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I see Richard you're not a techno geek. That's ok, not very many of us are and I'm sort of a semi techno geek, not a full blown one. I know enough to be dangerous mostly to myself, heh.
A few things I can think of concerning mobo's are HDMI video, an external SATA port and USB 3. You probably don't know what they are and they may or may not be important to you. HDMI is the standard hi def video interface. One cable carries the video and audio and can be daisy chained from one device to another so you don't need an HDMI hub like you do with USB. A HDMI PC usually has a better quality video chip too. SATA is the relatively new interface for connecting hard drives inside your PC. Much faster than the old IDE ribbons. What's cool about an external SATA port is you can boot from a SATA drive directly. That means when you make a clone of your system drive in case you have a unrecoverable HD crash, you take your external SATA drive that you put the clone on, plug it into that external SATA port and boot directly from it, no need to remove your old HD and physically install the cloned drive to recover the system. USB 3 is way faster than USB 2 but right now there's few USB 3 devices available so it's not that big of a deal yet. That's why I was willing to forgo that for now.
In looking at that site you posted I looked at the specs of a few of their mobo's they sell separately. Compare the cheaper $59 ones to the over $100 ones and you see what I just talked about. It's true they don't tell you what mobo that $499 PC has but I can guarantee you it's not one of the $100 ones. There's some true PC pros here who can go into it much more deeply than I can, maybe they'll see this thread and jump in.
Without going into much more geeky details that I don't know right off the top of my head anyway, you'll have to decide if these things matter to you but if you think they might then you'll just have to bite the bullet and do some reading and ask more questions here. You said keep it simple but with this stuff you really can't. It has to be explained using geeky terms and that's just the way it is. Almost everybody knows what HDMI is but if you don't it takes a small paragraph to explain it properly. Just like explaining MIDI or a DAW to the uninitiated. Either you know it already or it's off to school with you.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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Bob, As often happens, I have failed to explain myself completely. I didn't mean keep it stupid simple; I can follow you as long as I understand the terms. I sincerely thank you for bringing me up to date on modern terms and technology. Quote:
I see Richard you're not a techno geek. That's ok, not very many of us are and I'm sort of a semi techno geek, not a full blown one. I know enough to be dangerous mostly to myself, heh.
The hell of it is, I am a geek, an A+ trained PC tech, just mumble mumble years out of date. I have built, repaired, and maintained PCs up through SATA, DDR2, HDMI, and USB2. I know antistatic technique and have a complete PC toolset. I'm inside all of my PCs on a regular basis. (No lappies--man's got to know his limitations.) So I know what you're talking about up to that point.*
Quote:
In looking at that site you posted I looked at the specs of a few of their mobo's they sell separately. Compare the cheaper $59 ones to the over $100 ones and you see what I just talked about. It's true they don't tell you what mobo that $499 PC has but I can guarantee you it's not one of the $100 ones. There's some true PC pros here who can go into it much more deeply than I can, maybe they'll see this thread and jump in.
It's the processor and mobo deal that has me flummoxed. Take a look at Micro Center's catalog page 27 here and see what I'm talking about. All they give is a list of part numbers and prices. I know I want an Intel Core i5 at a minimum, but what the hell do I load it in? 1155, 2011, Z68, P67?
Show me the parts and I can slap the thing together. It's just gotten a couple of generations ahead of me. I'd like to educate myself a bit before I go to a shop and have a tech patronize me for assuming I'm a complete ignoramus.
Again, thanks--really--for the basics. Now that we understand each other better maybe we can pick up the discussion at the next level.
Richard
*On the other hand, I don't know how to choose a cell phone or an LCD TV, both of which are subjects I may come back for help on. But right now I want to get the most bang for the buck on a new DAW.
Last edited by Ryszard; 01/09/12 03:07 AM.
"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."
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I didn't want to get into it but since you mentioned it, I don't like their website either for that reason. Go to Newegg or Tiger Direct and snoop around. That's all I did and when I saw something I wanted some info on I just swiped the part number and pasted it into Google. You'll see all the nerdy little tech details you'll ever need. Google will give you the mobo manufacturers website to the exact page with that mobo on it, articles and reviews from Toms Hardware, CNET and a bunch of others you've never heard of. When you read those someone will mention he tried that mobo, didn't like it for a certain reason and used another one. By reading all that you can determine if any of those reasons sound important enough to you to move on or not. See a reference to something different, swipe that one, Google it and do it again until you've finally decided what is the best bang for the buck for your needs. With your background it won't take long. Oh, something else to consider is the case. I got a very nice Cooler Master case, much prettier and more functional than the generic el cheapos these companies use for their $499 systems. Again, is it necessary? Not really, does it really make any difference to you for making music, probably not but if you can get a Cooler Master for about the same price, why not?
You have way more PC experience than I do. I only do this every 5 years or so and once I've bought something and put it together I don't pay attention to the latest and greatest until the next time or have a problem and I'm forced to get updated again.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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I just google the make and brand of computer looking for problems. I tend to buy open box deals, I check the computer at the store for obvious errors, and buy something 'name' brand.
I know lots of people who build their own, argue over cpu's, take a month to do it. In the mean time I'm screaming along.
I had 4 Sony's, then 2 HP's. I have an Aesus netbook.
I also have an HP laptop my daughter left me, and a Toshiba I cart around in a briefcase.
I like the Big HP Media thing, but if cost is an issue that's maybe out unless you find one that is 'less' than the latest one that just arrived and get a sale.
John Conley
Musica est vita
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Reason I'm hooked on Micro Center is they're 2-1/2 miles from my house and are service oriented, pretty comprehensively supplied, and competitively priced. If they don't have it, Fry's Electronics, which are like Wal-Mart for geeks, is not too far away, either.
I don't mind mail order at all--I use Amazon and ebay all the time--but I like dealing locally when possible. That way if there's a problem I can hand a part back and leave immediately with something in return.
I like the sound of those Cooler Master cases. Are they quiet, too? Another parameter I can spec into a custom job. By golly, this is starting to sound like fun.
R.
"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."
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Very quiet. I think it has three fans doing the job of one regular fan. They push more air but quieter than one strong one. I totally appreciate the idea of buying from an actual store, in my case I know the guy who builds them and I can call him if I need anything. So far everything's good.
There's a Fry's a half mile from my office and we're in there all the time for various things. The thing about Fry's is it's hard to find a virgin unopened item. They have a liberal return policy (good) but they know that 90% of the time the person returning the item has no clue about anything so they just put it back in the box, tape it up and put it back on the shelf assuming it's good. It's easy to tell that but hard to find an original packaged item. For little stuff under say $50 I'll buy the repackaged item and they usually work fine but for something that's a hundred or more like a 2 TB hard drive I'll dig through the stuff until I find an unopened one.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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The last time I assembled a Desktop, Antec cases were the cat's meow for quietness. However, I haven't been able to use that machine for many years due to repurposing in the household. While they die a quicker death, I'm partial to laptops now for recording specifically for lack of noise. Incredibly quiet compared to even the best spec'ed desktop. As for repairs, laptop repairs aren't that much more difficult than desktops (I've been putting things in and out of desktop cases since about 1988 or so), as they have to keep things even more modular than desktops - for example, you won't find that many stray cables wending their way through the innards of a laptop, blocking airflow and whatnot. They are simple enough to swap parts that many laptop repairs have been given over to UPS. Yes, that UPS. Read about it in 'The World is Flat' by Thomas Friedman. If you want to spec your own quiet desktop, there's enough resources online to assemble a relatively quiet desktop machine. I used this site http://www.silentpcreview.com/ the last time I built and they are still cranking out the reviews and information.
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Seen some good deals at Tiger Direct on Desk and Laptops . Real cheap desktop kits too .
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For what its worth, I think you end up with the most bang for your back by purchasing the parts and assembling your own computer. I assembled an I7 2600K based computer this past May and was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to put together. I bought most of the parts at New Egg, Tiger Direct, and off eBay. I used the free website My Super PC for information to plan my purchase and the site also provides step by step instructions for putting the PC together. I did the assembly in one day and now that I've done it, I know I could have done the assembly in just a few hours if I had the knowledge of the process that I have now. The thing that drove me to build my own was that I could never find an affordable computer that had everything I wanted. I'll never buy off the shelf again, unless I need a laptop, and that is only because parts are not availalbe to build anything but desktops.
Keith
2026 Audiophile Windows 11 RYZEN THREADRIPPER 3960X 4.5GHZ 128 GB RAM 2 Nvidia RTX 3090s, Vegas,Acid,SoundForge,Izotope Production,Melodyne Studio,SONAR,3 Raven Mtis
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Richard,
I've gotta go with Keith on this. If you build your own, you'll spend a little more money and end up with a much better computer. You'll also have a MOBO that isn't a "mystery board" and will have lots of extra PCI and PCI Express slots.
If you build to "gamer specs" on the MOBO, CPU, fans and Ram you'll have something that's above specs of the typical 'puter for awhile.
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Four years ago, I made a big mistake buying one HP computer after building all of my own since the mid-80s. The HP computer had no way to add a second hard drive! Even if I broke their plastic drive housing to squeeze one in, there was no power supply lead for it and, even worse, no free SATA port on the motherboard to connect it. Obviously, this motherboard was designed just for the prefab PC, and that's all.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Quote:
Four years ago, I made a big mistake buying one HP computer after building all of my own since the mid-80s. The HP computer had no way to add a second hard drive! Even if I broke their plastic drive housing to squeeze one in, there was no power supply lead for it and, even worse, no free SATA port on the motherboard to connect it. Obviously, this motherboard was designed just for the prefab PC, and that's all.
I think this is true for nearly any non-house brand these days. I looked at what appeared to be a juicy deal on a Lenovo tower about 6 months ago. Once I got inside the thing online with the manual (at least Lenovo still do proper manuals), I could see that there was ZERO expandability in the box for anything, drives, cards, you name it.
I passed.
However, I probably will never buy another desktop. Plenty powerful lappys for recording work in the under $500 range and oh-so portable and handy for other stuff.
I've been stuffing things in PC cases since about 1983 so it's hard for me to say this. One brand I used to buy alot of back in the late 80's was Zenith. Their cases were a thing of beauty, rolled over edges on every die-cut-line on sheet metal parts inside - no way to gash yourself inside. Then my employer switched to digital and what a let-down. Almost had to start wearing leather gloves to avoid cutting the backs of my hands.
The 'joy' of DIY as it pertains to building a PC is gone for me. The last one I built, I spent probably 25% extra to make it 'quiet' per silentpcreview recommendations. Sucker is still way louder than any laptop on the market.
-Scott
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Quote:
Quote:
I'm a moderator at tascamforums.com and get lots of questions regarding making the driver for the 224 and 428 work in Windows 7. It would be nice to pass on what you have learned.
Keith,
Does the forum end up having any influence with TASCAM itself? As a recent customer of a TASCAM US-800, I'm surprised at their lack of interaction with their customer community and seemingly unconcerned attitude with oddities with their product line.
-Scott
Not really. The reason the forum started up was because TASCAM closed their own forums and it seemed like the only way to get support would be a user supported forum. For awhile at the beginning, we had some pretty close contact with some people inside the company but they pulled away from us after about 2 years.
Keith
2026 Audiophile Windows 11 RYZEN THREADRIPPER 3960X 4.5GHZ 128 GB RAM 2 Nvidia RTX 3090s, Vegas,Acid,SoundForge,Izotope Production,Melodyne Studio,SONAR,3 Raven Mtis
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