Pro Tools Home Recording PC Build Suggestions

[bruddahb]

I am in the process of building a new music (DAW) pc for Pro tools and based on the info I have gathered from their site, these are components that work well with Pro Tools. I plan on running dual monitors as well and I really don't plan on Over-clocking or playing games,etc. on this box. So I just wanted to run this by the guru's on here to see if you feel I should modify anything at all - (ie; do I need another cpu cooler when one comes with the Intel i-7, any extra fans,etc.) I'm looking for as quiet of a pc as I can on my budget of $1500, which this falls right around that area, but I can sway here or there a bit if needed..Any help/feedback would be greatly appreciated - Thanks in advance

Buddy

Current specs:

Case-Antec P183 or Antec Solo ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Power Supply-Corsair 650W Hx
Motherboard-GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R 1366 socket
Processor-i7 950 3.06 ghz quad core
RAM-6 gig 3x2 OCZ gold
Video Card-SAPPHIRE 100291L Radeon HD 5450 (Cedar) 512MB 64-bit
OS HD- (1) WD Black 640 gig 7200 RPM SATA 6.0 gb/s
Audio HD- (2) WD Black 1 Terabyte 7200 RPM SATA 6.0 gb/s
DVD Recorder-BURNER LITE-ON | IHAS-324-98 R
Card Reader - Generic one
Case fan - (1) Antec 75009 92mm
CPU Cooler-Noctua NH-D14 (not sure if I need this)
OS-Win 7 Home Premium

[protellect]

Might delete your other post in the gallery, this is where that thread belongs.

Looks solid. Antec Solo is cheaper. Both cases are fairly quiet with the dampening.
The tri-cools that come with both cases are considered mediocre among this very picky crowd here, but they are probably good enough if you're not used to having a quiet PC already.

The i7-950 is pretty overkill for anything, but you might look at the LGA-1156 series stuff. Cheaper motherboard(s), chipsets, and chips, but most of all, a lower TDP [heat].
They also have better multi-threaded speed [Faster turbo-boost]. Might look at the i7-875k, closely priced to the i7-950.

Dual channel memory is cheaper than tri-channel. I've read plenty of bad stuff about OCZ ram.
I personally buy all GSKILL, but otherwise Crucial or Corsair are generally regarded as excellent brands.

Power supply is an excellent one, but totally overkill. The 400w or 450w corsair would be totally sufficient, and cheaper.
Keep away from those new "CX" models, they have a lot of bad reviews so far. Stay with the "HX", "VX" or "TX" models.

I'd highly suggest a slightly better video card. HD5650 or HD5670.
The 5450 isn't hardly worth buying even just to have 3 displays.
I know it's passive, but I'm very underwhelmed by that card.

As for your "Audio HDD" if you're planning on RAID, i'd suggest other drives. Get Hitachi's, they play nicer with RAID.
The HDD's there really isn't any need to have 6.0gb/s stuff, no real performance impact. Your motherboard has only two 6.0gb/s ports.

The noctua is a very nice cooler, but you could probably save a bit of money there.
I build mostly with Arctic Cooler "Freezer 7's", I believe, and I'm very happy with them, noise and performance.

If you get the solo get 1-2 92mm fan's. I like the scythe ones with zalman controllers on them.

Post the build and keep the wiring clean =)

[quest_for_silence]

I am in the process of building a new music (DAW) pc for Pro tools

It might be helpful (for you), if you modified the thread subject, as "New Build Help" is too much generic.

[bonestonne]

600W could do that easily. I built a similar spec machine using an Enermax Pro87 600w. AFAIK, that machine is doing AutoCAD and electrical engineering work, and quite well at that.

I'm more concerned with the other aspect of this machine.

What version of Pro Tools, and what audio interface will you be using?

If you're going with Pro Tools M-Powered, I'd strongly advise you chime up now, before you press the "buy now" button, especially if you're going with an M-Audio device, I could probably tell you better than most others whether or not you'll have trouble before you even get Windows installed on that.

In general, there are a few measures you need to take when working with digital audio to ensure best quality, and they're mainly BIOS tweaks, so you can't be afraid of getting your hands dirty in there.

1) Disable the following features in your BIOS:

CPC C-State
Intel Speedstep
Intel EIST (same as speedstep, but sometimes also offered as an option)
C1E
HPET

2) Make sure Spread Spectrum is ENABLED.

3) The second you get your OS installed, and you have your drivers installed, and the basics are up and running (before you even open the Pro Tools box), download and install DPC Latency Checker. If you have driver conflicts, or any hardware conflicts, or any problems at all, this is going to get them out of the woodwork. If the DPC Latency Checker says that you're set, you're good to go.

4) Once you get your desk set up and Pro Tools running, you need to do a test recording. I can't tell you how many times I suggest people do this and how few people actually do. Whatever your interface is, you need to try to push it a little. I have a 16input/16 output setup, so my test was running 12 inputs for around 3 and half hours. All had some sort of live input, whether it was just an MP3 player going in, or some other audio source, I needed live inputs. If you have any trouble at all with audio recording, this is where it's going to show up. If DPC Latency Checker tells you that there might be a problem, this is where it's going to show up. Depending on the issues you're having, you'll have to post on the DUC (Digi User Conference) and find out what's going on in order to get it sorted out.

5) Enjoy your now working setup. Once you've worked out the kinks and gotten it working for you, it's time to use it for what you built it for.

I can tell you right now that the CAD build I did was almost the same (i7 960, X58A-UD3R, 6gb DDR3). You're on the right path, but I just want to make sure you wont have any sneaky surprises later on.

Oh, and I'd also strongly suggest that Noctua CPU cooler. Once you disable CPU Throttling in the BIOS (the process I outlined in step 1) your CPU is going to run at full speed all the time. With digital audio, you need this. It's not an optional kind of thing, you will see problems if you don't do this, it doesn't matter what interface you use.

-bonestonne

[danimal]

the fud-mongering in this thread is overwhelming.

[bonestonne]

Sorry to upset you danimal...but with all the work I've been doing with M-Audio/Avid, I cover my bases.

If he's shooting for a Pro Tools LE, or Essentials version, and he goes for a different interface, the tweaks wont really be necessary, but it's important to get out.

I've kicked Pro Tools on the backburner for myself since it crashed during a pretty important set on me, but I still have to know my way around it.

[bruddahb]

Hey Bonestonne - My bad I should have mentioned this already as I know it's key:

Eleven Rack interface using PTLE 8x (the latest is .04 I believe) - I also have Reaper that I may switch too but my main concern is Pro-Tools as it seems very touchy..Thanks for all that feedback as well!!! and I'm all ears..!!!

....and also thanks for the feedback so far..!!!

[joetekubi]

the fud-mongering in this thread is overwhelming.

WHA? Better look up "fud". Bonnestone's a good guy, and very knowledgeable
on PC audio stuff.

[danimal]

i agree that bonn is sincere, and very helpful on a number of occasions.

however, a few weeks ago he made some wild claim to the effect that no audio apps were 64-bit capable, or something of that nature... how could you think that was knowledgeable?

now he's out here telling us that you MUST disable a bunch of cpu functions in order to edit audio... it's just more unsubstantiated fud.

[danimal]

1) Disable the following features in your BIOS:

CPC C-State
Intel Speedstep
Intel EIST (same as speedstep, but sometimes also offered as an option)
C1E
HPET

2) Make sure Spread Spectrum is ENABLED.

do you even know what spread spectrum does? it varies the fsb frequency, sort of the exact opposite effect of the advice you just gave about stopping those power-saving functions, which also vary cpu frequencies... in other words, if you want stability, do NOT enable spread spectrum:

"FSB Spread Spectrum : Disabled. This feature helps systems pass European electromagnetic interference (EMI) tests. It accomplishes this by constantly varying, ever so slightly, the frequency of the Front Side Bus (FSB). Be warned that enabling this feature with large values can result in Internet connection disruption, as well as stability problems if you overclock your system."
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/bio ... 126-5.html

[bonestonne]

I've never had the chance to play with an Eleven Rack at my will. I have used it loosely at my school, but was not really given free reign over configuring the hardware plugging in my guitar or an electronic drumkit.

As for having the Spread Spectrum removed, it's got a lot more to do with keeping the clock rate within a very specific range.

Glad you're perfect danimal, I go by what's been working for me, and what's been working for the people I've built systems for, and for the people I talk to involved with developing the drivers for the hardware I provide support for.

As for getting Pro Tools up and running, the Eleven Rack should be very straightforward, but I will warn you about installing the drivers. They might not be digitally signed by Microsoft, so what will happen is that you'll get a pop-up from Windows talking about whether or not you should always trust the driver software. Never check the box about always trusting the drivers, just let the install continue. On more than one occasion, users who have checked those devices have had problems with the software, that they were able to repeat.

Once you get Pro Tools installed, just make sure that you don't have IRQ problems either. I'm currently working with a guy who's got problems with his graphics card and a USB interface, and the solution is not looking cheap or easy.

I find that Pro Tools in general is good software, but it is not made to record for extended periods of time (I'm talking like, 2.5+ hours). 7200RPM drives get the job done, and if you're recording to your internal drive, you're fine, it never gives massive problems, I know that lots of people try to say record to external drives, or just keep it away from a single drive setup, which is all fine, but not everyone can really drop a dime on all that.

I might have a pretty bad cold right now, but I don't think I've mixed up much.

*oh, and for the record, you enable spread spectrum because it lowers the EMI which could cause problems with PCI/other add in cards....not because of the CPU*

[CA_Steve]

spread spectrum clock generation wiki

Good idea to have it enabled when working with DAW setups. Anything to lower digital clock noise/IMD/spurious is a good thing. *

The reason the O.C. guides say 'disable it! it causes instability' is not because the spread spectrum clock generation causes instability, but because the overclocking removes all of the buffer you have in clock/memory timings - add a little variability to the clock edges, and phoomp, you are locked up. <shrugs> Just don't overclock like a madman, and you can keep the spread sprectrum enabled.

* An assumption on my part - the DAW clocks are generated separately from the CPU clock. Seems silly to have pro level tools and not provide a low jitter digitizer.

[danimal]

The reason the O.C. guides say 'disable it! it causes instability' is not because the spread spectrum clock generation causes instability, but because the overclocking removes all of the buffer you have in clock/memory timings - add a little variability to the clock edges, and phoomp, you are locked up.

"locked up" IS the exact definition of instability, which is why you should disable spread spectrum, not enable it.

the point here is that it's really dumb to tell people to shut off variable cpu frequencies, then tell 'em to enable variable frequencies with spread spectrum.

too bad that bonn didn't read the link you posted "It is important to note that this method does not reduce the total energy radiated by the system, and therefore does not necessarily make the system less likely to cause interference".

[bonestonne]

Not mentioning that the guide is for OCers, and I still haven't said a peep about doing that?

Safe than sorry?

Still glad you're perfect danimal, but until I get a screaming/yelling customer about the performance of their DAW, I'm not changing.

[CA_Steve]

My last post on this...my apologies to the OP that danimal has gone troll. +1 for bonestonne's advice. He's our resident DAW expert. Final caveat: this is a pre-coffee post.

Sometimes it's helpful to understand the science rather than select a sentence that fits a position. Spread spectrum technology is used in a lot of applications and in a lot of ways. In this app, it is used to shape the spectral noise floor/lower spurious signals. While it does not reduce the total energy emitted, it does change the spectral shape of that energy by varying the CPU clock frequency over a set range. Instead of a few peak spurious signals located at harmonic and intermodulation product frequencies of one CPU frequency, there will be MORE, based on the range of the CPU frequency dither range. Since the energy is the same, the level of the individual spurious components will be reduced proportionally as the number (ie: dither range) is increased.

This is a big deal if you are trying to record audio at 16 to 24-bit levels. It can improve your spurious free dynamic range by many dB.

[danimal]

Still glad you're perfect danimal, but until I get a screaming/yelling customer about the performance of their DAW, I'm not changing.

they are probably screaming because you built a junk computer, with a bunch of useless hacks that you keep failing to substantiate.

bonn, you haven't provided one single link to any audio industry standard that proves anything that you have posted out here.

watching ca_steve continuing to contradict himself with his own link is hilarious "The usefulness of spread-spectrum clocking as a method of actually reducing interference is often debated, but it is probable that some electronic equipment with sensitivity to a narrow band of frequencies will experience less interference, while other equipment with broadband sensitivity will experience more interference."

[bruddahb]

Hey - Thanks everyone for all this info/feedback, interesting and sorry if I caused a little rukus
but really do appreciate the input...!!!!

[bonestonne]

Update for those who need to know,

PT LE is entering an EOL period. So you need be aware that PT 9 is coming out, PT 9 has tons of features that PT LE does not have.

If you want more information about it, check http://www.avid.com/US/products/Pro-Too ... p=AV-HP-S2 for updates about it.