Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) - rack - vista?

[Memphian]

Hi y'all. Use to make PCs but I am way out of touch but have been researching hard...and someone recommended this forum for good advice;

Was wondering if anyone had experience with building Rack PCs for DAW (recording up to 8 tracks at once with lots of processing and virtual synthesis on up to 32 tracks). I am looking for low latency, glitch-free recording.

Sadly I also need to use this computer for development on Vista Ultimate. Will this OS be ok (I know that only SOME software developers are on board so far). Or should I dual boot XP for audio apps and then Vista for my Development (microsofty kind of stuff.

I will post a proposed set up later (don't want to overload questions yet).

But if i dual boot should i have;
a. 1 HD for all vista stuff (200 to 320GB)
b. 1 HD for running my systems and software XP (120 to 250GB)
c. 1 HD for my samples/audio tracks/data etc XP (320 to 500GB)

or is it ok to partition a 400 to 500GB drive to do A and B, and one to do C?

Thanks in advance!!!
Trav

 

[jpeyton]

Budget?

Was wondering if anyone had experience with building Rack PCs for DAW

Rack PCs are not typically quiet, because they are made for a server environment. I'd recommend a tower case instead.

I am looking for low latency, glitch-free recording.

If your budget allows for it, get a $270 Core 2 Quad instead of a Duo (price drop should be effective by the fourth week of July).

Sadly I also need to use this computer for development on Vista Ultimate. Will this OS be ok (I know that only SOME software developers are on board so far). Or should I dual boot XP for audio apps and then Vista for my Development (microsofty kind of stuff.

I would dual-boot. XP just seems more responsive in nearly every application for me.

But if i dual boot should i have;

Hard Drive 1: Two partitions, one for Vista/Software and one for XP/Software.
Hard Drive 2: Samples/Audio Tracks/Data Source Drive
Hard Drive 3: Samples/Audio Tracks/Data Destination Drive

Having your source and destination locations on separate hard drives noticeably speeds up your system.

 

[Memphian]

Thanks JPeyton!

Budget is flexible as long as its good bang for the buck .

Let's say $1000-1500 without monitors (BTW: I already have my Onyx 400F for sound). Dual DVI(-D?) support would be great for me too...the more screen space the better...but i will never be gaming on this one. Oh yeah, my only other requirement is an ATI Radeon with 256MB+ (for a project requirement). Other than that, I am flexible for a quiet, rock-solid system.

When you suggest HD2 as source drive, are you refering to samples Vs what i record onto HD. Or do you also playback what you have already recorded off there (that is, do i move the recorded audio from 3 to 2 once i have recorded it?)

As for noisy racks, I guess I could always try to get handy and create a case/rack enclosure for my tower. it really doesnt need to live in a rack...just for travel about once a month i reckon.

Thanks again
trav

 

[bamacre]

I knew you'd get some good advice here. 😀

 

[Memphian]

However, jpeyton has set the standards now...i expect a 30 minute response every time now 🙂

hopefully I can start giving back soon 🙂

 

[Chapbass]

Id suggest one drive for your program and possibly samples. The other drive is purely a recording drive that would contain your tracks and projects.

 

[Memphian]

sonata III case (comes with 500W power supply - 16.7x18.2x8.1") 16.7x18.2x8.1"
$100

ASUS P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP
$200

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4MB L2 LGA 775 Processo $200

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 Hard drive 500GB internal 3.5" SATA-II NCQ 7200RPM 16MB Cache
2 of these for a total of
$200
later on I will get one more also as has been suggested?but this should be a good bassline
[I hope this is quiet???] Sapphire 100164DDR2 256MB X1650PRO 600MHz ATi Radeon PCI-Express 16X Video Card with Dual DVI, Dual VGA, HDTV, DirectX 9.0, Shader Model 3.0: 100164DDR2 (Retail)
$70

[I need advice here - what type] RAM 3MB if not 4MB. I want good stuff. I will be doing lots of sampling/DSP work plus my vista computing may be heavy $3-600

any old dvd burner???
$20

tools, ?cables?, pastes, etc?I sadly don?t have any of this stuff in USA (from Australia) $30

extra cooling? Is it necessary if I never over clock?
$20-60???

Keyboard and maybe a firewire800 card for my onyx 400f
$50

Total around $1200-1600 depending on the deals I get and what RAM costs

CPU questions;
Could
1. be patient E6750 for only $10 less when they come
2. or be patient and get the quads cheaper
3. or now I can get INTEL CORE 2 QUAD Q6600 (BX80562Q6600) 2.4GHZ EM64T QUAD CORE W/4MB X 2 CACHE 1066MHZ LGA775-PIN RETAIL BOXED W/COOLING FAN (3 YEARS WARRANTY) (for about $200ish more than the one above)

Sorry to be long-winded again,

 

[bamacre]

The Q6600 (quad core 2.4Ghz) should drop in price at the end of this month, you may find that beneficial. Otherwise, the E6850 will be out then as well (dual core, 3Ghz stock speed), and will be about $265, or you can go E6750 (dual core, 2.66Ghz stock) which will run about $185.

You may want to consider one of the new P35 chipset boards. Gigabyte or Asus.

As for memory, if you are not going to overclock the cpu, then technically, all you need is 533mhz DDR2. But you'll find 667mhz and even 800mhz at good prices.

So, if you are not overclocking, this is a pretty good deal here...
http://shop1.outpost.com/product/4565617

Windows 32bit versions will only recognize ~3.25GB of memory, so its up to you if you want to go 2GB or 4GB. These 2GB kits were about $200 earlier this year, so as you can see, memory prices are quite cheap right now. If you think you'll utilize more than 2GB, I'd say go for 4GB to be safe. It's only another $70.

You'll have to pay sales tax at NewEgg (they have a distribution center in TN, 2 I think, one in Memphis), so these other sites may come in handy...

http://www.zipzoomfly.com
http://www.outpost.com
http://www.ewiz.com
http://www.mwave.com

As for a DVD Burner, I'd get a SATA one. Smaller cable, and PATA is just about dead. NewEgg's prices for these are so low, you won't mind the sales tax...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...tion=&Ntk=&srchInDesc=

You'll need a screwdriver, some scissors, and also some Thermal paste, Arctic Silver 5 maybe. Everything else will come with the motherboard and case/psu.

You won't need any other cooling. The retail HSF that comes with the cpu will be fine.

 

[Memphian]

Awsome Info. Thanks mate. I can't wait to try to throw this thing together.