DAW PC Build suggestions

[TheM1]

Hi I am thinking of what kind of pc build would be best for music making. As of right now I have an ok pc but it limits my ability to make many virtual instrument layers in the DAW. So I want to either make a new pc or buy one that would work good for music making, anyone have any suggestions?

[bones]

Really? I use a Core i5 laptop CPU and I rarely get over 50% CPU usage, even in our most demanding songs. I just bought a new machine and I couldn't see the point in spending an extra $350 to get a Core i7. 10 or 15 years ago it was something I agonised over but not any more.

[HYPNAGOGIA]

One thing to know about Bones is that he's perfected his workflow to the point where his most demanding songs don't utilize more than 10 or so channels - an optimization that is, actually, a good thing to strive to.

With that said, some things to consider.

If you're not going to deal with a lot of audio materials, you'll be fine with 8 GB as some minimum. If you are, aim for more.
Since you're doing synth works, processor will be of utmost importance. Depending on which synths you use, considering that majority are moving towards multi-core processing, I'd aim for more cores. A speed is also not something to neglect, but as a general rule, I wouldn't consider anything below 3 GHz.

For music production, those two things are the major players to consider. Everything else you can work with as long as it fits your budget.

[cosmicrain]

From me experience....

If u use old and many "|V|irtual analog synths" this crunching cpu resources....

if are analog replicas with 3-4 instances may I got a ridiculuw 60-75% of my cpu (8700)


In other Hand ,,,,,if u are use Kontakt sampler instruments ,,,,especially some large library's….u need 16Gb ram and some fast ssd loaded in to work with efficinen load times and everything run smooth.

[bones]

I can run 3-4 instances of The Legend and my CPU doesn't get anywhere near 20%. Ditto for KORG PolySIx. Some analogue emulations might be poorly coded but the best ones are as CPU-efficient as anything else.

[Christophe]

imho, go for the fastest cpu not the maximum core (or logical core)

[Touch The Universe]

Yes, as mark and others suggested, get the fastest cores. You can have 12 cores but as soon as even one of them is maxed out, you will get dropouts in audio. The easiest way to max out a core is to have a huge fx chain on a channel. Use sends as much as possible, bounce to audio anything that needs large fx chains. Turn any fx chains on the master off while mixing. If you have studio one, one can disable the all channels that aren't needed at the moment. With it, cpu is not an issue any more, though I'll probably grab the highest cpu speed I can next build. My uncle works for intel so I get half off

[Christophe]

Use sends as much as possible

i used to think that but i read recently that it's the contrary : a send will need to synchronize (and wait) all the channels using this send defeating the purpose of multicore processing.
in other words : since the Sends are part of a signal chain and not a second signal chain, you can overload the CPU
https://help.ableton.com/hc/en-us/artic ... ndling-FAQ

[bones]

Here's a better idea - avoid long effects chains. Seriously, if an instrument needs more than a bit of EQ (mixer strip), reverb (send), delay (send) and one "character" effect - chorus, distortion, etc. - then you have to think that it's probably not the right sound, haven't you? Especially given that most VST instruments are chockas with on-board effects anyway.

I was looking through the songs we're getting ready for our next album and we're only using 5 or 6 effects per song (plus the channel EQ in Orion). The simpler you can keep your project, the easier it is to get it sounding exactly how you want it to sound. If you just keep adding stuff to try and fix things, you end up chasing your tail.

[TheM1]

If you were going to buy a ready made pc what would it be? Do you know of any that would be good for music making? I can always add a graphics card later for video editing.. I am open to ideas.

[Kriminal]

Mine have all been "off the shelf" desktop pc's.

My current one is about 6 years old. Still good enough for audio.

[Touch The Universe]

Have always bought a pc from dell. I cannot recommend them. To get quality that won't break down within a year, you probably need to spend 1500 minimum. If you can't spend this much, stay away!

I've had enough of dell, they aren't what they used to be. My next laptop will be from somewhere else, though I'm not quite sure. I'll even go MAC if it'll keep away from the garbage dell is dishing out.

[bones]

OTOH, I've never had any better experience than with Dell. To be fair, I've always spent more than $1500 because you definitely get what you pay for. You can get Dell stuff cheap, though. Just look on eBay for "dell refurbished" stuff. I got an XPS 13 for a grand less than a new one, with the full Dell warranty. It was in as-new condition. Of course, I'm talking laptops, I haven't owned a desktop computer in 12 years.

[Touch The Universe]

I mostly get laptops through dell as well. I'd be much more eager to try somewhere else if I knew they would be more reliable, but there's no guarantee any of them would be any better. Won't know if I don't try though.

[bones]

Whilst I've had a lot of Dell laptops, I've also had machines from Asus, Lenovo, Samsung, Sony, Microsoft and my new one is an Acer. They've all been very reliable and performed pretty much as expected.