Howdy
Well, I've broken down and purchased GigStudio 160. This is after about 2 years of thinking about getting it. When I started thinking about getting it, I bought a PC (I'm a Mac guy) and now that PC (P2, 350) is 2 years old. I think this machine will work OK for smaller polyphony loads but we're not going to be using it to do, say, the Magic Flute.
Therefore, I'm considering getting a better machine to run Giga and retire the "old" PC to email and being AFK on various Hotline servers. This machines function will be GigaStudio and 2-track mixdown.
So, what are you GigaStudio users using for your PC setup? I'm open to all possibilities from building to buying a "souped-up" audio computer.
My needs:
- <$2,000 budget (including a sound card)
- I'd like something that rackmounts, however, this isn't a deal-breaker
- Sound card with 8 ins/outs on lightpipe
- Sound card with Word Clock in is preferred
- removable fixed hard drive system for backup
Thanks
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Hey Nate - A lurker surfaces...geez, I've only been reading for
Hey Nate -
A lurker surfaces...geez, I've only been reading for months, now. |:-)
My system is a year old and a homebrew - I ain't up to current speed, yet, but I've had good luck with GS and other soft-synths ([="http://www.native-instruments.com"]N-I's[/]="http://www.native-i…"]N-I's[/] B-4 is awesome).
One big suggestion: use two drives for your system - one system drive, and one for your GS .gig files. That'll make a huge difference in your performance, since you'll be streaming samples from disk. I'm a fan of SCSI (ouch, that doesn't sound quite right), but ATA-66 or -100 drives have been great for a lot of folks
Go for lotsa memory, too - [[url=http://="http://www.crucial…"]Crucial's[/]="http://www.crucial…"]Crucial's[/] my favorite for cheap, grade-A RAM. 512MB is so cheap, I'd say that should be a minimum.
With regard to GigaStudio, you need a GSIF-compliant card for the best performance. I had reasonable success with the [="http://www.egosys.net"]EgoSys[/]="http://www.egosys.n…"]EgoSys[/] WaveTerminal 24/96 card, right up until the latest driver releases. It's probably my config (I really gotta re-do my Win98 install sometime...I'm hoping Nemesys' XP-compatible release of GS160 will work for Win2k systems, too), but I got tired of the routine.
So, I moved on to the RME Digi96/8 - AES/EBU (on XLRs, finally - many others require converters/adapters), S/PDIF, lightpipe (too bad we're a TDIF shop), analog options, and a word clock daughtercard. Very handy for syncing to a master clock like an Aardsync, and the drivers are stable on both Win98 and Win2k (Linux, too, from what I hear). No WDM suport yet, unfortunately, but ASIO & GSIF support is nice, and MME latencies are pretty low. Make sure to check out [[url=http://="http://www.rme-audi…"]RME's site[/]="http://www.rme-audi…"]RME's site[/] - there's a lot of cool stuff there. Some rackmount, some not, some simple digi I/O, others full-fledged digi/analog and connections out the wazoo.
Not to steer you away from recording.org - I visit at least twice a day, but NorthernSounds' messageboard is pretty much the offical one for GS. I would check with the crew there, and scan the past messages - lots of good info.
Good luck with the system,
charlie