Is an "audio only" pc still a good idea?

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2005 12:12 pm

Is it a big deal now a days, given that pc's are faster than ever and can tolerate more "stuff" running in the background?
Windows xp is pretty stable and does a good job.
I am not a big game guy. I use my pc for Cubase/reason, web browseing, email, and the odd thing or 2 on ms word.
Of course antivirus is used, but nothing Norton.
Should I stay on one pc still and upgrade what I have or should I just build a new box for audio only?

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2005 7:47 pm

Q: Is an "audio only" pc still a good idea?
A: Yes, a VERY good idea.

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2005 9:08 pm

bean,

You could also do what I've done. I run a dual-boot system. My recording system boots with only the internet (available but not active always) and my recording software. My other boot option is a fully configured computer.

You will notice a slowdown in your computer when recording if you leave everything running and enabled. A stripped down system is MUCH more stable.

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2005 12:02 am

How do you properly do a dual boot?
What do you mean by "everything running"?
I guess antivirus always runs. Do you mean disableing all unused ports, etc?
I thought that with a modern, fast pc means you can have a box that does it all??
Oh well it gives me an excuse to build another PC.
No complaints here! Lol.

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2005 1:50 am

if you have 1 HD, partition it, and install the os on both of the partition.
else, you can just install the os on each hard drive.

i'm not sure w/ everything running, but maybe it's the programs and services are fully running on startup.

if you know how to fully optimize your pc, and depending on your pc spec right now, you may not need a new one.

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2005 6:17 am

Just like fomoffu said, a dual boot is when you have the operating system (xp pro in my case) installed on two different hard drives or two different partitions of the same drive. When you turn on the computer (boot up) you have 2 options for which operating sytem you want.

My first one is the "normal" pc. By everything running, I mean that the typical programs and processes are running by default. After you have a computer for a little while, there are a ton of programs and processes that will run in the background to keep everything at an optimal state, or so the purpose is. This stuff really drags down the processing power for the computer, and can greatly decrease the performance of your DAW software. The only trouble is that when it is disabled you lose a little functionality for day to day operations.

With the dool boot, I am allowed to keep my other partition and OS pretty stripped down. I keep the internet available so that I can download updates and upload clients' songs to my server, but during recorded I keep my wireless card disabled. I manually have gone through and optimised the computer for recording by disabling all of the unecessary processes that run in the background.

If you want more info about how to dual boot, you should check out www.pcmech.com and go to their forums. You can also do a search here and on the internet on how to optimise your computer for recording. Just be safe and don't do just anything you see written. Try to either verify with someone on a forum that it is a safe action or make sure that it shows up in two different lists on how to optimise. It will take some work but can provide great benefits.

Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2005 3:18 am

Sorry to almost spam, but why in the 2005 do you still believe that a computer works better if dedicated for audio only????????
Use an OSX computer and you can do audio/video/internet/files sharing/massive downloads/graphics/games and more at the same time

Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2005 5:00 am

Yes computers will run more than audio apps, but my car will also run quite happily with loads of heavy boxes in the boot (trunk for you US guys 'n' gals). It runs better without them though. Its about performance and stability.

Your much less likely to encounter problems with just a few apps running than lots of different apps which may cause things to get a little screwy!

It's entirely up to you. If you want or need to run other apps, then do it. It's a trade off at the end of the day. How much do you really need to have on your machine. I once helped a friend who was having a problem with his workstation crashing and messing up generally. When i looked at his machine he had 129 processes running simultaneously!! His machine just didn't know what was going on Confused

Dual Boot is an option, or for even more piece of mind, install a caddy for your main system drive. Set one up for Audio only and the other for 'general' use. When you boot your machine, just choose the drive that you want to use.

Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2005 6:54 am

Someday wrote:

Sorry to almost spam, but why in the 2005 do you still believe that a computer works better if dedicated for audio only????????
Use an OSX computer and you can do audio/video/internet/files sharing/massive downloads/graphics/games and more at the same time

Why in 2005 do you still believe that MAC's can do things that PC's can't? PC's can do all of that and more, but by dedicating your machine (regardless of platform) to a specific task you maximize it's performance for that task. In the case of audio, more tracks, more plugins, more samples etc. Contrary to your seriously misinformed views MAC's are not super computers capable of feats that mear mortal PC's cannot attain. Perhaps "Someday" you will understand this simple concept, maybe in 2006.

Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2005 9:55 pm

I will try a win xp on a second hard drive. I did install win xp on 2 partitions on the same drive. It did not work. Would not boot. I had to reformat and reinstal one one partition only.
I just thought maybe the audio only pc was a concern when cpu's were running @ 500 mhz.
I could build a new pc, fresh windows instal, instal cubase, reason, drivers, etc, and then "ghost " what I have.
Then let's sy every month or so reformat and "ghost" my image back.
Voila, a clean system every month.
Would that be ok?
Not gonna go mac. If I ever decide to go protools, an athlon 64 system will out do the mac.

Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2005 6:07 am

Yes, XP can do everything... on the paper. In the real world XP and Microsoft is just a compilation of bugs

Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2005 7:16 am

Someday wrote:

Yes, XP can do everything... on the paper. In the real world XP and Microsoft is just a compilation of bugs

Ahhh - that must be why I have 6 computers in the house running 24-7 (for the most part) - all running XP - and I never have to mess with any of them.

Rolling Eyes

Get your head out of the sand, dewd.

Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2005 10:58 am

I run both PC and Mac. G4 for PT and a custom built PC for Avid. I'll be upgrading PT soon. I'm not gonna get a Mac - I can get a machine just as capable for less than half the money - and trust me it'll work as well as any Mac.

Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2005 3:38 pm

Dual Boot rocks for multi-purpose DAWs! My main "Internet PC" has an XP-Pro install that is up-to-date will all of the MS updates, and Antivirus, Spybot Tea Timer, Networking, Firewall, MS Office, etc etc.

My second XP-Pro install is on a dedicated OS drive, and has the base XP-Pro SP-2 installed w/o ANY MS updates, and DAW optimized for maximum DAW horsepower (no networking, no Firewall, no Antivirus, no Spybot, no System Restore, no MS Office, etc etc).

I had an issue with Nuendo 2.1 crashing on my "multipurpose Internet install". This was shortly after I installed some MS security updates. I was just playing around, so nothing important was lost. But I have YET to have ANY issues with my DAW optimized OS's on 2 different PC's (no crashes yet - fingers crossed).

Someday, Someday will understand the power, flexibility & BRUTE POWER of a modern PC. If MAC would EVER get even 10% of the PC marketshare, you will see all kinds of Viruses popping up for Mac's. With a measely 2.7% of the market share, Mac's are not a worthwhile effort for Hackers and virus writers. Maybe the "affordable" Mac Mini (what, $700 with a monitor?) will be the start of a wonderful new virus ridden Mac platform Wink

. Sorry for the rant /end rant...

Cool

Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2005 4:45 pm

Quote:

Someday, Someday will understand the power, flexibility & BRUTE POWER of a modern PC. If MAC would EVER get even 10% of the PC marketshare, you will see all kinds of Viruses popping up for Mac's. With a measely 2.7% of the market share, Mac's are not a worthwhile effort for Hackers and virus writers. Maybe the "affordable" Mac Mini (what, $700 with a monitor?) will be the start of a wonderful new virus ridden Mac platform . Sorry for the rant /end rant...

Amen Brother! Thumbs Up

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