Smykster

Hey everyone, hope I'm in the right section here, basically my buddy wants a computer to use for sound recording and using protools for music recording. He found a build online by a site that is selling computers for this sort of job. They are offering these specs:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 CPU by Intel, silent CPU cooler by Zalman
Asus P5E motherboard (X38 chipset)
4GB PC2 800Mhz DDR2 memory (2 x 2GB)
250GB 7200RPM SATA hard drive by Seagate (OS)
500GB 7200RPM SATA hard drive by Seagate (audio)
20X DVD-RW / CD-RW drive w/ Lightscribe by Lite-on
Asus Silent GeForce 8400GT 512MB dual-head video card
Antec Take 4 rackmount case w/ silent power supply
Black keyboard and mouse
Windows XP Home installed and on CD
3 year parts, 1 year labor warranty on PC system

for $1599.00 USD

I figured I could do a lot better, and came up with this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129024
Antec Sonata III with earthwatts 500w PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136284
1TB Caviar Black HDD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150245
8500GT Fanless
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231122
G. Skill 2x2 pc6400 800mhz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128359
Gigabyte P45- UD3R , a solid board in my experiance
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115131
Q9400
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116488
Vista 64 bit OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827136152
LG DVD/CD Burner

Total $833.37USD including shipping and tax

How does this look in comparison? I know these computers are supposed to be silent for recording purposes, any suggestions on a cpu cooler? This rig will most likely NOT be overclocked. Hopefully i can save this guy about 600-700 Dollars!

Ionimplant

You can make a quiet computer, no doubt, but I still do not know why one would want to use a computer for sound recording (other than voice tracks for slide-shows etc.)

For 200 bucks you can purchase:
TASCAM DP-004 Pocketstudio Portable 4-Track Digital Multitrack Recorder
You get 16-bit WAV output to an SD card.

Plug that into your PC with NCH sound editing software(my favorite) and edit as desired.

Of course, you should purchase a nice mic but that can be had for under a hundred bucks. This TASCAM unit has a built-in mic.

If you want to step up a little:
Fostex MR8HD 8-Track Digital Recorder with 40GB Hard Drive
which is on sale right now for $300 at Musiciansfriend. This is an amazing price for a digital 8-track with so much storage.

gbyss

here is a site dedicated to silent computing

SPCR forums

I do go there time to time to collect ideas on how to make my computer more silent

I would suggest Antec P180 or something along that line to either water cool or for more room to isolate the HDD's

Sound damping pads will be needed imo to make the computer completely silent

I would get 2 x wd 640gb as they are quite silent but SPCR has a list of silent HDD's

Good luck

Protezione

Holy old thread batman, but wanted to throw my .02 in here. In my Studio, the PC we use is a regular old PC, however we used a bit of rubber blocking on the HD rails, and used Silicon fan mounts on 120mm fans. Nearly silent, plus a good studio setup will be more than one room anyways, control room + tracking room.

www.hammerhead-studios.com for some pictures of it

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decapitator

no sound card or interface?

frankzotynia10

gearslutz.com has a ton of information on isoboxs you could build.

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Exutus

First, my sound card is more expensive than that Fostex, records at 192kHz 24bits. Which records better than a TASCAM built-in mic and manage everything with direct monitoring.

Major Audio Productions work through a computer, every studio, everyone serious at making music and every professional.

I do not know why you commented that.