I need advice on building a audio and video editing workstation to record music, create music CDs, CD labels, and to create

[jadesopals]

what im looking for is a build for an audio and video editing workstation to record music, create music CDs, CD labels, and to create movies or music videos . money is not an issue id just like the best system for the task that will record quality and not crap
pricing and specs for the Audio card,Video card,Hard drive,and id like dual monitors .

 

[Shneiky]

Well, if money is not really an issue:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2690 V2 3.0GHz 10-Core Processor ($1994.98 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 CPU Cooler ($74.99 @ Mwave)
CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2690 V2 3.0GHz 10-Core Processor ($1994.98 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 CPU Cooler ($74.99 @ Mwave)
Motherboard: Asus Z9PE-D8 WS SSI EEB Dual-CPU LGA2011 Motherboard ($529.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston 64GB (8 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($741.62 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 512GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($409.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 512GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($409.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Constellation ES.3 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($244.43 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Seagate Constellation ES.3 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($244.43 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: PNY Quadro 6000 6GB Video Card ($1904.99 @ Amazon)
Sound Card: Asus Xonar Essence STX 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card ($189.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master Cosmos II (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($339.57 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: SeaSonic X Series 1250W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($288.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($175.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: NEC PA301W-BK-SV 30.0" Monitor ($1899.00 @ Adorama)
Monitor: NEC PA301W-BK-SV 30.0" Monitor ($1899.00 @ Adorama)
Total: $13417.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-19 10:07 EST-0500)

The biggest and the baddest that is reasonably to be purchased. I am not expert in audio cards though. I am posting this as a guide-line. There are maybe some improvements to be made.

 

[jadesopals]

thanks for the reply

 

[bambiboom]

jadesopals,

Results would be best if you begin with the exact task > scale, complexity, and quality of the projects, then define the software that can do it and reverse engineer the hardware from the task and software- the hardware is the last thing to choose.

Software >

Adobe CS or Premiere and Audition for sound and video editing

Cakewalk Sonar X3 Producer for recording /sequncing /multitracking, editing, and effects There are many 3rd party specialty plug-ins for effects and etc.

Hardware >

A multichannel/ multitrack sound USB interface with MIDI. I tend to like MOTU products and these have inputs form all kinds of sources. Again, start with your sources and choose the interface accordingly. Look around on Sweetwater.com and read some recording forums as well.

Decide on whether you will need a MIDI controller/sequencer and/or sampler to create effects, background sounds, etc.

Live recording?

As for a system, this will vary according to the tasks and software. I have a dedicated recording, editing system but as it only for two channel live and MIDI, a fairly low specification works well > HP Elite M9426F Core2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz, 8GB, 750GB Seagate Barracuda, EMU 0404 24/96 PCI soundcard with MIDI. The graphics card is quite low end as I am only looking at two tracks in a home studio program. Until 2010, I was doing everything on a 1998 Pentium III 750MHz with 768MB RAM and M-Audio 2496 "Audiophile" MIDI soundcard and I made and edited 100's of recordings, live and MIDI, that were surprisingly decent quality.

For your use, as you indicate a professional level, you might consider >

BambiBoom PixelCannon Noisaramicvideographarific iWork TurboSignature Extreme ModelBlast 5000 ®©$$™®£™©™

Processor> Processor: Intel Xeon Six-Core Processor E5-1650 v2 3.5 / 3.9GHz 0GT/s 12MB LGA 2011 CPU, OEM > $600 (Superbiiz )

____http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?p=E5-1650&c=fr&pid=2c44208f0b1dcd0cde99479f720367c6945473d18f8a0933a1a8bcd4ed5ec4f2&gclid=CKerxcX37bgCFY2Z4Aod2TEAzQ

____http://ark.intel.com/products/75780/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E5-1650-v2-12M-Cache-3_50-GHz

Cooling> Noctua NH-U12S 120x120x25 ( NF-F12 PWM) SSO2-Bearing ( Self-stabilizing oil-pressure bearing ) CPU Cooler $70

____http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608040&Tpk=Noctua%20NH-U12S

Motherboard> ASUS Z9PA-U8 ATX Server Motherboard, C602 chipset, LGA 2011 > $289.99

____http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131915&Tpk=ASUS%20Z9PA-U8

RAM> 32GB ( 2 X 16GB) SAMSUNG 16GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Registered DDR3 1600 Server Memory Model M393B2G70BH0-CK008 $380 > ($190 ea.)

____ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

GPU> NVIDIA / HP Quadro K4000 3GB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Workstation Video Card > $754

____ http://www.amazon.com/HP-Quadro-K4000-Graphic-Card/dp/B...

GPU Options > GTX 580 (3GB), Quadro FX5800 (4GB), Quadro 6000 (6GB)

Hard Drive 1> SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series MZ-7PD512BW 2.5" 512GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) > $470. (OS , Applications, Working Files)

____ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Hard Drive 2> Western Digital 2 TB SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive, Black, WD2003FZEX(RAID 1) > $168 (Files, Backup, System Image)

Hard Drive 3 > Western Digital 2 TB SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive, Black, WD2003FZEX (RAID 1) > $168 (Files, Backup, System Image)

____http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Cache-Desktop-WD2003FZEX/dp/B00FJRS628/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1382357499&sr=1-1&keywords=Western+Digital+2TB+SATA+III+7200+RPM+64+MB+Cache+Bulk%2FOEM+Desktop+Hard+Drive%2C+Black%2C+WD2003FZEX.

Case> Corsair Obsidian Series 900D CC-9011022-WW Black Aluminum ATX Super Tower Computer Case $349.99

____http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139019&Tpk=Corsair%20Obsidian%20Series%20900D..

Power Supply > SeaSonic G-750 SSR-750RM 750W ATX12V / EPS12V 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply $110.

____http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151132&Tpk=SeaSonic%20G-750

DVD Burner> ASUS Black 16X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 5X DVD-RAM 12X BD-ROM SATA Blu-ray Burner BW-16D1HT > $109.99

____ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135306

_________________________________________________________________

TOTAL = $3,470.

Again, this is a bit generic. The graphics card in particular can have a lot of variation according to the sofware, but I would tend to stay with CUDA and because of the large file sizes and to have 10-bit color precision I gravitate towards Quadros with a lot of memory.

Monitor(s) >

Monitors are very important. For images and sound, a large, 2560 X 1440 monitor is useful as there can be many tiny waveforms hundreds controls and dozens of controls and a matching or smaller monitor is helpful. If I were doing what you're intending, I'd have a pair of these >

ASUS PA279Q Black 27" 6ms WQHD HDMI Widescreen LED Backlight True Color Professional Monitor 350 cd/m2 100000000:1 Built-in Speakers height&pivot adjustable > $800

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236343

The other important feature is to have good sound monitoring. I always use closed headphones for this, in my case modestly priced ($100) Sennheiser HD280 Pro, but for your use, you may want a headphone amplifier (depending on the interface) and the higher end professional headphones are open >

Sennheiser HD 650 Audiophile & Reference Headphones - Open > $500

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/HD650/

OK- that's a start,..

Cheers,

BambiBoom

HP z420 (2014) > Xeon E5-1620 quad core @ 3.6 / 3.8GHz > 24GB ECC 1600 RAM > Quadro 4000 (2GB)> Samsung 840 SSD 250GB /Western Digital WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > AE3000 USB WiFi > HP 2711X, 27" 1920 X 1080 > Windows 7 Ultimate 64 > Autodesk Building Design Suite, Inventor Pro, Solidworks, Adobe CS MC, Corel Technical Design Sketchup Pro, WordP Office, MS Office Pro [Passmark system rating = 3815, 2D= 767 / 3D=2044]

Dell Precision T5400 (2008) > 2X Xeon X5460 quad core @3.16GHz > 16GB ECC 667> Quadro FX 4800 (1.5GB) > WD RE4 500GB / Seagate Barracuda 500GB > M-Audio 2496 Sound Card / Linksys 600N WiFi > Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit > (earlier versions) AutoCad, Revit, Solidworks, Sketchup Pro, Corel Technical Designer, Adobe CS MC, WordP Office, MS Office Pro [Passmark system rating = 1859, 2D= 512 / 3D=1097]

HP Elite M9426F (2008) > Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz > 8 GB DDR2 1066 > ATI Radeon 4650 > Seagate 750GB > EMU 0404 PCI Soundcard / MIDI. Sennheiser HD 280 Pro, Marantz 2275 with Yamaha SR-2135 monitors / Windows 7 Ultimate 64> Cakewalk Home Studio 2 XL, Hauptwerk Virtual Organ, Garritan virtual Steinway D> sound Recording / editing

 

[Orbit48]

http://www.carillonac1.com/
Pre-built audio pc's - of the highest quality.. i suppose you just need to add a powerful GPU to the rig.. maybe they do one to suit you..

Your choice of audio card depends on what u need it to do..
most audio cards for music editing have inputs/outputs u can have at both front & rear panels, or simply loose as a gang of wires (cost saver).
You need to workl out what you will or may want to plug into your pc directly.. if u have a semi-studio then you probably already have a mixer to do that, but more jacks are always welcome with audio editing xD
Minimum latency is key with audio.. a decent pc and good audiocard/interface will be more than enough..

I cant speak for todays market, i did some audio engineering back in early 2000.. the card i used was made by terratec and was top quality for a budget card (£150+)

http://www.terratec.net/details.php?artnr=10546#.UysapFfAzGg - is the more modern looking version of my old card..
i never had any issues with the terratec original.. they still make it but in a modern look.. you can just have the card, or the external interface aswell.. i had the interface in the front panel of pc and was great for editing via software and/or outboard equipment.. phantom power is a must if u want to plug a mic into it.. but again.. it depends on what set-up u already have (mixing desk, rackmounts etc)

Other similar range cards include Audiophile, M-audio, Focusrite etc..
Hammerfall is industry standard, but is costly http://www.rme-audio.de/en_index.php
Creative make some decent spec'd stuff for a lot cheaper.. but if u want professional sounds you should really choose a professional card. (£100-400 is a good starter range)

Take a browse thro Studiospares.. a great place for most of your audio needs
http://www.studiospares.com/computer-zone/audio-interfaces/icat/comsoundcards?sort=onhand&parentCategoryRef=comsoundcards&order=desc&q=*&type=soundcards&setpagenum=1&perpage=10

I'd read the specs of Hammerfall cards, then look at the terratec, and maybe a few others.. get the specs noted and narrow your search down to 1 or 2 cards..
Dont scrimp/scrape with price.. audio quality is noticable within the studio enviroment, and again.. latency is key.. a good latency card will not substitute a poor pc tho.. u need both to be of decent quality for things to run well..
Dont get me wrong, pc's have adapted into monsters compared to the early 1995 gear i started messing with audio xD
and most modern ones will be fine, a decent m/b, cpu and a good audio card will keep you going for many years.. so is worth the extra £50 here & there for quality components.

Software wise, do you use Cubase? or if money is no object... Protools is in almost every studio there is.. the highest quality software AND hardware there is.. they do some audio interfaces too, or even full rigs with 16/24/48 channel mixing desks included.. all automated..
http://www.avid.com/US/products/family/Pro-Tools
xD awesome stuff.. but dont overlook cubase.. its been around since day one.. again.. bit pricey.. but ran the show until Protools appeared.

The video editing will be more processor heavy than audio, so u will need a good cpu & gpu

All the above we are talking £1000's but you could prob build a good enough rig for less.. audio and video editing will be processor heavy, or things will take ages to edit.. so concentrate on that side 1st if u building your own..

The link at the top of page is a great manufacturer, Carillion was much sought after, but my pockets never allowed me and i had to put up with blue screens of death often xD but that was in the old days..
Good luck in your research.. and research you should do mate.. dont go too cheap or you will be sat around looking at computer processing bars for hours of your life xD

 

[lelethu]

thanks for the reply

thank you