Music Pc, a more sensible spec |
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Music Pc, a more sensible spec |
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Apr 20 2012, 12:49 PM |
So I spec'd out my pc a while back and it was an I7 with 2xSSD 1x storage HD @7200rpm 16GB ram etc pretty high spec
My needs are now much more urgent and I'm thinking what is a more realistic spec that is usable for recording with a fair few hungry plugins (I could render the VST instrument tracks to save processing power) but that I could upgrade on at a later date. Where can I compromise 8Gb Ram 1 SSD 1x Storage and Plugin HD Where will the biggest savings be? -------------------- My SoundCloud
Gear Tyler Burning Water 2K Burny RLG90 with BK Emeralds Fender US Tele with BK Piledrivers Epiphone 335 with Suhr Thornbuckers PRS SE Custom 24-08 Ax8 Fessenden SD10 PSG Quilter TT15 |
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Apr 20 2012, 01:47 PM |
Newegg.com all the way...
So I spec'd out my pc a while back and it was an I7 with 2xSSD 1x storage HD @7200rpm 16GB ram etc pretty high spec My needs are now much more urgent and I'm thinking what is a more realistic spec that is usable for recording with a fair few hungry plugins (I could render the VST instrument tracks to save processing power) but that I could upgrade on at a later date. Where can I compromise 8Gb Ram 1 SSD 1x Storage and Plugin HD Where will the biggest savings be? |
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Apr 20 2012, 01:56 PM |
Shipping and getting hit on import tax might negate any savings. I've been looking at a custom configuration from a company but might just take their parts list and put it together myself from a similar company to new egg in Eu
-------------------- My SoundCloud
Gear Tyler Burning Water 2K Burny RLG90 with BK Emeralds Fender US Tele with BK Piledrivers Epiphone 335 with Suhr Thornbuckers PRS SE Custom 24-08 Ax8 Fessenden SD10 PSG Quilter TT15 |
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Apr 20 2012, 11:54 PM |
Personally to save cash I would skip the SSD, they are crazy expensive, if you have a pc now use the main drive as the windows/OS drive, then toss something bigger as the secondary. The SSD typically helps the loading. I have a 120GB one and well... I love the speed of booting windows. But I just have windows loaded on it and I'm sitting at over half a drive used just for that. I have all my recording/games/music on a secondary drive and have no issues. But I would stick with the 16GB Ram, depending on the prices there. I know its around $10-20 difference from 8GB.
If you really want to save cash look into say a AMD FX-8150 (8-Core 3.60Ghtz) I know here in the states its $150ish for the chip. -------------------- Guitars:
Ibanez S770PB (Natural Flat) , Ibanez XPT700 (Chameleon) , Sterling J Richardson Signature , Squire IV Jazz Bass (Sunburst) Gear: Neural DSP Plugins My YouTube Page. |
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Apr 21 2012, 10:29 AM |
Look at this page.. http://www.shop-sonica.com/hushx58specs.cfm
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Apr 21 2012, 11:33 AM |
... Graphic card is the most important for me next, this is where it all ends up. Don't cheap out here if your into hardcore gaming or large graphical applications. It's the biggest bang for your buck, getting the mid/high range (at least one down from the latest as that one is always overpriced). Aim for a good amount of graphics memory if planning on using large textures / high resolutions. ... If you are building a multi-purpose pc and want to use it for gaming then the graphics card is important. If you really will only use this pc for music then you can compromise on the graphics card as audio pcs do not need a state of the art 3d. What you probably need to concentrate on is processor speed (dual core is fine), sufficient ram (8 is fine for 64 bit but a waste for 32), an OS/DAW hard disc plus separate, fast hd to stream audio i/o for samples/recording etc is great but you could just partition and put the lot on a single drive for now to save money. Solidstate - coud help save ram and load times but it's expensive at the mo and SSD can die after a lot of access. You should also think about passive cooling and sound insulation and spec a good tower case if you can. (A tower case is great for both adding stuff at a later date but can also help with airflow and therefore cooling.) In addition you also need to consider how you are going to interface your sound card - USB2 (or USB3 though there are very few cards that can use this just yet), or FW, or an internal AD/DA with AES/EBU or lightpipe or similar. Compromises on your soundcard/interface here will ultimately compromise your daw. A good cdr is a must and you also need a dvd drive. Lightscribe etc are gimicky and don't help the quality. You also need to consider what OS you will use - many daws and vsts/is still have issues with 64 bit but regardless of this almost all will expect you to use the 'home premium' version of XP/Vista etc as a minimum. Check the recommended pc specs for the daw that you intend to use. -------------------- Get your music professionally mastered by anl AES registered Mastering Engineer. Contact me for Audio Mastering Services and Advice and visit our website www.miromastering.com
Be friends on facebook with us here. We use professional, mastering grade hardware in our mastering studo. Our hardware includes: Cranesong Avocet II Monitor Controller, Dangerous Music Liasion Insert Hardware Router, ATC SCM Pro Monitors, Lavry Black DA11, Prism Orpheus ADC/DAC, Gyratec Gyraf XIV Parallel Passive Mastering EQ, Great River MAQ 2NV Mastering EQ, Kush Clariphonic Parallel EQ Shelf, Maselec MLA-2 Mastering Compressor, API 2500 Mastering Compressor, Eventide Eclipse Reverb/Echo. |
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Apr 25 2012, 08:33 AM |
Definitely no gaming (I don't have the time)
Maybe Video editing if I get to a point with my music I need to do something visual. Windows 7 64 will be my OS of choice I will be use a drum program (EZ Drummer at the moment), Omnisphere and may look at Trillian for bass (or maybe just buy a bass) also a piano Vsti, which is why I thought 16Gb would be beneficial I have an M-audio Fasttrack Pro (I think that is just USB 1.0) which will do until I need to upgrade to better. And for now until i see a reason not to use it I'll keep using Reaper as my DAW program This post has been edited by PosterBoy: Apr 25 2012, 08:33 AM -------------------- My SoundCloud
Gear Tyler Burning Water 2K Burny RLG90 with BK Emeralds Fender US Tele with BK Piledrivers Epiphone 335 with Suhr Thornbuckers PRS SE Custom 24-08 Ax8 Fessenden SD10 PSG Quilter TT15 |
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Apr 25 2012, 09:55 AM |
Definitely no gaming (I don't have the time) Maybe Video editing if I get to a point with my music I need to do something visual. Windows 7 64 will be my OS of choice Don't think there's any real need for a state of the art video card then - so you can save money here. It's worth checking compatability as 64 bit can be problematic. QUOTE I will be use a drum program (EZ Drummer at the moment), Omnisphere and may look at Trillian for bass (or maybe just buy a bass) also a piano Vsti, which is why I thought 16Gb would be beneficial You'll probably be streaming samples with the Spectrasonics vstis so hard disc speed may need to be better than 5200RPM. Piano vstis tend to need a lot of layers to sound realistic so can gobble up ram but unless you have multiple instances of a vsti and lots of channels open at the same time 16Gig sounds like overkill to me. - Ozrob and The Uncreator will know more then me about this though. QUOTE I have an M-audio Fasttrack Pro (I think that is just USB 1.0) which will do until I need to upgrade to better. Check the spec - most USB i/o are at least 1.1 and have been for a few years. If it is USB 1.0 then it will have issues with latency - from memory latency on USB 1.0 is around 25ms and this is not measured by the daw. Again, if it is then I'd try and upgrade this asap. QUOTE And for now until i see a reason not to use it I'll keep using Reaper as my DAW program Reaper 64 is fine if you're happy with it - just check the compatability with the various vstis etc at 64 -------------------- Get your music professionally mastered by anl AES registered Mastering Engineer. Contact me for Audio Mastering Services and Advice and visit our website www.miromastering.com
Be friends on facebook with us here. We use professional, mastering grade hardware in our mastering studo. Our hardware includes: Cranesong Avocet II Monitor Controller, Dangerous Music Liasion Insert Hardware Router, ATC SCM Pro Monitors, Lavry Black DA11, Prism Orpheus ADC/DAC, Gyratec Gyraf XIV Parallel Passive Mastering EQ, Great River MAQ 2NV Mastering EQ, Kush Clariphonic Parallel EQ Shelf, Maselec MLA-2 Mastering Compressor, API 2500 Mastering Compressor, Eventide Eclipse Reverb/Echo. |
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Apr 25 2012, 12:48 PM |
Was that with DAB or Komplette type place Jonesy?
-------------------- My SoundCloud
Gear Tyler Burning Water 2K Burny RLG90 with BK Emeralds Fender US Tele with BK Piledrivers Epiphone 335 with Suhr Thornbuckers PRS SE Custom 24-08 Ax8 Fessenden SD10 PSG Quilter TT15 |
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Apr 25 2012, 12:50 PM |
OzRob - Much thanks, I just changed the pagefile size to half of what it was and gained 20gigs
-------------------- Guitars:
Ibanez S770PB (Natural Flat) , Ibanez XPT700 (Chameleon) , Sterling J Richardson Signature , Squire IV Jazz Bass (Sunburst) Gear: Neural DSP Plugins My YouTube Page. |
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