All,

Check this PC out which is co-designed by Digidesign:

http://www.terradigitalaudio.com/index.htm


If Digidesign is going to continue dominating the DAW market then this could cut Apple substantially out of the business. And good news to me, & others because the way Apple has been treating us 'Pro' users with this $199/per case(incident) policy here:

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/music-computers/36012-199-per-case-tech-support-logic-pro-7-1-a.html

& here:

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/...hreadid=966858



I'd be glad to migrate totally over to a PC. Some of my business documents don't transfer over well to PC's so this will solve alot of those problems. And in a matter of months to two years Apple will have all Intel chips any how so what's the difference. If these PC's are all what they are advertised I'll have one the day the Apple Care policy on my G4 Dual 1Ghz expires.

Also you can probably bet on Digidesign coming up with their own version of Logic Pro's - Distributed Audio Processing, or Nuendo's - VST Link. We'll see.


Rob G.. heh


P.S.: Now all Digidesign needs to do is give me the same, or more channel (inserts, & aux's), & 1/2 the MIDI flexibility of Logic Pro, & new A/D-D/A cards, & digital clocks that at least equal, or exceed Apogee's AD16X/DA16X/Big Ben, & I'll be happy.

Save yourself some money, this is off the Windows, LE Best Desktop Page.

The new AMD processors have achieved over 100% better performance than Mac G4 and PIII systems and 50% better than Mac G5 and P4 systems. With rock solid stability, they easily push past the 32 track/160 effects limit. These are all top quality components proven to work with Digi001, MBox, 002, and 002R.



The Allenstein Machine


Aspire X-Dreamer II case with 350W PSU 54.00

Asus K8V SE Deluxe Motherboard-Retail 114.00

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ ClawHammer 800MHz FSB 1MB L2 Cache Socket 754 Processor - Retail 264.00

Micron PC3200 512 MB DDR SDRAM CT6464Z40B x2 (1GB total) = 104.00

ATI Radeon 9600 256Mb DDR 8x Dual Video Card 49.00

Western Digital 80GB 7200RPM 8MB CACHE Hard Drives 58.00 x 2 = 116.00

Lite-On DVD/CDRW Dual Drive 49.00

Total = approx. $750.00 US

* I recommend installing WinXP Home or Pro with SP1 and not SP2 at this time. If you get SP2 you can either use a friend's XP1 and use your registration number, or you can perform a utility fix to make it compatible with PTLE. DEP fix for SP2 and read the Win XP SP2 Compatibility Thread According to Digidesign, PTLE 6.9 with the most updated PACE drivers will work with SP2 now.

Overclocking Motherboard:

DFI 250GB nF3 Lan Party Use with Samsung TCCD paired memory

Enermax EG365P-VE (FMA) 350W PSU (optional but highly recommended for low noise)

Zalman Quiet Heatsink/Fan for Athlon 64 Processors required for OEM CPUs

PT User,

Thanks for the suggestion but I like having a company I can go to for 'reliable' tech. support. Is this machine you're talking about a 'do it yourself' machine, or is it actually made by someone else? The other thing I've experienced with manufacturers is if you buy what they manufacture, or what they specifically endorse then they have no other choice then to accomodate you with 'full, & complete' tech. support.

Rob G..

This is in line with rumours in the industry that Digidesign wants to get rid of Apple. For whatever reasons they appear to be tired of them...

Roger

I can see Digidesign paying more attention to PCs now which is understandable. TA the moment they really have to rely on Apple and have to constantly code and re-code all the time especially in the last couple of years and its going to happen again soon.

I dont use Pro Tools now. When I used an HD2 system I used an Apple mac Dual G4. 6 months before selling my HD rig I used an old pentium 4, 1.4ghz because my Mac was constantly breaking down and one day I decided to try and install Pro Tools in to this old PC I had lying around fully expecting a major hassle.

My hand on heart, from installation to operation I didnt have one single problem. I cant recall a crash ever. The software also felt more responsive. I installed on a machine that I used for games, internet and undoubtedly had loads of crap in there. I didnt even bother re-installing XP and it all worked perfectly. If I sold that PC I would have been lucky to get 300uk pounds for it, probably less.

When it came to selling it, I was a bit reluctant as I was beginning to like using Pro Tools again.

Im not syaing PCs are better than Macs, just mentioning this to anyone who may consider a PC. Just try it, you may like what you see/feel

Rob,

I know you're just trying to stir things up but your observations are valid.

I know for a fact that Digi would love to not be so dependent on Apple (although I don't know if they would drop Apple entirely). PT works well on a Windows PC, and no one should be afraid to use one as a workstation.

When Apple starts using Intel processors, a fairer comparison will be able to be made, but still there is no company building Windows PCs (OK, maybe with the exception of Alienware, Carrilon, and a few other custom builders) with the industrial design and high-end-appliance care that Apple does. Conversely, millions of IT department, schools, geeks, etc., won't touch Apple appliances because only Apple can make one.

Isn't it funny that today if you buy an Apple computer, you are running UNIX on an IBM processor, but you can't buy a PC at all from IBM?

Yes, it's very important that it looks very very cool, sitting in the soundproofed closet where no one will see it.

"No company building Windows PCs (OK, maybe with the exception of Alienware, Carrilon, and a few other custom builders)"

So there ARE comapnies that make cool looking boxes.
Who cares. The most important thing in the case is the powersupply.

Or not... I dunno about you, but I have run into the occasional vendor who just spits in your face when you ask them to support their products. Mind you, it's a very small percentage, I think. But the exceptions can stick in your mind... and your gut.

Back around '88 I decided to 'get serious' and bought a $4400 '386. It was a PC Magazine Editor's Choice and on paper it looked great.

It was, let's be nice... a collosal disappointment. From top (a "15 inch" monitor that displayed DOS and later Windows screens in an approximately 10" diagonal window) to bottom (a "285 watt" power supply that had a printed label indicating it was a 185 watt power supply with an additional hand-written sticker with the simple legend "215 W" scribbled across it).

When I called the then-high-flying vendor, the sales rep who had treated me like royalty on the way in essentially gave me a boot up the trouble shute when I called to ask why, among other things, the PS (which on the itemized bill cost a few hundred bucks!) was far under spec. We went around and around and the best we could come up with was that he'd give me an RMA and they'd charge me an 18% restocking fee. Let's see... 18% of $4400 is -- two boots up the...


As far as towers go, I'm firmly committed to building my own.

On the latptop front, I bought a refurbished Dell Inspiron with a 7200 rpm drive and a Pentium M and I really, really like it. But I know from looking at the Dell site that they make a whole lot of other laptops that really wouldn't fit my bill. And I'm afraid that I like this machine so well that my next laptop will have a very high bar to leap...

theblue1,

Quote: "Or not... I dunno about you, but I have run into the occasional vendor who just spits in your face when you ask them to support their products. Mind you, it's a very small percentage, I think. But the exceptions can stick in your mind... and your gut.

Back around '88 I decided to 'get serious' and bought a $4400 '386. It was a PC Magazine Editor's Choice and on paper it looked great.

It was, let's be nice... a collosal disappointment. From top (a "15 inch" monitor that displayed DOS and later Windows screens in an approximately 10" diagonal window) to bottom (a "285 watt" power supply that had a printed label indicating it was a 185 watt power supply with an additional hand-written sticker with the simple legend "215 W" scribbled across it).

When I called the then-high-flying vendor, the sales rep who had treated me like royalty on the way in essentially gave me a boot up the trouble shute when I called to ask why, among other things, the PS (which on the itemized bill cost a few hundred bucks!) was far under spec. We went around and around and the best we could come up with was that he'd give me an RMA and they'd charge me an 18% restocking fee. Let's see... 18% of $4400 is -- two boots up the...


As far as towers go, I'm firmly committed to building my own.

On the latptop front, I bought a refurbished Dell Inspiron with a 7200 rpm drive and a Pentium M and I really, really like it. But I know from looking at the Dell site that they make a whole lot of other laptops that really wouldn't fit my bill. And I'm afraid that I like this machine so well that my next laptop will have a very high bar to leap..."

-theblue1





Well I'm basing my position on my experience with Digidesign's tech. support. Which has been very good so far. But we'll see.

Rob G..

seriousfun,

Not trying to start anything, or stir things up. Just observing how the principle of what goes around comes arounds plays out in effect.

Rob G.. heh

About 3 months ago I built my first computer ever. Asus A8V deluxe, AMD 3500+, 1 gb of ddr400, ATI 9800 128mb. This thing rips. I am not a computer guy by any means. I'm a drummer who like to record his music. I can get 32+20 on a "Davec" test with out trying. Lets see what a G5 can do. Back about 2.5 to 3 years ago I bought a machine from DAWBOX it was a good box but I paid for it. I've got less than a grand in this new one plus I learned alot about putting together a computer. Mr Potato Head basically. heh

i built a similar machine, same case - 900.00
who the hell needs tech support for computer hardware, thats why god gave us the internet

its good to learn this stuff, then u can upgrade in the
comfort of ur toolshed

can u say newegg

More like that Windows PC was co-designed by the Digidesign Users Conference members. It sure does look like it has the exact same specs as the recommended "DUC" Windows computer for Protools HD.

Unfortunately, about half of the Mac user base.

Well, maybe treating a computer as a religious icon instead of a tool is the issue (this tends to blind so many Mac users to the real world).

For the record, I have been building my own PCs for 15 years, and if Apple made it possible for me to do this, I might buy their OS and give it a spin. My PCs never crash, but even though it is easier to do these days than it was 15 years from now, I can't recommend that every musician learn how to do this. Hence, the need for companies like Terra.

i've always been a pc guy i never liked macs..
i've been custom building pc systems since 386 and 486 systems, not to mention my father owns a computer company...
but now that i'm moving to pt, i'm picking up a dual 2.7 G5. i used p4 system, single opteron systems etc with pt... and the mac always performed better with PT.. with nuendo i always choose the pc...
i have to get use to osx tiger but i think it was a good buy...

If they really want´s to get rid of apple I think they should extend DAE and make the computer boot directly into a very small and streamlined os justcapable of running
Protools.

Leave windows out of the system, please!!

All,

And you know what(been mentioned by somebody else almost undoubtedly) Digidesign with expansion of Pro Tools MIDI capability should come up with an awesome MIDI device editor l Opcode's Galaxy Plus, or Emagic's Sounddiver. But that's not too much to ask for is it.

Rob G.. heh thumbsup

I have been building my own machines since the P2 300mhz was the state of the art.
There is NO commercially available machine that can compare to my home built machines for the same price. Period! In fact, to get comparable performance you have to spend double easily. PT user is balls on!

The better news is that the difficulty level of building them yourself has dropped to the point where I think an 8 year old could do it. The hardest part of assembling your own machine might have been the IDE master/slave jumpers, but SATA has made that hassle history.

culture of greed, (&, All)

You may, or may not be right. The thing is most people (especially the amateur to semi-pro Pro Tools users)want something that works right out of the box(or almost right out of the box). Kind of like the people who purchase iMac's. Us pro guys expect to have to custom, or specialty modify our equipment because that's just the nature of the equipment we purchase, & use.

Imagine you going into 'Guitar Center', talking to a 'Sam Ash' ,or 'Musicians Friend' rep. & you want to buy an M Box, or Digi 002. The sales guy tells you that you can buy this computer co-designed/manufactured by Digidesign that you can have up, & running with your M Box, or Digi 002 in 15 minutes. Or you can buy the M Box, or Digi 002 but you have to do this, and this, and that to your computer which depending on who you bought it from could cause you to have to take it in the shop, send it to the manufacturer ,or what have you depending on your computer's warranty, or extended warranty underwriter. I know this is true. I've had manufacturer's tell me that if I install a part that was'nt in the computer when I purchased it from them that it would void the warranty. Or the sales rep might tell you that you have to buy a whole new computer anyways so you might as well buy the Terra Digital Audio unit. The average person just wants to hook it up in 15 minutes, & start recording(especially those Christmas time purchasers). And the average person is going to buy a M Box, or Digi 002. Get my point? So you know that if a person does'nt want to spend more than 15 minutes hooking up their recording setup they're not going to want to build their own computer. This just gives people a PC that does mainstream audio right out of the box. Now the only thing that Terra Digital Audio 'must' do is make sure that their tech. support is on par with companys like 'Dell', & etc., and they'll have/keep plenty of business. That' one reason why 'Dell' has such an extensive market share. Good reliability, & good tech. support although I've heard stories that their reputation is not quite as pristine as it used to be.


Rob G..

P.S.: This post is almost an entire duplicate of something I posted over at 'Harmony Central' but, seems as thought the same information applies as a response to you, & others viewing who may have the same opinion as you. stike

Your right, and that guy will spend twice the money for the convenience of not spending an hour to put together a machine. Its no harder then assembling a lawn chair, really.

And with that $1k I saved building it myself, I'll buy myself a nice mic or something.

To me it's simple. Know your gear. Now that computers are the main recording medium, I think knowing how they work should be expected.

At least if I have a problem with my PC, I can walk into one of numerous computer stores within 10 minutes of each other, buy the part,a nd I'm up and ruynning.

culture of greed, & Henchman,

I think you guys are far from the average consumer , or recordist. If most people want to build their own computers then why have companies like Dell's sales gone up in the last quarter even. Dell is getting close to 20% of 'world' market share. HP is 2nd. Lenovo(ex-IBM) is 3rd. Apple is barely at 2.5% even with the success of iPod's, & Mac Mini's. I applaud you both for your pioneering type spirit. But facts are facts. And if the majority of people that will become new Pro Tools owners/users computer preferences are guided by current sales trends, & reports not only will they purchase PC's(vs. Apple Mac's) but they'll let an established company build it for them. Now if Terra Digital Audio follow Dell's path of 'rock' solid stability/dependability of product, & issues 'stellar' tech support they could even climb out of the specialty niche of being an audio CPU firm, & start to tread heavily into the consumer market. But we'll see.

Rob G.. heh stike

All,

As a matter of fact I'm now thinking of purchasing two of these Terra Digital Audio computers. I wonder how they'll run on Vista?

Rob G.. thumbsup stike

It´s in my oppinion less hastle with systemcrashes on the mac platform, almost non existant on os x. There is also a big chance you end up having virus or other crap on a windows machine, hence the risk of loosing recordings, or just mock up the computer in general is higher on a windowsmachine.

most new LE are windows based mainly because of cost and people have PCs before they even consider pro tools, the majority of TDM systems are still apple as pro tools has had proven relibility on apple for many years. apple cant compeate with the cost of their ppc based systems in a comsumer market yet they wont be challanged on high end profession systems for awhileyet
it will be interesting to see what happens with intel based apple hardware, intel wont want to continue PCI-X but i believe digidesign are a way off the next PCI-ex TDM system, although only people inside digidesign know the true state of devolopment

u kidding. mac osx has yet to be stable for us as os9. each revision has caused lock ups and many re-boots. our win XP machines are as stable as it comes right for the past 2years

back to the original topic- DAW builders are grossly overpriced. u can do the musicxp thing for ur winxp tweaks and have a DAW built w/ same parts for alot cheaper.

The warranty looks lame as you pay the cost of sending it in. I loose $800.00 per day if my system is down I want it fixed ASAP. Even if you have a minor problem like a firewir or USB port goes down I need to have a fast turnaround time. To pay a premium price for a machine I want premium service if it fails.

NO I´m not kidding, I have experienced os X freeze maybe once or twice ever!!

It happens that applications quit but it doesn´t meen reboot. Os 9 is ****ed up..

What do you meen original topic? It concerns custombuilt PC´s for protools NO?
I just feel I had to mention the fact that they will have to run Windows and it SUCKS..

Do you like viruses?

Of course it´s cheaper to build it yourself, like it´s also cheaper to build your own home by yourself, or do anything by yourself instead of paying someone else to do it.

But if you get trouble with your computer, then you get support, you have a guarantee that the parts in the computer won´t interfeer, stable drivers etc.
You dont have to spend time checking all the tweaks you can just start the computer and it suppose to work.

Building it yourself is cheap if your time is worthless.

Now this is funny.

NOW guys are talking about how lame OS9 was. But when there was no OSX, they said OS9 was rocksolid.

And when an application quits, that means it crashed. The fact it deosn't bring the whole machine down is secondary. Fact is, that you were booted out of your workign environment. I'll repeat. IT CRASHED.