Seeking recommendations for best music production computers

[CraigR]

Owen,

You know what? You sold me on building my own again. Thanks for the valuable info. I'm into saving money and that "premium" for a pre-built one does turn me off. The leftover can go to some other gear like a headphone amp for my new AKG K701s.

Craig

[ochaim]

Glad I could help, Craig!

[mojobone]

I was about to suggest a Creation Station; you can get all your software preloaded, plug in your iLok and go. I have a refurb Mac, cuz I needed a lot of raw, native power for tracks and VIs, but a PC of the same power is often cheaper and the Creation Station can be racked up for use off-site, in case that's important. If you need commercial-level rock-solid reliability, I'd take a look at IZ' RADAR, which can run ProTools or virtually any DAW and being purpose-built has no bloatware and a streamlined OS.

[mojobone]

It really gets down to, "if budget is no barrier, buy what the pros use, why not?"

Ah, well, that's because pros use stuff sometimes just because it's there, and it's the default; it's kinda like the preset patches on your synth. If you don't want to sound like everyone else and some other workflow suits you and your music better, why stick with 'tried and true'? There are many paths to audio nirvana. Shoot, there might even be more than one path to enlightenment, but don't tell the Buddha.