What Computer Attributes Make a Good DAW?

[West End]

Hey Guys,

So I'm hunting around for a new DAW since my current system is dying a slow death, and while wading through all of these specs. I'm starting to wonder what it is that really makes a great DAW.

Is quad core better than dual core? Does SAW take advantage of a quad core processor? How about FSB speed, or for that matter RAM type and how much RAM 2G or 4G, is there really a performance difference? What about the various chipsets available?

Any guidance you guys could offer would be greatly appreciated. I typically work on music projects with anywhere between 24 to 50 tracks. I also do a fair amount of video sweetening and am finding that I'm doing more of that type of work all the time, so I definitely need a system that isn't going to choke and and crash, since my clients are often in the room while I work.

Since the DAW is now the centerpiece of my studio I really need to regain some confidence that it isn't going to screw me in the middle of a session and make me look like a bigger fool than I already am, so I really need to make a smart and well informed choice here, and at this time I just don't feel I have enough info to make that choice wisely.

Thanks,

Ken Dabek
West End Recording

[DominicPerry]

Personally, for SAW and SAC, I think an overclocked Dual Core is better than a slower quad core - neither program will make use of 4 cores.
Recent Chipset discussions have identified the P35 and X38 chipsets as good bets. Faster FSB is always good, and if you O/C a E8200, E8400 or E8500 you should get FSB upto 1600. Pick good RAM (Corsair or Crucial) but the size depends on what you are doing - if you load lots of VSTi's you need lots, if you use SAW and SAC without, 2G will run fine with no page file.
Get a fast hard disk. Spinpoints are good and quiet. Don't fill it up. Get two smaller (2x250) rather than one big one (1x750). Put the OS and apps on one, and audio/video on the other.

For video, you need to examine what your vid-editing package of choice favours - very few will use all 4 cores of a quad core, but some may. 50 tracks of audio in SAW will run fine on any old machine, cos it's so well written. Rendering video files will depend on raw horsepower and disk speed - a RAID 0 array will probably help, the more disks the better. You can run an external eSATA array as fast as internal disks - just make sure your MoBo supports eSATA.
As for expansion slots, make sure you get enough 'old' PCI slots to accomodate your existing soundcards and UAD type cards. Also make sure you get enough PCIe (pref x16) slots for new boards you might buy. This is a difficult juggling act as there is a limit to how many slots you can have.
If you want I can publish or PM the spec of the latest machine I was going to build - in the end I decided not to bother as the video work dried up and SAC works so well on my old laptop I don't need more speed - I'll spend the cash on a nice mic-pre. It's a high end build using Dual Core E8500 CPU, the Intel X48 chipset on an Asus board with DDR3 memory - it's an expensive 'gamers' approach to maximum speed, not necessary for SAW at all. The older chipsets and CPUs are fine, as you will discover if you trawl the forum for recent posts on the subject.


Hope this helps a bit.

Dominic

[AudioAstronomer]

Get a Mac and run windows on it as a dual boot.

Mark

Ditto

[DominicPerry]

A Mac is a good choice if you need a Mac.
A Mac is a good choice if you need a Mac and a PC.
A Mac is an expensive choice if you need a PC.

Dominic

[Dave Labrecque]

A Mac could be a better choice if you are trying to run a professional audio/video business, and intend to interface with the rest of the industry, 90% (or more) which are on Macs.

Mark

I believe he covered that under option A, Mr. Verbose.

I wonder how important the Mac/PC issue is between studios (to interface with the rest of the industry, as you put it), anymore. It's been an absolute non-issue for me for years. I can't remember the last time the dreaded "resource fork" issue came up, for example.

[Sean McCoy]

Of course there is no reason to run out and buy a Mac if you are getting along just fine, but when it's time to buy a new computer because your old one is just not cutting in anymore, it's worth considering. Why not be cross platform?

Mark

Aren't there some issues with non-native plugins when running Windows programs on an Intel Mac?

[AudioAstronomer]

Aren't there some issues with non-native plugins when running Windows programs on an Intel Mac?

No.

I have so many non-native plugins it's shameful, and despite not using the large portion of them, they all work as good as any other windows system.

[soundtrack2life]

A Mac is a good choice if you need a Mac.
A Mac is a good choice if you need a Mac and a PC.
A Mac is an expensive choice if you need a PC.

Dominic

FWIW my new DAW is a Mac Pro and I love it!! And as for option "C" I bought it second hand and installed third party RAM. IMO that leveled the playing field price wise compared to if I was to build a quad core PC.
Joe

[Sean McCoy]

No.

I have so many non-native plugins it's shameful, and despite not using the large portion of them, they all work as good as any other windows system.

Ah, good to know. Not sure where I got that impression. Like Mark, I have a PC and a G5, and both of mine are starting to look a little crusty. It certainly would be tempting to buy a top-shelf Mac Pro and kill two birds with one (admittedly expensive) stone.

[Dave Labrecque]

Why not be cross platform?

I guess I'm saying I feel like I am. Without needing to buy a Mac. Sounds like you concur that there aren't many issues transferring between platforms these days (studio-to-studio).