Subject:Advice for new computer

Posted by: DreamMusic

Date:9/30/2001 10:25:48 PM

I am buying a new system I have about 2 grand what kinda setup would you guys suggest? Hardware soundcards etc..

Subject:RE: Advice for new computer

Reply by: LanceL

Date:10/1/2001 10:00:52 AM

For the base system necessary (which you'll definitely exceed if you're buying anything current), see our
system requirements page for ACID. If you intend to use a lot of effects and advanced audio routing features, go for the fastest CPU your money allows. I'm sure others have some ideas on what makes a good ACID system. Anyone?

Subject:RE: Advice for new computer

Reply by: djak

Date:10/1/2001 10:09:50 AM

Make sure you use fast HardDrives...5400. do not use 7200...you'll start getting 'popping' in your samples.

Subject:RE: Advice for new computer

Reply by: vanblah

Date:10/1/2001 10:10:04 AM

For running Acid? Or other audio apps (such as Sound Forge, Vegas, etc.) Are you building your own computer, or buying one from Gateway or Dell or someone like that?

Generally speaking you need a fast processor: PIII or better. I would stick with a more well-known motherboard manufacturer (Asus, etc.) A large ATA100 7200RPM hard-drive or two (20-30GB or more), a fair amount of RAM (128MB). You will want to be careful with the video card. I use an ATI Radeon DDR (Dual Monitor).

The sound card will depend on what you want to do with the computer. You can get fairly inexpensive "pro"-quality stereo cards from almost anywhere (24 bit, 96kHz). You can also spend a little more and get more inputs and outputs. I use the Aark24 by Ardvaark which has 8 ins and outs. http://www.aardvark-pro.com/index.html

Check out the sound cards and other gear from this guy: www.midi-classics.com, but there may be better prices out there.

Hope this helps.

Doug

Subject:RE: Advice for new computer

Reply by: vanblah

Date:10/1/2001 10:11:28 AM

I use two 30GB ultra-ata 100 7200 rpm drives and I don't get pops in anything ...

Subject:RE: Advice for new computer

Reply by: stickstr

Date:10/1/2001 11:46:41 AM

Hi there DreamMusic.

Just so you know this isn't coming from a "marginally qualified" user, I am a computer professional who is also a professional musician in his spare time. (I actually get paid for both, believe it or not!)

I just built myself a home system for use with both Sonic Foundry ACID Pro 3.0 and Vegas Video 2.0. I will be happy to send you exact specifications and even a recommendation on where to order from; the vendor I chose delivered everything on time and for GREAT prices, and I did shop around a lot. (And no, I'm not shilling for them, I just did a *lot* of research first.)

One of the greatest things about Sonic Foundry products is that they are not CPU-architecture sensitive like some other pro audio software out there. What that means is that you can save yourself some dough by buying an AMD Athlon based system instead of an Intel Pentium III or IV system. I built my own system and it's actually fairly easy (I'd done it at work but never a home one for myself until now).

I chose an Athlon 1.4 GHz system because for the money you can't buy a faster processor. The Pentium IV may come with a faster GHz rating, but the fact is that because of the way Sonic Foundry writes their products, the piece of the CPU that actually does a lot of the work in ACID and Vegas ends up being comparable between an Athlon 1.4 and a Pentium IV 1.7 or 1.8 GHz system. And when you compare the prices of the CPU's ($120 instead of ~$500) that's a big chunk of change. You save enough to buy yourself something else fun, like a used synth, a mixer, or a bigger monitor!

Despite what someone else said earlier in another message, you DEFINITELY should buy 7200rpm hard disks; they're simply faster, only marginally more expensive and there's no good argument against using them. Every home audio recording site will tell you the same thing I'm saying, too. Any "clicks" or "pops" that someone is having are usually due to improper settings in their Sonic Foundry products. (I talked a friend through resetting his system properly a few weeks ago and fixed the exact same problem; you'll even see other messages in this and other SF forums that have gone over the same thing multiple times.)

If you intend to do audio tracking you will want two hard disks and dedicate one to your audio tracks. I am currently using a 40 GB drive for the operating system, and a 60 GB drive for audio. I put the 60 GB drive in a removable chassis so that if I ever fill it up, I can just buy another drive, pull out the tray, and put a new drive in without having to go back through the drive and erase anything.

Now, whether or not you're going to record audio or simply use loops, you will want a large amount of memory. I would recommend 512 MB; that's what I bought in my system and I rarely use even half of it in a project, but I never have to worry about whether that next loop or track is going to run me into the ground. That's a nice feeling, believe me. With memory being so cheap these days (I think I spent $90 on 512 MB) it's *well* worth it. Also, your operating system will run superfast, which is a nice side benefit as well, especially with power-hungry systems like Windows 2000, XP, or Linux.

By the way, I would definitely recommend using Windows 2000 or XP instead of Windows 98SE because they are far more stable, and SF products work beautifully with it. I didn't get XP simply because it wasn't available a few months ago when I built the system, but I read a couple messages from SF users who say that Windows XP works great with all SF products, so I guess I would say this is entirely up to you. Windows XP uses the same driver design as Windows 2000, so you'll be able to get low latency for audio recording if you want, plus all the other new goodies in the O/S.

Anyway, I apologize for this very long and rambling message. If you are interested in seeing the actual things I bought to make a complete system, and how much I spent and with whom, I will be happy to let you know. You can send me personal e-mail at stickstr5@hotmail.com, or respond here and I will check back in the next week or so.

Stickstr

Subject:RE: Advice for new computer

Reply by: djak

Date:10/1/2001 12:01:43 PM

Sorry about my advice on HardDrives...the 7200 is the one to get! I wasn't thinking straight. Anyway I have an Western Dig.ATA/7200 and a Matrox ata/5400. I had serious issues with the Matrox so I got rid of it. Any ATA/7200 HD would fit your needs...stay away from all Matrox drives.

Subject:RE: Advice for new computer

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:10/1/2001 12:59:21 PM

To add to what stickstr said, buy a high quality soundcard, like the soundcards from M-Audio (Midiman) or Echo. Having 24-bit/96 KHz support is a nice feature.

MAKE SURE you have the connections available for those kinds of cards though, since those types of cards have higher-quality connectors, like S/PDIF coaxial/optical and 1/4" inputs/outputs instead of the 1/8" types you see on SoundBlaster and compatible cards.

Iacobus

Subject:RE: Advice for new computer

Reply by: MyST

Date:10/1/2001 1:32:12 PM

You must mean Maxtor drives. I have one, works great. I also have a Quantum 7200 rpm ATA-100 40 Gig for audio.
My advice is, the most important part is good sound when working audio. So look at the sound card you want, then see if the manufacturer recommends a set-up.
That's the case with Echo. They recommend Via chips with Athlon (and other set-ups). Also, what I did was send details of my system to Echo to see if they saw potential conflicts.
Also, I would recommend dual display (my next upgrade).

Later.

Subject:RE: Advice for new computer

Reply by: Rockitglider

Date:10/1/2001 10:35:27 PM

http://www.audiocomputing.com/

Hello,

If you have the money this place will build you a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). And they do great work, They build DAW's for studio's around the world.

See ya, Rockit

Subject:RE: Advice for new computer

Reply by: Maruuk

Date:10/1/2001 11:29:41 PM

One more thing--You're buying at a great time! The new PIV's are just out, and dirt cheap! They've got the new motherboards which allow the cheap memory. An excellent base system with a 1.5G PIV XP and 256K is less than $1000! Tweak it up to the above recommendations and you don't have to go above $1500 all in. More $ for software.