Building my own computer for my own little home studio?

[richiebee]

So here is an obvious question that I am fumbling with in my fried brain. How do you update windows xp? How do update board drivers? How do you update DAW? Oh, it is these types of questions that kept me from being a Rhodes Scholar.

Some would say you don't need to update it. If it works, why bother? It's not going to suddenly not work because it can't get its meds.

Others would say get a good antivirus app that you can turn on and off as you need. Leave it off for audio stuff, turn it on to do updates.

Personally, I think if you practice safe internet surfing, an internet computer doesn't have to be the virus ridden thing that many turn out to be. To my knowledge, there has only ever been one virus that infects new computers as soon as they connect to the internet.

Most software (music included) requires some kind of registration, and while possible from another computer or by fax or whatever, it's a much less convoluted process if you do it with the computer you've installed the software on.

I've never had a virus on any PC I've ever owned. I don't go to porn sites, I don't download e-mail attachments that I'm not expecting and I don't click on every link that people send me. I visit the same 5-10 forums, Napster and web based e-mail clients. I have a small cache that clears every day so that my computer doesn't get clogged up with crap. That's it.

I should add that my need to be connected to the internet is mainly as a resource for creativity/inspiration/reference (ie, Napster) and to send audio files to the outside world. Yes, I have a USB flash drive. Putting it on the web site directly, or e-mailing it to whoever it needs to go to is quicker!

[brandondrury]

So here is an obvious question that I am fumbling with in my fried brain. How do you update windows xp? How do update board drivers? How do you update DAW? Oh, it is these types of questions that kept me from being a Rhodes Scholar.

#1 I never update anything unless I think to myself "This is a piece of shit! It needs to be updated!". I've never felt the need to ever update Windows. In my experience it usually makes things worse.

I don't look at my recording rig as a "computer" like your mom looks at her Dell. I look at it as a dedicated recording box. I don't feel the need to update it simply because I'm "supposed to".

#2 When I decide I need to update something, using my home computer I download what I need, burn it to a data cd-r and install it on my recording computer.

Most software companies are aware that many people refuse to use the internet on their recording PC and they make special concessions for this.

ALL PREBUILDS ARE CRAP AND NOT STABLE!

I really don't like this statement. I'm sure it's based more on emotion than fact. I do believe in building my own computer for a zillion reasons. However, I've got a feeling that there are many recording people who are happy with their Dells, HPs, etc.

When you get the $300-400 specials, you are almost always getting the cheap parts. (Processors with small cache, slow hard drives, cheap integrated video, motherboards with very little expansion capabilities). These cheap parts are generally great for email checking computers, but not so great on computers that render.

If I bought a $1,000-1,500 Dell, I'd probably be about where I am when I spend $300-400 on my next recording computer.

Never had any of the problems Brandon brings up in his posts.

Almost all the problems I have had are hard drive related. My C: drive is 4 years old. My E: and F: are 2-3years old. Hard drivesare mechanical parts and they will wear out. Hard drives are no better in a Mac, PC, Dell, or Custom built. They all wear out eventually.

I try to get the maximum amount of time out of my hard drives. If I put in new drives everytime I swapped PCs, I wouldn't expect to have any of the problems I've had.

With that said, I haven't had that many problems.

Brandon



Brandon

[brandondrury]

It is a pain in the ass to do updates. (Not that big of pain, but a pain none the less).

I personally get piece of mind knowing that I don't have the internet on my recording rig. I know it's safe, secure, etc.

Of course, for me it's also a personal thing. I'm on the internet 15 hours per day sometimes. It's what I do. When I record I want to record. I don't want to check email. I don't want to deal with it. If anything is THAT important, I'll download it, burn it, and then move it to my recording machine.

There is no wrong or right answer here. It's all personal. What works for one guy may not work for another, etc. It's just how you see things. Both Richiebee and I do fine with our recording setups. He uses a name brand PC and uses the internet, I build my own PCs and refuse to go online with my recording rig. In the end, it comes down to making the best music that each of us can. That' it! So it doesn't matter if you use Ford or Chevy, it matters if you win your personal race.

Note:
One time when I setup my recording computer years ago, I plugged it into the internet in my bedroom for registration and such. Then when I had it working, I put it in the studio and never brought it back out.

Brandon

[Retronut]

Thanks! Both of these responses are reasonable and logical. So Richiebee, do you have a network? Is the recording computer on the network? LOL, I don't surf the porno sites either but it is those dog gone emails I get from time to time that say "Sluts are waiting for me" that temp to venture off on a path I shouldn't go. You never know where your next creative inspiration is going to come from.

[richiebee]

Originally Posted by Retronut

Thanks! Both of these responses are reasonable and logical. So Richiebee, do you have a network? Is the recording computer on the network? LOL, I don't surf the porno sites either but it is those dog gone emails I get from time to time that say "Sluts are waiting for me" that temp to venture off on a path I shouldn't go. You never know where your next creative inspiration is going to come from.

Much of my music has been compared to that found on porn movies, but that is not my inspiration... really!

Yes, I have a network at home. My wife has a PC connected all the time, I have my PC connected all the time and I have an Apple Powerbook which I connect with wireless whenever...

At work, my office PC (which also runs Cubase SX and Sound Forge) is connected to the university network. My Apple G5 is not connected to the internet - mostly because I use the network port to connect my mixing console, but it needs a more critically clean system than anything else I use, so its precaution more than anything. Ironically, its the least stable of the systems I use!

My home PC requires the most power (I use it almost exclusively to run softsynths and samplers, though I do sometimes do some mixing of live stuff on it too) and the G5 needs to handle the most simultaneous audio inputs.

I've never used my Powerbook for more than basic ProTools editing (less than 16 tracks total) and two track recording. It sucks.

R.

[stuv]

well to ca certain extent not having the thing connected to the net eliminates some need to update windows and security software... atleast not a often... with windows XP SP2 you should be reasonable fine, but if u want u can use your other computer to download the updates and exe's, then burn them to a disk, and take them to your Audio comp.

[richiebee]

Originally Posted by stuv

well to ca certain extent not having the thing connected to the net eliminates some need to update windows and security software... atleast not a often... with windows XP SP2 you should be reasonable fine, but if u want u can use your other computer to download the updates and exe's, then burn them to a disk, and take them to your Audio comp.

Not forgetting to do a virus scan before you do.

R.

[brandondrury]

My Apple G5 is not connected to the internet - mostly because I use the network port to connect my mixing console, but it needs a more critically clean system than anything else I use, so its precaution more than anything. Ironically, its the least stable of the systems I use!

This is the fatal flaw of using scientific logic in a world with WAY too many factors like audio recording. Richiebee's G5 is a mega powerhouse computer, is not connected to the internet, but is not his most stable computer. Why? You've got me!

If you simplify things, you could say that all that power is making his G5 less stable (but that's completely false). You could say that not connecting to the internet is making the G5 less stable, but that's wrong too. The internet can cause more problems and certainly never adds to stability (not counting updates).

So what causes this? You've got me. The point to this post is you can only research for so long until you've just got to jump in and figure out what works for you.

Good luck.
Brandon

[Retronut]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

The point to this post is you can only research for so long until you've just got to jump in and figure out what works for you.

Completely agree! You have to pull the trigger at some point and just do it. And the fact is that sometimes within days of when you think you have the perfect setup something new comes along and you decide you just got to have it. Been there done that. You plug it in, fire it up, and everything goes to hell. You spend the next 3 days reading, talking to off shore tech support, etc. Assembly of the new system will take place this weekend, Trick or Treat!!!

[Robbie Cameron]

Hi Davexo,

Here's an awesome PC design that will kick butt and not anihilate your budget. I throw huge compositions at this system and it just yawns. My most recent project has about 20 audio tracks, 10 MIDI, 15 plugins, 5 soft synths and the CPU is at 18% utilization. "Oh hum" it says!

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 Dualcore 2.2GHz Socket 939. You don't always need this much power, but if you can afford it great. I bought used.
Motherboard: ASUS A8M SLI Deluxe. Buy a new one if you can.
RAM: 1Gig (The ASUS manual has a RAM compatibility list). I have 2G and it's probably overkill.
Case: ATX case with several bays for HDs and other drives, and at least a 350watt power supply. 400watt - 500watt is much better. Professional PC builders will tell you the power supply is the heart of the PC and that the ones that come in off-the-shelf cases are typically horrible. If you've got the budget buy a better power supply and swap out. I use a 500watt garden variey and it seems fine. Go online and look for power supply reviews and shoot outs. Then head to Frys or Newegg.com if you can stand to wait a few days.
HardDrives: Buy at least two hard drives - one for the OS and your audio apps, and another for your audio project files. I use four drives - one for OS, one for audio apps, two externals for audio files. The ASUS motherboard allows both IDE drives and has loads of SATA sockets for the faster speed SATA type drives. I use SCSI but would opt for SATA if I didn't already have the SCSI drives.
Soundcard: IMHO just about any soundcard you choose will work with this system. Depends on your budget. The motherboard chipset is nVidia so that automatically increases the chances of compatability. The key is to load the most up-to-date driver downloaded from the soundcard manufacturer site before you install the soundcard. I use a Delta 66 and M-Audio Omni I/O breakout box in my system and it works seamlessly.
Graphics Card: The ASUS motherboard requires a PCI Express card. A PCI card will not work! I use a GeForce 6200 which cost $50 and it works great, I run two 19" widescreens with this card and it's perfect. Again, download the latest driver from the card manufacturer.
CDROM: Burner

If you're building from scratch you'll need to install everything but the soundcard, format the harddrives, load the OS, load the apps, load the soundcard driver, CDROM driver. If you have another comptuter, download all the drivers to a flash stick first so they're handy when you're ready to load the audio and other cards.

That's about it. Might have missed something, give me a shout if you have a problem. One caution: it's rare that everything works perfectly the first time. You may need to redo things if you forget something. Just work methodically and make sure you touch the metal case to dissipate static electricity before handling any parts. Be carefull with your tools too.

Good luck!
Rockin' Robbie Cameron