Looking into new DAW - are these parts OK?

Mr Arkadin · Post by **Mr Arkadin** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 5:44 am

There was a good review of a UK DAW-maker called: Direct Solutions. i was looking at the £1099 model. Now i know you're going to say you could build that for £3.26 myself, but i am not - repeat NOT- going to build my own computer. It will never happen and it would never work. Plus you get lifetime support (assuming the company don't disappear). Here's the basic specs:

Processor: Intel Core Duo Q6600 2.4GHz 1066 FSB Quad Core
Motherboard: ASUS P5K (not sure which model)
RAM: 2GB Corsair DDR2 667MHz RAM
OS: Windows XP Home
Drives:120GB Samsung HD for system drive
2x250 GB Samsung HD for audio drive
Graphics card: 7300 PCI-e NVidia
Power: Seasonic 430 PSU

all in a sound insulated 4U rack.

Now i'm pretty sure they could modify any of the components to suite my needs, so what would you change? Is it worth me upgrading the RAM to 800MHz or even 1066MHz ? i would definitely try and upgrade the drives to 500GB and the OS to XP Pro. Any other suggestions?

i know nothing about these new Quad processors - do they work OK with Scope? Is the motherboard choice OK?

i have a Pulsar2+, Scope SRB and PowerSampler. i can only use two cards so would lose the PowerSampler (maybe to go into another system). i might even get a Scope Pro card and ditch the Pulsar2 (although everything is registered to it), so that i have two 14 DSP cards.

Also worth noting is that i use a couple of streaming VSTi - BFD and Ivory. Also looking to change Host soon - maybe to Samplitude (currently have Cubase VST5.1 still).

Cheers,
Mr Arkadin

Post by **garyb** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 9:55 am

a dual core would be fine, in some apps it may run faster than the quad, but both will work. i wouldn't use bigger than the 250g drives, just because of heat and reliability, add a 3rd drive is my suggestion if you need more on board storage. also, i doubt if xp pro adds any advantage over home for you.....

Mr Arkadin · Post by **Mr Arkadin** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 10:09 am

garyb wrote:a dual core would be fine, in some apps it may run faster than the quad, but both will work. i wouldn't use bigger than the 250g drives, just because of heat and reliability, add a 3rd drive is my suggestion if you need more on board storage. also, i doubt if xp pro adds any advantage over home for you.....

Adding a third drive is no problem. Never been sure what XP Pro adds anyway

. Is the Mobo OK - are there any three PCI ones anymore of a similar spec (new ones that is, doubt i'll be able to get a really vintage board)?

Shroomz~> · Post by **Shroomz~>** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 12:38 pm

Hey Mr. A, have you looked into the Carillon boxes? For the same as what you're talking of spending you could get this one. I installed one of these in a desk I built for a friend & was seriously impressed by the build quality. They're built like tanks!! When he fired it up, my first thought was.. "now that's what I call silent".

.. You can barely hear those machines at all.

Anyway, good luck with whatever you go for.

Mr Arkadin · Post by **Mr Arkadin** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 1:24 pm

Now you're just making it difficult for me - giving me too much choice. The PW5DH-Deluxe does have 3xPCI though - anyone any thoughts on this Mobo for Scope?

For some reason i had it in mind that Carrillon were either not very good or overpriced - but they seem all right. Dunno where i got that idea from.

More research required.

Shroomz~> · Post by **Shroomz~>** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 1:58 pm

I think with the Carillon box you'd be spending a bit less on a few of the parts, HD's etc, but a bit more on the rack chassis & silencing. They really seem like great cases though.

Post by **garyb** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 2:47 pm

the PW5DH-Deluxe does work with scope. it's not the latest chipset by any means, but it's a good motherboard.

dawman · Post by **dawman** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 6:11 pm

Carrillions are awesome. Lot's of small project studios have them.

Personally, I prefer the GaryB builds. He feverishly builds, and doesn't leave the house or hotel till the job's done. His RAID cage idea silenced and cooled my HDD's as I have a 4 in 3 design.

He might even fly to England w/o VAT charges.

kylie · Post by **kylie** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 11:13 pm

garyb wrote:i wouldn't use bigger than the 250g drives, just because of heat and reliability, add a 3rd drive is my suggestion if you need more on board storage.

well, the new WD green drives look promising, concerning heat dissipation...

-greetings, markus-

Post by **garyb** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 11:19 pm

yes, the big ones are much better than in the past. i wouldn't be surprised if my info is slightly outdated, i'm just conservative....

i would actually be suprised if the 500gb wouldn't work or gave a poor track count, but a drive that big would really be working hard though, wouldn't it?

it's impressive what they've got going, mechanically, at this point!

kylie · Post by **kylie** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 11:27 pm

garyb wrote:yes, the big ones are much better than in the past. i wouldn't be surprised if my info is slightly outdated, i'm just conservative....

...which doesn't have to be bad

the mentioned drives come in 500, 750 and 1000gb capacity.
they vary their rotating speed between 5400 and 7200 rpm and use several technologies they call intelli-something

-greetings, markus-

Post by **garyb** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 11:42 pm

which makes the smaller drive sound much more reliable....

perceptions can be deceiving, of course...

valis · Post by **valis** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 11:55 pm

Lower capacity drives are generally more reliable if they're using the older tech. Sometimes though you'll find a lower capacity drive that uses the more recent tech, only with less platters.

I always stick with HD's that use platters 1-2 generations older these days and the only time I suffer failures is with the rare defect from the factory (manufacturer flaw). I was partial to Seagate the last few years but their perpendicular recording tech in the newest drives is having higher failure rates than average, and their 'mature' drives (barricuda) just got rev'd again and are showing lackluster performance. Not really sure what I'd get atm for a 'performance' drive, still happy with Seagate 250-300Gb drives for storage.

Post by **garyb** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 12:53 am

i've been very successful with WD. they still have the longest warranty....i went through plenty of Maxtors in the beginning...

the freezer method works....

Mr Arkadin · Post by **Mr Arkadin** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 3:43 am

kylie wrote: the mentioned drives come in 500, 750 and 1000gb capacity.

1000GB

i think i would go 500 max, maybe something in between like 360 or whatever it is.

kylie · Post by **kylie** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 3:48 am

Mr Arkadin wrote: 1000GB i think i would go 500 max, maybe something in between like 360 or whatever it is.

320 is a common number. next step is already 400...

dawman · Post by **dawman** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 3:55 am

Dual platter is as big as you want to go.

Trust me, Gigas gives a HDD a serious workout, and WD, or Seagate, are the best for durability.

WD enterpise HDD's are basically old SCSI technology re vamped. They are quite fast @ 10k, and fairly quiet in a DAW.

Seagate's are good nowadays, but when going to IDE / SATA they had problems a few years back. They have been the SCSI kings forever though.

The new GREEN WD's are SSLLOOOOWWW now.....read this..............................

http://www.storagereview.com/1000.sr

Good Luck,....GaryB says he'available in Janurary.

ChampionSound · Post by **ChampionSound** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 4:54 am

Have you seen the Gigabyte P35-DS3R? This might be an option.
I'm compairing this one with the Asus P5K, as I'm thinking about upgrading too within a few months. I'm not sure which one is better.
They have the same chipset (P35), same FSB speed (1333 MHz), and they both have 3 PCI slots.
But then the X38's are rising, but it might be too early to consider that chipset already?

pfff, choices, choices, choices

kylie · Post by **kylie** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 5:08 am

scope4live wrote:
The new GREEN WD's are SSLLOOOOWWW now.....read this..............................

http://www.storagereview.com/1000.sr

yeah, read it, and then go to that part where noise and power consumption is mentioned. didn't we always want to have silent drives?
and even if the GP series cannot compete with the other drives in that test they are probably way faster than what we have now (except us raptor fans

)

-greetings, markus-

FrancisHarmany · Post by **FrancisHarmany** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 5:10 am

What again are the dimensions of a scope card (cm!). I forget they need to fit, and I am looking at:

Dimensions:
-16.7" (H) x 8.1" (W) x 18.2" (D)
-42.5cm (H) x 20.6cm (W) x 46.3cm (D)

http://www.antec.com/ec/productDetails.php?ProdID=08142

That case!