Rig recommendation for music production

serouj

Can anyone recommend me the best specs for a rig that serves to be efficient only for music production?
I never built a PC from scratch before but what i know is that i don't a fancy audio card because i'll be using an external RME.
i also don't need the best graphic card.

And if not, do you recommend a Mac instead?

Gamer

serouj wroteCan anyone recommend me the best specs for a rig that serves to be efficient only for music production?
I never built a PC from scratch before but what i know is that i don't a fancy audio card because i'll be using an external RME.
i also don't need the best graphic card.

And if not, do you recommend a Mac instead?

Can you give some applications software you would like to use to or produce music, because I believe a laptop can produce most of the music, since there are no video rendering involved.

even Apple released an app on their ipad that does this too

Padre

serouj wroteCan anyone recommend me the best specs for a rig that serves to be efficient only for music production?
I never built a PC from scratch before but what i know is that i don't a fancy audio card because i'll be using an external RME.
i also don't need the best graphic card.

And if not, do you recommend a Mac instead?

RAM .... lots and lots of it to fist most of the VSTs, a decent processor and you are good to go !

serouj

Gamer wrote
Can you give some applications software you would like to use to or produce music, because I believe a laptop can produce most of the music, since there are no video rendering involved.

even Apple released an app on their ipad that does this too

I will be using both FL Studio 10 and Ableton Live, Guitar rig and also Pro Tools for sound recording,
With a big set of VSTs.

I actually had a super laptop that crashes everytime i start up this specific VST plugin,

Padre wroteRAM .... lots and lots of it to fist most of the VSTs, a decent processor and you are good to go !

Yes i heard! i'm sorry i have no idea, do you have any additional info on the best processors and their capacity?
Thank you!

Gamer

FL Studio system requirements:

*2Ghz Intel Pentium 4 / AMD Athlon 64 (or later) compatible CPU with full SSE2 support. The faster your CPU and more cores it has the more you will be able to do simultaneously. Download and test the demo!
*32 or 64 Bit versions of Windows 8, Windows 7, Vista, XP (with service pack 3)
*(or) Intel Mac with Boot Camp / Windows. Running XP (with service pack 3), Vista or Windows 7 (in 32 or 64 Bit)
*1 Gb or more RAM recommended
*1 Gb free disk space
*Soundcard with DirectSound drivers. ASIO/ASIO2 compatible required for audio recording (FL Studio installs with generic ASIO4ALL drivers)

What are the Live 9 system requirements?

Intel® Mac with Mac OS X 10.5 or later, or PC with Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8; Multicore processor; 2 GB RAM; 1024x768 display; DVD drive or broadband internet connection for installation;

Required disk space for basic installation:
3GB free disk space.
Required disk space if all included sounds are installed:
Live 9 Suite: 55 GB free disk space
Live 9 Standard: 12 GB free disk space
Live 9 Intro: 6 GB free disk space

Note: FL Studio Mobile (iPhone, iPod touch, iPad) comes in 2 versions:
*FL Studio Mobile (iPhone/iPod touch)
*FL Studio Mobile HD - universal binary (iPhone/iPod touch/iPad)

So I went and checked the support forum of FL Studio and found a topic that addresses your issue
http://support.image-line.com/knowledgebase/base.php?id=55&ans=214
titled "What PC should I get for music making?" and posted on 2013/01/22,
this is the summary

Laptop vs Desktop/Tower: full height tower' style case for Quiet PC(under the desk)
Operating System: Recommend Windows 7 64 Bit
CPU: i5 and i7 Intel processors, specifically the i7-3770 & 5-3550
Audio Interface (ASIO): allows FL Studio direct access to the soundcard rather than communicating via the Windows operating system; and also avoid internal/on-mother-board sound-chip(Better read the link in full)
RAM: 8 Gb is enough. 16 Gb is only necessary if you typically use lots of sample based instruments
Hard Disk Drive (HDD): SSD vs Traditional; a 1+ TB HDD
Video Card: Look for a video card with two DVI or DVI + VGA output, FL Studio work-flow is significantly improved with two (or more) video monitors.

AvoK95

Get an i5 or an i7 with 16 or 8GB of RAM and an SSD and you'll be up and running. Follow the motherboard manual and CPU manual if you've never built a PC.

serouj

Thank you peeps, i'm ordering the parts as soon as i finish my exams,

and the video card part is very interesting.
I actually read about ASIO, i'm hoping for the least delay possible.

16GB in my case is better, i will only be recording some electro-acoustic guitar riffs for some tracks,
but my work is mainly virtual.

It is after i inefficiently invested my extra money on becoming a legit FL studio mobile user that i realized that it's probably the most irritating application of them all..:P

AvoK95

Be sure to get an SSD, it will help you a lot if you install your OS and software on it.

rolf

I don't think there is much to add to other posters. The most important is the sound hardware. Start with that! Buy two in parallel if you want/if you have to. Make sure it works with your software.
Same thing regarding Mac vs PC, see what software you use and see if it's availble on each system. Some software is only available on PC, one or two things are only available on Mac.
PC usually gives you more performance for your money.
Then as someone already said, put in a generous amount of RAM (you might run many things in parallel) and a fast disk. Then, I guess the CPU should be decent - assuming you already have sound processing hardware.
One last thing (last but not least), a big LCD helps a lot - in most software you could really appreciate that. Alternatively, 2 monitors might also do the deed.

yasamoka

I'd recommend LG IPS234T monitors from pcandparts. 23", 1920 x 1080p @60Hz, e-IPS (still 6-bit though), very good viewing angles, and in the case of the unit I tested, arrives with colors pretty accurate out-of-the-box (calibration with a colorimeter removed a slight bluish tint that affected skin tones mostly - however, I'm picky).

They're also pretty expensive for what they offer, $167 per monitor (without VAT). 2-3 of these would be awesome for some good working area.

Stick with any graphics card that offers the amount of outputs you need. With 3 monitors, you might need an active adapter, as even Radeons can only support 2 monitors without an active DP to DVI adapter.

I suppose looking at the cheapest, NEWEST GENERATION (Mind!), graphics cards should give you an idea. Less power consumption, cooler, newer features, and you can cool them passively (if they don't already) with a fanless aftermarket cooler.

serouj

Thank you mates! I've been having an information overload lately,
i'll come back to write these down on a paper and go on a quest in
approximately 2 hours!

Thank you again!