computer for daw...

[leech]

bros, i'm planning to get a new computer for my daw and these are my specs...:

Intel 820 (2.86) Dual core 800 MHz
Intel D945PLRNL PCI- E/S/L/SATA motherboard
Maxtor 200 gig SATA HDD / FIREWIRE
1 gig memory
INNO3D 6200 128 mb turbo cache
CREATIVE SB LIVE 24 BIT 5.1


1. will these specs be enough to run my presonus firepod?
2. about the soundcrad, is sb live suitable for recording?
3. what else would you suggest? (add or change in my computer)

comments and sugestions are welcome!

thanks!

[KitC]

Dude, you're in the states, right? Try to position yourself so that when Conroe comes out, you can easily make the transition. The Intel 945 chipset does not accept Conroe, the 955X and 975 chipsets are slated to accept Conroe.

The 8-series dual cores are ok to begin with. The 805 is the best for overclocking potential and is the cheapest, but 2.66 Ghz you do lose out a bit on stock speeds. The Conroe dual cores appear to be AMD beaters in terms of performance while heat emissions are practically the same as the Athlon 64s.

Always have 2 drives for your DAW, one system and the other data. And have suitable backup; dvd burners are almost dirt cheap now. Try to research which HDs have higher failure rates, last I read, some folks were disappointed with Maxtors (although the 80 gig Maxtor I have is chugging along just fine after 3 yrs).

Keep video down as much as possible, you're building a DAW, not a gaming machine. Introduce a high powered video card into the system and  watch it take over most of your cpu's bandwidth.

Lastly, you have a Firepod... so why the SB Live? Is the Live suitable for recording? Well... only if you don't intend to use it for serious recordings. You already got the Firepod, why step down?

[leech]

....

[jplacson]

I will speak up on my Maxtor experience... YES.  STAY AWAY FROM MAXTOR.

I had 3 drives (main, back-up, 2nd backup) fail on me all within 6 months of each other.  Drives were about 8months-2 years old.  That's not old at all considering MTBF is supposed to be at least 5 years.  I have Seagates chugging along fine at 7+ years.  I've since then switched to Seagate for ALL my drives... not a single problem since.

I now have 8 Seagates running... No problems so far.  Should've stuck with Seagate.

Maxtor's a slightly cheaper... but it isn't worth it... warranty will replace your drive (Maxtor replaced 2 of my drives that were under warranty) but it took 2 months to get a replacement.  Sheesh... not worth it.  They don't even offer data recovery for their defective drives.

I have one Maxtor left running in one of my systems... It's just the system drive so I don't care if it dies... just waiting for the day I get the "System disk not found" error or the "Maxtor Romulus" error.

I'll take a used Seagate over a new Maxtor any day.

[leech]

KitC Posted: 06-30-2006 11:51 AM    Post subject:  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Dude, you're in the states, right? Try to position yourself so that when Conroe comes out, you can easily make the transition. The Intel 945 chipset does not accept Conroe, the 955X and 975 chipsets are slated to accept Conroe.

The 8-series dual cores are ok to begin with. The 805 is the best for overclocking potential and is the cheapest, but 2.66 Ghz you do lose out a bit on stock speeds. The Conroe dual cores appear to be AMD beaters in terms of performance while heat emissions are practically the same as the Athlon 64s.

Always have 2 drives for your DAW, one system and the other data. And have suitable backup; dvd burners are almost dirt cheap now. Try to research which HDs have higher failure rates, last I read, some folks were disappointed with Maxtors (although the 80 gig Maxtor I have is chugging along just fine after 3 yrs).

Keep video down as much as possible, you're building a DAW, not a gaming machine. Introduce a high powered video card into the system and watch it take over most of your cpu's bandwidth.

Lastly, you have a Firepod... so why the SB Live? Is the Live suitable for recording? Well... only if you don't intend to use it for serious recordings. You already got the Firepod, why step down?
 

I'm here in the philippines already.... just arrived last sunday..  i'm really not updated with the latest in computers today...  but i guess  conroe is a type of processor? pins?  tama ba? hehe! so i guess i'll have to switch on 955x/975 chipstes...

which do you prefer? INTELS or AMD's? coz i noticed that some of you guys prefer AMD..... is it because they're more compatible with daws?

regarding HDD's, i'll probly get a 40 gig for the OS right? and burners i forgot to put on the list too...  

about the video card.... maybe 64mb will be just enough for daw.... yeah, and video cards take up alot of memory and bandwith....

BTW, what soundcard would you suggest i get? i'm really a newbie in daw so i dont have any idea what specs to get....    

thanks

[KitC]

I'm here in the philippines already.... just arrived last sunday..  i'm really not updated with the latest in computers today...  but i guess  conroe is a type of processor? pins?  tama ba? hehe! so i guess i'll have to switch on 955x/975 chipstes...

which do you prefer? INTELS or AMD's? coz i noticed that some of you guys prefer AMD..... is it because they're more compatible with daws?

You'll have a hard time getting 975s here. The only 955x I've seen so far was by ECS and I'm not fond of that brand. Yeh, Conroe is the upcoming processor that will give AMD a run for its money. I think the 775-based cores use pads instead of pins with the pins located in the cpu socket instead.

Comparatively, between P4's and Athlon 64's, AMD has the performance advantage as well as temperature advantage since P4s run HOT! The newer Conroe is touted to have the same temp specs as Athlon 64s with better performance. The X2 Athlons are a bit more expensive than their P4 counterparts but the Athlons perform much better. If there seems to be one thing Intel seems to be better at, it's video processing (not gaming tho, AMD is way better at that).

[leech]

oic, well i think im gonna have to consider AMD's too.... do athlons have the same speed as the dual cores? the reason why didnt consider AMD's before is because i had a DURON way back my college days which wasnt that durable.... it heats up really quick and tends to break down....  well i guess they'ved made changes on the newer AMD's now...

how about the soundcard? what woould you suggest?

[KitC]

I thought you have the Firepod na? Going from Firepod to a 'blaster is a downgrade, IMO. However, if you want to have sound for the occasional game, it's better to use the onboard sound na lang. You can get the SB Live if you want since it has EAX compatibility, but I wouldn't seriously consider a 'blaster for recording - kung pang-demo lang, pwede na.

Btw, most onboard firewire chipsets CAN work with the Firepod but check if it's Via first. I've read of some people who had onboard Via firewire and they couldn't get their firewire audio to work. Changing to a pci firewire card based on Texas Instrument chipsets worked perfectly for them. I think jplacson knows of some Lacie firewire cards here.

[abyssinianson]

I am actually going the Pentium D series 805 route for my new PC rig. After the machine is built, I will post review on how it works for DAW recording. My current machine is about 3-4 years old so I figured that its about a good time as any to upgrade. I've used ASUS boards for a long time so I chose the Asus P5WD2 Premium as my mobo choice. People have told me to go water cooling for the processor but I am not sure yet how I am going to cool this thing since I may also need to look into getting the cooling system for the BFG 7800 GT OC, the video card I am getting along with the system. From what I know as an ATI user, the 7800 can run pretty hot and noisy - both bad things for a DAW.

I will keep you all posted on how this unravels in the next month or so.

[KitC]

Hey abyss!

Nice choice on mobo and cpu... the video is cause for worry though, the GT series are notorious bus hogs, esp, the 7800. But Nvidia puts in less junk than ATI, I guess. I'm not especially fond of some of ATI's services like their Smart Key Poller, which I regularly disable.

With all that heat generated, any plans for water cooling?  All those fans might make quite a racket.

[abyssinianson]

yeah but as of right now, unless ATi releases something that can top the ability of the 7800 - which I hope they do because of the 7800's bus performance - this is the only video card with enough "juice" to power video editing, 3d design and gaming needs all in one package. i was going to with matrox but their cards have a bottle neck in their design that I am not too fond of. moreover, not very cards out there have dual DVI outputs for my LCD screens.

I really do hope that ATI has something out soon that performs with less load on the busses.

i will be looking more towards water cooling but i am still looking at more feasible alternatives because of algae growth issues, even with closed systems. I was looking at the Zalman reserator but even that unit has ambient hum that sounds louder than some fans. As a fix, I am looking at a PC iso case that some studies use for rackmount PCs and Mac G5s. I've seen some in studios around here but they are quite expensive for a home studio, consideirng that I can make one of these things with the proper blueprints.

I will keep you posted on how this project goes. In the meantime, can you suggest other video card choices? I built a PC for my cousin not too long ago with the NVidia 7600 which he seems to like well enough. It runs Fear at a very good setting and doesn't choke with Doom 3 even with heavy game play.

[leech]

sir abyssinianson, any updates?

[akosimic]

if im not mistaken, raimund marasigan used a sb gaming card for recording. kami naman we use sb live for a home studio. in fact, a band i used to manage used the same sb live to record an ep.

BTW, what soundcard would you suggest i get? i'm really a newbie in daw so i dont have any idea what specs to get....    

thanks

[jplacson]

First thing I ever recorded on...an SB Audigy.

I posted it in Soundclick before

http://www.soundclick.com/johnlacson

[bindoy]

First thing I ever recorded on...an SB Audigy.

I posted it in Soundclick before

http://www.soundclick.com/johnlacson

ganda ng summer rain(tama ba title)...makes me feel fine!!!!awww!!!

naalala ko banat nila joe sat and steve vai nun...

asteegg dre!!!


dre tanung ko lang...1) anu gear gamit mo dito sa paggawa? From Instruments --- To DAW's

tapos eto ang tanung ko talaga para sa thread na to...

sabi nyo kasi SB's ang ginamit nyong card dito...2)anu kaya???...may list ako sa PCexpress(barometer ko kasi ito para sa mga PC's ko dito sa office pero sa PCoptions gilmore talaga kami bili)

SB Live! 24-bit 5.1               -  1950
SB Audigy VAlue                 -  2250
SB Audigy 2 VAlue 7.1         - 3900
SB Audigy 4                        - 4300
SB Audigy 2 ZS 7.1             - 5750
SB X-FI Xtreme Music 24bit  - 7500

SB Audigy 2 ZS platinum pro - 12600
SB Audigy 4 Pro                    - 17500

aspiring din kasi ako talaga mag ka DAW's samin...mahal na kasi sa labas magpagawa ng kanta hehehe...sana nga malapet na---in short newbie talaga...

meron kasing nakapagsabi saking arranger friend ko, na ung SB's nga daw malakas ang HISS kapag recording vocal and rythym sections sabay or isa isa...so simula nun di nako nagtiwala sa CREATIVE..

pero after listening to your recording...i was blown away...linis dre...

3) kung ung last two(12600 and 17500) ang SB's sabi mo...e siguro opt nalang ako ng M-AUDIO(may int'l distributer  dito sa pinas e...LAS PIŅAS lang e) since halos di nagkakalayo sa price

pero kung ung top half e mas maganda...para focus nalang ako dun sa budget ko for the DAW and software...

ngatz...gbu!!!

[KitC]

My first recordings were to an AWE32 and SBLive! Value (digital, that is... my real first recordings were to 1/4" 4-track open reel). I learned a lot about midi, soundfonts, virtual mixing and post production with those. Listening to those recordings now, I can hear the hiss of successive overdubs, computer noise artifacts, and sometimes collapsed stereo field with those recordings.

I don't diss soundblasters per se since I learned a lot about digital recording thru them. But over the years, I've also learned to hear their faults that's why I don't recommend them for any serious recording.

[KitC]

bindoy,

If you can get a good deal on the Audiophile 192, get it instead of the AP 2496. I heard the AP 192 has better specs though be forewarned that M-Audio is listing some of the Audiophile series as discontinued.

[bindoy]

bindoy,

---though be forewarned that M-Audio is listing some of the Audiophile series as discontinued.

sa CRYSTAL AUDIO LAS PIŅAS ang distributor dito sa atin...sa website din ng M-AUDIO sila makikita...kaya ok talaga...pero sir, anu ung post nyo na to?sensya na po?ibig sabihin makakuha ako ng masmababa?o the other way around...


salamat...ngatz..gbu

[KitC]

bindoy,

---though be forewarned that M-Audio is listing some of the Audiophile series as discontinued.

sa CRYSTAL AUDIO LAS PIŅAS ang distributor dito sa atin...sa website din ng M-AUDIO sila makikita...kaya ok talaga...pero sir, anu ung post nyo na to?sensya na po?ibig sabihin makakuha ako ng masmababa?o the other way around...

I was looking at the Delta 1010LT recently sa Musician's Friend, e discontinued na raw ang product. What this means that in a few months (if not now) they will stop making driver updates and discontinue support for the product itself. You can anticipate that prices will drop, but I've never seen that happen locally so you're better off buying the soundcard abroad unless they can give you an equitable price here. (Factor in acquisition price abroad plus shipping costs.)

This also means that M-Audio will probably releasing new products soon. The Audiophile series are at least 5 years old anyway; it's about time they put out a new card (probably pcie-based but I'm guessing more firewire).

[jplacson]

ganda ng summer rain(tama ba title)...makes me feel fine!!!!awww!!!

naalala ko banat nila joe sat and steve vai nun...

asteegg dre!!!

Thanks bindoy... funny nga everyone who hears it says parang Satch... I was going more for EVH, ala 3:16... since EVH is my idol... but hey... I'm not complaining with reference to Satch or Vai! Hahahaha

My gripe with SB products isn't that they're BAD... but for the price, you can get better.

Back in the day, SB products were much better than onboard audio... and they were cheaper than M-audio stuff.

But now, on-board audio has improved and it's free.  SB products aren't cheap anymore (highest end SB EAX Digital soundcard is P26K) and is close to M-Audio Firewire products in price, but FAR in terms of recording quality.

I'd stick with on board audio until you can buy a really good PCI card, or a decent Firewire system.  Look around the Buy&Sell here as well since some members do upgrade often.