Building a studio computer

with industry Pro, Nick Batzdorf

Moderators: admin, mdc, TAXIstaff

Post Reply
nomiyah
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 1470
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2005 8:29 pm
Gender: Female
Location: Home Is Where The Studio Is
Contact:

Re: Building a studio computer

Post by nomiyah » Sat Jul 08, 2006 1:22 pm

This has certainly been an educational discussion. Thanks for the lessons and taking time to talk about my questions.

nickbatzdorf
Impressive
Impressive
Posts: 457
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2004 10:25 am
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: Building a studio computer

Post by nickbatzdorf » Sat Jul 08, 2006 2:59 pm

You know, I probably put it a bit too strongly. I should have said that it's not necessary to keep office stuff off the studio computer, not that there aren't reasons for some people to do that.It's just that there's this old wives' tale that won't go away. That's what I react to. And of course I have to maintain a relatively up-to-date computer set-up to write about all the latest toys. But my studio looks a lot less impressive than it used to. I don't even have a mixer anymore, and the racks of crap I used to have are all gone. In fact, I have a rack full of stuff I haven't even run power to for over a year!

nomiyah
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 1470
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2005 8:29 pm
Gender: Female
Location: Home Is Where The Studio Is
Contact:

Re: Building a studio computer

Post by nomiyah » Sat Jul 08, 2006 9:04 pm

So Nick, what's left in your studio? Let me guess:Computer & monitor, speakers & amp, preamp & microphone, subwoofer, keyboards, external hard drives...I can relate to the phrase "old wives tales" and that's why I asked the question to begin with. I hear so many varying things, they're not exactly urban myths, more like cyber myths (nothing like a new catch phrase). But seriously, there's no point passing around wrong information until it's repeated so often we believe it...Nomi

edteja
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 1171
Joined: Mon Feb 27, 2006 4:07 am
Gender: Male
Location: Siver City, New Mexico
Contact:

Re: Building a studio computer

Post by edteja » Sun Jul 09, 2006 2:27 am

So Nick, you have that rack you haven't put power to in over a year... when and where is the garage sale?
"In the future, when we finally get over racism, bigotry, and everyone is purple, red, and brown ... then we'll have to hate people for who they truly are."--George Carlin

nomiyah
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 1470
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2005 8:29 pm
Gender: Female
Location: Home Is Where The Studio Is
Contact:

Re: Building a studio computer

Post by nomiyah » Sun Jul 09, 2006 7:36 am

From all this info, it seemed best to leave the software installed but make sure it doesn't start on boot up so it won't run in the background.He also asked "While we're streamlining this computer for the purposes of a music computer, we might want to minimize the windows services that also come up on boot. What WINDOWS services we actually NEED to come up on boot, and what WINDOWS services don't need?"Any opinions?

nickbatzdorf
Impressive
Impressive
Posts: 457
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2004 10:25 am
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: Building a studio computer

Post by nickbatzdorf » Mon Jul 10, 2006 3:26 pm

Nomi, there's a list on the Tascam website of tweaks for Giga. Most of those are probably valid. Having said that, I've been advised that it's really hardware that makes the difference in performance, not the tweaks.

nickbatzdorf
Impressive
Impressive
Posts: 457
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2004 10:25 am
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: Building a studio computer

Post by nickbatzdorf » Mon Jul 10, 2006 3:36 pm

Well, Ed, none of the stuff in that rack is worth anything anymore. I have a DAT machine, a cassette deck, a patchbay, a Kurzweil 1000PX module...and actually I just sold the Alesis DM5 module (someone is supposed to come by and pick it up).Nomi, my studio consists of two G5s with MOTU PCI-424 hardware (the main G5 is my mixer), a UAD-1 card on my main G5, two PCs with Frontier Designs Wavecenter PCI cards, a third PC that I need to fix, and lots and lots of virtual instruments, sample libraries, and software. I also have two Millennia Media channel strips (I sold all my other outboard gear to buy them), a Waves L2 that I use for its converters, and Kurzweil K2500 that I use as a master controller. Then I have a drumKAT set, an Akai EWI (okay, two - one is a spare), and a Yamaha VL1. And I use Blue Sky System One monitors (sats + subwoofer). Oh, and a Digidesign MBox on my main G5 so I can run Pro Tools (I recently sold my MIX system and haven't looked back). And I have some mics.I have some other stuff kicking around the garage and in my closet that I don't use anymore, such as a Kurzweil 250RMX (K250 rack), but that's about it. It's a lot of stuff, but I used to have racks of stuff and a mixer; I also used to have much less room.This is what it most of it looks like now (except that I'm endowed with one of those oversexed 30" Apple Cinema displays instead of those two monitors): http://homepage.mac.com/virtualinstrume ... um9.htmlIf you click on Graphite album at the top, you can see how I have my computers in the garage on the other side of the wall.

andreh
Committed Musician
Committed Musician
Posts: 993
Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2006 9:35 pm
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: Building a studio computer

Post by andreh » Mon Jul 10, 2006 5:24 pm

Quote:You know, I probably put it a bit too strongly. I should have said that it's not necessary to keep office stuff off the studio computer, not that there aren't reasons for some people to do that.It's just that there's this old wives' tale that won't go away. That's what I react to. Call me an "Old Wife," but I think there are still valid reasons for keeping your music computer separate from your "everything else" computer. I agree that's a pain in the butt to do, but the fact is you increase your chances of downtime by installing more software and exposing your computer to viruses by keeping it online.It may not be imperative for some to have their music computer up-and-running at all times...but for those like me who depend upon it for my daily bread, it's not worth the risk.Of course, I'm speaking mainly about PC's here; Mac's are at much lower risk for incompatibilities and viruses. I use both everyday, and this is what my experience has been.Andre
The greatest risk in life is risking nothing.

bc
Impressive
Impressive
Posts: 351
Joined: Sun May 04, 2008 4:53 am
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: Building a studio computer

Post by bc » Tue Jul 11, 2006 1:30 am

Interesting thread. After years of Gateways, HP's, and Dells, I finally went for Sweetwater's top-of-the-line Creation Station in PC format. Pro Tools LE, Command 8 and Digi 02 Rack. This puter smokes. So much so that I use it for all my high end print graphic, DVD video and web dev work. It's just too powerful to not take advantage of. And because I network and collaborate on various multimedia ad campaigns with artists around the country, it only makes sense for me to use it on-line too.It's just too convenient to whip up work tracks in PT, save as mp3 and in two clicks email a 2mix to a cowriter in Nashvegas. Same with multimedia projects. I can dump an mp3 2mix into a video compress as mpg and send a quick proposal demo in minutes. Having to burn it and reload it into a separate system just to ftp or email a project would be a hassle in the fast paced environment I work in.No problems with other software or on-line issues or what ever. In fact, PT would be a pain in the butt without an internet connection to update and verify and jump through all the plug in hoops. bc

nomiyah
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 1470
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2005 8:29 pm
Gender: Female
Location: Home Is Where The Studio Is
Contact:

Re: Building a studio computer

Post by nomiyah » Tue Jul 11, 2006 5:44 am

Quote:Nomi, there's a list on the Tascam website of tweaks for Giga. Most of those are probably valid. Having said that, I've been advised that it's really hardware that makes the difference in performance, not the tweaks.I'm working with ProTools not Giga. And yes, we've been on the PT website extensively.Thanks for the list of your equipment, Nick. I'll check out some of your gear I'm not familiar with. Also thanks to everyone for your advice.Nomi

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 26 guests