Nuc Pc, Anyone got any thoughts? Options

[Phil66]

Cool

I ordered it five times I kept on panicking and taking it out of the basket

This post has been edited by Phil66: Aug 19 2019, 09:15 AM

[Todd Simpson]

Sorted!

Well, it's ordered. My current laptop came with a 256ssd but I put a 500gb Evo in so I'll swap that back and use the 500gb EVO in my new one as storage. Hopefully their aftersales is as good as their pre-sales, not always the case but we'll see. They do seem on the ball though. Glad I went with them, check out their audio section https://www.scan.co.uk/shop/music-and-pro-audio


3XS Scan Performance 17" - Studio Laptop (No Thunderbolt) - Pre Order
LN64660*3XS LOGO* 16GB Kingston USB3 Pendrive for Windows Recovery Media
LN91305 2 x*3XS Only* 16GB Module DDR4 SODIMM 2666Mhz C18 VENGEANCE
LN563803XS 17" AUDIO LAPTOP - NO FW
LN853373XS Microsoft H17-10001 GML Win Logo
LN619093XS System Build
LN715403XS Systems 7 Day Technical Support
LN860903XS Welcome Pack
LN86912Included with your new 3XS system
LN95872Samsung 970 EVO PLUS 500GB M.2 PCIe High Performance NVMe SSD/Solid State Drive
LN97452NH70RAQ 17.3" (FHD/ WVA / N7/ 144HZ) I7-9750H GTX 1650 4GB RGB KEYBOARD INTEL 9260AC+BT COMBO wi-fi
LN46869Scan 3XS Laptop - Build, Config & Test
LN46859Scan 3XS laptop warranty, 1st year C&R all parts, 2nd year RTB excl screen, battery and HDD
LN55098System
LN66206Windows 10 Professional DPK FQC-08797
£1313.92

[Phil66]

32gb ram is overkill by its better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

I blew the budget by around £200 but that always happens. It was a budget in the head rather than necessity so I'm happy and it should last me a while now.

UPDATE:

Just my luck, had an email, the shipment of chassis is held up, they are waiting for a container load of chassis via ship and it will be middl of September. I can wait but you know what us blokes are like, I want it NOW

This post has been edited by Phil66: Aug 19 2019, 08:15 PM

[Mertay]

Any info where its shipping from?

OT but I heard because of Brexit companies in Turkey which export to England are working overtime to supply demand. I guess if Brexit goes bad there's some expectation shipment from other countries might be problematic for a while there.

[Phil66]

Any info where its shipping from?

OT but I heard because of Brexit companies in Turkey which export to England are working overtime to supply demand. I guess if Brexit goes bad there's some expectation shipment from other countries might be problematic for a while there.

OT?

The shop is coming from Taiwan buddy. I can wait, the company seem very good and these things do happen.

Cheers

[Mertay]

OT?

The shop is coming from Taiwan buddy. I can wait, the company seem very good and these things do happen.

Cheers

"out of topic", good just wanted to give a heads-up cause of this brexit thing.

[Todd Simpson]

Believe it or not 32GB is the new spec for higher end production laptops. I've got 16gb in mine and that's all it will take. I did splurge for the 1tb ssd which I've been glad about every day I've owned the machine. However, it's only got one internal drive so having the extra storage internal has been a huge help. All my apps launch quick, renders are faster when written to the ssd, everything is faster. It transformed a 12 year old machine in to a fire breathnig monster that I've used for HD Video and multi track audio without a hitch for several years now. It's only a quad i7, but it's been solid as a rock and it's still my main production computer.

I bought an macbook air as a backup unit, 8ggb ram 128 ssd with dual core i5 and WOW does is feel sluggish compared to my main laptop. Rendering HD video is sloooooooow but it does does LOGIC X just fine with real time audio guitar plugins.. The Macbook Air was only $300. For anyone looking for a cheap alternative to a pricey laptop, I'd say grab a 2012 i5/8gb ram/128ssd for a fe hundred bucks and put LOGIC X on it. Runs the Helix native Plugin flawlessly, and OVERLOUD with zero lack. It's able too run the same buffer setting as my other laptop. So it makes a killer backup laptop for way cheap.


Todd

32gb ram is overkill by its better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

I blew the budget by around £200 but that always happens. It was a budget in the head rather than necessity so I'm happy and it should last me a while now.

UPDATE:

Just my luck, had an email, the shipment of chassis is held up, they are waiting for a container load of chassis via ship and it will be middl of September. I can wait but you know what us blokes are like, I want it NOW

[Phil66]

It's getting closer, is there somewhere that explains buffering in kid's terms?

Cheers

Phil

[Mertay]

It's getting closer, is there somewhere that explains buffering in kid's terms?

For lowest latency, you set the buffer value (can be set from soundcard settings) as low as possible. If too low then it will make crackle noises, to fix it simply try a higher buffer value. Low buffer settings downside is then it demands more cpu power, so ideally if you're recording guitar nothing more than a guitar plug-in (without a crowded chain) is ideal.

So after we do the recording and want to add more fx, mix a song etc. we increase the buffer size to help cpu demand. Basically we do this when low latency isn't needed and we're not recording anything but only adjusting stuff.

[Phil66]

Thanks Mertay,

Do what exactly does a buffer do? Does it act like a dam stockpiling data until the cpu is ready?

Cheers

[Todd Simpson]

block size in reaper is something you set in order to get a workable balance between latency and a functional DAW. Set it to low for your computer, and you get odd sounds/clicks/etc. if you Set it too high, you get way to much latency when recording and using plugins. Here is a screen grab. It's called BLOCK SIZE in reaper, there is a little box to type in a number, and most folks start around 512 and then start cutting it in half and half again etc. until they hit the sweet spot. With a fast rig, you can take it down to 32 and be just fine. See how low you can get it once your new rig arrives. The sample rate is something else. It's "Samples per Second" or how many times per second the software creates a "sample" of the audio. I'm set at 48k (48,0000 samples per second) which is pretty common, 44.1khz is the standard CD sampling rate and was the standard sampling rate in many DAWs for ages. These days, you may hear about sampling rates as high as 192khz. This is a bit of overkill since everything gets squashed/truncated/butchered when it gets encoded for streaming. That's why it's a good idea to preview your audio files on whatever you use to share them. E.G. Checking the sound on a youtube vid before sharing it. Same for Instagram etc. It's very easy to get very bad sounding audio on streaming platforms if one isn't careful.

Thanks Mertay,

Do what exactly does a buffer do? Does it act like a dam stockpiling data until the cpu is ready?

Cheers

This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Aug 31 2019, 04:07 AM

[Phil66]

Thanks Todd, it's something I don't worry about at the moment as I'm hardware based but I do want to try helix native, I love the Helix and the simplicity of the ui but I don't need the pedal on the floor, if it works ill sell the board then I'll probably get a floor controller for Native We'll see though, I seem to be super sensitive to latency, I wish my ears were as sensitive to pitch.

UPDATE: Still need the floor unit for when I go through my amp, unless there is a way to send Native through.

This post has been edited by Phil66: Aug 31 2019, 08:45 PM

[Todd Simpson]

If you use native, your monitors become your amp. It's as if you had your amp in another room with a nice microphone on it, and your using your monitors to hear it as you would in a real production studio. I do love using plugins for recording, but I do still use my ampero for practice as it's hooked directly to my monitors since it's also an audio interface.

I still have my rack with the 11 and the tube superlead preamp and the4x12 but I only use it now and again for guest solo stuff. It's certainly too much gear to lug about.

Thanks Todd, it's something I don't worry about at the moment as I'm hardware based but I do want to try helix native, I love the Helix and the simplicity of the ui but I don't need the pedal on the floor, if it works ill sell the board then I'll probably get a floor controller for Native We'll see though, I seem to be super sensitive to latency, I wish my ears were as sensitive to pitch.

UPDATE: Still need the floor unit for when I go through my amp, unless there is a way to send Native through.

[Phil66]

That's how I use my Helix now, through my monitors but I do sometimes go through my amp. There's something organic about an amp.

Also, I can't get my monitors to sound like my Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue even with Chad Boston's "Amp in room" ir/cab block. Maybe I could if I spent a long time, but with Helix on same settings as the actual amp in the room, not the same sound, similar but not the same. I guess the monitor cabinets, speaker cones, size, location etc are completely different to the amp's.

One day I'm gonna take that Fender into another room and mic it up to see if I can get a match without Chad Boston's block. So many variables though and I only have an SM57.

Cheers

[Todd Simpson]

There are sonic differences to be sure Take the amp and mic it up and put it in a closet or something to reduce bleed and see how it sounds through your monitors. It won't sound like the amp does when it's 2 feet from you more then likely. Whatever your using as monitors may lack the low frequency response of your amp. Adding a subwoofer may get you a bit closer. Still, some folks just prefer having an amp

That's how I use my Helix now, through my monitors but I do sometimes go through my amp. There's something organic about an amp.

Also, I can't get my monitors to sound like my Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue even with Chad Boston's "Amp in room" ir/cab block. Maybe I could if I spent a long time, but with Helix on same settings as the actual amp in the room, not the same sound, similar but not the same. I guess the monitor cabinets, speaker cones, size, location etc are completely different to the amp's.

One day I'm gonna take that Fender into another room and mic it up to see if I can get a match without Chad Boston's block. So many variables though and I only have an SM57.

Cheers

[Phil66]

Well after the delay in the chassis shipment it's finally ready. Had notification that it's been built, had the 24 hour test cycle, passed all QC test and is being shipped today.

I'm not going to rush to get it in to my set up, I'm going to install minimum software and delete anything I don't need, then I'll plug it into my system.

[Todd Simpson]

good things come to those whoo wait they say I''m sure you have already got a backup plan to create a disk image of the main partition so that you can restore it should you run in to a problem. God knows having a recovery boot drive has saved me countless hours of reinstalling from scratch.

One thing I'm also sure your aware of but merits a mention for those not aware is to turn OFF WINDOWS UPDATE or it can bone your entire rig overnight. Same with mac update actually.
Todd

Well after the delay in the chassis shipment it's finally ready. Had notification that it's been built, had the 24 hour test cycle, passed all QC test and is being shipped today.

I'm not going to rush to get it in to my set up, I'm going to install minimum software and delete anything I don't need, then I'll plug it into my system.

[Phil66]

Thanks Todd,

Well it's here and it's a beast. They have left all of the burn-in test results and everything like that on the desktop for viewing. I got a separate box with a mug, a lovely big mouse mat that is very high quality, it will make a great backdrop for small ebay items I got an A4 size hard(ish) plastic A4 wallet with full build details and QC reports. It's a great bit of kit, glad I waited and the big kid in me loved the way the keyboard scrolled through various colours when booting

I'm currently syncing what I need from my OneDrive account, then I'll remove any software I don't need and hopefully, by the weekend it will be integrated into my system. Just need to check all usb connections as I think at least one is C so may have to get some cables. I've upgraded my USB switcher, I have a powered USB 3.0 hub which hasn't ever given a problem even with my Helix going through it which they say is a big NO NO. That was going through an old USB 2.0 switcher which was obviously a bottleneck.

Why do you say to switch off Windows Update?

Cheers

Phil

This post has been edited by Phil66: Sep 18 2019, 09:06 PM

[Todd Simpson]

Typically, for any audio production rig, one turns off auto updates for the simple reason that one random system update can cause various parts of your computer to no longer function properly in terms of software/hardware that you use for audio productions. E.G. Windows runs and update, you sit down and turn on your daw and all of the suddent you get a few pop up warnings that your existing libraries are no longer compatible. Or one of your fave plugins will no longer load. Etc.

When a system update is released, it's a good idea to google it to see if people are having issues rleated to audio production. In pro studios updates are often done on schedule a few months behind release to allow for bug fixes and to allow time to find out what the release might break.
Then again, in pro studios the main production computer is often set as a 'stand alone"(no active connection to the internet) so that it can't get infected from the internet/web, and can't accidently update itself and break itself right before a session. A machine can still be connected to another machine via ethernet for the purpose of backup/restore, without being on the web.

However, in most home studios, the main production rig is also the main rig in genearl for games/email/brosing etc.

I don't run my main rig "Stand Alone" as I am online too often with GMC etc. So I'm very careful about updates. I have updates set to download but not install. I research each update carefully before I install it.



Todd

Thanks Todd,

Well it's here and it's a beast. They have left all of the burn-in test results and everything like that on the desktop for viewing. I got a separate box with a mug, a lovely big mouse mat that is very high quality, it will make a great backdrop for small ebay items I got an A4 size hard(ish) plastic A4 wallet with full build details and QC reports. It's a great bit of kit, glad I waited and the big kid in me loved the way the keyboard scrolled through various colours when booting

I'm currently syncing what I need from my OneDrive account, then I'll remove any software I don't need and hopefully, by the weekend it will be integrated into my system. Just need to check all usb connections as I think at least one is C so may have to get some cables. I've upgraded my USB switcher, I have a powered USB 3.0 hub which hasn't ever given a problem even with my Helix going through it which they say is a big NO NO. That was going through an old USB 2.0 switcher which was obviously a bottleneck.

Why do you say to switch off Windows Update?

Cheers

Phil

[Phil66]

Cheers for the advice, I need to be connected but I will turn off auto updates.