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Most beginners getting into audio have a lot of questions about computers. “Is my computer good enough?” “What type should I buy?” “Do I need any special components?” What would you tell them?
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By Adrian Try
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Depending on the DAW, check what the computer system requirements are. This is a no brainer!
…but beginners tend to forget.
Random Tips:
-If you can afford a Mac, get one. If not, that’s fine! PC’s are just as good…and most of the time cheaper!
-For beginners, 4 GB of RAM should be good enough when starting out.
-Having dual monitors is great! I have them and it’s awesome!
-Have a back up drive and back everything up daily! I’ve got a Terabyte hard drive. It’s awesome!
-CHECK THE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS!!!!111oneoneone
Personaly i’m not that good at computers but according to what i’ve seen with my little experience. FOR PCs try to get your self one that is the most recent and most powerful you can afford i saying that because i saw that a 2.2Ghz intel core i3 was faster than a 2.8 Ghz pentium 4 processor. Then ur ram:a 4Gb or higher would be good. And also recent computers have faster hard disk drives most now come with a 7200rpm drive. The faster your hard disk spins the faster it exchanges with ram and better your pc will perform.
Basic advices:
- If you can afford it, keep one machine exclusively for music production. Don’t use your everyday system.
- Choose a fast processor! Software Instruments are getting more and more demanding in terms of CPU power.
- Max out the memory of your machine. RAM prices have hit rock bottom, so go for at least 8GB, better yet 16GB!
- Run a 64-bit OS and 64-bit software to take advantage of all this memory. 32-bit systems are limited to 4GB only.
NOTE: many plugins and some DAWS (like Ableton) are still limited to 32-bit, so check your software, there might be updates available!
- Mac or PC makes no difference any more. Both systems are stable, and many DAWs are running on both systems (recently, MOTU pulished its Digital Performer 8 DAW for Windows too).
- If low latency is a concern, go for PCI(-Express) audio interfaces. They are a little more expensive but you always get much better latency.
- Keep your OS and your recordings/presets etc. on separate hard drives (when working on a desktop machine)
- When a major system update become available (for example Mac OS 10.6 >> 10.7), DON’T rush for it. It might break compatibility with lots of your programs.
- Backup your work!!!!
Remember that it’s not the computer that makes music! It’s you!
While it’s great to max out the spec of your machine as far as your budget will allow, it’s worth remembering that it’s perfectly possible to get started on a machine which, by current standards, is relatively low spec. I’m running Logic 9 on a 2.16 GHz Dual Core iMac, with 3 GB of RAM, and it’s served me very well.
While cost of entry for those who want to go the Mac route may look high, usability and reliability are much better in my experience. Also, check out the used market, and Apple’s own refurbished products store: there’s no need for a beginner to buy the very latest, top spec machines, and you can save a lot of money by avoiding that temptation. Ideally, though, buy something with a little room to upgrade when you’re ready.
Minimum system for today I would say: 2 GHz CPU Dual Core, 4 GB RAM, 512 MB Graphics Memory
I try to afford myself the latest and best system. Maybe I don’t need the power everyday, but when I need it I am happy to have it :)
4 GB RAM is minimum/fine
8 GB RAM is very good – my current and quad core cpu with 2 GHz
16 GB RAM is great – could be my next :)
I thought myself that mac’s are too expensive, but I saw that it comes with many software programs which windows doesn’t. For example garage band and the word like program. Tough I think Windows comes now with Office Starter versions.
But I have windows and I am fine :)
I used a Mac mini for years but found as soon as I started pushing Logic to any extent it just ran out of CPU and fell over.
Go for an Imac if you can and at least 4GB of RAM – Towers don’t give you as much value for you $ as the Imac currently. I also bought non-apple RAM fairly cheaply and installed it myself for about 1/3 the cost.
My upgrade was to a Core I7 with 16GB RAM and Logic hasn’t batted an eyelid!
Second monitors are also cheap these days and ends the frustration of switching through so many palettes.
+1 to all the other comments – also worth pointing out that you get a lot more bang for your buck with a desktop than a laptop, and they’re easier to upgrade…I use a laptop for non-studio based stuff and keep my desktop exclusively for studio use.
In general I would recommend a Mac, but that is really a personal preference. But in going that route I would suggest going to eBay for a used option. You don’t necessarily need a powerhouse. My son and I spend a lot time running Reason on a 2006 model Mac mini with 2GB of RAM that ran about $300. It’s easy for him to learn, and the machine handles well enough.
Also, I suggest at least setting a free DropBox account for your current projects to keep things secure.
Personally I’d also recommend Macs. They are expensive but worth of price if you are thinking of making music professionally. Mac’s tend to get the reputation of being more stable than PC’s. Why? Because they are built on the same components. If you decide to buy a PC, I suggest checking out this link http://www.sweetwater.com/creation_station/ These units are specially designed for making music and what’s very important they’re super quiet. My loud PC completely ruined many of my recordings.
get a mac!
There is actually no difference between getting a Mac, Sony, HP, Dell or any other kind of PC, other than the fact that Mac is supremely more expensive and has OSX.
If you like windows, get any brand of PC other than Mac, if you like OSX, get any brand of PC and either hackintosh or get an authentic Mac. There is literally no difference as far as music production is concerned other than the minor differences between the operating systems. Personal preference and all that.
Once you have your PC, make sure it has enough RAM to do what you want it to do. If you’re recording, you’re going to want 2 harddrives (this is a good idea regardless), but a huge amount of RAM isn’t necessarily a top priority. If you’re doing sample or effects heavy work, then more RAM is going to be vital.
A good processor is needed for effects processing, multicore is pretty much standard these days, and for good reason.
Other than that, it’s important to keep your harddrives clean and working well. Defragment and get rid of junk or things you don’t need any more regularly to keep it running smoothly.
I would say that the more CPU Hz you can get, the better. The RAM isn’t as much of a concern to me. If you’re recording a lot I could see RAM being an issue but if you’re using mostly synths then CPU is what’s going to be important.
Here is the advice I would give to beginners:
Putting everything aside, after more than eleven years of being involved with audio (and graphics) if you hear nothing else, hear this:
Get. A. Mac.
Mac “Fanboys”, the whole “PC vs. Mac” thing, all that aside, I can not tell you how much easier life is since I went to Mac computers. I used to use PCs, I used to build them, I can still build them, I can still tech them, but your musical experience is going to be so much easier, headache free, and just plain more fun with a Mac. Why? Because the stupid things work. I don’t care how good your PC is, how spec’ed out it is; it is going to slow down.
Yes they cost more for the “same specs” compared to PCs. I wonder why that is? Fact of life, you get what you pay for. They work. Period.
The last thing you want is for your computer to be butting heads with you when your trying to become a music based musician or producer. You have enough as is trying to learn about the music and software, the last thing you need to have happen is it be a coin toss every time you start you computer if it is going to even turn on.
Macs get the computer out of the way so you can focus on making music.
I’m not talking out of arrogance or ignorance, I’m talking out of experience. Nine years of teeth grinding, hair pulling experience.
Hi there, I would suggest there is merit in getting a machine built for the job if you are a using a PC. It can be rewarding to build your own PC but it can also be a complete headache as well. The people who build them professionally know about details, often obscure, annoying details that can put a kink in your day if you do not know what you are doing. I also recommend physically cloning system (C) drives with the Integral SATA copy station, a low costs bullet proof way of getting your system running very quickly if (read : when) your system hard drive breaks.