Computer Digital Audio Workstations

As I get into the creation of music, and computer audio workstations, I find there are several aspects that cannot be overlooked. While the function of the computer is paramount, the packaging for travel, or just making sure it fits in with the rest of the gear is definitely a good idea. in that regard, I have been creating a rack mounted  computer gear setup, which I can put together for customers. It fits inside a 4 space  19 inch mount, has 3 external 5 1/4 inch bays, one 3 1/2 inch external/floppy or zip drive, and has a door to secure the front. The depth is a bit bigger than most standard audio gear (22 inches) but a deep rack mount case can handle it, and the case also allows for front plugin of keyboard and mouse. All this for about $80 more than a standard case, and a lot more durable. 

This has numerous advantages. You can put it in a rolling case, and have your recording studio travel, mount it with your other rack gear for easy use and storage, and if you need to have your project studio storable, you can wheel it all to the closet without  having to unplug your whole setup, just to stow it.

Intel has come out with a new CPU, the Pentium 4C, with 800 Mhz bus speed, and hyperthreading. What that means is a lot more memory bandwidth for software plugins, soft synths, and more processor activity on the cycles you do have. And this new CPU is around 3 Ghz, down to 2.4 Ghz. Prices for the processor at this writing are $219 for the slowest one ( 2.4 Ghz) and the fastest is $418 (3.06 Ghz). (5/28/03)

What makes these chips the racehorses they are, is Dual DDR chipsets, the 865 and 875. They take two banks of 400mhz (PC3200) to provide 800 Mhz memory bandwidth. This is faster than the RAMBUS chipsets (850 and 850E) and the memory is cheaper. Throughput on these are definite improvements, and nothing AMD is likely to touch in a while.  The motherboards that come with these also have a host of other new developments, like Serial ATA, USB 2.0 interface, Firewire, and gigbit ethernet LAN on board. The new motherboards are including a lot of new developments. They aren't cheap, but definitely are worth the price. Average prices run $180-220 for the motherboard.

Hard drives have improved over the last year, Western digital getting a lot of attention with their 8 MB cache line, with transfer speeds approaching SCSI, and with their steady improvements in reliability, they beat several other hard drive manufacturers hands down. Maxtor has developed an 8 meg cache with liquid bearings to make it quieter, and those are a great bet as well, and match the WD in performance.

With digital audio, the first thing to think about is usually what kind of interface you are using. What hardware will you be using to catch your music. If you already have an extensive practice setup, with a mixer and direct outs, you might do well to consider a Layla unit, or an Aark24, with both having very good sound, 96Khz sampling, and  solid drivers and great compatibility.  If you are basically starting from scratch, getting a unit with preamps built in makes sense. The best setups tend to have external break out boxes, and the Aardvark Q10 has a load of great features. The Q10 has 8 preamps, 4 effects loops, 2 guitar level inputs, and zero latency monitoring.  It does take a little tweaking to get your system ready but the results are awesome. Once you know the tweaks, it's easy to get them all done in about 20-30 minutes from first install.

Hardware is only the start though. Having a good application you can navigate and work well is the other. I like, and use Sonar. It has provided me with as much control as I have needed, and then some. Plenty of useful features, and third party plug-ins to help out.