PC specs for practice/writing DAW

[Dr.Mavashi]

So, almost 8 years ago I got Lambda Lexicon and never got around to use it. I still have it, and to my great surprise it does not seem obsolete, as it appears it is till in production and is around 100 bucks and there quite a bit of action of it on the interwebs ....

So I am getting a new PC, I plan to start with Beringer free software called Traction - my singer uses it, he is fairly good with it and we are the writers of the material in the band, so this would be a good way to ramp up.

For the foreseeable future, the purpose of home recording would be - practice/writing. Basically just cataloging riffs, and prepping solos, over dubs, second guitar parts.

I do however want to run something like an ezdrummer or whatever to have some sort of feel of where the drumms might be, and ability to use Lambda to record live from four inputs that it offers.

I also will install GuitarPro to tab the riffs that I catalog in Beringer Traction.

So, please recommend Processor, quantity of RAM, soundcard.

Lambda specs

USB powered
High-end D/A converters
2 mic preamps
Phantom power
Independent mic and line controls with LEDs
Monitor mix and output level controls
2 balanced TRS line inputs and outputs
2 XLR mic ins
1/4" high-impedance instrument in

Thank you !

[dystrust]

Re: PC specs for practice/writing DAW

If you're only recording a couple tracks at a time with a USB interface, you really don't need much in terms of computer power. First off, you won't need a sound card since you have the interface. In terms of RAM, you won't need more than 8GB unless you're planning to go over the top with plugins. In terms of CPU, any Core i3 or greater from the Sandy Bridge (2011) generation or newer should be perfectly adequate provided that you're talking about a desktop machine. Laptops are a little more complicated, but I'd try to stick with a Core i5 or greater for mobile systems.

I'm still using a Mac Pro 1.1 from 2006 (4 cores @ 2.66Ghz) with 5GB of RAM and OS X Snow Leopard and have no issues as long as I don't run more than 20-30 plugins at a time. I never record more than two tracks for any given take, so higher track counts may pose problems. For my current workflow though I don't really have a reason to upgrade.

[Dr.Mavashi]

Re: PC specs for practice/writing DAW

Dystrust, thank you dude ! As always you advise is straight to the point and exactly what i need. One question, I intend to do may be 3 guitar tracks, bass, drums, vocals, keyboards - max. I mean i do not see it more than 7, Unsless drums would require more than one - no? I just want it to see the "sketch sound" of what i have in mind. How many plugins do you think it would require to pull it off, and will it change the specs at all ?

As well, i will be sticking with fremium staff - can you recommend something outside of traction, my singer says traction is super easy interface i will need that for a while as i am not an enthusiast of home recording, its just tool that i'ave been missing out on, that's it.

And as well I will be going dual boot/second profile so that all of this will run on a light version of OS.

THANKS

[dystrust]

Re: PC specs for practice/writing DAW

As long as you have 8GB or more of RAM, I wouldn't worry too much about plugins. There are also ways you can reduce CPU load when working with lots of plugins like muting tracks that you're not using or printing the plugins down once you're sure about a particular sound. In the latter case I'd save a "clean" backup copy of the track in case you want to go back.

Hopefully TO or Beer$ will chime in as they know a bit more about the engineering specifics than I do. What I know I largely learned by trial and error and reading a few forums here and there, while they probably have forgotten more than I'll ever know on the subject.

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: PC specs for practice/writing DAW

So far so good. Doesn't take much these days!

With that said, look at your budget, because that will determine how long until it's 'outdated'. If at all possible I would go at least an i5 processor, 8GB RAM (16 if you can, but easily upgradable later). Soundcard does not matter as your interface 'becomes' your soundcard. Now, you said you will be 'dual booting'....dual booting what exactly? Just a lite version of an OS? No need. Probably will make things worse

Your interface is a good start, it will get you going. Do you have an sm57 or similiar for recording guitar? If not, factor that in as well.

I don't know much about the software but looks like it supports VST so should run VSTi's (like ez drummer). With that said, Reaper is a fully functional DAW that is only $60.00, so no worries there. Other than maybe your drum plugin, don't worry about buying any plugins. Learn from freeo nes built into the DAw or freeware you can download. Lots of good stuff.

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: PC specs for practice/writing DAW

The software should have a Recommended System Specs list. As long as you meet that, you're good. I'd go a little above that in CPU and RAM just to make it future-proof or if you do want to upgrade to a stronger DAW, or if the next update they put out needs it. I try to keep my computers at least 5 years ahead of current requirements for most software, which is actually easy to do. Nobody adopts the new hardware as soon as it comes out because it takes time to get their software up to the task of maxxing it out, plus they have to consider their larger customer base who still has older hardware, so even with the Recommended Specs, you should be fine for at least 3 years with that particular DAW.
Of course, there's also the specs for the drum software.
Go with the stronger system recommendation between those two, since they will make the most use of your system resources.


Unless you're going to do the full mix/master, you probably won't need any plugins. If your amp has a direct out that is good enough to get sound to the interface, you won't need all the various guitar plugins. However, there are free guitar/bass plugins similar to Amplitube in case you can't mic the amp due to noise issues, or if the direct out on the amp sucks. With these plugins, you plug the guitar into the interface and basically either record a clean track and then go over it with the amp plugin or run the amp plugin "live" over your clean input signal. If I'm not mistaken, Amplitube 3 is free for the base module which gives one clean and one distorted amp and a couple of basic pedals/rack effects (reverb, parametric EQ, etc), but I think they also nag you about "upgrading" to the paid version.

Live-running plugins is where processing power really makes a difference, because if it's too weak, or too stressed, you'll have latency issues (slight delay between hitting the strings and hearing the sound) regardless of the ASIO driver settings, which could throw off your track timing with the drums.

As for how many tracks you'll need, one per instrument should be fine for writing/practice. Mono drums will do just fine, you won't require two stereo tracks, as each track is yet something else for the CPU and RAM to keep track of.

[NecroPolo]

Re: PC specs for practice/writing DAW

For basic tracking and running EZD, a couple of plug-ins / VST instruments and making demos you don't need much power. Using some outboard equipment for mixing, until 2013 my recording machine was a 1.7GHz single core machine with 2GB RAM from 2007 or so and it worked just fine, I used it for its stability. I guess, the lowest spec machine that you can buy now'days is about 4x the speed.

For running an ample of plug-ins, dosens and dosens of tracks now'days I'm using a really simple machine, too. Not the fastest around but super reliable and stabile. It has an AMD FX-6300 processor in an ASUS M5A97EVO2 mainboard, 8GB RAM, a simple 120GB Kingston SDD for the OS and proggies and for the project data there is a nifty 1TB WD VelociRaptor HDD that is about as fast as the SDD. It can handle whole album projects in one single session, the onboard USB and firewire chips work great with any USB or FireWire units. For a DAW, I started using Reaper in 2012 after some years in ProTools hell and never looked back.

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: PC specs for practice/writing DAW

I can definitely recommend the setup I am using at home for writing/recording:

- Mac Mini
- up the RAM to 16GB
- USB hub (Mini only has 4 USB ports)
- 2x external hard drives (BACK UP YOUR PROJECTS ONTO TWO LOCATIONS!!!!)
- Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
- Use bundled Pro Tools DAW until you can graduate to something like Logic Pro X. If you get LPX, you will not need EZDrummer for a while; Logic Drummer is brilliant

Do not store your projects on the computer's hard drive; it will use up a bit more RAM to keep them on an external hard drive, but a Mini will have no issue with it. My projects average 50+ tracks, tons of buses and plugins, and I usually don't have to freeze or bounce tracks until I am well along in the mixing process.


Use the stock plugins until you absolutely need something else. There really is no reason to go beyond a good stock EQ, stock saturation plugin, stock FET compressor, and stock Opto compressor.

[songoku]

Re: PC specs for practice/writing DAW

If you would prefer to use laptop and looking for its specs. I could recommend you this Alienware 14 ALW14-1250sLV 14-Inch Laptop which I've found at http://www.laptoprunner.com/best-lap...ic-production/. Specs are follows:

Intel Core i5-4200M Processor (3MB Cache, up to 3.1GHz)
8 GB DDR3L SDRAM, Expandable to 16 GB
750 GB 7200 rpm Hard Drive
14-Inch Screen

This is the best laptop I have ever owned. The Alienware 14 is a high-end laptop. Highlights of this notebook include a customizable LED lighting system, great sound and wonderful graphics. Highly recommended!