Well, after my last topic (re upgrading xp to win 7) I was left pretty deflated when I thought I would be stuck with my old system. However, I have managed to score a few extra hours at work which will help fund my system.

I will be going to a company who custom build PCs as there is no way I will be able to do it myself.

So, just looking for a wee bit I suppose. I am a bit out of touch since my last purchase was 2004! Budget is around £1000, just for the tower as I have 2 monitors, keyboard and mouse already. I need to have inputs to allow my decks set-up to be recorded (phono output from mixer). I have two tascam audio monitors so would need outputs for those.

I use Cubase and am not the sort of person who uses hundreds of vst's.

Any general advice? Motherboard, Processor, RAM etc.

 

CPU: i7-3770K or i7-4770K, 4790K...etc.
RAM: 16GB recommended
Motherboard: Asrock tend to be least problematic, MSI are great bang for the buck, and Intel own are very reliable.
HDD:
120 or 128GB SSD Samsung 850 EVO - system drive
256GB Samsung 850 PRO - plugin drive
1TB Samsung 850 PRO - sample drive
2TB mechanical HDD or more - project drive

I currently have one 1TB Samsung 850 PRO for sale. New unit, opened box. If you want it, type in PM.

Though if I were you I'd wait few months with the purchase, Broadwell gets released in summer, prices for Ivy Bridge will go down considerably.
Sound interface: RME Babyface - don't have one myself, but it's RME, all that noisy low-end is subpar (Scarlett, QuadCapture, TraktorAudio, ...)
ALL interfaces I used to possess had very crappy ASIO drivers. RME will likely be the exception here. *yes*

BTW, anyone can build their own PC. You only need time, will to learn and a bit of patience.
Building laptop on the other hand tend to be tedious - speak from my own experience.
But in the end, it's extremely rewarding

 

Andrew said already what is important.
I just want to add, that you can also look for a workstation CPU from Intel, they are sometimes as strong as the i7 but a bit cheaper.
Interface: I would also go with RME, like the Fireface UC or the Babyface if you don`t need many pre-amps. These things are just great and have a superb quality and the driver support is perfect.

 

16 GB RAM or higher
64 bit OS (recommended Win7)
i7
8 Cores or higher x 3.5 GHz or higher (e.g. i7-3770K or better'n'faster)
1,5 TB HDD or higher
latest ASIO4ALL drivers recommended
Software updates (like "CPU consumption decreased", "stability improved", "works faster" etc.) ALWAYS update! Take 5 minutes to uninstall old version and install a new one if there are a lot of useful changes and enhancements.
REAPER as a stable DAW - recommended

 

Hi Folks, thanks very much for your advice! Andrew, just wondering why the need for four separate drives? Is that really necessary? I was just thinking of having one for my system and one for all audio. Also, do I really need i7 quad-core? Is i5 that bad? Please bear in mind what I have atm - Asus KV8 SE Deluxe mobo with AMD Athlon 64.

Interested by the recommendations on the Interface. I will look into this, BUT I'm at the behest of whatever the company who are building my PC have as options. As I said in the post all I need is one line in (from my mixer - as in DJ mixer) and one out for my Tascam monitors. Will I also need an additional soundcard?

Also, remember my budget is £1000 - but I don't have that money "in my hand". It will be credit via the company who builds the PC - it's the only solution I have rather than save for four years!!! This, along with fear, is the reason I am not attempting to buidl myself.

Oh, and please excuse my ignorance, but what is IvyBridge?

Cheers!

 

The "additional" soundcard (ASIO) is essential to get low latency and low noise, if You need that.

i5 aint bad, but i7 is of course better... at the moment I dont know of plugins or instruments that will not run on a decent i5, but that will change almost certanly with time; so, with an i7 You are buying time.

Since You will use Your rig as a DJ. maybe an i5 could be enough ?!?

Memory is essential if You use a lot of instruments, but maybe 8 gig could be enough if, as You stated, You dont use loads of plugins ?!?

2 Hard drives could be enough if as a DJ You don`t use a lot of virtual instruments that read samples direct from disk.

IvyBridge: Link

 

Andrew, do you run all of your plugins off of the 256 drive or just v-instruments? Cause my v-drums installed alone are 768GB and my v-instruments (keys and other) is 230GB. I currently have four HDs in my PC. My c drive is SSD and my 2 samples drives and my record are SATA. Ive looked into the Angelbird PCIe card to run a multiple SSD config off the mobo and with that I was thinking I would run my OS and Sample drives off that. I of course will have to wait for TB SSD to come down in price for what I have going here. I am intrigued by your suggestions.

 

i just bought Mac Mini MD388 and upgraded to 16GB RAM .. its awesome .. loaded with Win7 and OSX .. it's reliable enough for me though .. rather than has to choose brands for mobo, ram, hdd ... im not that techy guy :D .. buying MacMini its a fast solution that worked for me..

just a tought

 

Hi,
sorry, we probably misunderstood each other.
I thought 1000 pounds is your budget.

You don't need 4 drives if you're not high-level professional composer with lots of contracts. In that case, two drives is optimum. 120GB system drive is well sufficient and say 1TB for everything else. Sample drive should always be SSD. Not only for convenience purposes of better loading times. Fast SSD is useful, since you don't have to load that much samples into RAM and rather stream them directly from disk. This saves a lot of resources. I dunno what are your requirements for space regarding libraries, but for 3 years I was fine with 256GB SSD. However this is not exactly future proof solution.
About CPU - it's better to invest into seemingly better one, in this case i7. i5 lack Hyperthreading, which adds slightly more raw power. My point is, you can make good deals with few generations older CPU and still get lot of CPU headroom. i7-3770K is great candidate, since as Intel moves into new Tick scheme, LGA 1155 is no longer supported, which means motherboards and the CPU itself will get cheaper by a lot. Even now you can get used one for about 150 pounds.
I cannot recommend Haswell (i7-4770K). While not terrible, it's definitely step back from more efficient 3770K. New features are not worth the extra heat produced by the CPU.

@Jedi_Knight - By plugins I meant VST not VSTi. Like Altiverb (and its 2GB library), Waves, etc.
v-drums might not need SSD at all. 2.5" dual-platter HDD might be better option (2.5" produce less heat/noise than 3.5").
How many SATA ports do you have on your mobo? To get better speeds, RAID would seem to be better option than going PCIe.
What's the price of 1TB SSD in your area?

 

does anyone know /recommand the audio interface Steinberg UR22 ?
It's not too expensive, and i'm hesitating between this one and a new RME babyface (not the same price range... but the reviews are quite good for the UR22).

I already had a 9632 PCI from RME, and since the card efficiency is the same between 9632 and babyface (even if there is quite a price difference for portability), i wonder how good is the UR22 compared to these two cards from RME, as it has good opinions, it has been released more recently, and also has the 192 kbps maximum resolution.

 

If you're recording only a couple of tracks of live audio at a time, then UR22 will do. However, no digital in/outs on that. RME is a huge step up in AD/DA conversion and other things. Personally, I would go RME. I use a RME FF800 and it rocks for the $$$. I now use it for it's 2 sets of optical in's & out's which are connected to 2 Lucid 88192's and all clocked together with a BLA mkII. Bottom line, get an audio interface with more than you need because you will for sure find uses for the extra features down the road. RME is a German company and has been at the top of the interface game, especially for driver stability and driver updates.

 

Thanks for the further responses guys.

To Andrew: Thank you especially for that detailed response. I think I may have to look to i7, it will at least give me a system I could run for some time. It's funny but I had two of my tracks signed and released at the tail end of last year and yes, these were produced on my antiquated system! Lots, and lots and lots of freezing, un-freezing, freezing, un-freezing etc, etc but I got there and the tracks were released. Can't wait to see the difference in my workflow with my new system. At the moment I am running Cubase 5.1.1 and I try to keep my vst & vsti use to a minimum (brought about by necessity due to my ageing system). VSTi's I use regularly are Sylenth, Spire & Nexus 2. With regard VST's, Fab Filter Pro Q and Valhall Verb are my goto's. Also, use Steinberg's own delay unit. Hopefully freezing/unfreezing will be a thing of the past for me, or at least be utilised much, much less.

One unfortunate thing I have learned is that my dual monitors are out of date and won't work (DVI, not DVI-D), however I can get a couple relatively cheaply. That does however also mean that I can sell my old PC with these monitors which my help it sell and allow me to claw some coin in.

To Rhodes: I'm not solely using this for DJing. In fact it is mostly used for music production. I do like to still have mix sessions using my CDJ's and record these onto the PC so I can listen to them in the car etc. What I would like to know is, what do I need to do this? Is there and interface/soundcard which is suited to this? All I need is 1 x line input (RCA) from my CDJ mixer, and also 1x Output (RCA) to hook up my Tascam monitors. I don't need anything fance for this so would rather not spend too much (thinking of my budget).

EDIT: Would this suit my needs? http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/FCA610.aspx would this mean I don't need an audiocard?

 

hi guy
i'm working on PC
just to help me
what is wrong with dp8?
can you tell me all bug what you find?
the only thing what i found is the fonts sizes
witch fonctions are not working or crash?
Thank to help & your time for all your answers

 

It depends on how are You using Your DAW... but with an i7, 8 gig of ram and 2 fast HD, You should have no problems, and freezing will be history...

Since You dont use Your DAW to record and produce Live Bands, IMHO a moderate machine would fit Your needs.

The i7 + 8 gig + 2 decent HD and an ASIO interface shoud allow You to run 20+ tracks without thinking too much...

The Behringer that You linked is an "audio card" / interface ... sadly I have no idea how it perform, so better find someone that has it, and investigate if it is any good, before buying it ... (6 inputs / 10 outputs seems an overkill to me, for Your needs)

If I were You, I vould invest in 16 gig ram, since that will not make a big difference in price, but it would give You more room for using heavy plugins ...tho, You can upgrade Your ram later of course.
I vould also stay away from USB audio interfaces... go for PCIe if portability is not a need (but that is only me... I need a very low latency since I use my rig as a live amp simulator for playing Guitars)

Good luck, and don`t rush... think and investigate more than twice before purchasing

 

Thanks Rhodes. Toying with the idea of 16Gb RAM but could always add later, think 8Gb will be fine for now. You are the second person to advise me against USB audio card, however the first to advise PCIe! Most people are advising me Firewire Audiocard the way to go. And, with that in mind I am looking at the Focusrite Saffire Pro 14 which seems to suit my needs. As long as I get myself RCA to 1/4 jack leads. Prob not making the purchase til end of April as I have a remix in the works and want that finished so I don't have immediate pressure to get the system up and running when I get it.

Cheers

 

another thing to consider is that you are using a mixer, and you are not using hi Z real instruments for Your input.

In this case, You probably do not need expensive preamps in Your audio interface, since the mixer takes care of that.

Consult someone that has more experience than I do for that matter, and see what they have to say about

ps.
the Focusrite Saffire Pro 14 with its multiple In/Outs is again an overkill for Your needs... a 4 In / 4 Out interface without "fancy" preamps should bring the price considerably down, I think ?!?... (for the difference You buy 16 Gig of RAM)

 

Why would PCIe have portability issues?
BTW yes, USB communication creates CPU overhead, but of all the comparison b/w Firewire and USB interfaces, I couldn't find real world performance decrease. *no*

 

Thanks guys. So, it wouldn't be a total disaster to buy a USB AU after all! That is music to my ears, because as you say Rhodes, I could put the difference into RAM.

 

- You can`t transfer Your pci or pci-e interface from Your Desktop to Your Laptop and take it on the road. (at least, I am not able to do that)
...with the USB, You just unplug the usb cable, install the drivers on Your Laptop, plug it in, and You are on the road.

- all USB interfaces I have tried, gave me more latency than pci or pci-e ones.

 

Yes you can, as long as you have expresscard slot on your laptop. Most business models comes with either Expresscard Gen1 or Gen2. Then you only need something like PE4L as dock and there you have PCIe x1 slot for your interface. *yes*
With Thunderbolt you can have even PCIe x4