Ready to buy GS...but need to build a system!

[Film Composer]

Hello all,

I plan to build a dedicated system for GS, but am uncertain on what I should purchase to build the system. Any recommendations on motherboards, processors, etc.? Reading through the forum, I see mixed opinions on various setups. Please drop a line to offer your suggestions, based upon your own experience.

Thanks!

-Brian

[SteveHanlon]

Hi FC,
www.soundchaser.com (\"http://www.soundchaser.com\")

Mark Isham got his from there.

It would be a stable first attempt.

[SteveHanlon]

Hi FC,
www.soundchaser.com (\"http://www.soundchaser.com\")

Mark Isham got his from there.

It would be a stable first attempt.

[Synth2k]

If you\'re into building machines yourself and you\'re comfortable with the concept, you might also want to check out the \"Build you own Super DAW\" article on SC at http://www..com/tech/midi/articles/090101/daw.shtml (\"http://www..com/tech/midi/articles/090101/daw.shtml\")

Otherwise a pre-built system like the ones Soundchaser assemble would be an excellent choice.

Ryan.


------------------
Sonic Control
www..com (\"http://www..com\")
Giga Users Network at
www..com/gigasampler/ (\"http://www..com/gigasampler/\")

[Jacky]

Assuming your sequencer will be on a separate machine and this set up will have only gig S, a 1.0 ghz PIII or even Athlon would be more than enough. Obviously with dropping prices you may as well get a P4 with an intel chipset. Go with Intel motherboards these are best for audio and are the most compatible boards you will ever find. Assuming you will use gig 160 go for atleast 512MB ram but 1gig would be preferable for real strong orchestration using all 4 midi ports and 64 parts. Go for a minimum of 2 audio outs, a good start will be delta 1010- the best card so far. Go for a maxtor ata 133 hard disk. These are great and maxtor is now giving free controller cards. As for OS I still recommend 98 SE make sure the system has nothing else just 98 SE and gig.

[PeterRoos]

Is this a good advice in general, to connect a dedicated Gst PC to your sequencing PC (DAW) through SP/DF?

I am not yet familiar with digital i/o and light pipes, using an older Echo Darla card (actually also a very good range of audio interfaces!).

Any pointers to introductory texts? e.g. on syncing etc?

thx

Peter

[Film Composer]

THANKS to everyone who responded.

I appreciate the suggestions! I\'ve decided to go with a company specializing in custom-built systems for GS and other DAW\'s. Check them out at http://www.dawbox.com (\"http://www.dawbox.com\") -- they\'re very helpful and friendly.

-Brian

[caveman]

jamie mentioned to use Intel Motherboards, as they are more compatible.

I totally agree, you need to know off hand by planning the exact components of your system. I have used the ASUS Motherboards, because they have had such good results for Audio Workstations, but I hear more and more on people prefering Intel Motherboards over it because of Compatibility and performance.

Tascam DAW config, also suggests Intel Motherboards for building a Giga DAW.

So .... has time changed since the famous Asus Motherboards.

Anyone with experiences on Intel Motherboards over Asus, Gigabyte,Abit?

I would like to hear, as I have an answer (my opinion after using both brands ASUS/Intel.

Please shed some light on this topic, After all I am living in a Cave!

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=\"1\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Film Composer:
THANKS to everyone who responded.

I appreciate the suggestions! I\'ve decided to go with a company specializing in custom-built systems for GS and other DAW\'s. Check them out at http://www.dawbox.com (\"http://www.dawbox.com\") -- they\'re very helpful and friendly.

-Brian<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

[pantonality]

I agree with many of the ideas here. I would say that sound card choice is subjective. I don\'t know any sound card that has a broad consensus as the best, despite Jacky\'s claims for the delta 1010. I\'m on a few lists and among Logic users there are many very happy with the RME Hammerfall and its siblings. That however may be overkill for the purposes of a GSt system.

Since this is a dedicated GSt system I suggest finding a good card with SP/DIF out and staying digital in connecting to your DAW. By avoiding D/A conversion and analog stage and A/D reconversion you avoid three sources of distortion.

I\'ve just started doing this with my dedicated system (Egosys Waveterminal 2496 on the GS system, RME DIG96/8 PST on the Logic system) and the difference is subtle but real. The best part is I can stay entirely digital to the CD burner and the difference that makes is significant. Sadly you\'ll never hear that difference in an MP3 file.

Steve http://www.mp3.com/stevechandler (\"http://www.mp3.com/stevechandler\")
aka Ettienne http://www.mp3.com/ettienne (\"http://www.mp3.com/ettienne\")

[clonewar]

As far as the Intel vs Asus motherboard questions are concerned, I\'ve used both on P3 and P4 platforms and you really can\'t go wrong with either (as long as the Asus is a board running an Intel chipset).
I just built a new P4 based DAW and had to choose between the two again. I went with the Asus P4T because they are much more tweakable in BIOS then the Intel boards are. The most important BIOS feature for me on the Asus board is the PCI IRQ assignment feature. It allows you to assign a separate IRQ to each PCI slot in BIOS. I run three soundcards and if I leave it up to Win 98 to decide which IRQ\'s to assign them to it usually stacks 2 of them up on the same IRQ and then maybe combines one with the graphics card, etc. Endless headaches. With this board I just go in and assign free IRQ\'s to the PCI slots that my soundcards are in and Windows recognizes the soundcards each on their own IRQ, no sharing. None of the Intel boards that I\'ve had have had this feature and Intel boards are known to have very few tweaking feature, which is why overclockers don\'t like them.

Mike

[Kenn159]

Quote
jamie mentioned to use Intel Motherboards, as they are more compatible.
I totally agree, you need to know off hand by planning the exact components of your system. I have used the ASUS Motherboards, because they have had such good results for Audio Workstations, but I hear more and more on people prefering Intel Motherboards over it because of Compatibility and performance.

Tascam DAW config, also suggests Intel Motherboards for building a Giga DAW.

So .... has time changed since the famous Asus Motherboards.

Reply
Im wondering if you misunderstood that quote from the tascam site, because from what I read tascam recommended intel chips with intel compatable motherboards[I think it was a old recomendation from way back when intel was the best,The floating point performance is currenly better on AMD, which is most important for audio use] not intel brand motherboards.
I have never seen a intel brand motherboard that was a top performer among the top motherboards in that time period.
What the best know intel motherboard , The shuttle?
LOL

[caveman]

Hi Ken

Yes I was misunderstood, It was the Intel Chipset itself. My Apologies. The reason why some have preferred using the Intel Motherboard was for Compatibility issues, but Amd has indeed become compatibile for Soundcards. I am open to Intel or Amd, which ever gives me the best results, But nowadays I think both have reached the standard where one could do Digital Audio. Some people just prefer AMD VS Intel and Visa Versa. If I had to buil a new system I am not sure what I would get. I would definately look at my Audio gear and Match the best Board for Compatibility, Stability, Speed, and Performance.

Anyway jsut wanted to let you know that I was reading the Tascam post wrong. It was indeed dicsussing the Intel Chipset!


Caveman

Im wondering if you misunderstood that quote from the tascam site, because from what I read tascam recommended intel chips with intel compatable motherboards[I think it was a old recomendation from way back when intel was the best,The floating point performance is currenly better on AMD, which is most important for audio use] not intel brand motherboards.