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Good PC for home recording

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Nathan1709

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« on: October 07, 2011, 02:02:12 PM »
Hi guys,

Been a while since my last visit.  I'm after some advice.

I am looking to buy a PC for home recording / production.  The problem is that I am clueless what to get?  I know it will need reasonable RAM and a decent soundcard but aside from that, I don't know anything!

My budget is £500.  I am not looking for professional studio quality but the best I can get for that money.  Can anyone recommend one for me?

Much obliged!

tone

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« Reply #1 on: October 07, 2011, 08:20:38 PM »
Personally I think software is more important than hardware these days. When I record (which isn't very often) I use an ancient laptop with 677Ghz processor and 512Mb RAM. Granted, that is a little too sparse on the old RAM front, but 1GB would be fine for my recording needs. What makes it work is the copy of Logic Express 8 I'm lucky enough to have installed.

Get something with a decent amount of Hard Disk space so you've got lots of storage space. Aside from that, spend some of your budget on software, and just get a stable machine that won't crash or make too much noise.
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Sonic-r

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« Reply #2 on: October 07, 2011, 08:35:36 PM »
Don't buy the machine until you know what software you're going to run on it because the machine will need to match the minimum requirements of the software. I used to run Logic Pro on a G4 mac and it crashed every 16 bars because the processor couldn't cope. The Mac Mini I bought handled things a lot better, but still struggles if the song has a lot of midi tracks running on it.

£500 should get you a dual processor PC these days which should cope with the DAW, and everything else. You're right to consider the sound card, which is often integrated on the motherboard, so maybe buy and install a separate sound card with it's own slot for connecting the external sound devices. Dell always seem to have competitive prices.

Check out websites like Sound on Sound or Computer Music for archive articles about set ups.

Chris

Ramshackles

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« Reply #3 on: October 08, 2011, 08:52:09 AM »
What kind of machine you need would depend on what kind of music you wanna make. If you are interested in electronic music, with lots of plugins and synths you would be heavily interested in the performance of the computer - RAM and cpu power. You would also need to research the capabilities of the DAW you use. Not all DAW's can access multiple cores and if you end up with such a DAW, a computer with 4 cores each running at 2GHz would be less powerful than one core running at 3GHz.

Read this article to have an idea of that:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan08/articles/pcmusician_0108.htm

If you are interested in recording live music, and especially acoustic music, which would require less plugins, no synths etc, then you would be more interested in hardware than the computer. Most readily available computers are built to a standard now that can easily support music. I'm using a simple dual-core machine with just 4GB of RAM and only a 32bit version of cubase on win xp. I can easily record up to 30 or more tracks all with a number of plugins and processing going on.

Far more important than the actual computer are the monitors (speakers) and audio interface. If you are buying from a computer shop (not a music shop) then the bundled sound cards they do wont cut it.
You need to think about how many inputs/outputs do you need?, do you need midi? do you need good preamps?
Theres a useful tool here to help you decide:
http://www.recordingreview.com/soundcard/soundcard_wizard.php

TBH, I see no reason to spend that amount of money on a pc just for recording. I picked up my pc off ebay for £100 a bout 3 years ago. I've upgraded the RAM and added a harddrive since then. My audio interface cost more than that.


What could be useful is going onto a large music retailers site like Dolphin music or Thomann and seeing what bundles they do - often they might have offers on computers bundled with DAW's and interfaces or computers and monitors etc etc

As for DAW's - I would save money and get Reaper. It's excellent - I would've gone that road if I hadnt already being using cubase, and I'm in fact starting to migrate across to the 64bit version of reaper on windows 7 as its cheaper than upgrading to cubase 6.

You'll have enough to spend on an interface and monitors, preamps and microphones (if you don't already have them).
Of course if you have all that then go crazy and buy an awesome pc/mac :D
« Last Edit: October 08, 2011, 08:55:15 AM by Ramshackles »

Nathan1709

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« Reply #4 on: October 11, 2011, 01:12:41 PM »
Thanks for the replies.  I will be recording both acoustically and making electronic music so I need a good all round PC for that.  I think I will be running Ableton primarily and few other programs (Audacity and maybe Nuendo if I can get hold of a copy), just whatever gets the job done really!

I will need plugins and VSt instruments and the ability to sample, although I can actually do that with Audacity (although it takes a lot of patience!)

As for the acoustic recordings, I would think it highly unlikely that I'll ever use more than 8 tracks but certainly no more than 16.  Can anyone recommend a decent piece of software for that, or will Ableton be suitable?

I will take a look at the sites you've suggested and see if I can find a good package.   

Cheers
Nathan

Ramshackles

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« Reply #5 on: October 11, 2011, 02:11:53 PM »
Almost all DAW's, ableton included can handle any number of tracks, with the only limit being your comuputer power.
Even a basic computer can handle 8 tracks.
I didnt understand if you meant you would like to record 8 tracks at once - i.e. 8 seperate mics and/or inputs recording together. If thats the case you need an interface that has the required number of inputs.
Of course, if you plan to record each track seperately (record 1 track, go back and record track 2 etc) then of course you need just the 1 input, however you might want to think about getting at least 2 so you can e.g. record guitar with 2 mics as a stereo pair or record guitar and voice together.

For VST, I reccomend kontakt player, as you can get the free version which comes with a strong library of instruments

Nathan1709

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« Reply #6 on: October 12, 2011, 10:56:08 AM »
Thanks Ramshackles.  I think that two inputs at once would be the most I would ever use.  I have quite simple requirements.

Ramshackles

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« Reply #7 on: October 12, 2011, 12:29:34 PM »
In that case, something like the Focusrite scarlett 2i2 could be a good choice for a soundcard:
http://www.focusrite.com/products/audio_interfaces/scarlett_2i2/
comes with some bundled plugins (EQ, gate, compressor, reverb) and I quite like focusrite preamps.
Something like the M-Audio fast-track could be the cheapest option while maintaining a good quality signal path, although Im not a fan of the pre's on the m-audio stuff I've heard.
For the simplicity of the setup, I dont think a super powerful expensive computer is that necessary, like Tone says. I have, by todays standards, a very simple dual core/4gb ram computer and it happily handles 30+ tracks with plugins on each.
I'd get the most stripped down pc you can - it doesnt need to have all the bundled extras that they often come with (only an OS is needed!)

Nathan1709

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« Reply #8 on: October 12, 2011, 02:16:43 PM »
As luck would have it I have a very good friend who works in sales for Focusrite!

Nathan1709

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« Reply #9 on: November 04, 2011, 10:20:51 AM »
Guys I am realy stuck.  I keep getting conflicting information from all quarters about what PC to go for! 

My budget is now £650 and suggestions have ranged from a refurbished Mac to any number of different PCs.  The only caveat is that it has to be something that I can buy from Amazon, PC World or Currys (vouchers!).

Any help would really be appreciated.  I'm drowning in suggestions and I just need some sound advice from someone who knows about music recording and production!

Thanks

tone

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« Reply #10 on: November 04, 2011, 10:33:29 AM »
Personally I would go for a mac if you can afford it, even if it's a refurbished one for one simple reason: stability. Because macs all feature consistent hardware and software they're much less hassle from a tech point of view, and get out of the way so you can concentrate on your music.

Having said that, buying the software is another consideration - I use logic express 7 which is very good, but I think the pro version is quite pricey.

PCs these days have more than enough processing power for the vast majority of home recording projects, so getting a refurbished G5/ Intel with 2GB RAM or more would more than suffice.

Having said that, it's important to remember that PCs are more flexible when it comes to upgrading. If you want more processing power further down the line, or to install a particular PCI soundcard or something, the PC offers the chance to do this. If your mac becomes slow or redundant, you're looking at a replacement.

Hope that hasn't confused you even more. :)
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Kafla

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« Reply #11 on: November 04, 2011, 12:23:41 PM »
Got to agree with Tone here, if there is one thing I would urge you to do is to get exactly what you want

If you havent got the budget save more, dont settle for what you can afford

I have spent twice as much buying software, hardware and upgrading later and that has cost me far more

I now run Logic(£195 full version from ebay) on a Mac and can honestly say it beats the other packages I have played around with - Sonar& Cubase

Thats just my opinion though!

Ramshackles

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« Reply #12 on: November 04, 2011, 12:27:23 PM »
My advice: Dont worry, just get something with good RAM and a decent cpu and it will be fine. I run an old computer with a 2GHz dual core and 4GB of RAM, with 32bit xp. It easily handles all my songs, which can get into the 20-30 track region.
If you look at interviews, websites etc etc with engineers, you will notice that they almost never talk about their computer setup. Why? Because it is one of the least important parts of the setup. The closest they come to it is discussing their audio interface.

Like Tone says, macs are reliable, consistent, come with bundled software (garageband i think) and look snazzy.
But, they are expensive compared to pc's, and pc's are much easier to upgrade and customize.


Nathan1709

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« Reply #13 on: November 04, 2011, 02:21:29 PM »
I think I've settled on a Mac Mini as it comes with garageband which will for the most part be ideal for my meagre recording needs. On top of that I am goiung to buy a MIDI keyboard and a USB Mic. 

Do I need an audio interface too?  I really have no idea?

Thanks for your help chaps.

Ramshackles

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« Reply #14 on: November 04, 2011, 02:29:16 PM »
audio interface : yes. You need to convert the analogue signal to digital, hence the interface. However, since you want a USB mic, it would probably have a converter built in. I dont know about how they work as they generally dont give great quality audio, but check whether you need a preamp for it aswell (the output voltage of 'regular' mics (condeser/dynamic, tube/ribbon is very low (to decrease noise), so a preamp is needed to amplify the signal to 'line level' before conversion to digital)