Good Pc's for music production

[Conan]

I looking to buy a Pc primarily for making music on. What are the ideal specifications, whats hot and whats not.

Any help would be great.

Also I have a keyboard, so will I be able to hook that up to a pc and use it to control the synths in my software ? And is there a point in buying a drum machine and a sampler is it excessive or could it be useful.

Thanks,

Conan

[RDR]

If you want to buy a PC for making music on and are not limited by budget and cant be arsed building one you can do a lot worse than carilon.

You will need a decent MIDI interface if you want to use your keyboard. Also you could get a hardware drum machine, but personally i'd use software. Much easier and more manipulatable.

As for synths, a decent hardware synth is much more fun that fiddling with mice buttons... ;)

As for "Whats hot and whats not.."

NOT - Anything prebuilt from a major manufacturer. Steer clear, they often use substandard components and customer service tends to be on the crap side. (IMHO of course)

HOT - I cant tell you, that would take a LONG crawl through review websites. But here are some specs you might want to consider...

CPU.. not less than 3ghz
FSB not less than 533mhz
RAM - Not less than 2gb
HardDrive - Not less than 120gb and MIN spec of 7200rpm SATA not PATA.
MOBO (motherboard) Try ASUS, GIGABYTE

Connectivity - FIREWIRE, USB2 minimum.
Monitor - TFT only... you're gonna spend a long time in front of it, make sure its good
Mouse - Optical only.
Keyboard - test some out, make sure it will last and is comfortable, again you'll spend a long time in front of it.

PC case... Lan Li do some great ones
DVD burner, minimum.


Im sure others will add to this, im no expert and there is certainly, AS EVER a question regarding Pentium Vs AMD.

#M~y only other comment is... get a legit copy of windows... and DONT PUT YOUR AUDIO MACHINE ON THE INTERNET....

[Conan]

Nice on Dodgey that's a good platform anyway cheers.

I definitley won't be using the Pc for the internet though, I know how it is and sure I have a laptop for that.

Re: the keyboard,would the midi interface be in the connections at the back of my PC or is it to do with software, or the sound card?

I've been thinking alot about buying some hardware, namely a drum machine and a synth. From what I read and see I think its good to have a balance between software and hardware. My first step is getting the computer sorted with a sound card, nice monitors and ableton live. Then I was thinking some hardware, I was told to check out the Korg legacy synths and had a listen on the Demos and they sound phat but as you say I'd prefer to able to do all that manually............... I was thinking about a Nord Lead 2x............ any ideas on that.

I hear what your saying about the drum machines not being as manipulative as their software counterparts but I think it would be a nice toy and It might be better to mess around with by hand in the same vein as the synths. Sure you can run them through your software and manipulate them then can't you?

[force]

You could also run a midi out from the drum machine and trigger ableton with that, tempo sync'd to the drum machine.

[RDR]

the nord is a wicked bit of kit, go for your life son, nice as ****... remermber tho you can pick up a secondhand virus for the same money...

You need a seperate MIDI interface for your computer, dont use the suilly joystick port adaptor at the back. no good at all. terribly latent.

The speed at which your system responds to incoming MIDI messages from a keyboard is governed by the quality of MIDI interface and the drivers you are using to play back audio.

For windows the best are ASIO (audio stream input output) these allow very low latencies so that when you press a key on your keyboard you hear the sound almost instantly (around 2-15ms is the best as anything above 20ms you'll start to hear as a lag)

The next best is Direct X, and the worst MME.

Get a good quality soundcard, the delta 44 series are good and well proven and cheap. FFS DO NOT get anything by creative. no soundblaster.

[dan the acid man]

yeah if you're getting a pre built music pc, go for a carillon, we have one in the studio at work, and it's really well built, and already set up for audio work.

if you're building your own, go for a socket 939 64bit amd, you get more for your money plus they run cooler now than pentiums and perform better.

like dodgy said, get a sata 2 hard drive
motherboard manufacturers like asus and gigabyte are really good.
aluminium pc cases are really worth the money, i use coolermaster, but lian li are good too.

as for soundcards, like dodgy said, delta cards are decent, so too are emu and M audio, or you can pay much more and get a top end card.

[tekara]

Well it seems like your probably going to buy a hardware drum machine no matter what (once you have your mind set on gear its hard to resists), so if thats gonna be the case, i would definately try not to get too crazy.

I would invest most of my money on a good CPU as dodgey had mentioned above, a nice pair of monitors, a midi interface, and run your software on the computer. In terms of hardware, i suggest you to buy a maximum of one drum machine and one hardware synth. Learn the machines inside and out, and once you feel you have done all you can with it, sell it off and replace it with another machine, but dont start out in music production buying all this fancy gear because it will hold you back. Instead of collecting gear, try to replace exisiting gear with something else, because it can become quite overwhelming when you have too much stuff to fiddle around. Its counter-productive.

By the way i would recommend the NL2X. Its the only synth i use out of my 4.

[RDR]

delta cards are decent, so too are emu and M audio


M Audio make the Delta series. ;)

[Barely Human]

delta cards are decent, so too are emu and M audio


M Audio make the Delta series. ;)

http://photos1.blogger.com/img/88/3579/640/DSCN3086.jpg

:lol:

[dan the acid man]

yeah, nobody likes a smart ass dodgy :upyours: :lol: :lol: :oops:

[RDR]

F you all

it just men im dead cleva n that.

:lol:

[sacredcow]

CPU.. not less than 3ghz
:nono:
AMD all the way man. a s-939 AMD 64 at 2.2ghz will serve you better than a 3.2ghz p4. Clock speed is NOT everything. Go AMD. The majority of people who know much about computers will recommend AMD over Pentium.


if you're building your own, go for a socket 939 64bit amd, you get more for your money plus they run cooler now than pentiums and perform better.
:clap: :eyes:

[RDR]

Dont shake your finger at me young man... ;)

You arent really telling the truth are you now...? It also depends on what platform you are on, Cubase SX3 can take advantage of hyperthreading, but isnt a 64bit application, and also you'd better have a 64bit version of windows xp if you want to take advantage. Besides i hadnt mentioned 64 bit as its pretty pointless unless you know of plugins that can take advantage of 64 bits. ;)



The majority of people who know much about computers will recommend AMD over Pentium.


Tsk, Tsk... thats not true either. Pentiums are good chips, as are AMD - im not interrested in the battle over saying which is best, you know full well its all about the code, NOT the chip.

[RDR]

And besides, they were just guidlines.. if you really feel this thread could do with some advice as to running 64bits, then chip in constructively, not just to dis my posts (im not hurt, just amused..)

[dee]

ive got a carrilon com, its very good, got mine for £1,500 about 4 years ago , came with cubase, halion and a audiophile 24/96 ( i think ) :lol:
well worth the cash , very powerful com !!!

id recommend carilon

[RDR]

And besides, they were just guidlines.. if you really feel this thread could do with some advice as to running 64bits, then chip in constructively, not just to dis my posts (im not hurt, just amused..)

How much of a stuck up twat did i sound like there... :roll:

[acidsaturation]

:lol:

[dulash]

nobody mentioned phil rees, top notch PC's!!!
http://www.philrees.co.uk/

[BombJack]

Personally I wouldn't recommend buying one of these high end machines unless you are loaded.

For a few reasons.

1) As soon as you buy a computer it loses it's value as quickly as a new car does. Superb customer service and after sales come at a premium.
Granted with Carillon as far as I know, they are tremendous as far as the care goes. The question you have to ask yourself is this. How many times are you likely to need to call on their services? Is it worth the addtional money.
2) Folks like Carrillon supposedly set up your machine for doing audio work. This is true, and they do it well, however the tweaks they make can easily be done by most people - you just need to know what they are. Some people on here may well be able to point you in the right direction with this one.

Tips: If you are recording live instruments, and not just software plugin instruments it makes sense getting a quiet machine, as nopise from the computer can seep into your recordings. The quiter the better.

If it's logoc you want to run - you need to buy a mac.

Ultimatley I would say it boils down to how much and at what level you will use the machine. If you need the machine to be running at optimum all the time, or need fast recovery from system failure, and can afford to, get a Carrillon or a Red sub, a mac or something like that. Otherwise build it yourself, or get a high quality off the shelf machine.You might be able to buy a cheap off the shelf number, and trade up components using ebay or something like that...

[massplanck]

Dont listen to them -> drum machine & hardware synth come first. If you want any tips let me know.

A 2ghz second hand PC is FINE unless you are one of the "lets load up a million plugins to try & make our shitty wav samples sound better" brigade. Getting heavliy into Reaktor is the only thing i'd buy a better pc for. Every cabbage has pc and thinks hes a producer these days. Take a leaf out of landstrumms book. Yes PC's are essential these days for the finished product but make if you make a financial commitment to piece of decent hardware and it will really stand to you.


The only apps on a PC which can rival hardware for INTUITIVENESS\INVENTIVNESS are Reakor/Bidule in my opinion. (abelton too i guess)

Sound card -> I HIGHLY recommened the ESI ESP 1010 - only about 250 euro with ten in and ten outs two headphones sockets + rock solid MIDI timing. Lets me rip sample straight from DVD which is handy too. Savage card pisses over the delta with all its stupid cables hangng out of it (i dunno maybe they have a breakout box for it now)

http://www.musicmarketing.ca/products/es_esp1010.asp

IMHO -(

[stjohn]

i picked up that esp 1010 .... and i love it,... you have the right idea steve...learnig a bit of kit is much easier when uve forked out, and reaktor is now my new favorite thing!! :)

but ur still a hardware incestastor andl a moany bollix masslplank

[massplanck]

hmmm. now im thinking upgrading myself. :oops:

I have a question.. is there any point in going for an AMD 64 X2 chip? Am I guaranteed that all my existing apps and plugins will run on my new system? I dont want to have to spend ages reconfiguring but the specs/price look nice on those dual core AMD's.Anyone have one?

[rhythmtech]

there seems to be a lot of compatability issues with 64bit and older programs.. i'd check it out thoroughly first.

[massplanck]

thats what i thought. I have seen bad shite happen with a dual core laptop needing a 64bit version of Adobe Acrobat and loads of other apps etc. Its not tried and tested.

I'll prob go for the best 32bit chip i can find.

[stjohn]

i have a 64 bit chip in mine..altho its not dualcore...

my OS is still running on 32 bit and ive had no problems. im not too sure whaty the story is when it all upgrades to 64 bit... but i thought itd be safer to get a more upgradable chip

[massplanck]

its not the dualcore i am worried about.. its more th 64bit thingy. Dint know i could run a standard copy of XP on it though without issues. Are you using AMD or Intel Rory?

[stjohn]

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.0GHz Socket 939

thats the 1

[massplanck]

how does that 2Ghz compare to a standard 2GHz chip though? I have a 2GHz Sempron at the moment but what difference will a 64bit 2GHz have if I'm only running 32bit windows & apps?

[stjohn]

2 ghz 64 bit is about a 3.6 32 bit

[TechnoNRGKid]

2 Biggest things to look for when buyin cpus is the front side speed and the l1/l2 cache size.
The biggest changest youd see on a 32bit machine with a 64bit cpu is um speed, The l1/l2 cache size. The more memory on those things the faster the cpu will go cause it can store information on the cpu and access it much faster than ram memory and deff far away harddrive.
Sizes of l1 and l2 cache are much better on 64bit cpus. You dont need to have a 64bit operating system and applications to take advantage of the new cpus.


Dont shake your finger at me young man... ;)

You arent really telling the truth are you now...? It also depends on what platform you are on, Cubase SX3 can take advantage of hyperthreading, but isnt a 64bit application, and also you'd better have a 64bit version of windows xp if you want to take advantage. Besides i hadnt mentioned 64 bit as its pretty pointless unless you know of plugins that can take advantage of 64 bits. ;)



The majority of people who know much about computers will recommend AMD over Pentium.


Tsk, Tsk... thats not true either. Pentiums are good chips, as are AMD - im not interrested in the battle over saying which is best, you know full well its all about the code, NOT the chip.

Look @ my above.


Cpus i'd say go with something like a 939 chip with a AMD X2 dual core or even a 939 3500+ or higher.
If you can wait till these new cpus models come out, Conroe, the prices are gonna be halved for the AMD X2 i heard!

My other even better option would be the AM2 Chipset/motherboards. They are da hottest right now.
They use DDR2 and correct memory latency issues that the past DDR2 had ( Intel ). Suppose to be a memory speed improvement with DDR2 but wasnt. That's been corrected with these AMD AM2 chips.
They already have em in AMD X2 Dual core etc..
Check newegg.com for the AM2s.

Anyhows, Deff pick a 64bit cpu over 32bit, or you'll be maybe havin to upgrade again. Like i said, 64bit has better l1 and l2 memory cache, and when 64bit hits ( and it will give it time trust ) you'll feel like your running a pentium 2 or 3 compared to a 64bit.

:cheese:

Btw, AMDs chips archeticture has wider front side buses than Intels wich allows more data to go through the bus ( or pipe ) wich is y AMD has different readin cpu numbers than intels. So AMDs speed can be greater at lower reading speeds.
Like mentioned, when you relate the 2 cpus it comes down to just numbers.

In Short, AMD can push more data through there wider Pipes, sorta like a ho.

[TechnoNRGKid]

Doubled...

[dirty_bass]

Dont listen to them -> drum machine & hardware synth come first. If you want any tips let me know.

A 2ghz second hand PC is FINE unless you are one of the "lets load up a million plugins to try & make our shitty wav samples sound better" brigade. Getting heavliy into Reaktor is the only thing i'd buy a better pc for. Every cabbage has pc and thinks hes a producer these days. Take a leaf out of landstrumms book. Yes PC's are essential these days for the finished product but make if you make a financial commitment to piece of decent hardware and it will really stand to you.


The only apps on a PC which can rival hardware for INTUITIVENESS\INVENTIVNESS are Reakor/Bidule in my opinion. (abelton too i guess)

Sound card -> I HIGHLY recommened the ESI ESP 1010 - only about 250 euro with ten in and ten outs two headphones sockets + rock solid MIDI timing. Lets me rip sample straight from DVD which is handy too. Savage card pisses over the delta with all its stupid cables hangng out of it (i dunno maybe they have a breakout box for it now)

http://www.musicmarketing.ca/products/es_esp1010.asp

IMHO -(

What a bizarre comment.

buying hardware will not make you any more creative.

I hate all this, buy this, it`s better, use that it`s better crap.
It`s total elitist bullshit.
Anyone with dollar can buy a bunch of hardware, it won`t make them creative.

Use whatever you need to get the job done. these days it`s easier to use software, but it`s not any better, or the right way.

A crap uncreative person will always be crap and uncreative whether they use a Jews harp, or a massive full midi studio with 64 channel desk.

[TechnoNRGKid]

^ I Goto try the Jews Harp, Jewish Acid Techno mmmmmmhmmm. :lol:

[massplanck]

bwaha- if buying hardware drum machine doesnt make you more creative then buying a midi controller doesnt either.

lets stick with a mouse. Even better lets get rid of the mouse it cant possible make you more creative. ;) Lets just stare at the screen.

I never said anything about having an eltist 64 track jew harps studio.I'm talking about committing yourself financially to somthing which has 'instant' hands on controll and doesnt need to be booted/defragmented/have drivers loaded/have knobs assigned etc... Its incredible being able to make music without having to stare at at a screen or boot it up .. i hate when people overlook this.

[massplanck]

Its all about TOUCHING the music.

And yes better tools make better (electronic) music.

You dont see AFX twin making a full lenght jews harp album do you? He prob has a 64 track Midi steup!

[RDR]

Its all about TOUCHING the music.

And yes better tools make better (electronic) music.

You dont see AFX twin making a full lenght jews harp album do you? He prob has a 64 track Midi steup!

I doubt that... not with the amount of control he needs.

[dirty_bass]

Its all about TOUCHING the music.

And yes better tools make better (electronic) music.

You dont see AFX twin making a full lenght jews harp album do you? He prob has a 64 track Midi steup!

Touching the music.

Haha

Whatever.

Hardware or software, it`s all button pushing.

Get over it mate, just make your music, everyone will find their own comfortable way, hardware, software, or both, you can`t enforce your idea of "intuitivity" or "creativity" on someone else.

Personally, I learned my trade in a 100% analog studio.
Everything was analog. Including ALL the damn sequencers. Horrible.
I could never go back to owrking that way, much much too slow.

But for some people that would be like a dream.

So I say again.

there is no better way.

[eyeswithoutaface]

shouldnt it be the music touching you?

64 channel midi setup, all pc setup, tin of broken biscuits, milk bottles with water

whatever

just make some music

[RDR]

You got any of those biccies going spare scott?

im hungry...

;)

[massplanck]

like whatever. ;)

[dirty_bass]

like whatever. ;)

Get back to your shed and run your drill through some distortion effects.