What computer do I need?

I am sure this question has been answered numerous times before but scrolling back a few pages I couldn’t see so I may as well ask.

I am getting together my recording things now and I of course need a computer. (I should mention I am going Pc)

What specs should I be looking for, I intend on running reaper.
Thanks

I built my DAW. Here's some things to look out for:

A Quad-core is a must. I'm using a Phenom II X4.
I have 8 gigs of RAM, and have never gotten it above 4 gigs full. I recommend 8 gigs, but I only use a few MIDI instruments (like drums, maybe a piano.)
Hard drive space - get as much as you can afford! YOu can never have enough!
You need a dedicated physical drive for the C: drive, and another PHYSICAL drive for audio.

Other than that, get the fastest, "bestest" stuff you can afford. TWo things you DON"T need:

1. Video card. Many very nice motherboards have onboard HD video now. It's what I use. No need to waste money on a fancy video card that you don't need for audio!
2. AUDIO card. THat's right. DOn't waste your money on an audio card! For best results, get an outboard interface, like a PreSonus FP10 or something similar. Use it for recording and playback. Of course, many motherboards now-a-days have onboard HD audio, too. Use it for playback to check your mixes and watch movies. But NEVER record though the onboard stuff, it's noisy.

Hope this helps!

I ask the same exact question here after Christmas..........What I purchased was a HP Pavillion P7 1154 . It came from Bestbuy and seemed to meet the needs suggested by those here that were involved in helping me...I also purchased a 23" monitor that was an up grade from the 20" that was in the bundle. Printer was cheap junk so I reurned it for a much better HP printer with scanner for only $10 more after the Christmas sale was started. After they twisted my arm into buying 2 years worth of tech support and repairs I ended up with just over $900.00 in it...........Im very pleased


Jeffro

I'm getting by fine on a duo-core with 4 MB of RAM — high track counts with MIDI drums and a few MIDI sweetener tracks without bogging down. Johntodd is on the money about a dedicated audio HD, either USB2 or Firewire. Otherwise your internal drive will create a bottleneck as it struggles to manage both system/application AND the massive audio throughput. ... Interface is another matter; at the lower end, audio quality is pretty close to equal among brands. Features can differ: how many tracks do you want to record simultaneously, will you need phantom power for condenser mikes, do you want MIDI ports, etc.

What are your recording goals — what kind of music? Band projects or will you doing all or most of the tracks yourself?

Make sure the Mainboard supports USB 3.0 with plenty (4) in/outputs.
it's not especially needed for audio connections (at the moment) but for transmission speeds to external harddrives.dedicated audio hd's, backups, projects and what not.
and heck, it's 10x faster than USB 2.0.

You dont need quad core or usb 3.0, but you should get both because they are totally affordable/very available and will allow you to do much more.

At the school I went to they had a VERY well functioning recording studio based around a pentium II 200mhz processor. You could seriously record audio and multi track it with no latency. I think the secret was lots of big old fashioned hardware, like a massive external patchbay running into the motherboard. Music programmes are not that processor intensive if used efficiently. Nothing compared to video rendering for example (for which quad core really is useful!).

But you can do video renders even on a portable device, an iphone has enough power to do so. An ipad can do it even better.

Im basically saying not to worry, as any modern machine will be excellent. Also, a LAPTOP is more than fine and a more versatile option. You can have a totally portable setup, take it to a bandmates house or rehearsal space etc.

Edit while lying in bed.

If you can only afford a dual core laptop, I still think it has more to offer than a quad core desktop for the fact you can play with your music anytime, anyplace. You can still plug a massive display screen into your laptop in case you were wondering!

I should have probably mentioned at the start what I want to record.
I will mainly be doing solo stuff with guitar, drums, vocals ect.
In the long run I don't see changing to much other then maybe adding a midi keyboard, does this take up allot of ram or something?
Plan to record with a Presonus Audiobox usb with a condenser and sm57 into reaper.
In response to Usb 3.0 its seems from a quick Google search pretty easy to update to it so I will do that after I have got the computer, not buy on with it. A device that uses usb 2.0 will that work stuck into a 3.0 port?

MIDI with the attached sound plug-in takes a fair amount of processing power in real time. I did a cover of "Here Comes The Sun" with cellos, harmonium, flute, analog Moog, piccolo, another synth and so forth and I'm running a 6 core processor and with all the automation I have on each of these tracks, the combined thing is around 50 tracks with all the guitars, live drums, vocals & bass and this project almost brngs my system into the red zone in certain spots.

so, depending on how elaborate you get, you need as much horsepower as you can afford. When I put my system together two years ago, I thought I had it covered and well, I found a way to push it to it's limit. I assume you'll eventually do the same thing.

I have to respectfully disagree with some of the comment in this thread.

Recording , aka "tracking" is not that CPU intensive. That is true.

But the VST plugins and MIDI instruments are what chews up CPU time. Once you develop your "mixing ears", you will be using more compressors, delays, reverbs, eq, and so on, than you may think right now. And if you use a modeler like Amplitube, you will chew through CPU time real fast. This stuff takes it's toll.

You will want to be able to playback without skipping/sputtering so you can hear what the effects are doing. Your setup will get more complicated (up to a point) because of the way it improves the sound.

A laptop for remote tracking? Yes, it can do that. But mixing with effects? You won't be happy with just a little reverb thrown on there after you develop your ears. You'll want more.

Get a good powerful quad-core. It will let you grow; and grow you will.

In response to Usb 3.0 its seems from a quick Google search pretty easy to update to it so I will do that after I have got the computer, not buy on with it. A device that uses usb 2.0 will that work stuck into a 3.0 port?

Yes, USB 3.0 is downward compatible - even usb 1.1 will work.
I'd still look out for boards that have this feature built in because it hints to more modern/fast lanes board layout.
pc tech is a fast moving industry and the moment you bought something it's bound to be outdated the next day.
so don't get last years model when you're buying new.

+1 what johntodd said

Moderately fast, not a games machine e.g. 3.2GHz dual core is sufficient
RAM - lots the more the better, mine is full at 4Mb but then it is only running XP
Storage, lots & lots, mine has three hard disks, each partitioned to make six drives. DAW WAV files are huge.
Backup - I automatically schedule backup of data from one physical disk to the next, the chance of losing two simultaneously are slim. Better yet use an external local backup drive (not cloud). Also backup the home network.
Enable multiple suitable size page files. Enable adequate temporary file space for the DAW as required (often over looked), on separate physical disks.
Video card - two screens is useful, the main one wants to be huge.
DVD and CD writer, a good fast one, or two:mrgreen: - you will want to make CD-Audio ...
Fyi my DAW is Sonar HS
Interface, I use a Toneport into a laptop for recording. The laptop is networked to the PC for storage, Reprocessing edit/mixdown is done at the PC, hence it needs a sound card - Creative X-Fi, this is good for playback. Car with Bose CD system to test CDs. You do /not/ need an on-board (mother board) sound card. You will want midi ports for controller keyboard.
Also need semi-decent studio monitor amp and speakers - second hand hi-fi. Imo 7.1 surround is useless for mixing, you need stereo and top-end PC speakers. Studio headphones.
Case and power supply - make sure the PSU is more than adequate and there is plenty/excess of quiet cooling fans. The case/mother board needs a full set of ins and outs - full tower.
In practice a custom build will probably be better and cheaper than a big-box supplier.
Try to turn all TSR and background tasks off when running the DAW, and disable Windoze noises (silent mode).

Dump the PC and get a iMac.

Check out http://recording.org

They freely dispense advice for those who know how to use the search function first.
Great site!

Dump the PC and get a iMac.

NEVER! I cannot stand mac's, I am sure after a while I would gte used to one, but I have been a windows guy up till now and I dont want to change.

Check out http://recording.org

They freely dispense advice for those who know how to use the search function first.
Great site!

This is exactly where I gathered my information two years ago and built my own DAW from parts that were known good on the Recording website. It's just that now since I am using so many software features that I need to build a new motherboard and switch it out, going Pentium i7 prolly this time with 16Gb of RAM and Win7 64bit.

Win7-64bit rocks!

That's what I use.

+1 for the quad core.
I have two almost identical DAWs (one at home, one at my studio) and I thought dual core would be fine running Reaper. It is.... until you start mixing large projects and piling on the plugins. I have had to upgrade both of my machines to quad core to cope, but it really was worth it. Both mine have Q6600 chips - eBay bargains - and they have transformed the amount of real-time processing my Reaper can handle!

If it's all new to you, then you will probably get on fine with a dual core for the first year or so while you get to grips with Reaper. If you are short on cash get the best you can now, but make sure you have an upgrade path to drop in a better CPU in the future, because you will need it once you get serious.

Have you had a look around the Reaper forums? There's plenty of good advice over there. Good luck!


<<I've been making computer music since Atari days with Cubase 3.0, and run a computer repair business full time, so I have plenty of experience :) >>