I'm toying with the idea of building another pc just for audio. All these samples are eating my ram and HD space alive. If you're running a seperate computer, what kind of setup do you have? What kind of processor, ram, soundcard, etc.
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Do you have a dedicated audio pc?
- Thread starter ole Jason
- Start date
Hi, Jason, we have an AMD dual anthlong 1800+ with two 80 gig WD hard drives, 1 gig of Ram and Frontier Dakota Sound Card.
We run Cubase VST 5.1 its a kinda old program but it works just fine!
Treena
We run Cubase VST 5.1 its a kinda old program but it works just fine!
Treena
Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
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- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
I use my everyday computer for recording, but I boot into a separate partition with Win 98SE on it. There are no services, devices or programs enabled on that partition that aren't directly needed for audio processing. I record the base tracks (drums plus a rhythm instrument) in Wavelab, to a Gadget Labs Wave/496 card. I'm only using Win 98 because of a quirk in the GL Win98 drivers that allow a lower noise floor than the XP drivers do.
I dub tracks later in either N-track or Samplitude, and mix down in one of those as well. The system's an Athlon XP 2000+, Asus A7V motherboard, 1GB RAM, 2 X 80 GB hard drives. I keep the recording partition on the second hard drive totally clean, formatting it before every session. I use lots of noise killing stuff in the case too. I've been pondering going back to my Athlon 750 box for the base tracks, since it's virtually silent, and handles 24/96 recording in stereo flawlessly.
I dub tracks later in either N-track or Samplitude, and mix down in one of those as well. The system's an Athlon XP 2000+, Asus A7V motherboard, 1GB RAM, 2 X 80 GB hard drives. I keep the recording partition on the second hard drive totally clean, formatting it before every session. I use lots of noise killing stuff in the case too. I've been pondering going back to my Athlon 750 box for the base tracks, since it's virtually silent, and handles 24/96 recording in stereo flawlessly.
I just use a seperate HD to save audio, and another as a scratch disk. With today's machines and OS stability, two computers are not needed.
edit: OS's winxp and linux.
edit: OS's winxp and linux.
for years now, i have had a dual boot system (win 98 and Linux). i have been wanting to use Linux for my banking, spreadsheet, internet and fun stuff, but i can't even get the CD rom to open. Linux seems cool, but not very user friendly.
now a days, i'm using cakewalk 9 on my win sys along with internet exploder for the internet. that's all i really use it for.
one day i would like to get a dedicated system, but that's not in my budget for at least the first three 1/4's of this year.
now a days, i'm using cakewalk 9 on my win sys along with internet exploder for the internet. that's all i really use it for.
one day i would like to get a dedicated system, but that's not in my budget for at least the first three 1/4's of this year.
I have a Quicksilver G4 800, loaded with Ram, in my music room. My everyday machine is a 1.25GHz iMac with 20" display. Both have yet to have their first crash, and the Quicksilver's a couple of years old. 
I build dedicated audio and video computers for hobbyists and professionals. I always recommend a dedicated workstation for anyone who is going to be recording on their computer - even if it's at the hobbyist/amateur level.
I just wanted to put that out there so that if anybody needs any advice, feel free to use and abuse me.
I just wanted to put that out there so that if anybody needs any advice, feel free to use and abuse me.
P 4. 1.8 I think, running at 2.4 gHz.
ASUS 533 somethingorother motherboard.
256 megs of RAM.
Matrox Dual head Vid card.
18 gig, 7200 rpm main drive.
9.1 gig, 10,000 rpm SCSI audio drive
18 gig, 10, 000 rpm backup drive x 2.
Soundscape Mixtreme soundcard.
Big a** case.
No fans.
Does the job. Plus I built it so it's rock solid.
ASUS 533 somethingorother motherboard.
256 megs of RAM.
Matrox Dual head Vid card.
18 gig, 7200 rpm main drive.
9.1 gig, 10,000 rpm SCSI audio drive
18 gig, 10, 000 rpm backup drive x 2.
Soundscape Mixtreme soundcard.
Big a** case.
No fans.
Does the job. Plus I built it so it's rock solid.
int said:
Err, no fans with a P4 1.8? Is it liquid cooled or something? Or did you mean no case fans (in which case your computer will still be running too hot)?
Yer right...I meant there are no fans on the processors, just the one in the power supply. Only a heatsink on the processors, no liquid at all.
The case is big enough to not be a heat trap I guess...I was pretty surprised myself when it actually worked.
The case is big enough to not be a heat trap I guess...I was pretty surprised myself when it actually worked.
Amen. Having used both platforms extensively, I now have a Mac dedicated to nothing but audio/video. I'm not religious about either, so let's not get into a PC/Mac war
int said:
You're asking for a meltdown, my friend. P4's run very hot, especially once you get them doing intensive tasks like sound compression, etc. If you want to hold on to your computer for any significant amount of time, for god's sake, at least use the default heat-sinks and fans that come with the CPU. Believe me, there are much safer ways to get your computer quiet.
For the DIYers, here are some good articles containing tips and component advice that can make you computer more quiet:
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And here's an older article for quieting your sound studio overall, including the computer:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan00/articles/noise.htm
If you don't want to dig into your computer and get the components yourself, there are some places on that web that specialize in selling complete PC's built to be quiet.
