Post your recording computers.

[George Necola]

because "what computer should I buy"-questions have grown like flowers in spring in the last 2 weeks, I was thinking about a "what kind of PC/MAC-system do you use" thread.

IF YOU DONT KNOW WHATS INSIDE YOUR DAW, USE THIS PROGRAM (PC):
http://www.zdnet.de/downloads/prg/1/x/de011X-wc.html

IF ITS POSSIBble supply this info without much additional comments (for easy overview):

PC/MAC?
Motherboard:
RAM:
CPU:
Harddrive(s):
GPU (graphics-card):
Tower:
PSU:

Interfacecard (RME, MOTU):
Interface:
Sequencer:


I start:
my homestudio-rig

PC
Motherboard: ASUS P5b-e plus
RAM: Kingston KVR800D2N5K2/2G 1 gig
CPU: Intel core 2 duo E6400
Harddrive(s): Raptor RAID + systemdisk (spinpoint)
GPU (graphics-card): Parhelia P550? (those numbers)..
Tower: Coolermaster (the blue big one)
PSU: be quiet!

Interfacecard (RME, MOTU): RME PCI-card
Interface: Multiface II
Sequencer: Cubase 4

[mr. moon]

OK, my turn.... I just rebuilt my DAW over the weekend, to go from a Core 2 Duo to a Quad. Holy sh1t!! What a difference!!

Here's my NEW RIG's Specs:

PC
Motherboard: Intel D975XBX2
RAM: 2 GB OCZ 800MHz DDR2
CPU: Intel Core 2 QUAD Q6600
Harddrive(s):
320 GB Seagate SATA II
500GB Seagate SATA II

GPU (graphics-card): GeForce 7300GS 256MB PCI-E
Tower: Suckayumamma mini tower, $10 special
PSU: Antec True Power Trio 650 Watt

Interfacecard: Intel integrated FW
Interface: RME FireFace 800
Sequencer: Sonar 6.2.1 PE, Reaper

Here's the specs for the machine that I just replaced:

PC
Motherboard: ASRock 775Dual-VSTA
RAM: 2 GB Corsair XMS DDR1
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo e6600 (OC'd to 2.69 GHz)
Harddrive(s):
x1 80GB Maxtor ATA 133 IDE
x2 250GB Maxtor ATA 133 IDE

GPU (graphics-card): GeForce FX5500 256MB AGP
Tower: Suckayumamma mini tower, $10 special
PSU: Antec SP-500

Interfacecard (RME, MOTU): Generic Firewire 400
Interface: RME FireFace 800
Sequencer: Sonar 6.2.1 PE, Reaper

This system was meant to be an inexpensive "stepping stone" for me to migrate from my previous AMD Athlon64 x2 4800+ system to the Intel processor, as I could retain and utilize my "older" peripherals such as my IDE hard drives, DDR1 memory, and such...

However, this system has been kicking buttocks over many of the "high-end" Intel Core 2 Duo configurations!! (ADK ProAudio SONAR 6 benchmark tests; view threads over at the SONAR forums about this)

-mr moon

[AlexLakis]

I built a "Quadzilla." Shane style! Here it is:

PC
Motherboard: Tyan Tiger K8WE (S2877ANRF) (Bios ver. 1.08)
RAM: 4G of Corsair CM72SD1024RLP-3200 (1024MB Registered DDR400, 2 Ranks)
CPU: Two Opteron 265 Dual-Core CPUs
Harddrive(s): WD 7200 IDE system, Samsung 7200 IDE samples, WD 10K SATA Raptor recording
GPU (graphics-card): ASUS EN6600/TD/256
Tower: Heavily modified, custom-built full tower (details below)
PSU: OCZ Powerstream 520W
DVD-RW: Lite-On DVDRW SHW-1635S

Running a BLA modded 002 clocked to a RME ADI-8DS running PTLE 7.1cs10 on Windows XP Pro SP2. I'm also running several USB & MIDI controllers, as well as external USB & FW400/800 drives as needed. I also have an external SATA2 enclosure for backup drives.

The case contains three 120mm fans (one intake, two exhaust,) which have been modded for decreased RPM to lower noise. The stock heat sinks and chipset fan have been replaced as well. I also stuffed a bunch of the material they use in car engines to quiet engine noise inside the case to further decrease the noise level. Go here for the Zalman model numbers for the board, and details on exactly how I did it: http://duc.digidesign.com/showthread...d&sb=5&o=&vc=1

This system absolutely slays, and can be built for cheap, compared to pretty much anything else in it's class (I'm using the slowest processors in the class too.) Using a few spare parts from my previous build (case, DVD drive, hard drives,) it cost me less than $900 to build. I can run literally hundreds of plugins alongside multiple instances of Ivory, E-W Colossus, and BFD while recording any number of tracks while monitoring thru plugins at a buffer size of 64. I have yet to push the CPU usage meter past 65% or so. It's so powerful, I forget to set the buffer size from 64 to 1024 after I'm done tracking.

This system has been tested extensively by a large community of DUC members, and has been "unofficially" approved by Digidesign for use with Pro Tools. It also works with HD|1. I should also mention that this build is NOT compatible with UAD-1 cards, unless you use a Magma chassis.

Go here for the extremely large info & support thread: http://duc.digidesign.com/showflat.p...b=5&o=&fpart=1

Anybody looking to build one should KEEP TO THE EXACT PARTS LIST SPECIFIED IN THE FIRST POST IN THE LINK. That way, if you have problems, they can be more easily diagnosed by the community. Of course, if you keep to the exact parts list, you won't have any problems.

There is also an "Octazilla" (8 cores) build on there too, if you're interested (this build hasn't been solidified yet, tho.)

Props to Allen, Shane, and the rest of the DUC crew for all their hard work and dedication in testing the builds and providing support to all it's users. thumbsup

[manning1]

more basic...v happy.
heres what everest reports etc.

PC/MAC?: PC Acer E380 model
Motherboard: Acer
RAM: 1gig
CPU: dual processor amd 64.
Harddrive(s): hitachi deskstar sata 2 250 gb.
(second HD coming.)
GPU (graphics-card): nvidia.
Tower: Acer tower.
PSU: no info.

Interfacecard (RME, MOTU):
Interface: edirol (but going to change when buks.)
Sequencer: reaper n powertracks.

[captain caveman]

PC/MAC?: PC
Motherboard: Asus P5W DH Deluxe
RAM: 2Gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800 (2 * 1Gb)
CPU: Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 3.0Ghz
Harddrive(s): 1 Seagate Barracudda IDE (OS), 2 Seagate Barracudda SATAs
GPU (graphics-card): Sapphire Radeon X1300 256Mb PCIe
Tower: Chieftec
PSU: Taurus-X 500W
DSP Cards: UAD-1 PCI, Powercore Mk2 PCI

Interface: Fireface 400 (connected to onboard firewire)
Sequencer: Tracktion 2, Sonar 6.2, Cubase SX3.1

I also have the on-board Wi-Fi adapter installed (it can be disabled from XP) and it doesn't cause any problems.

[andyspiller]

PC
Motherboard: Asus P5W DH Deluxe Motherboard with Intel 975X chipset, 3 PCI & 3x PCI-E expansion slots
RAM: 3GB DDR2 Dual Channel RAM
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (Conroe) 2.4Ghz CPU with Arctic Freezer 7 Pro Silent CPU Cooler
Harddrive(s):
80GB Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm SATA System Drive,
2x 320GB Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM SATA2 drives. Formatted as a 640GB RAID-0 Audio drive
Off the Shelf + 2 external 300Gb Drives (Firewire 800) and 1 external 200Gb Firewire 400

GPU (graphics-card):ATI Radeon X300SE 128MB Dual Head PCI-e Graphics Card (passively cooled)
Tower:
PSU: UltraMute 400 Watt Power Supply

Interfacecard (RME, MOTU):
Interface:
Sequencer: Cubase 3 and 4, Cool Edit Pro, My Brain.

Not cheap but a great PC Package and so far 100% reliable -the only problems are usually operator induced!

[World Of Wiz]

my rig

PC/MAC? Mac
Motherboard:
RAM: 1.25 GB
CPU: Intel Core Duo 1.8
Harddrive(s): 60gb with 2 externals
GPU (graphics-card):
Tower:
PSU:

Interfacecard (RME, MOTU):
Interface: Pro Tools
Sequencer: Pro Tools, MOTU, Reason

[halcyo]

MAC
Motherboard: G5
RAM: 2.25Gigs
CPU: Dual 1.8Ghz Power PC
Harddrive(s): (2) 150 Gig internal, (1) 500 Gig FW800 (WD 'Mac book')
GPU (graphics-card): Nvidia GForce 5200
Tower:
PSU:

Interfacecard (RME, MOTU): Motu 896
Interface:
Sequencer: Digital Performer

halcyo

[stilts27]

PC:

Motherboard: Gigabyte
CPU: Dual Core 2 2.13Ghz
Harddrive(s): (1) 320 Gb Internal (1) 250 Gb Internal (1) 250 Gb External
GPU (graphics-card): Nvidia
Tower: CoolerMaster
PSU: Zalmans
Ram: 2 Gb

Interface: RME FF800/Tascam DM 3200
Sequencer: Cubase 4.0.2

Mac:

Motherboard: Intel
CPU: Dual Core 1.66Ghz
Harddrive(s): (1) 60 Gb Internal (1) 250 Gb External
GPU (graphics-card):
Tower:
PSU:
RAM: 2 Gb

Interface: M-Audio 18/14 - RME ADI 192 DD
Sequencer: Pro Tools 7.3

[maz]

Motherboard: Gigabyte DQ6 Rev 1, bios F9
RAM: 4 Gig OCZ DDR2 800
CPU: E266 2.4 core 2 due, can be overclocked to 3.4ghz (if not more)
Harddrive(s):1 maxtor 7200 160 gig for multiple os's, 1 maxtor 7200 160 gig for apps/daw software, 1 500 gig maxtor for audio data, 1 500 gig maxtor for backup, as well as drum samples.
GPU (graphics-card): 6800 gt pro
Tower: Antec Nine Hundred Mid Tower Case , but has 3 12" and 1 25" fan.
PSU:750 watts

Interfacecard (RME, MOTU): Delta 192 audiophile
Interface: Rosetta 200
Sequencer: Sonar 6.2.1

Things are very stable with xp32. I tried the xp64 with sonar 64 bit maddness, after a week of headache, just went back to 32bit.

[wyndrock]

PC [ASUS Z84jp]

Motherboard: ASUS
RAM: 2GB
CPU: Core 2 Duo 2.0mHz
Harddrive(s): Hitachi 100gb 7200
GPU (graphics-card): Go 7600 512mb

Interface: MOTU 8 Pre (x2)
Sequencer: Tracktion

[Crandak]

Here's mine

motherboard: asus
ram: 2gb
cpu: dual core 3.4 ghz
harddrive(s): 2- 180gb, 1-300gb, 1-250gb removable
gpu: invidia geforce 7600 256mb
psu: 600 wt

Interface: lynx 2a
dsp: 2-uad's
sequencer: Reaper, reason, cubase

I just got the uad's and haven't installed them yet, I have the ultra pack and can't wait to hear them... love that reaper.

[luctellier]

PC
Motherboard: Intel LGA775
RAM: 1GB DDR3 533mhz
CPU: Intel Pentium IV 3.2ghz processor
Harddrive(s):Maxtor SATA 8200rpm 80GB x 1 and 120GB x 1.
GPU (graphics-card): ATI Radeon X300 PCI Express
Tower:
PSU:

Interfacecard (RME, MOTU): MOTu 896
Interface: MOTu 828MkII, Motu 896, Presonus Firepod
Sequencer: Cubase SX3

DELL Dimension 8400

OS: Windows XP Professional
Powered Plugins: UAD-1 StudioPak

[azwun25]

PC-Win XP SP2
Motherboard: Abit AI-7
RAM: Kingston 2-1gb
CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.2ghz
Harddrive(s): 3-Seagate Barracuda
GPU (graphics-card): Geforce 6200XT 256mb
Tower: i forgot..its old
PSU: Antec 500w
2- Acer 19" LCD Monitors

Interface: Lynx 2B (2in, 6out)
Sequencer: Nuendo 2.2

Thats my modest rig...its stable..what more can you ask for?

[sguali]

PC
Motherboard: ASUS A8N-SLI SE
RAM: ValueRAm 2048 DDR
CPU: Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Dual Core (x2)
Harddrive(s): 250gb (Lacie) + 200gb (Caviar)
GPU (graphics-card): NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GT (256MB, PCI-E)
Tower:
PSU: 400W ATX2.0

Interfacecard (RME, MOTU): M-Audio Audiophile
Interface: M-Audio Audiophile
Sequencer: Reason 3.0, Ableton Live 5.2.1, Cubase SX, Logic 5.5 Platinum, NI-pro 53, & FM8, Reaktor 5, & other vst synth...

Running on WinXp Pro.

An other Acer AL1916 Flat Monitor is coming soon...

[True North]

PC
Motherboard: Tyan K8WE
RAM: 4GB ECC Registered
CPU: 2 x 285 Opterons (I used to be a somebody )
Harddrive(s): 1 WD Raptor 72 GB for OS, 2 x WD Raptor 150 GB, 1 x Seagate Barracuda 500 GB storage
GPU (graphics-card): Nvidia GeForce 7600
Tower: Thermaltake Armor
PSU: Seasonic 600W

Interfacecard (RME, MOTU): 2 x Lynx AES16
Interface: M-Audio Transit (for PT)
Sequencer: Cubase SX3 - Primary, Pro Tools-LE with Music Production Toolkit - Secondary

Windows XP Pro

1 x 7 slot Magma Chassis with 4 x UAD-1 cards

Dual Quad core sometime in 2007...........because I Can

[Chris Kress]

PC
Motherboard: Tyan K8W - 2885
RAM: 4 gig corsair ECC REG
CPU: 2 x AMD 285 dual core w Zalman Cooling fans
Harddrive(s): 1 terabyte SATA RAID for Audio
GPU (graphics-card): Matrox parhelia
Tower: Antec Rack
PSU: Antec 550

Interfacecard (RME, MOTU):
Interface: RME Hammmerfall DSP, 2 x TC Powercore
Sequencer: Nuendo 3.x

Magma Expansion Chassis with 4x UAD-1

Windows XP 32 bit
Dual widescreen dell monitors

[Big Boss Man]

PC
Motherboard: Asus P5-BE
RAM: 2 x 1GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4 GHz
Harddrive(s): Three Samsung Spinpoint hard drives
GPU (graphics-card): XFX GeForce 7600GS 512MB PCI Express
Tower: Lian Li PC-V1200
PSU: SeaSonic S12 Energy Plus 650-HT 650 Watts

Interfacecard (RME, MOTU):
Interface:MOTU 828mkii
Sequencer: Sonar 6.2 X64 Producer Edition

OS: Windows XP Pro X64

[maz]

ANy issues with your sonar 6.2 and xp 64 bit? I had tons of issues with freezing, etc...

[headwerkn]

Mac
System: iMac 20" Core 2 Duo
RAM: 2GB DDR2
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.16GHz
Harddrive(s): 250Gb internal plus about half a dozen external Firewire and USB2 drives
GPU (graphics-card): ATI Radeon X1600 (256Mb VRAM)

Interface: Focusrite Saffire, Phonic Helix 24 for live recording.
Sequencer: Apple Logic Pro 7.2.3

Runs MacOSX 10.4.9 and a second 23" Cinema HD Display, which means I can finally see everything in Logic... tres sweet!

[thedigitalgod]

PC

Motherboard: ASUS P5WD2 Premium
RAM: 2gb of Corsair XMS 4cas (2x1gb)
CPU: Core 2 Duo 2.6
Harddrive(s):WD Raptor 150 running 4 instances of XP Pro and one instance of Vista Ultimate; three 500gb WD Raid series SATAII drives in a striping array; two 500gb WD SATAII drives for external backup
GPU (graphics-card): Radeon x1900xt
Tower: Antec Sonata II
DVD-RW: Plextor Slot-load
Display: Apple Cinema 30"
Interface: Lynx AES16 connecting a Rosetta 800 and a Focusrite Liquid Channel
Software: Nuendo 3.2, Wavelab 5, Samplitude 8 . . .

[blayz2002]

Originally Posted by sguali

RAM: ValueRAm 2048 DDR
CPU: Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Dual Core (x2) Logic 5.5 Platinum

Hi sguali,

How's Logic with that 2 meg of Ram and Dual Core?

Here's me:

PC
Motherboard: Asus P4P 800 E Delux
RAM: 1 Gig Branded Ram (from Digital Village)
CPU: 3.0 Gig Intel Pentium 4
Harddrive(s): 2 x Internal 80 Gigs, 1 x External 120 Gig
GPU Not sure
Tower: Digital Village build
PSU: 350 wats digital Village build
Interfacecard EMU 1820m
Interface: UAD 1 Project Pack (with laods of add on's)
Sequencer: Logic 5.5.1

[Matteran]

Motherboard: Intel 975XBX
CPU: Intel Pentium D 930 (Will upgrade to C2D soon)
RAM: 2GB Corsair XMS2
HDD: 250GB Western Digital (Will add Raptor for system drive, and use this as storage drive)
VGA: nVidia GeForce 7900GT
Optical: Plextor DVD Burner
Audio Interface: SB Audigy 2ZS (currently attending school and will buy something to compliment Samplitude 9 once I have some income)

Everything is great. I built this about a year ago, because I'm also a pretty big computer gamer, so I wanted to play Oblivion. But with a few tweaks it'll be a kick ass recording computer too.

[Hard2Hear]

Originally Posted by George Necola

PC/MAC? PC
Motherboard: Intel 975XBX
RAM: 2GB
CPU: Core2Duo E6700 oc'd 3.07Ghz
Harddrive(s): Seagate Barricudas
GPU (graphics-card): XFX 7950GT Fanless
Tower: Antec P-180
PSU: Antec Neo550
Dual 19" widescreen LCDs

Interfacecard (RME, MOTU): MOTU 828 MKII
Sequencer: Sonar6PE, Cubase4
NI Komplete, BFD, Garritan Personal Orchestra, Wavelab6

[Tibbon]

Apple PowerMac G4 Mirror Door Drive, dual 1.25ghz processors
1.75GB memory
stock 64mb graphics card
Logic Pro 7.2, Ableton Live 6, Max/MSP/Jitter, etc...
Installed a USB 2.0 PCI card, and a Firewire 400 PCI card
80gb internal drive (stock), 350gb 7200rpm Seagate drive (IDE), 80gb LaCie FW drive, 160gvb LaCie FW drive.
Dual 19" Dell CRT's.
Unitor8 midi interface, Mackie 400F interface.

[octatonic]

CPU: Apple PowerMac G5 Dual 2ghz processors
RAM: 4GB memory
Display: ATI 7600 Pro 256MB Dualhead DVI graphics card
Internal HDD: 2 x 500GB internal SATA drives
External storage: 4 x 500GB firewire drives
Displays: 1 x 23" Cinema HD display, 1 x 20" Cinema display
Audio Card: Protools HD3 Accel with 96IO and 888/24
Midi Interfaces: 2 x AMT8 & 1 Unitor 8.

No plans to upgrade- I reckon that if records cannot be made on this rig then it is time to get a new profession.

[Tibbon]

My G4 MDD still rocks the house IMHO, although many could claim (wrongly) that you can't get anything done if you don't have a G5/Intel Mac. I do plan however I upgrade the the rumored 8-core apples as soon as they are available, and hopefully logic 8 or whatever they plan to call it.

My main reason isn't actually for Logic, but that I do a great deal of RAW file handling in Aperture, and my G4 isn't even supposed to be able to run it at all, let alone well.

[Big Boss Man]

Originally Posted by maz

ANy issues with your sonar 6.2 and xp 64 bit? I had tons of issues with freezing, etc...

No issues yet. I have only recorded one song so far though. Also, I have only used the plugins included with Sonar (Session Drummer 2, VC 64, Lexicon Pantheon Reverb, some others).

[stag]

PC
Motherboard: Gigabyte 965p ds4, last BIOS revision, Quad core ready.
RAM: Kingston KVR800D2N5K2/2G 2 gb
CPU: Intel core 2 duo E6600
Harddrive(s): 3 x Samsung SATA II 500gb, IDE mode, 80mB R\W transfer rate.
GPU (graphics-card): NVidia 7200
Chassis: Antec 3 unit rackmount.
PSU: fanless.
Interfacecard : Lynx AES-16, NI AK1, IKM stealthplug.
MIDI controler: Novation Remote SL 25, Roland GI-10.
Magma Chassis, with PCI and PCMCIA adaptors, 4 UAD cards.
Laptop: Sony VAIO vgn-s3xp.

Sequencer: Cubase 4

That´s about it.

[StudioTinPanAll]

PC : windows xp pro + nuendo 3
Motherboard: supermicro h8dce
RAM: 4gb ecc reg
CPU: 2x opteron 275 dual core
Harddrive(s): 2 x seagate 500GB, 1x raptor 74GB
GPU (graphics-cards): matrox apv-e + matrox p-650
Chassis: coolermaster big stacker
PSU: 750W silverstone
Interfacecard : 3x Lynx AES-16
1x uad
1x powercore firewire

everything works great exept for the 2 matrox cards,
they should provide 5x 18" thinkvision + 1x 37" HDTV (video)
but that combo is not allways working well....