Soundscape Studios. Posted January 9, 2003 Share Posted January 9, 2003 OK it's that time of year for me. Just finished a bunch of spots on WABC here in NYC, and a huge 64 track project from the greatest Israeli musicians, including the Israeli Philharmonic. But now it's time to upgrade to Nuendo 2.0 !!! So I need some advice here on a dream system, from all of the people here who are more computer literate than I am. I'm gonna be going PC 3.06, 2 GB RAM etc.... The real question is which sound card/converters to get. If anyone is using Nuendo, I would love to hear how your experience is etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uh Clem Posted January 9, 2003 Share Posted January 9, 2003 you best bet is to go here and read a lot: [url=http://forum.nuendo.com/cgi-bin/nuendo.com/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&forum=Hardware+Forum&number=3&DaysPrune=2&LastLogin=]http://forum.nuendo.com/cgi-bin/nuendo.com/forum display.cgi?action=topics&forum=Hardware+Forum&number=3&DaysPrune=2&LastLogin=[/url] Of course all my stuff listed below is outta date :rolleyes: but it works well. Steve WinXP Pro Nuendo 1.53 Intel P4 2.26 Intel D845GBVL 1GB CAS 2 RAM Matrox G450 MAGMA 7-Slot PCI Chassis VXA Tape Drive MOTU 2408MKIII/308 MOTU MIDI Express XT/USB UAD-1 TC Powercore/Sony Waves 3.6 Apogee AD8000 x 3 Steve Powell - Bull Moon Digital www.bullmoondigital.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soundscape Studios. Posted January 9, 2003 Author Share Posted January 9, 2003 Dosen't seem too out of date to me. How many tracks do you typically get with that setup? Is it stable , or do you crash alot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtrmac Posted January 9, 2003 Share Posted January 9, 2003 The RME Hammerfall-DSP system is the best. The HDSP 9652 with RME ADI-8 outboard convertors is the top of the line. The TotalMix monitor mixer software is great and allows every conceivable monitor scenario with Zero Latency. I use the HDSP PCI with a Multiface and I love it. I even stopped using my mixer and I monitor everything through TotalMix. The output from the monitor jack of the Multiface into headphones is so clean that I couldn't stand listening to the noise from my crappy Behringer mixer anymore. Mac Bowne G-Clef Acoustics Ltd. Osaka, Japan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uh Clem Posted January 9, 2003 Share Posted January 9, 2003 [quote]Originally posted by Soundscape Studios: [b]Dosen't seem too out of date to me. How many tracks do you typically get with that setup? Is it stable , or do you crash alot?[/b][/quote]I know - a good bit of it only 6mos old - but you know the chip guys have a new one out next week to make last week's model look shabby. Dead stable - I can track 28 tracks (all the converters I have) @ 44.1/24 all day for a week with no issues - or that is about typical for my average rock session. After O'dubs, comps, etc, I may have up to 40 tracks on mixdown. Many tracks are not full - just clips thru a verse or chorus. So the load on the disk is usually nothing. I typically have the Powercore and UAD maxed out and fill in with Waves in other places. I did a test loading up 64 full length 5min. tracks 44.1/24 and the disks were having trouble keeping up - I don't think I could go much past that without RAID or something else. My ATA133s and SCSI/160 Cheetahs wouldn't do it alone. Steve Powell - Bull Moon Digital www.bullmoondigital.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soundscape Studios. Posted January 9, 2003 Author Share Posted January 9, 2003 Holy cow 3 ad-8000's? Why oh why? Isnt that like 12 grand right there?? And it can't even do 96k (forget 196!). I guess it still sounds better than most crappy 96k converters being an apogee, but 3 of them is a chunk of change! Anyway, I need to run 64 tracks w/plug-ins. Do you think the only way to do this is with RAID? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uh Clem Posted January 9, 2003 Share Posted January 9, 2003 I don't know - I've had up to 80 or 90 track in Sonar and it hummed along as good as Sonar can - most were very small clips though, so never really put a big load on the disks. Nuendo seems fine doing that as well. For large, full on track counts I really could not say, but I have heard of some systems that could get over 100 (WTF!!! is on these tracks?), and one guy mentioned RAID, but I've never really needed to worry with the projects I do - they just don't have that many full length tracks (in the 20's maybe). I got the Apogees back when I was using DA88s - yep, they come dear, but once done, you never really feel like you need to worry over that part of the chain. I'm keeping an eye on 96K and above, but so far it seems like the benefit is more hoped for than demonstratable. So much of the rest of my system couldn't handle it well either so who knows - I reckon one day, they could be toast, and I have to find some decent 96K+ stuff. Steve Powell - Bull Moon Digital www.bullmoondigital.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alndln Posted January 9, 2003 Share Posted January 9, 2003 A good rule of thumb would be to stick with Intel chipsets for P4's,and NForce 2 chipsets for AMD and either on an Asus board.For Amd get the 333FSB 2800ghz or wait for the 400FSB or wait for the Hammer.Get 400DDR(2 500mb sticks) from either Mushkin or crucial ditectly from their respective sites,and at least 450W PSU from either Enermax/Sparkle or Antec.For Intel consider Matrox for AGP or ATI for AMD/Nforce at least 128mb DDR.Get 2 Western Digital 8mb JB series drives(as big as you can afford).Since core technlogy is lagging somewhat you might want to consider liquid cooling http://koolance.com/products/index.html?category_id=2 Like Steve, I use both Nuendo and Sonar and performance has a bit to do with driver quality.Right now M-Audio cards have the best WDM drivers if you plan on using Sonar, and RME would be it for ASIO and Nuendo,possibly Motu(Steve?).My next system will be a liquid cooled system based on the components listed above,unless I find something better. "A Robot Playing Trumpet Blows" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alndln Posted January 9, 2003 Share Posted January 9, 2003 Oh,if you do go AMD/NForce 2,make sure your vid card is 8X and not Matrox. "A Robot Playing Trumpet Blows" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrankieP Posted January 9, 2003 Share Posted January 9, 2003 Soundscape Studios, Reading that you're not as computer literate, I suggest you make the rounds and consider buying a turnkey computer instead. Less hassle, take it out of the box and plug & play. I would've suggested Soundchaser.com but they went bankrupt a couple of months ago. Try [url=http://www.carillonusa.com/]Carillion[/url] instead. Yes, they're much more expensive than rolling your own PC but if you don't wanna troubleshoot all day, let the experts do it for you (unless you know somebody really well that can setup an audio PC for you). I bought my Soundchaser Nuendo PCDAW last year, hasn't crashed on me yet. Like you, i'm waiting to upgrade to Nuendo 2.0. Soundcards? Go RME! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soundscape Studios. Posted January 9, 2003 Author Share Posted January 9, 2003 Yeah, my partner just got a Carrilon for about $3,500. An equivilant off the shelf would have been $1,800. It's a pretty penny allright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uh Clem Posted January 9, 2003 Share Posted January 9, 2003 [quote]Originally posted by Alndln Hammer: [b]Oh,if you do go AMD/NForce 2,make sure your vid card is 8X and not Matrox.[/b][/quote]I'm looking at new video solutions - waz the scoop with 8x? Cards like that that do 2 monitors? Is analog ok or is DVI-D a big deal? thx Steve Powell - Bull Moon Digital www.bullmoondigital.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audiobotica Posted January 10, 2003 Share Posted January 10, 2003 [quote]Originally posted by Alndln Hammer: [b]Since core technlogy is lagging somewhat you might want to consider liquid cooling http://koolance.com/products/index.html?category_id=2 My next system will be a liquid cooled system based on the components listed above,unless I find something better.[/b][/quote]I just built several AMD Athlon 2400 systems using the Alpha Pal8045U CPU Heatsink and it's been extremely easy to install and cools very well for around $48. CPU temperature never went over 105F during EXTREME torture testing and it's MUCH cheaper than going water cooled. The supplied fan is a little noisy, so next time I'm going to try a Zalman ZM-F1 fan at the whisper setting. Nice thing with the Zalman is if the whisper setting doesn't get it done, you can always crank it back up to full and take the dB hit to get extra cooling. And the Zalman is cheap, so it will actually take $3 off the price of the cooler combo getting it without the Alpha supplied fan. :thu: Yours in Music, Ben Fury Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alndln Posted January 10, 2003 Share Posted January 10, 2003 [quote]Originally posted by = stevepow =: [b]waz the scoop with 8x? Cards like that that do 2 monitors? Is analog ok or is DVI-D a big deal? thx[/b][/quote]This is one area I'm not that knowledgeble.But from scouring the AMD Zone forums I noticed everyone was having problems with older AGP cards(particularly Matrox 550's) in the new NForce 2 chipset,and that the new chipset(and other new chipsets including Intel)are only supporting the new 8X(?) standard and weren't backwards compatible.Most Daw people report using the new Ati Dual head cards with no problems,they have about 4 different Dual models that are 8X.I think Phil has one. "A Robot Playing Trumpet Blows" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soundscape Studios. Posted January 10, 2003 Author Share Posted January 10, 2003 Holy crap, you guys are way ahead of me. Here's the question - I'm in the midst of putting together a 2.4 Dell 4550 with 512 FSB, and will get 1 or 2 GB of RAM. Am I good to go? How many tracks do you think I could pull out with a system like that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alndln Posted January 10, 2003 Share Posted January 10, 2003 Depends on a lot of things,ie: sample/bit rate,how many live plugs ect.Since you already got a preconfigured consumer machine I would reccommend striping as many things as you can OS/wise such as Anti-Virus software,active lan.Getting a precongigured machine ready for pro-audio is almost more work than building one.I'll see what I can remember and post it here and I'm sure others will. "A Robot Playing Trumpet Blows" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miroslav Posted January 10, 2003 Share Posted January 10, 2003 I donno'... I bought a Dell 420 Precision...P3...dual 933s...a Gig of RAM...pre-configured with Win2K. I just added a couple more large SCSI drives...dropped in a dual-head Matrox 450 AGP video card... ...installed (3) Layla24 boxes... ...and hit the Record button. Now problems...runs like a champ...I was pumping 30+ tracks of 96/24 audio...and no hiccups maybe using about 60% CPU. At 48/24 it was even better. I dont need much more than that so I have no complaints. Maybe I was just lucky...knock on wood...and didnt experience all these headaches that a lot of folks talk about of using an out-of-the-box system for audio...??? I havent even begun to try and tweek it for better performance so Im sure I can milk even more out of it but I could leave it as-is and Id have no complaints about it. miroslav - miroslavmusic.com "Just because it happened to you, it doesn't mean it's important." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.