 2001 19:38:53
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I say get Delta 66 and Windows ME :-) |
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___bilbobagginz
Old Forum Member
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Posted : Dec 19, 2001 01:31:04
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RME cards are great indeed (and also are fully supported under linux :) , like Deltas )
bom
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