Topic: Help building Audio PC (INTEL)

[Zee]

Now that I have decided to go 24 bit I need to build a DAW. Can anyone point me to a place for some basic dos and don’ts or FAQs. Recommended audio cards, CPU speed, software, what dvd burners yall like, media, anything to get me in the right direction.  

Thanks,
Zee

[kindms]

I can throw my .02 in. Any P4 will handle the job. It really comes down to how long YOU consider a long wait when you are adding gain or dithering etc. For example my P4 2.4 will add gain to a 90 minutes 24/48 file in about 4-5 minutes. My P4 1.8 will do the same but take about 10minutes to do. Its all realative.

I would get at least 1GB of RAM. It is so inexpensive these days anyway.

Soundcard - get something Bit perfect. Stay away from Creative products. I run an ESI Waveterminal 192X and I love it. There are a ton of posts about soundcards in the forums. DVD burners there are a lot of posts covering this as well. Just do a search. I have a plextor and havent had any issues at all.

The biggest expense when it comes to PC's is Video Cards. If you dont plan on gaming on this PC then you can go economy on that and save a goiod amount. Dont skimp on the Mobo

[Zee]

What chip set are you running? Does anyone have a preference for Audio?
Ill probably just go with the 925 since its the new one.

[hyperplane]

as for PC hardware, a good site to read up on is TomsHardware.com... very useful info, at least with the Benchmark tests they do on different MoBo chipsets for video and audio processing type work.

[rerem]

A DAW does not need gamer type power/speed BUT should run quiet. Quiet=cool. A cool running system needs less fan rpms. That makes the Athlon 64 Venice 3000 a real sweet chip. I like the ECS FN1 Extreme mobo-why? very state of the art AND one pci slot is especilly CLEAN signal for a high end soundcard. It is an N-Force 4 mobo-and so there is a fairly loud chipset fan you will want to remove. The chipset heatsink minus fan is okay if you do NOT overclock and have decent ventilaation. Check Newegg for your parts great source. Samsung spinpoint SATA 2 HD,fast+quiet. Artic Cooling Silentium Case. Zalman,or Artic Cooling CPU heatsink...lok for low rpm.

I think the esi Juli@ replaced the Waveterminal,Zzounds.com has them,Newegg has M-Audio's line,nice price on multichannel. Vid card should be a FANLESS. The ECS mobo is pci-express so a basic pci-e Radeon is a good pick. Go to SilentPC Review.com for a zillion silencing ideas,such as mounting HD's The Silentium case already gives a nice low noise layout. Samsung Spinright HD's generally are in 120 or 160 gb. 160 is a lot,but if you intend to do video,get 2. My Lite-On has been a solid CD burner so I'd recommend the Lite-On 16x Double-Layer DVD burner at newegg,it does CDs at 48x,ALL formats of DVD + CD

[rerem]

Just realized your post says Intel...You already have an Intel board? CPU? or mean a Windows as opposed to a Mac?  The A64's run a lot cooler than Pentiums,and the "Cool+Quiet feature lowers power when demand is low-which means even less heat,and so the fan then runs slower,or even will stop at times. You can be very quiet-AND powerful. When fine tuning music files you want no excess puter noise.

 If you do not already have one,find a decent Stereo Amp,speakers, Don't rely on "computer" speakers. You can find a nice older reciever or amp,some speakers,CHEAP at yardsales.

[Zee]

Just realized your post says Intel...You already have an Intel board? CPU? or mean a Windows as opposed to a Mac?  The A64's run a lot cooler than Pentiums,and the "Cool+Quiet feature lowers power when demand is low-which means even less heat,and so the fan then runs slower,or even will stop at times. You can be very quiet-AND powerful. When fine tuning music files you want no excess puter noise.

 If you do not already have one,find a decent Stereo Amp,speakers, Don't rely on "computer" speakers. You can find a nice older reciever or amp,some speakers,CHEAP at yardsales.

Actualy  I bought a laptop nothing special but the HP pavilion zv6000. Athlon64 Im not running XP64 yet Im going to wait a little bit before I make that leap.

[rerem]

At this time,there really are no 64 bit apps,however an A 64 runs 32 bit stronger than P4's relative to the $ spent-and with less heat/noise. A laptop has the advantage of mobile direct recording. At some point you will want an external HD to store music files. You also can get high grade soundcards that are external USB-1,USB-2 or Firewire.  Even the most basic A 64 has the horsepower to do great audio processing,though an operation may take an extra second or 2.  A good sized 7200 rpm HD is a priority. Many Lappy HD's are a bit small and are low RPM. Get the full size HD,not the small/slower type that get power off the USB line. (bus powered)

[Zee]

At this time,there really are no 64 bit apps,however an A 64 runs 32 bit stronger than P4's relative to the $ spent-and with less heat/noise. A laptop has the advantage of mobile direct recording. At some point you will want an external HD to store music files. You also can get high grade soundcards that are external USB-1,USB-2 or Firewire.  Even the most basic A 64 has the horsepower to do great audio processing,though an operation may take an extra second or 2.  A good sized 7200 rpm HD is a priority. Many Lappy HD's are a bit small and are low RPM. Get the full size HD,not the small/slower type that get power off the USB line. (bus powered)

Yeah im done with this little project the laptop works great.