PC for Music Production

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thepianoman77

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Jan 10, 2016
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Hi guys I am looking to buy a computer straight from scratch for music production. I have found a few articles but i don't think they give you every single component you need to have a working computer for the total price. My budget is about 1k. I need every single component so i can be sure not to go over 1k. For example, mouse, sound card, keyboard, ram, hard drive, video card, monitor, etc.

I don't mean to sound rude, but when i see computer builds I see that they include a few of the components for a certain price but don't take into account that people might now have a monitor or speakers or whatever not.

If I could get help with this task I would be forever grateful... I was thinking of getting a MAC but you know how that goes. Too expensive.

thanks guys!
 
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bambiboom
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Yes I'm sorry, my mistake.

I will be running Protools, Addictive keys, NI Komplete Ultimate 10, Addictive drums. And a few other programs... I want to get a video editing software too, but not sure which one yet.
 
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Here is what I could do for $1000 (USD). The prices below do not include tax.

I have picked out a set of speakers but I would advise you to source your own, you after all are working with sound. I was restricted by cost in the choice of speakers.

The sound card itself is a highly rated one.

I have included some links for you to look at.

http://sound-cards-review.toptenreviews.com/

http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-computer-speakers/

http://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-Studiophile-Active-Monitor-Speakers/dp/B0051WAM64?tag=thewire0f-20&ascsubtag=WC4241

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8HM2hM
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8HM2hM/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($98.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($85.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($44.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Kingston HyperX Fury 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($56.80 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GT 730 1GB Video Card ($49.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($38.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer ($14.88 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($99.98 @ OutletPC)
Sound Card: Asus Xonar Essence STX 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card ($128.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: BenQ GL2460HM 60Hz 24.0" Monitor ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Microsoft Keyboard 200 Wired Standard Keyboard ($7.99 @ Directron)
Mouse: Microsoft P58-00061 Wired Optical Mouse ($4.99 @ NCIX US)
Speakers: Logitech Z323 30W 2.1ch Speakers ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $932.22
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-16 06:38 EST-0500
 
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That system itself looks OK but for music production you will want a low latency audio interface (a professional sound card basically). A normal consumer sound card will be a bit useless for recording because the latency will be far too high. ASIO is a good technology to look for but the specific interface you get depends what you want to do with it. For example I have the EMU-0202 because I just needed a mic and some instrument inputs. Some might also want a mixing desk or midi inputs etc. You'll probably need to budget at least $100 for the audio interface.

Also those speakers are very bass heavy as are most consumer speakers, I'd look for some 'monitor' speakers designed for studios etc as they give a more balanced sound. I'd look at 'active' or 'powered' monitors as then you don't need to buy amplifiers as such as well, they're generally plug and play like normal PC speakers.

Generally DAW software such as this is reasonably light on CPU and RAM resources so any quad core and 8GB of RAM will be fine. Most dual cores would probably be fine as well, especially i3's.

I'll look at suggesting a full build now.
 
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I'd go for this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($68.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($18.73 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A88M PRO3+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($56.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX200 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($62.99 @ Micro Center)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($45.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GT 730 1GB Video Card ($46.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 360W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($57.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: Asus VS228T-P 60Hz 21.5" Monitor ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: Asus VS228T-P 60Hz 21.5" Monitor ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Keyboard: Logitech K120 Wired Standard Keyboard ($6.99 @ NCIX US)
Mouse: HP QY778AT Wired Laser Mouse ($13.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $714.39
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-16 07:24 EST-0500


Performance will be fine and should be very quiet. Also give you a reasonable graphics card for your video editing and dual monitors. Also leaves nearly $300 for a decent monitors and an audio interface. In ear or over ear monitors are worth considering as well actually, better bang for your buck with headphones.


EDIT: Couple of suggestions for decent monitors:

Mackie CR3's look pretty good although as they're marketed as 'multimedia' I'd guess they probably don't have a totally balanced sound and they're probably slightly bass heavy
http://www.amazon.com/Mackie-CR-CR3-Reference-Multimedia/dp/B00KVEIY4E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452950888&sr=8-1&keywords=studio+monitor

M-Audio AV-30's look pretty decent too
http://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-Studiophile-Active-Monitor-Speakers/dp/B0051WAM1O/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1452950888&sr=8-4&keywords=studio+monitor

Sennheiser HD 280 Pro's look very good for the price and definitely designed with a more flat frequency response (balanced sound) in mind
http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-280-Pro-Headphones/dp/B000065BPB/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452951108&sr=8-1&keywords=hd+280+pro

Beyer DT990 Pro look very good too although a bit more expensive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA29P3MC6389&cm_re=dt990-_-9SIA29P3MC6389-_-Product


If it was my money I'd go for the Mackie's. They should do the job as studio monitors while also looking pretty cool and having decent sound for general music etc. The Sennheisers will probably have the best sound quality for the audio production though, I'm just not a fan of using headphones on my desktop, if you are then they're probably a good choice. Saves you having to buy speaker stands as well because they can get expensive. I found it cheaper to buy all the tools and materials and build my own stands.

As I said, the audio interface depends on specifically what kind of music you're doing.

Do you need to plug in instruments with a jack? (Guitars etc?)
Do you want to record with microphones?
Do you want to plug in instruments via MIDI? (Keyboard or electric drum kit for example)
 
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thepianomann77,

When on a budget for this kind of use, my view is to consider buying a good quality, mid-level used workstation. This saves considerable costs that may be redirected to the important specialized component namely the audio interface. The other savings is time and frustration as you can buy a system that can be ready to use in a few hours instead of days of researching, ordering, assembling, configuring, and troubleshooting a systems from components. Workastations are designed specifically with these kinds of task in mind, and are constructed to run with high perofrmance under full load fro long periods with complete reliability. In 2010, I bought a 2007 Dell Precision T5400 and in 5 years of use- sometimes running continuously fro up to two weeks, it never had a failure. Importantly, workstations are also designed to be quiet- extremely important in audio work. The cases are heavier- a Dell Precision T5500 weighs 39 lbs- and the fans are in shrouds moved to the interior whereas on consumer systems, the fans are often mounted on the front panel.

I'd recommend the previous mid-level HP, HP z420:

HP Z420 Workstation Xeon E5-1620 3.6GHz 16GB 320GB nVidia Quadro 600 DVD-RW > sold for $399

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Z420-Workstation-Xeon-E5-1620-3-6GHz-16GB-320GB-nVidia-Quadro-600-DVD-RW-/321906074680?hash=item4af318e438%3Ag%3Agf4AAOSwDNdVr6bA&nma=true&si=xve%252BGi%252Bt1fMBUw4gfpt0HthypkA%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

As the RAM is sufficient and the Quadro 600 a perfect level of GPU, to this you a fast SSD and larger storage drive- which should be an enterprise drive such as WD BLack, RE, or Seagate Constellation ES.3, but you could actually intiatially use it as is. I build the C;\ drive on a mech'l drive to craft it- full updates defrag, system file prioritize, consolidate, and then migrate to the SSD. Fro the keyboard, I like this Dell multimedia:

New-Dell-U473D-Slimline-USB-Multimedia-Keyboard-with-2-x-USB-and-Wrist-Rest > sold for $23

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Dell-U473D-Slimline-USB-Multimedia-Keyboard-with-2-x-USB-and-Wrist-Rest-/131611084710?hash=item1ea4a1c7a6:g:MMQAAOSwWnFWAtyT

There is more multi-threading in audio plug- in today, but much is still single-threaded as there is too much latency, so audio tasks in DAW- and Protools works this way- are divided into parallel channels. this makes single-threaded performance important, but the multi-threaded too. This is why I like Xeon E5's as the memory bandwidth is double that of LGA1150 /LGA1151 and there are 40 PCIe lanes instead of 28. The E5-1620 is 3.6 / 3.8GHz and having used one almost three years fro 3D CAD, I can say the performance is really good. And, that system is so quiet, that I can not hear it sitting under the desk next to my knees.

The interface is very important. You have to have a duplex I/O and I recommend multiple inputs and MIDI. This seems to be a sensible, general guide to interfaces:

The ULTIMATE Guide to Audio Interfaces for 2015

http://ehomerecordingstudio.com/best-audio-interfaces/

In my dedicated music system (HP M9426F, Core2 Quadro Q6600 2.4GHz) I use an obsolete M-Audio PCI 192 24/192 2 in- 2 out card that connects a Yamaha S90, to MIDI and I run a Peavey VMP-2 tube mic pre with 2X Oktava M012 mics for live piano (Kawai KG-5D). I use various Garritan soft-synths and Cakewlk Home Studio- all budget home stuff, but results are surprising good. The Oktava are Neumann KM84 "homages" and the VMP-2 with vintage tubes is better than it should be. That system made 100's of CD's and I made several radio programmes as well. Have a look at Sweetwater interfaces:

http://www.sweetwater.com/shop/computer-audio/audio_interfaces/

-and choose the features you like. That's the value is using a used $400 workstation, more money can be put into a versatile, high quality interface. A firewire or USB interface could allow a mobile recording interface with many inputs. I have a friend , a professional pianist that uses a MOTU 828. Also have a look also at the M-Audio choices- they're very good value.

http://www.m-audio.com/products/browse/category/usb-audio-and-midi-interfaces

For monitoring, I strongly recommend running two monitors. You will be running more than one application at a time and with many menus open at once. I use two elderly Dell 19" LCD, but I would far rather have that than even a single 27".

Given the Infinite choices my thought is to put the effort into the speicalised components and getting to work as soon as possible by basing the system on a good used workstation that was designed ad optimized for this use.

Cheers,

BambiBoom


HP z420 (2015) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 six-core @ 3.7 / 4.0GHz > 32GB DDR3 ECC 1866 RAM > Quadro K4200 (4GB) > Intel 730 480GB (9SSDSC2BP480G4R5) > Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > 600W PSU> Logitech z2300 > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440) > Windows 7 Professional 64 >
[ Passmark Rating = 5064 > CPU= 13989 / 2D= 819 / 3D= 4596 / Mem= 2772 / Disk= 4555] [Cinebench R15 > CPU = 1014 OpenGL= 126.59 FPS] 7.8.15

Dell Precision T5500 (2011) > 2X Xeon X5680 six -core @ 3.33 / 3.6GHz, 48GB DDR3 ECC 1333 > Quadro K2200 (4GB ) > PERC H310 / Samsung 840 250GB / WD RE4 Enterprise 1TB > M-Audio 192 sound card > 875W PSU > Windows 7 Professional 64> HP 2711x (1920 X 1080)
[ Passmark system rating = 3844 / CPU = 15047 / 2D= 662 / 3D= 3500 / Mem= 1785 / Disk= 2649] (12.30.15)
 
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A used workstation is a reasonable idea, especially if you're comfortable with resolving any issues yourself. You usually won't get a warranty but you will probably get better performance for your money. I'd see if you can find one with an older i5, i7 or Xeon. I wouldn't bother with anything older than that such as core 2 quads.
 
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@bambiboom, so what would the specs be for a used one when I am searching. I came here cause this forum focuses on building, and I'm not against preowned or brand new built ones, or to build one myself.

I've might be looking in the wrong places for president finished or preowned because all I find is normal people computers with 4gb ram and 2.4ghz processor. So I got frustrated because they still sell those for Like 800+.
And also, are the parts that jmsellars1 gave out wrong? Is there something you guys would change? How about MACs? Or alien ware?
 
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I wouldn't go for a Mac unless you have to use the Mac OS simply because you can get pretty much exactly the same components for less money on a Windows machine. A homebuilt machine will give you the same parts for less cash compared to an Alienware as well. They're only worth it if you don't want to build your own.

imsqam's build looks OK other than the sound card and speakers. The changes I made were personal preference more than anything. You don't need a huge amount of CPU power in this type of machine and even if you did, I don't think the FX-6 is worth the money personally. If the software only uses 4 cores then it is going to be much slower than the 860k, even if the software uses all 6 cores it would only be a bit faster than the 860k (around 10%).

Then I just chose a different motherboard and RAM because the CPU is a different socket.

The GT 730 is fine as a basic graphics card for dual monitors and a bit of video editing.

SSD and hard drive is a good idea, I just think 120GB isn't enough space these days considering the price.

Nothing wrong with that EVGA PSU as such but that Seasonic is much better quality and would give me peace of mind/reliability. Should be quieter and more efficient as well.

Then I just think any work/productivity PC should have dual monitors, especially for audio.


I'll let the other guys give opinions on the build I suggested, none of it is 'wrong' in terms of compatibility though.



Feel free to ask any more questions.


EDIT: Also do you already have monitors? (As in speakers/headphones?) If not, do you prefer speakers or headphones?
 
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Actually Pianoman, I think jmsellars1 build is the better of the two.

I chose the FX6300 because I was a little unsure of the processor demands by the software but if the 860k works it is a fantastic little CPU. He is right about the PSU, my build just required a little more juice so I was concerned about headroom. Understand that many of my choices were made because of trying to hit the $1000 limit, not because I thought that was the best choice.

In reading his response I see that he is knowledgeable in this area and provides good rationales for his choices.
 
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thepianoman77,

The system that seems to fit this use- and are reasonably priced now- would be an HP z420 with a Xeon E5-1620 CPU, 16GB of RAM - this will be ECC error correcting memory- DDR3-1600 or if you find a later one DDR3-1866. The alternative would be to find a Dell Precision T3600 with the same specifications, for example:

Dell Precision T3600 QC Xeon E5-1620 3.6GHz 16GB 2x 250GB *Quadro 600* > sold for $550

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Precision-T3600-QC-Xeon-E5-1620-3-6GHz-16GB-2x-250GB-Quadro-600-/141826623451?hash=item21058687db%3Ag%3A6RkAAOSw7FRWU099&nma=true&si=cPlivksOU8TtEG0FHGjkuLQKpQw%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

In some ways I feel Precisions are better made and have better support, but are somewhat more expensive used. I have 4 Dell Precisions and three HP's and the HP's seem to a bit quieter.

CPU: The Xeon E5-1600 series has been fantastic from a cost /performance standpoint. The E5-1620 is excellent: 4-core at 3.6 /3.8GHz and using DDR3-1600 ECC RAM. If you found a system within the budget with an E5-1650 or E5-1650 v2 even better,- that's a 6-core at 3.5 /3.9GHz that would be ideal and the v2 version also uses 1866 speed RAM. To compare CPU's, the AMD Athlon X4 860K mentioned by jmsellars1 has an average Passmark CPU score of 5611 and is ranked No. 311 and a Xeon E5-1620 scores 9112 at No. 112.

RAM: I feel that ECC is important in this use. The latency is slightly greater, but with multiple parallel threads and the complex algorithms that calculate effects, multitracking and etc, it's advisable. Really any of the graphics cards that were supplied originally should be fine. I have two z420's and the E5-1620 version arrived with a Firepro V4900, but the basic card was the Quadro 600 which will run two monitors. I prefer Quadros for visualization applications but I have a vague memory that Firepros are especially good for ProTools for some reason. The power supply of z420's is 600W and for this kind of system, the power supply should be in the 500W or more range to anticipate other uses. A system like this could be adapted for example to video editing which is very demanding.

Hard Drives: The hard drives will be replaced. In both cases when I bought the HP z420's I had the basic drive- the first had a Seagate 500 GB and the second in the E5-1660 v2 system was a Western Digital Blue 500GB. In both cases I took those out and put them in an external USB enclosure as backup drives.For the OS and applications drive I recommend a Samsung 850Evo 250GB- about $85. In my z420's I used a Samsung 840 240GB and an Intel 730 480GB in the second. I in both cases there is a partition fro the OS/Applications and another for the active, working files- the current projects. SSD's have such fast access times, this (having the OS, programs and files on the same drive) has worked well though of course CAD files are much much smaller than audio files. I have a Sketchup 3D model that is 105MB and that's large. For storage, I like to use enterprise hard drives such as a Western Digital RE or the high performance WD Black series and recently I bought a pair of Seagate Constellation ES.3 1TB drives which have 128MB of cache instead of 64MB. Enterprise drives have 5-year warranties. I have two 7-year old WD RE4's in a 2007 Dell Precision T5400 and with no signs of problems. These drives are more expensive, but the performance and reliability is important. Buying the system used mean they possible in the budget.

Monitors: I suggest two monitors of at least 21". The resolutions need to be fairly good because there are so many tiny menus and selection of waveforms and so on. I have a lot of Dell and HP monitors at the moment, but ASUS, Viewsonic, and Samsung appeal. With monitors, if at all possible, see them in person and make sure you like the image and controls. I particularly dislike strong anti-reflection coatings- they look milky and the controls vary a lot.

So, quite a numbers of things to consider, but imagine having to select, order, install, configure, and trouble-shoot every piece of the system.

What kind of projects are you doing?

Cheers,

BambiBoom
 
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Here's an active listing on Ebay for a Precision, looks like great value if you're willing to go for a used PC:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Precision-T3600-QC-Xeon-E5-1620-3-6GHz-16GB-RAM-250GB-HDD-Quadro-600-H310/131702116300?_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D34493%26meid%3D454bdce27ac34156a6d9efbfcc52a416%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D10%26sd%3D141826623451

Only $500 and is a much higher spec than what I suggested once you add a SSD. That CPU is only slightly weaker than a modern $300 i7. The GPU is pretty poor but it should be OK for your usage and they're easily upgradable anyway.

Again it is just a trade off in terms of whether you'd prefer more performance or new parts with warranties.

@imsqam - That's very gracious of you, glad you didn't take any of that as a personal attack like so many on this forum do sometimes.
 
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jmsellars1,

The Dell Precision T3600 linked would be a very good choice. That particular one has a PERC H310 SAS/SATA RAID controller 8 port (supports 32 physical SAS drives) -probably a $400 option new that is very good when combined with fast drives. I have an H310 in a Precision T5500- originally 3GB/s and it changed it to 6GB/s and the Passmark disk score from 1940 to 2628 on a Samsung 840 250GB. It was somewhat difficult to configure but the results are worth it.

There 12X T3600> E5-1620 / 16GB / PERC H310 / Quadro 600 systems on Passmark the best of which is:

Rating= 3332, CPU=9363 , 2D=782 (excellent), 3D=855, Mem=1646, Disk=3967

-very good results. For comparison, my 2013 HP z420 with an E5-1620:

Rating= 3815, CPU=8985 , 2D=767, 3D=2044 (Quadro 4000 2GB), Mem=2523, Disk=2486. You can disregard the difference in 3D due to the higher level Quadro 4000, the memory is higher as I have 24GB instead of 16GB, and the overall higher rating and concentrate on the higher CPU score and much higher disk score thanks to the PERC H310. The TX600 series Precisions were very good.


Cheers,

BambiBoom
 
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So it looks like it's is better to go for used... bambiboom, I'm trying to edit and record music with multiple loops, tracks, effects. At the same time I want to be able to use some plug ins to mix. I will not be using a table mixer. (Don't have the space) I will be using midi, I have a Roland A-88. Maybe be using Protools 10 or better. Addictive keys for Piano sounds, compressor mic for vocals and maybe a guitar. So for stuff to plug in it will only be the keyboard, one mic, and a guitar.


I have the digidesign 003rack. If that means anything...


Bambiboom, so you sugest that a used computer would be good and then just replace the hard drive with a ssd?. And install Windows on that?... would that be it... I'm not that knowledgeable on rebuilding, or building.


Also I do not have sound monitors or really good headphones... I have normal bose computer speakers. I was thinking of the krk rokit powered 10. But I saw someone posted a few other options.

And really I don't need that much for video editing. Mainly just decent enough to upload stuff to youtube and it looking decent enough for people to enjoy.
 
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thepianoman77,

Especially if you're not used to fairly complex computer assembly and configuration, it seems that buying a mid-level, used workstation would be a much better method of setting up your music production station than building. A system such as an HP z420 or Dell Precision T3600 seems more and more sensible as I consider the situation.

I say this after a quick run through of the 150-page Digidesign 003 manual and that looks complicated enough by itself. Protools /AVID has a lot of capabilities- I/O, multi-tracking , and modification/effects and it's as complex as 3D CAD. Because of the special standards, the driver configuration and disk setup are quite specialized and Digidesign/Protools does ask for a dedicated hard drive.

I think if you buy a system similar to those mentioned in my and jmsellars1 earlier replies and with the addition of a Firewire card, proper drives- something like a Samsung 850 Evo 250GB and a dedicated 2TB enterprise mech'l drive, have a very versatile system. This system would have enough capability that it would have plenty of residual uses including video editing, and even as general workstation use, graphic design and all your computer uses could go onto a second mech'l drive. I know a couple of pros using ancient Macs and synth modules and my own dedicated system is a 2.4GHz Core2 Quad Q6600. You'd be way ahead with the hardware mentioned in this thread.

It's possible to use speaker monitors for this work, but eventually I used only headphones. For awhile I had a good office sound system : McIntosh MR67 tuner / Cambridge Audio 640 CD > Audio Research LS3 line stage > Audio Research D130 power amplifier > Vandersteen 2Ce speakers that I used with the dedicated music computer, but over time I found the headphones to be much more useful- I could detect defects in the editing- especially relative track levels and side to side imbalances plus editing problems- glitches and sync trouble much more clearly. I ended using headphones all the time when laying tracks on the Yamaha S90. I could also hear the timbre of soft-synths much more clearly. I use Hauptwerk virtual pipe organ as well as a Garritan virtual Steinway D and along with the live recordings of the Kawai KG5 and other instruments sometimes cello and flute, I could really get the sound qualities the way I wanted with headphones. The problem was that the monitor placement can never be correct for the editing use. Given I was using an $125 ASIO PCI sound card the results were not too bad. The Digidesign has two headphones jacks and given that firm's reputation, I'd imagine they were reasonably good. I had very good results with Sennheiser HD280 Pro headphones but those are probably 7 or 8 years old now and there must be better current designs. If you did want to use a computer speaker setup, I've had excellent results with a Logitech Z2300 2.1 THX system. This has a 45W satellite and 125W subwoofer and the great feature is the wired remote control that also has a headphone jack. There are always some of these used on Ebay- perhaps $$100-125 with shipping- and the sound is really good because the satellites can be placed for a good stereo image near the monitor. But I'd spend the money on reasonable headphones connected to the Digidesign.

Do you have anything currently on YouTube?

Cheers,

BambiBoom

 
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Yeah, I'm not too familiar with all the advanced vocabulary in computer systems and hardware.
The thing is I'm willing to Lear if it is cheaper to go build my own, but a prebuilt used that you can rebuild would be a good choice too...

So the link that jmsellars mentioned,http://go.redirectingat.com/?id=1402X558040&site=tomshardware.co.uk&xs=1&isjs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2FDell-Precision-T3600-QC-Xeon-E5-1620-3-6GHz-16GB-RAM-250GB-HDD-Quadro-600-H310%2F131702116300%3F_trksid%3Dp2047675.c100011.m1850%26_trkparms%3Daid%253D222007%2526algo%253DSIC.MBE%2526ao%253D1%2526asc%253D34493%2526meid%253D454bdce27ac34156a6d9efbfcc52a416%2526pid%253D100011%2526rk%253D1%2526rkt%253D10%2526sd%253D141826623451&xguid=ef7020235173f722a8e839767b095479&xuuid=a2deb570c2ee082e4d65e1a66e9ef9f8&xsessid=0ec17a8ebe462566e80f1f15a58a8035&xcreo=0&xed=0&sref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tomshardware.co.uk%2Fanswers%2Fid-2933704%2Fmusic-production.html%23xtor%3DEPR-8809&xtz=480, would be good....


My question, If I went with that exact one, what would I replace and upgrade?
 
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thepianoman77,

The Precision T3600 in the link has a really good CPU , enough RAM, and a suitable graphic card. It really only needs drives.I'd suggest a Samsung 850 EVO 250GB SSD for the operating system and programs and a 2TB mechanical drive, a Western Digital Black or a Seagate Constellation ES.3. The other item is the Firewire connection for the Digidesign 003 and that is only a matter of choosing the appropriate PCIe card- $25 or so.

However, what bothers me is that that particular one appears to have have damage to the case, such that the case door doesn't seem to fit properly. The seller shows a close-up and writes that "Case damaged around Bay Door. Door still functional.", but these systems are very solid and I think it would have taken a substantial impact to distort the case in that way- dropped on the lower front edge from standing height? . Personally, I'd look for another one with a similar specification:

The same seller has several of the same without this damage:

Dell Precision T3600 QC Xeon E5-1620 3.6GHz 16GB RAM 250GB HDD H310 Quadro 600 > $525

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Precision-T3600-QC-Xeon-E5-1620-3-6GHz-16GB-RAM-250GB-HDD-H310-Quadro-600-/351630849031?hash=item51ded4f407:g:IksAAOSwlV9WTN~s

-well worth the extra $25.

The other possibility if you have time is to wait for an exceptional deal such as:

Dell Precision T3610 E5-1620 V2 16gb Ram 512gb SSD Nvidia K4000 sold for $549

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Precision-T3610-E5-1620-V2-16gb-Ram-512gb-SSD-Nvidia-K4000-/181987645388?hash=item2a5f4f17cc%3Ag%3ATpcAAOSwLN5WkKdd&nma=true&si=5QBWSXfxItRbayMdBPiIMxGEOm8%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

That's a T3610. This version used the v2 version of the Xeon E5's- a bit faster, and the RAM is 1866 instead of 1600. That particular one had a 512GB SSD- a $200 item and a Quadro K4000 (3GB) which was a $750 GPU when new. That card is not necessary for your use. The cheapest K4000 at the moment on ebahhh is $350 so that could have been sold and replaced with a $100 card and the system ends with a net cost of $300.

Of course, there's no guarantees when or if something like this comes up.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

 
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Solution
Sí the ssd for the actual programs that I'll be running and then a normal hard drive for storage?
Make sense.
And the firewire connection? Is that a USB port type of thing? I'm not exactly sure what that is.
 
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thepianoman77,

Firewire is a protocol- a standardized- way of connecting devices invented by Apple. It's much like USB except it is setup like a peer to peer network whereas USB requires a switching network like a computer- it's a more direct connection. Firewire was also duplex meaning it sends information in both directions at the the same, whereas USB until 3.0 sent information in one direction at a time. This makes Firewire more direct and faster than USB especially if large amounts of information is being sent back and forth such as in audio and video.

Firewire has been very popular for external audio interfaces because of the duplex operation. Firewie is like USB in that you can chain together many devices on one connection, I think you can put 30 or 33 on a Firewire. As USB is now full duplex as of USB 3.0, that may change, but Firewire appears to be still dominant in high quality audio interfaces.

To run the Digidesign 003 on your proposed system, you'll need a Firewire interface card. This is a PCIe card that plugs into an empty slot (runs at x1 meaning it uses 1 PCIe lane). These usually provide two or three ports on the back of the computer to plug in Firewire devices, but there cards with 6 ports. For you use, something like this:

SYBA 2-port of 1394b + 1-port of 1394a Firewire Ports PCI-Express Controller Card (SY-PEX30016) > $21
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815124107&cm_re=Firewire_card-_-15-124-107-_-Product

There are a couple of different Firewire connectors and that card has ports for both types.

As for the drives, my configuration for the last eight years of so has been to have one drive for the operating system and the programs and a separate, larger capacity one for the files. The advantage is that the two hard drives don't have to access the files for Windows, the program and the files- those tasks run separately.

With SSD's having such amazingly fast access time- no little mechanical arm that has to scan back and forth over the platters, I setup a larger SSD (my main computer has a 480GB Intel 730) with a 200GB Partition for Windows 7 and the programs- CAD, rendering, and graphic design and the active files- whatever I'm likely to use in current work goes into the other partition. Having the data partition means it's easy to select all the files for backup.

Partitions are not usually recommended for SSD's as people assume that the restriction of the partition size means the SSD memory will wear prematurely and the spare sectors will not be available, but in this is not the case as SSD partitions do not divide the disk in the same way as a mechanical drive.

A lot of jargon here, but a workstation needs careful hardware choices and setup for high performance. Audio varies a lot in hardware demands, but a dedicated system based on a computer of the T3600's potential should be optimized.

Cheers,

BambiBoom
 
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