[Gort]

A friend of mine recently asked if there were a brand of PC (don't even suggest a Mac, okay?) he should consider for doing audio / studio mixing. My take on it is that any fast machine with lots of storage, the right hardware and software will do the job, but is there a vendor that specializes in setups for music, etc.?

Thanks guys.
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- Tom Carter

"You can't stop the waves but you can learn to surf" - Jack Kornfield

[[Shizo]]

I'm sure there are plenty of vendors. I remember one that produced a super-quiet PC with audio hardware in it.. all for thousands of dollars

I think for any amateur-pro setup you should use m-audio sh*t. Fo' real!
www.m-audio.com

What exactly do you need it for anyway? I take it you're a digital audio n00b, if you're asking what kind of software you should get... I LAFF AT YOU!!! HAAAAAAAAHAHHAHAHAHA HAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHHA

AAAAAAAAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHA
AHHAHAHAH etc.



one.

[Gort]

Actually a buddy of mine asked about it; we know software (Cubase, ProTools, Sonar, etc.), but he was wondering if there was a vendor that specialized in audio setup machines.

So far so good - anymore takers?
_________________
- Tom Carter

"You can't stop the waves but you can learn to surf" - Jack Kornfield

[lysander]

you, shizo, sir, are bonkers. :

*throws pie*
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Earth under attack by paper mache aliens; world leaders plead - 'Save us! Doctor Who!'

[balistic]

http://www.silentpcreview.com/

Something like this might be good. There are full-size options as well. That machine won't be dead quiet, but an absolutely silent box gets fairly expensive, because you end up needing massive heat pipes and whatnot. And even then, the hard drives are still going to make a little noise. Best to just get a fairly quiet machine and keep it away from the mic (there's no reason you couldn't put it in a little foam-lined cupboard or something, as long as it had ventilation out the back).

As far as audio interfaces, an external firewire or USB 2.0 unit would be the way to go. No latency, and easy to transplant onto a laptop if you need to.
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brian.prince|light.comp.paint

[gLitterbug]

I heard these wokstations are pretty good.

[[Shizo]]

[balistic]

yeah I heard you lean towards bananas, Shizo . . .
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brian.prince|light.comp.paint

[Gort]

Thanks for the input guys (I say as I push aside pie filling and banana peels ), but how about a more direct question: let's say I want to interface my guitar with my machine and compose some tracks; the Black Box is cool but what about the sound card? What's a good sound card for mixing and stuff? What should I look for? What should I stay away from?

I can be either on a budget, or maybe I'm well off and have a fat wallet.
_________________
- Tom Carter

"You can't stop the waves but you can learn to surf" - Jack Kornfield

[balistic]

Don't get a sound card, get a firewire or USB audio interface. Soundcards are on their way to obsolescence for pro audio. The inside of a computer is hugely noisy from an RF standpoint, so it's generally better to offload all the audio to an external box.

http://www.zzounds.com/cat--Audio-Interfaces--2418

I can't recommend a specific one, because I don't have one, because my workflow is entirely digital and RF noise doesn't matter, but I've heard good things about Edirol and M-Audio's products.

edit: this Tascam looks decent too.
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brian.prince|light.comp.paint

[Gort]

What? Well that is completely news to me. I had no idea that sound cards were nearing obscelence. Interesting. Thanks for that - I'm intrigued!
_________________
- Tom Carter

"You can't stop the waves but you can learn to surf" - Jack Kornfield

[balistic]

Computers will always have onboard sound, but for recording applications, the outboard boxes are really taking over.

With an external audio interface you just plug it in and the OS treats it like a sound card. I've been thinking of getting a little one for my laptop, since its onboard sound is pretty noisy.
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brian.prince|light.comp.paint

[Lunatique]

Your usual suspects like BOXX, Alienware, Dell..etc all have audio workstation packages. And if you do a search for "custom built DAW workstations" you'll find smaller companies like this one:

http://www.studiocat.com/daw/daw.htm