Your Dream Setup.

[Gunny_Snipes]

I am looking to , ammaturely I might add, setup a personal sound studio in my home. I have a budget of about $7,000 U.S. to spend.

Some components I am looking at purchasing are the Yamaha O1v mixing board with the MY8 AT attachement using the Yamaha MSP5 monitor set. Next would Nuendo's HOUSTON machine........

I know a little about somethings but I am not a msater of anything.........

My question is the PC, the OS, and the Sound card.

The software I will be using is Cubase SX, Wavelab 4.0, and some VST plugins.......

What system (pc or mac) would you suggest that would allow for optimal performance and quality in recording........???

Th PC I was thinking of setting up is this:

PIV 2.2 ghz
ASUS motherboard with the new chipset(845 I think)
512 mb DDR ram
GeForce 4 Ti 128mb with DDR graphics card
19 in. Sony Monitor
Mouse and keyboard
2 40gb hard drives

SOUND CARD?
OS? LINUX/XP/2000/98 ???

Acessories????

Help me with your professional opinions. Thanks.

-Gunny-

[Michael Quayle]

If you are on a budget dont bother with the Houston - thats a whole $1000 you can spend on something else - the 01v will work just fine as a hardware control surface for Cubase/Nuendo

[Michael Quayle]

Also, unless you are planning to play some hardcore games, dont bother with that graphics card- get a matrox g450 or similar, which is cheap, has outputs for 2 monitors, and matrox have the best 2d visual quality out there.

[Jotamus]

Hey, I just got this system and it amazes me. You might wanna consider something similar to it. You can order it at www.pcusa.com. (http://www.pcusa.com.) They have pretty good prices and build their computers well.

-P4 2.2 gig processor
-ASUS P4S533 motherboard.
-1 gig of 266 ddr
-Creamware Luna II soundcard with the new Scope Fusion operating system and the 8 i\o box. (this is a top notch fully assignable soundcard that is great. www.creamware.com) (http://www.creamware.com))
-Two 7200rpm 60 gig hard drives. (the faster the better for audio.)
-ATI Radeon 8500 with 64 meg of ddr
-Logitech optical mouse
-Logitech keyboard
-Windows XP Home
Okay. The system NOT INCLUDING the monitor cost me just over 1300. Slap on $300 for the monitor and $400 for the soundcard without the i\o box. So you are looking at $2,000. Thats just what I use. But you definatly want as much ddr as you can afford and the fastest and most stable motherboard that can handle the P4 and ddr technology. The fast hard drives are a must. I opted for 7200 rpm because I could afford it. Get 10k if you can. well thats all I have to say. I hope I helped at least a little. http://www.audioforums.com/forums/wink.gif

[Enlightend]

Greetings:

I cannot give a 'professional' opinion, but I'm in the same situation as you, looking at what to upgrade to(with less of a budget though). So while I don't have too much experience with all this gear, I have done alot of research.

I would check out Kurzweil's PC2-rack, for some good sounds, it also comes in a $400 version:
http://www.kurzweilmusicsystems.com/html/pc2r.html

If you consider Mac, you might reference this page:
http://www.apple.com/creative/musicaudio/steinberg/

I also wonder if we really always need the "latest, greatest, and most expensive". There seems to be quite a few free or relatively inexpensive programs out for the Pc. And if it does the job then......

Myself, I am very attracted to OS X and now with Apple buying Emagic, I will wait and see what's about to come out. My gut tells me that now is not the time to buy a G4, because I get the feeling that a faster computer and an improved OS for Mac musicians is about to show up, and if the Gods be kind the OS will include a fully functional and integrated sequencer/synth(which OS X already has, yes?). Also, I would be interested to know how SX will do with the Dual-G4, when it is ready for OS X. Or even better, a Dual 1.6Ghz G4, G5.......speed is important but it is not the only thing.

My suggestion is to do lots of research, and remember that opinions out there vary to an amazing degree and sometimes people might even be significantly biased for whatever reason. I have benefitted from reading all the different opinions and preferences, but it can also stress me out because sometimes one person says "Great!" and another says "**** !" ?? Try out that dang computer before you buy, if possible; also hardware and software. My feelings are ALWAYS DEMO! It's simple: you know what you're getting, so there shouldn't be any real danger of not being happy with what you've bought.

Enlightend

PS>Also, even though some people for some reason hate ProTools, there is the affordable Mbox and that 001 I think it's called, both come with the LE version of their sequencer, and I was told LE is basically the same. Try before you buy! And look around, there's lots of stuff out there.....who knows maybe you will love ProTools, myself I am interested in the Mbox. For people like me who aren't exactly wiping our butt-crack with a roll of bills, here you have a 24-bit audio interface, Focusrite pre-amps and a supposedly professional level sequencer for $450. As a consumer I am -GRATEFUL- for having that option, and I bet I could make some kick-ass music on it too.
I can't understand why people want companies to crash and burn. Maybe it's like cheering when the other team's quarterback gets a concussion after being sacked?

Also this place looks cool because you can buy in installments. Makes sense to me!:
http://www.americanmusical.com/

[macouno]

just 1 helpfull suggestion.

do go for a dual monitor setup. Once you have it you'll never want to go back to single.