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-- need a good daw builders guide...

need a good daw builders guide...

recently, i was at a store w/a friend. i went w/him to pick something up... we were checking out some gear, and stuff... then next thing i know i walk out of the store w/the komplete 3/kore bundle... now i need to build a computer to use it.

the main focus of this pc will be music. primarily as a sound source, and a recorder. -possibly as sequencer too. i will also be running dj'ing software in the future also.

the secondary focus will be on web design and graphics. i will also be using the computer to surf the web, so i will be running anti virus, firewall, ad removal stuff on it too...

any good guides on motherboard/hardware selection that someone can recommend for daw people/musicians/producers?

most of the stuff i see is directed at gamers, or office people...

the toughie for me is figuring which motherboard to use.

i was looking at picking up a m2n32-sli from fry's. i've been seeing some people running this board in their set up. i have also been reading from other daw people that sli boards should be avoided like the plague. also, since i'm planning to do some designing, is a board w/sli important to me as a non-gamer?

are the boards by gigabyte good for what i want to do? any recomendations? i have about 1k-1.2k to spend on the processor/motherboard combo, tower, cooling, RAM, 2 hd's, and video card.

i'm looking for a board that will be able to accomodate up to 4gigs of RAM. i think my current budget will only allow for 2gigs for the time being. that's fine, i can add more later. i'm also willing to skimp on the video card for the time being to get this computer up and running ASAP... i'm going nuts just looking at the software just sitting there doing nothing... i must tweak it now!

i know i'm gonna go w/an AMD dual core. i already have an emu1212m. as for outboard gear, i will be using my O2R for mixing, and effects processing. my DA-88's will handle the multi-track recording.

ooohhhhh mmaaannnn... this is the first time in about 7-8 yrs that i have actually considered using a computer for creating music... up until my friend showed me what he was able to do w/logic 7, i have been completely against using a computer in the music making processe after all the nightmares i had w/win 98 back in the late 90's that made me stick w/the hardware route exclusively.

thanks in advance...

Re: need a good daw builders guide...

I wrote a post on this recently in this forum and one on Gearslutz as well (that one had full system spec recommendations)... I'm sure it'll show up if you search for it If you can't find it, let me know and I'll try to find the links.

Not going to repeat myself too much here, just have one comment though:

quote:

Originally posted by sr126 i know i'm gonna go w/an AMD dual core.

Why on earth would you wanna do that? There is no justification whatsoever to stay away from the new Conroes from Intel (i.e. the E6700).
They are A LOT faster, just as reliable, use less power, produce less heat (means easier to get rid of noise from cooling fans) and overclocks insanely well.
The are cheap as well.

I've been an AMD user for many years, then made the switch to Intel Pentium 4 - and regretted it as hell... But now Intel strikes back - with a vengeance!

Anyway, one more comment, if you are considering using the pc as a sequencer as well to trigger outboard gear, synths etc. you definately wanna look deep into midi devices before buying one. I've tested quite a few during the years and most of them made it impossible to use my external synths for anything but pads (because of timing, jitter, latency etc.).
However, I've seen two setups with perfect midi timing; if you are using Logic then the answer is AMT8 (or Unitor) and if you're on a pc with Cubase, then the answer would be Midex8. Both of the products are using their own proprietary protocol to make sure midi events arrive on exactly the correct time. And it really works. I'm one happy camper with my Midex right now. Unfortunately these products have been discontinued (not sure about the Midex though), so you'll have to look for them second hand.

Regards

rivalman has a big point in the CPU-discussion.
I've also been an AMD fanboy for years and years (had one intel, never again! that was like 12 years ago)

But the next buy I'm doing is a Core2Duo for shure! (unless AMD strikes back with even more vengance until then) :P

Re: Re: need a good daw builders guide...

quote:

Originally posted by RivalMan I wrote a post on this recently in this forum and one on Gearslutz as well (that one had full system spec recommendations)... I'm sure it'll show up if you search for it If you can't find it, let me know and I'll try to find the links. Not going to repeat myself too much here, just have one comment though: Why on earth would you wanna do that? There is no justification whatsoever to stay away from the new Conroes from Intel (i.e. the E6700). They are A LOT faster, just as reliable, use less power, produce less heat (means easier to get rid of noise from cooling fans) and overclocks insanely well. The are cheap as well. I've been an AMD user for many years, then made the switch to Intel Pentium 4 - and regretted it as hell... But now Intel strikes back - with a vengeance! Anyway, one more comment, if you are considering using the pc as a sequencer as well to trigger outboard gear, synths etc. you definately wanna look deep into midi devices before buying one. I've tested quite a few during the years and most of them made it impossible to use my external synths for anything but pads (because of timing, jitter, latency etc.). However, I've seen two setups with perfect midi timing; if you are using Logic then the answer is AMT8 (or Unitor) and if you're on a pc with Cubase, then the answer would be Midex8. Both of the products are using their own proprietary protocol to make sure midi events arrive on exactly the correct time. And it really works. I'm one happy camper with my Midex right now. Unfortunately these products have been discontinued (not sure about the Midex though), so you'll have to look for them second hand. Regards

can you link me to some of the posts pls? maybe i just suck at searching...

thanks for mentioning the conroe, seriously, i never knew it existed... <=-o)

but the E6700 is a little out my price range. also, i was able to get a killer deal on an amd x2 and mobo combo that pretty much amounted to a free enermax liberty power supply... so i went w/that.

also, my current computer is an amd athalon 1.15ghz w/1gig ram... just about anything will be an insane upgrade for me right about now...

thanks for mentioning the midi device thingy... i totally forgot about that. the Midex8 is discontinued... what's your opinion of MOTU. my neighbor is using a MOTU, but he moved to mac... i think he was using a MOTU piece for his old pc set up, i can't remember, i'll have to ask.

i probably will be using cubase... maybe the old logic 5.x who knows, i will have dabble w/them and see what i like.

i have always liked acid, really easy to use for me... but i can't stand the fact i can't step record w/it like i can w/the mpc. it's a pain in the rear to program a loop in the mpc, then sample it on to computer then edit to be able to use it in acid. step recording is of uptmost importance for me... music notation would rock my world too.

shame we can't logic 7.x on pc, that thing is nuts, and it's the main reason why i'm interesed in building a PC for music...

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