new audio workstation

[kutcher]

Need a new PC as im a sound editor but im also not so technical, thinking about buying this pc, Siren audio pc, is this a decent PC and how good is the sound card?

[peza2010]

Unfortunately that link is down.

[paulears]

works ok for me?

 

Personally - I'd not be buying that one. While there are some serious internal cards, nowadays we tend to use external audio devices. There's so much rubbish flying around inside the case, getting audio processed externally is safer - AND usually means you get proper XLRs for microphones, with phantom power, jacks for line level and proper headphone monitoring. These can be freestanding or rack mount versions and USB and firewire types are common. The computer is not really an purpose built audio machine, just a pleasant enough i3 processor based machine.

 

For real audio biased machines Google for Carillon and Red Submarine - which are pretty popular.

 

If you are a sound editor, then the budget you have for software is perhaps going to be similar or more than the PC! There are a number of popular editors, and a few quite OK free ones - but it depends on what you really want to do.

 

Last thing is that seeing creative labs on a loudspeaker system makes me really wonder! Proper monitors are essential!

[peza2010]

works ok for me?

 

just got in and tried the link on my laptop and its works fine.

it wasnt working on my phone though.

[SoLiEn]

Personally, I would (and have) built my own pc from the ground up for Audio Editing. That way I know that its got everything I need/want it to have, and even now, 2 years on its still bloody high specced. (and it didnt cost as much as a prebuilt one)

 

Agreed with the external sound card points, definately much better than an internal, and also Proper monitoring is indeed essential.

[brainwave-generator]

for Audio Editing, you could actually quite happily take a step back in time and choose a Macintosh G5 and put Pro Tools 7 on it with an mBox or a DigiRack.

 

People say "Logic" or "Cubase" but for editing, Pro Tools is the Professional choice and the best one for the job.

[Doug Siddons]

FWIW I do all my sound editing on a 10 year old computer running '98 with a SW1000 sound card. Now I know everything has moved on incredibly in the last 10 years but has it really got any better or faster?

[tomo2607]

As most have already stated... An external audio card would be much better, especially if the machine isn't designed for pro audio use.

 

As for the PC spec... I think it depends on how much editing / processing your doing? If its to edit the odd sound effect or to do some basic multi tracking then most modern day PCs will do, just allow for expansion for things such as RAM and Hard drive. You can then run a fire wire or USB interface / sound card like the mbox pro for example

 

However if its for some more complex requiring multiple instances of processor hungry plugins and lots of tracks then something with more power would be a must. Something like an I5 / I7 with 6Gb RAM or higher with plenty of storage room. and again, room to expand on the RAM and HDD of the system will help make the machine last longer...

 

 

And Doug, I believe its again a matter of use. Alot of new effects processors and DAW's will require a higher spec machine. For example in the college studio there is a G5 mac running with 2GB ram and a dual core 2.2ghz processor. Which is fine for the college's needs, however I personally run a power mac with 8GB RAM and an I7 processor with multi threading. This allows me to have a lot of different and multiple plugins running along side my audio editing program which is either protools or logic pro, By having the extra "power" it prevents lagg and speeds up the process... But thats just my opinion, Im sure there are others who will strongly disagree...

[paulears]

People say "Logic" or "Cubase" but for editing, Pro Tools is the Professional choice and the best one for the job.

That's not quite right. Pro Tools was the standard, but studios are quite different now in terms of size and scope, so you'll find it's the kind of work they do that sets the choice. Cubase and Logic tend to be platform split - so your computer sets the package. Nuendo has a smaller following, but some quite well known names support this package. Pro Tools is actually more popular as a recording and mixing platform, especially when used with a dedicated hardware work surface. Editing depends on the kind of editing you do. People editing audio for radio use like one product, people who do music editing tend to have other allegiances - some using products such as Sony Sound Forge. There are many products and each has it's proponents and of course the opposite. The music industry does seem to have simply accepted that there are many ways to do it.

 

Like video editing, you do tend to like what you grew up with - hence the promotion by everyone to schools and colleges.Pro Tools is good - but I wouldn't want to buy it as an editor - the feature set is biased towards the recording of music, not editing. It edits fine, of course - but as a Cubase user I edit in that program, unless I need to do something complex, when I shoft to something else.

 

To Doug - the only problem with the old machines, and I have one too in the studio, is that you get used to being able to do pitch correction and length changing when you can just click and it happens, with real time previews. This kind of thing really needs the extra processor power. For topping and tailing and simple stuff, processor power isn't a big deal. It's worse on modern software because the feature set assumes a fast processor - ten year old software is well matched to a ten year old computer.

[brainwave-generator]

People say "Logic" or "Cubase" but for editing, Pro Tools is the Professional choice and the best one for the job.

That's not quite right. Pro Tools was the standard, but studios are quite different now in terms of size and scope, so you'll find it's the kind of work they do that sets the choice. Cubase and Logic tend to be platform split - so your computer sets the package. Nuendo has a smaller following, but some quite well known names support this package. Pro Tools is actually more popular as a recording and mixing platform, especially when used with a dedicated hardware work surface. Editing depends on the kind of editing you do. People editing audio for radio use like one product, people who do music editing tend to have other allegiances - some using products such as Sony Sound Forge. There are many products and each has it's proponents and of course the opposite. The music industry does seem to have simply accepted that there are many ways to do it.

 

 

In the mid-range yes. But at the higher end, no. Pro Tools is the only software (aside from Wavelab) which you really find for editing in the top end places, for good reason. It's editing controls are simply superior to anything else available.

 

People seem to treat it differently because it was the first. As if first can never be best. But it can and is. Logic and Cubase are good solutions for a certain market but do not contain the full professional editing functionality that you find in Pro Tools.

[savage1]

For a prebuilt workstationit might be worth ahving a look here http://www.scan.co.uk/shop/pro-audio

 

I've always bought bits from scan but onlyrecently noticed they have an audio section.

[Bobbsy]

 

 

In the mid-range yes. But at the higher end, no. Pro Tools is the only software (aside from Wavelab) which you really find for editing in the top end places, for good reason. It's editing controls are simply superior to anything else available.

 

People seem to treat it differently because it was the first. As if first can never be best. But it can and is. Logic and Cubase are good solutions for a certain market but do not contain the full professional editing functionality that you find in Pro Tools.

 

Have you ever done much audio recording, editing and mixing, brainwave-generator? I thought your background was rigging and lighting?

 

In any case, you're seriously wrong about Pro Tools. I spent many years using it at work. It does the job but I would never, ever say the functionality is in any way better than a lot of competitors. It is the industry standard because a lot of people use it--NOT because it's better. Indeed, it's arguably behind the times in many areas--and very clunky indeed unless you use Pro Tools hardware as well as their software.

 

Frankly, unless the OP has a need to exchange sessions and stems with a Pro Tools house, it's around the LAST software I'd recommend.

 

As for the original query, it's hard to comment on its suitability based on the limited spec there. However, a few comments.

 

First, for any audio work I'd specify a computer with two separate hard drives. Put the OS and your DAW software on one drive and audio files on the other--simply doing a partition isn't enough.

 

Second, you're spending money on an Asus sound card that will be useless for serious audio work. You'll still need to get a specialist sound card--the exact details of which will depend on the rest of your system, how many ins and outs you want, etc.

 

Similarly, the computer speakers you'll be getting aren't suitable for mixing purposes. You'll still need proper monitors.

 

Third, depending on how many tracks and effects you want to use, the i3 processor might not be up to the job.

 

Fourth, for audio work you may want a video card that can drive two separate monitors. Monitor real estate is precious mixing.

 

Fifth, no mention of USB or Firewire ports which you may or may not need--something to check.

 

Frankly, for the sort of money listed there, I might be tempted to go to a supplier that will let you pick and choose what goes into the box rather than buying something off the shelf.

 

Bob

[Doug Siddons]

To Tomo and Paul, your absolutely right, what it comes down to is the results and how quickly you can get them. My point, I think, was you don't need the most up to date and expensive systems to get good results, you just want one that works for you and you can understand it.

[WeaveMcQuilt]

Rather than buying off-the-shelf, I would be building my own.

 

Did so recently for my Workhorse which included:

 

AMD Phenom Quad-Core @ 3.0GHz

6GB DDR3 RAM

64GB SSD (For Win7 64-bit and other softwares)

1TB Samsung Spinpoint F1

MAYA 44 USB

600W PSU

 

All for around £400.

From PC World, this PC would be costing you upwards of £600

 

Not 3 bad.

[brainwave-generator]

In the mid-range yes. But at the higher end, no. Pro Tools is the only software (aside from Wavelab) which you really find for editing in the top end places, for good reason. It's editing controls are simply superior to anything else available.

 

People seem to treat it differently because it was the first. As if first can never be best. But it can and is. Logic and Cubase are good solutions for a certain market but do not contain the full professional editing functionality that you find in Pro Tools.

 

Have you ever done much audio recording, editing and mixing, brainwave-generator? I thought your background was rigging and lighting?

 

In any case, you're seriously wrong about Pro Tools. I spent many years using it at work. It does the job but I would never, ever say the functionality is in any way better than a lot of competitors. It is the industry standard because a lot of people use it--NOT because it's better. Indeed, it's arguably behind the times in many areas--and very clunky indeed unless you use Pro Tools hardware as well as their software.

 

Frankly, unless the OP has a need to exchange sessions and stems with a Pro Tools house, it's around the LAST software I'd recommend.

 

As for the original query, it's hard to comment on its suitability based on the limited spec there. However, a few comments.

 

First, for any audio work I'd specify a computer with two separate hard drives. Put the OS and your DAW software on one drive and audio files on the other--simply doing a partition isn't enough.

 

Second, you're spending money on an Asus sound card that will be useless for serious audio work. You'll still need to get a specialist sound card--the exact details of which will depend on the rest of your system, how many ins and outs you want, etc.

 

Similarly, the computer speakers you'll be getting aren't suitable for mixing purposes. You'll still need proper monitors.

 

Third, depending on how many tracks and effects you want to use, the i3 processor might not be up to the job.

 

Fourth, for audio work you may want a video card that can drive two separate monitors. Monitor real estate is precious mixing.

 

Fifth, no mention of USB or Firewire ports which you may or may not need--something to check.

 

Frankly, for the sort of money listed there, I might be tempted to go to a supplier that will let you pick and choose what goes into the box rather than buying something off the shelf.

 

Bob

 

No background in Lighting. I do however work in a very nice residential recording studio, and do have credits with a good number of high profile artists. We use Pro Tools HD, because no major producer will come into a studio without Pro Tools HD. (They may wish to use tape / soundscape / RADAR; but will almost always require an in-house PT|HD rig available as reliable backup or for editing). I just don't really do much studio stuff anymore, simply because there's not enough money in the recording industry as a whole. My rigging and studio day-rates are much the same, I can get rigging pretty much every day, fairly BS-free, set hours per day, overtime just goes on the invoice etc. You have to put up with a lot more crap in the recording industry.

 

Anyway...

 

I would like you to find me then, a serious top-end recording studio in the entire world, which is not based around Pro Tools HD, Radar, Soundscape, or Tape.

Abbey Road = Pro Tools. Air Lyndhurst = Pro Tools. Metropolis = Pro Tools. Pinewood = Pro Tools. Yes, the list goes on.

 

Pro Tools HD is without a doubt the best computer-based audio workstation in the world. It's processing power is completely unrivalled, it's the only one which can do ZERO-latency processing, it's a very fast program, which combined with a fast operator creates a very fast system (reducing cost in time). It's designed at the professional studio too, which means in layout and functionality, it fulfils it's every tasks in a manner that you would expect it too. It's also compatible with CLASP, and with all of the ICON controllers.

 

Yes we use their hardware with their software, but it's not at all 'clunky' to use anything else. Another studio I regular in has Prism ADAs and it's absolutely fine. Air Lyndhurst has PTHD with Prism ADAs and at in excess of £1000 a day, you can be sure that if it didn't work, they would change it. They couldn't afford to run a studio around a DAW that didn't work.

 

Do you know why the real reason is that people think Pro Tools is behind the times? The REAL reason? It's because they don't market it anymore. So it's not the 'cool' thing anymore. AVID have no requirement to market PT|HD, it will always sell to the high end market, which is where their profit comes from. Apple (Logic) / Steinberg (Cubase / Nuendo) etc are out to make money from the mid-level consumer market, and do not bother making very high end systems as they know they can't compete with PT|HD. The mid-level market requires a lot more marketing as people are a lot more susceptible to trends and other options. The upper market are not so, so AVID do not need to keep PT|HD in the mainstream eye. And because it's not in your eye, you assume that it is going downhill. That is not at all the case, PT|HD9 is extremely powerful software.

How many adverts do you see for Audi on the TV? And how many adverts do you see for Aston Martin? Audis better than Aston? Aston behind the times? No, they just don't need to advertise as the client base is well founded and will continue coming.

 

The other week I had 40 channels of recording going on with a full band and accompanying orchestra. I gave the orchestra reverbs, I gave the rock musicians compression and gates, and I ran their monitoring from the auxilliaries of Pro Tools, not from the desk. I would like to see you do this in Logic without their being such a long delay you can play a note, make a cup of tea and be back in the studio before you hear your note.

 

So in summary, it's not behind the times as software, just behind the times with marketing. It is, still, the most powerful audio processing software in the world. That is why the best studios, with the biggest budgets, and the biggest requirements to be PERFECT day in day out, still use it despite so many alternatives being available.

 

You can believe me or not believe me, and continue convincing yourself that Abbey Road, Air, Metropolis, British Grove, Kore, etc; are all idiots that know nothing about audio processing but just so happen to record the best bands in the world using it. In the studio world of today, where times are so hard, if Pro Tools was REALLY the bottom of the pile, it'd be gone in a flash and replaced with whatever was better than it. There just... isn't anything.