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anonymous 21 April 2005

Hi,
I have a very specific question.

Do you have any experience or have you heard about the new Sweetwater Creation Stations ? I am planning to buy, I am interested specifically in the rack one:

http://www.sweetwater.com/creation_station/rack.php

I have looked into onther audio specific brands, but for other reasons, I have discarded them (Carillon for example never returned my calls and emails, etc...)

What do you say about the Sweetwater ? How do the specs look ? I am primary on VST virtual instruments, samples, new age music, with Cubase 3 and reason 3

I also already own a Yamaha 01X

Any comments ?

Thanks a lot !

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Comments

Guest Thu, 04/21/2005 - 13:31

check out several other DAW vendors

then compare apples to apples,
price, quickness of contact, helpfullness in helping you design a system for your needs, WARRANTY, do they have software support and hardware support, will they let you send your gear in to be installed etc.

Scott
ADK

anonymous Thu, 04/21/2005 - 13:44

I have also checked out the creation stations and talked to a guy at Sweetwater. I think they have a 1 year warranty on them. and they will install your software on it if you buy that from them.They have a 24 hr tech line . I looked at the CS Pro @$2K . From what I gathered they are solid machines and sweetwater is all hyped about them. If you are planning on using a different recording system in the future like protools etc... you might want to look into the Mac side of things. Hope this helps 8-)

anonymous Thu, 04/21/2005 - 16:27

Yes, they are hyped about the new systems but hype is not necessarily good!

If I where you I would look into other vendors offering 64 Bit systems and systems that run below 33 db (A).

Microsoft is ready to release X64 this month, it would be a waste of money not to buy a machine ready for it.

Steinberg and Cakewalk are ready to enter the 64 bit market and RME already has 64 bit Fireface 800 drivers.

http://

Compare specs and use your money wisely!

My Best.

Guy Cefalu
SONICA-X, LLC.

Big_D Thu, 04/21/2005 - 18:54

Welcome to RO Aschek, Just so you know both Scott of ADK and Guy of Sonica-X are owners of companies that build DAW's for a living and are regulars here at RO. You would do well to check them and other DAW builders out before purchasing anything. Explore all of your options and examine what and from whom you are buying. After all you will probably live with this machine for a long time.

Good Luck

anonymous Fri, 04/22/2005 - 07:04

Hey Big_D !

Thanks for the welcome !
Yes, I noticed that Scott and Guy are from companies that build DAWs... i have also read their messages in this forum and it is nice to see that they are involved in a personal level....

I will take a look at their lines, this has opened me a new door to investigate other machines....

I always hear about MusicXPC, Carillon and now Seetwater... so, it looks like an advertising/marketing game in my mind :)

On the other hand, i have a 10% discount coupon with Sweetwater, so it is tempting to me also :) And, their components, Asus, Glyph HHDs, etc... sounds good to me.....

So, I am confused... it is not so much about money (it IS important) and not so much about warranty, it is more about getting once and for all, a computer that will let me make music, not play with drivers, IRQs, etc.. etc.. It has been a headache for me so far, I have used DELL and IBM and I was never be able to compose music without problems, latency, drop-outs, etc.. etc.. very frustrating :)

So, feed me with all info you guys can, I am more than happy to receive any info, pro / cons, etc... about any brand....

Thanks !

anonymous Fri, 04/22/2005 - 07:06

Hey audiokid !

audiokid wrote: Well, I wouldn't support Sweetwater because they remind me of the Wallmart of gear stores.

You know what.. I have the same impression !! but looking at the components, like the Asus Mb, the Glyph HDD, etc.. it looks like they did not go cheap ... what do you think ?

thanks !

anonymous Fri, 04/22/2005 - 10:45

aschek wrote: Hey audiokid !

[quote=audiokid]Well, I wouldn't support Sweetwater because they remind me of the Wallmart of gear stores.

You know what.. I have the same impression !! but looking at the components, like the Asus Mb, the Glyph HDD, etc.. it looks like they did not go cheap ... what do you think ?

thanks !

Yes,

but they din't go all the way, they forgot;

Plextor optical drives, 600 series 64-Bit processors and 21 db ultra-quiet technology.

The Glyph drives are just Seagate drives which by the way the new Seagate drives make way to much noise and the ASUS P4C800 board has no upgrade path as it uses the 478 socket. That board is stuck at 3.4GHz and no 64 bit option.

Plus, they charge more money for a less capable product.

In other words, not a good deal.

Guy Cefalu
SONICA-X, LLC.

anonymous Fri, 04/22/2005 - 12:58

aschek wrote: [quote=SONICA-X]
That board is stuck at 3.4GHz and no 64 bit option.

When will the new 64bit come out ? Also, it will need a Cubase 64 version to take advantage ? Is it worth waiting, or no ?

Yes, the web site is "down" we are lunching a new site on Monday morning.

My apologies.

Steinberg and Cakewalk will be the first to enter the 64 bit arena.

RME already has 64 bit drivers for the Fireface 800.

Microsoft 64-Bit Windows "X64" lunches on 4/24/05.

Buying a system which is 64 bit ready will be a smart decission at this point.

My best,

Guy Cefalu
SONICA-X, LC.

anonymous Fri, 04/22/2005 - 13:09

SONICA-X wrote:
Microsoft 64-Bit Windows "X64" lunches on 4/24/05.

Buying a system which is 64 bit ready will be a smart decission at this point.

Now, the big question is, will the 64 version of Windows be Pro-Audio friendly ? I still hear people say that they like Windows 2000 much better over XP for DAWs....

Do you have an idea ?

thanks !

anonymous Fri, 04/22/2005 - 13:56

aschek wrote: [quote=SONICA-X]
Microsoft 64-Bit Windows "X64" lunches on 4/24/05.

Buying a system which is 64 bit ready will be a smart decission at this point.

Now, the big question is, will the 64 version of Windows be Pro-Audio friendly ? I still hear people say that they like Windows 2000 much better over XP for DAWs....

Do you have an idea ?

thanks !

Old school!

XP is the most stable Microsoft operating system ever made.

XP handles IRQ sharing much better than 2000 did.

Let's move on and leave the old behind. This is an exciting year for DAW users. PCIe with independent channels and high bandwidth, 64-Bit computing, and dual core processors! Soon you will have PT HD3 performance at a fraction of the cost.

Guy Cefalu
SONICA-X, LLC.

anonymous Fri, 04/29/2005 - 19:04

I started working in the warehouse at sweetwater recently, and have since learned that the creation stations are very music specific, and are compatible with the most exstensive hardware and software applications in the industry. While I have not personally used one they do appear to be very promising machines. In fact I heard of one in house test where one of the pcs had over 800 notes of polyphony in gigastudio.

anonymous Mon, 05/02/2005 - 16:58

Dabihh wrote: I started working in the warehouse at sweetwater recently, and have since learned that the creation stations are very music specific, and are compatible with the most exstensive hardware and software applications in the industry. While I have not personally used one they do appear to be very promising machines. In fact I heard of one in house test where one of the pcs had over 800 notes of polyphony in gigastudio.

Dabihh,

that is great, so now imagine what an up to date system with newer and faster CPUs & memory will be able to do!

My best.

Joseph C.
sonica-x support

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