DAW Hardware

[brento73]

I'm curious to know what hardware people are using for linux audio workstations. I'm thinking about building a second computer to be the center-piece of my studio, but I'd like to know what works before I spend any money.

If you've got a DAW up and running, let me know what mobo/cpu/etc you're using, as well as the interface and specific apps. If you've got links to songs done on the system, even better!

Thanks in advance.

[thorgal]

see my post in this forum (with pictures :) )

http://linuxmusicians.com/viewtopic.php?t=101

[warbread]

I have a desktop built to run silently, and it is as quiet as a dead mouse, I tell ya. It's got a 2.4ghz AMD 45 watt chip with a fanless Ninja heatsink, 8 gigs of DDR2 800 ram, a 500 gig sata HD and an M Audio 24/96. Running into the sound card I've got a crappy little Alesis MultiMix8 (soon to be upgraded) and coming out from that are two brand new M Audio BX5 monitor speakers. I have a number of mics and instruments that plug into the mixer, but that's the basics. Worth noting is the fantastic EH memory man with harazai. Damn, that thing is fun.

The apps I use are Ardour, Zynaddsubfx, Hydrogen, Rosegarden, JackRack, Jamin, Time machine and Qsynth. Sometimes I mess around with other programs, but that's about it.

I definately advise making a quiet computer. It's very difficult to think when the whirring of fans is constantly filling your creative environment. If you're interested, pm me and I can give you detailed list of everything I got for my computer. It came out to be just under $500, without buying the monitor, hard drive or sound card. With those added on, the total is closer to $1000.

[warbread]

see my post in this forum (with pictures :) )

http://linuxmusicians.com/viewtopic.php?t=101

Very nice! Gorgeous view, too. How do you like those preamps? I'm in the market to buy some very soon.

[thorgal]

yeah, the view is very nice and we have the chance to have a wonderful spring in Denmark (compared to last year at least) !

Anyway, the RME QuadMic is quite neutral so you should not expect any warming up of the sound (I wanted something neutral). The only little thing is maybe a lack of precision when you boost the amplification to very high levels but you really have to want such a crazy amplification, I rarely have to do that (not to say never had to but I like to explore my gears, considering the price and importance of this piece of the studio). Apart from this little thing, I have nothing bad to say. It takes line and mic level inputs, balanced (XLR and jack) and has phantom power on all 4 channels, LO cut and phase reversal, green led for incoming signal and red led for signal clipping. It is a rather straightforward preamp but does the job right.

[brento73]

Thanks for the info, are you using Ubuntu Studio, and are you running a 32 or 64 bit distro?

[Stochastic]

Ubuntu Studio (or at least the realtime kernel) really is needed for serious audio work, plus it comes with a gtk theme that makes Ardour look really nice. As for the 32-bit vs. 64-bit question, it kinda depends on your RAM; I've heard that there's no real advantage to having a 64-bit os unless you have 4gb of RAM. The 64-bit distros used to have some troubles getting all the apps to work on them (there are some minor apps that still don't) but they've fixed most of those issues.

As for my hardware setup: Laptop (a Compaq with AMD Turion 1.8gig, 2gb RAM, 80gb HD, 500gb external HD), Presonus Firepod, ART SLA1 amp, Tannoy Precision-6 monitors, some ****** bheringer patchbays and eurorack mixer, and a bunch of gear to make/capture sound with (synths, mics, shakers, a viola, turntables, an ektar, tibetan singing bowl, etc...). The only part I'd jump at the opportunity to replace would be my laptop, as it's two years old, and any serious studio can't use a laptop as their main DAW.

[thorgal]

I am using debian sid with a custom realtime kernel (2.6.24.3-rt3, that I compiled myself). My system is 32bit. I think you would have problems with VSTs on a 64bit system but I am not sure on this one.