Oh What to buy

[AnthonyCostandius]

Hi all the experts

I need some input.

I am currently running a IBM Pentium 4 with 4gb Ram. See specs below.

I work on Finale 2007 and Cubase SE3. For VSTs I use Komplete 4 & Komplete 6 from Native Instruments as well as Gary Garritan's Personal Orchestra and Jazz and Brass Band. For a sound card I have a Maya 44 onboard in a PCI slot. the current problems is, that, even if I set my Maya's latency to 2048, as soos as I start stacking the vsts up and want to do an audio playback I have lots of hickups as there seems to be not enough processing power.

Mostly I do songwriting, but also write and record tracks to submit to Taxi and for other projects. Some of my work is quite orchestral so I need to harnass the sound of a complete symphony orchestra if needed.

I now need to upgrade and have heard a lot on the i-Mac, but down here in South Africa Apple is not very big. My one option is to go for the middle of the range i-Mac and purchase an external sound card, something like a Konnekt 6, or stay with the IBM option, buying a notebook with the following specs and add on an external sound card. The second option will be significantly cheaper (Appr $1000):

The possible IBM option:

Mecer 2010 Notebook range featuring Intel’s brand-new Calpella Notebook platform and powered by Intel’s Arrandale and Clarksfield Core i processors. All preinstalled with Microsoft Windows® 7 operating systems. Long live the Mecer Xpression.

Accelerated performance
Effortless multi-tasking
Enhanced visual graphics
Revolutionary power management
Increased productivity
M770CU:
Preinstalled Genuine Windows® 7 Professional
Intel® Core™ i7-720QM Processor 1.60GHz 1333MHz
4GB DDR3-1333 Memory
500GB SATA Hard Drive
17"" 16 x 10 HD TFT Screen
DVD Super Multi Drive & 2.0M Pixel Web Camera
Fingerprint Reader, Bluetooth & HDMI Port
802.11 b/g/Draft-N Wireless LAN
ATi Radeon 4570 Graphics Card w/512MB
2 Year Carry-In Warranty

MY SPECS

OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name FLUX
System Manufacturer GBT___
System Model AWRDACPI
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 6 Stepping 2 GenuineIntel ~2992 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Award Software International, Inc. F3, 10/27/2005
SMBIOS Version 2.3
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.5512 (xpsp.080413-2111)"
User Name FLUX\Owner
Time Zone South Africa Standard Time
Total Physical Memory 2,048.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 2.44 GB
Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB
Page File Space 7.96 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

[mazz]

If you want to do orchestral music, I would stay away from a laptop unless you absolutely need the portability.

I would suggest going with a modern purpose-built DAW computer with 4 or 8 cores, 8 or 12G RAM and at least 3 fast internal hard drives, one for the system, one for audio and one for sample libraries, and go for a 64 bit OS, like Windows 7 64 bit. For doing orchestral mockups, you need to have lots of articulations available to you and with a 64 bit OS and Kontakt 4, you can use all the available RAM in your system, which means you can load up a lot of stuff into RAM and things will be screaming fast.

I'm a dyed in the wool Mac guy, but I wouldn't recommend an iMac for super strenuous orchestral work, it's just not expandable enough.

Eventually you'll be growing into a better orchestral library such as EW Gold or KH Diamond or Vienna and you'll need the horsepower.

Take this with a grain of salt, I use several computers to do my orchestral work because I like to have many articulations pre-loaded, I find it speeds up the work process and I'm trying to build up my production speed, if you work slower or find you don't need as many articulations (although switching articulations is what makes orchestral simulations sound more realistic, IMO), then you can get by with a less powerful (and cheaper) system.

In any case, I'd stay away from a laptop unless you absolutely need the portability.

There's a few companies that build computers specifically designed for music: PC Audio Labs, Vision DAW, Rain, etc. There's probably some more in your part of the world. You pay a bit more but often they'll load up your libraries for you, provide after the sale tech support, and will tweak the system so all the extra crap that comes in an OS that you don't need is minimized so it doesn't affect performance. Try getting that from your neighborhood general computer store that doesn't know anything about audio and the requirements for it.

Just my 2c

Good luck,

Mazz

[kevinmathie]

Hey Anthony,

Just wanted to weigh in on the iMac option as well. Up until last year (maybe March or so) I used an iMac. The iMac worked great for me until I upgraded to the EastWest Play libraries, and got more serious into orchestral writing. It was then that the 2 cores of the iMac just couldn't hack it. My compositions and arrangements were seriously hampered. When I got my 8-core Mac Pro, it was like I had been let out of jail or something. The freedom was wonderful!

So, if you know that you're going to be staying with the Garritan orchestra samples, etc., and that you definitely aren't going to be wanting to upgrade to very serious orchestra libraries, then you may find that the iMac will work great for you. I loved my iMac before I got real serious about orchestra libraries. And, for Finale and other types of things, my old iMac is still going strong. But, if you think you might want to upgrade your libraries to Vienna Symphonic Library or one of EastWest's Play libraries, then I'd definitely go with something that's 4- or 8-core, whether it's a Mac or PC.

[mojobone]

What Mazz said, plus 1.6Ghz may not be fast enough for some sampler engines, even with four cores. Laptops and iMacs just don't provide enough connectivity for really large sample libraries, though they can make for an excellent and portable front end in a networked system like Mazz'. Consider also that sampler software is being re-written to take advantage of screaming eight-core machines as we speak, and that tower computers have PCIe slots where you can load up audio accelerators like the UAD2 or TC Powercore.

[jdhogg]

I think this will end up a pc v mac debate.

Dont get a mac. Save the money for a new sound card and plugins.
RME fireface400 or similar because they work.
I had a Tc and it was sent back because it was crap.

i7 on a notebook

If it has a firewire port with Texas instruments chipset interface sounds like a great machine.

The only good reason (unless you are rich) to buy a mac is if you must have logic.

I agree with mazz dont go laptop if you can help it.

Ask a pc shop to make you a desk top centred around these components it will match a Mac pro. So get a price and ask yourself how apple can justify the price because they are not bug free either.

Asus p6t or Gigabyte EX58-ud5 or something very similar.
Windows 7 64 bit
i7 920
6G ram 3 x 2g (get a good brand but not the fastest it makes very little difference)
Nvidia 9600gt silent 1G or similar
2 x sata drives. Seagate or western digital

If you do not use this for browsing the web it will be at least as stable as a mac.

You can delay buying the ff400 until you find out how well it works if you want. P.s. the asus board will most probably need a TI firewire card if you get the rme.

[jdhogg]

To get the mac price in perpective.

You could most probably buy two of these pc machines have them networked together and add a 2 way kvm switch and still have change.

2 times the power as a mac pro

[mojobone]

And yet so few viruses written for Macs.

[jdhogg]

I checked out mecer

http://www.mecer.co.za/gaming-pc

ask what motherboards they use as they look like good machines.
I had a friend with a mecer and it used good components.

x58 chipset

[fusilierb]

I started on an iMac and quickly outgrew it. Just like others said, it was the EW orchestra that broke the camel's back. Got a mac pro, two years old, but still screams.

I've never seen windows 7 yet and frankly the OS is your choice. Yes mac's are more expensive, but I do computer support for a living (only support windows machines as the macs just don't need support) and have no intention of dicking with my own machines just to get them optimized and running and to keep them that way. I have work to do that involves writing music, not fighting driver's, viruses and the inevitable slow downs over time and reboots that are required just to keep Windows (again never seen the new windows) running. If they've finally got all that BS worked out and you can turn on your machine and work without wrestling it, go for. But you still need good reliable (and yes expensive) hardware in your box to make sure everything runs smoothly.

If you choose to go the mac route, do yourself a huge favor and go mac pro. The word Pro is there for a reason.

HTH's
B

[jdhogg]

The reason pcs have a bad name is because most builds use inferior components and the internet often kills them.
Im not going to defend that

But if you buy the right components or buy a custom one from a music shop and dont connect to the internet they work fine.
My logic 5.5.1 on a xp pc crashed only a few times in all the years I used it.

Macs are not always perfect eg agere fw chip.

For less than the price of an imac you can have a pc that performs like an expanded mac pro. For someone on a budget doing orchestral its a valid choice imho.

If you have the money and you are a pro then the mac makes sense..........