Recommend me a home studio recording/mixing PC

Muad'zin

Muad'zin

Fractal Fanatic
I'm looking to build my own home studio. For that I probably need a new dedicated desktop PC. Budget should be under a €1000, the less though the better, although I understand that quality costs money. For a DAW I plan to use Reaper. Don't bother to recommend me a Mac, I have zero interest in using them. I know how to assemble a PC, what I would like to know what kind of hardware I would need. What kind of motherboard, processor, memory, HDD's and other hardware would I need? Links to companies that sell premade for home recording PC's would also be welcome. I know Glenn Fricker once did a vid about one such a PC, I just can't seem to find it anymore.

Thanks in advance!
 
I prefer Mac, but I won't mention it. iMac 5k with Logic Pro. Latest version of Logic Pro includes many virtual instruments and a drum program (and a lot of other stuff too).

File sharing on the internet means exposing your PC. My first studio was PC. After a few years of computer issues, I finally reached the breaking point. Scrapped all of it and went Mac. No problems or computer issues since. I record other artists and mix and master other projects. I cannot have computer issues so I'm a Mac user. I'm not trying to start a Mac vs PC flame war. Just sharing my experience.
 
@iaresee recently posted a link to a really cool website where you can get recommendations on each component based on a 4 or 5 level "price point". I think that's exactly what you are looking for.

Hopefully he'll post it because I can't remember the name :)
 
I recommend splurging a bit on RAM.

Most of the processing in your DAW occurs in your RAM, especially if you're using virtual instruments. I would recommend around 16GB. I've got 32 myself, but even with the wank that I do, I feel that's a tad excessive.
 
The Logical Increments builds are geared mainly towards gaming. You'll only need a fraction of the graphics power that most of those builds have. I recommend going for a mid-tower build so you've got room for hard drives. And then scaling back the graphics card (a 1070 is plenty for a recording rig) and spending the savings on RAM.
 
I would just add that a low noise case might be a benefit depending on where the PC will be located. I have larger than normal case (Fractal Define R5) with a oversized CPU cooling fan and heat ducting that manufacturer clams to be as effective as water cooled - was an option at the 'a la carte' PC store i went to.
 
by todays standard
i5= not enough
16gb ram= not enough
1 hd/ssd= not enough

you need an i7 at a minimum
16 gb of ram is acceptable but you really need 32gb
and for the 1000th time
you need a separate recording drive from the operating system drive

128/256gb is plenty and then HDD/fast rpm for recording
 
I would agree that an i5 is not state of the art anymore. However, it is enough for my average project size which is about 5 stereo guitar tracks plus base, drums, and occasional keyboards. The whole thing depends on your project size. If you're going to do dozens or hundreds of audio tracks than you want more memory. If you want dozens of various samplers you want even more memory and CPU power. If you want to be on the safe side and avoid data losses you want a RAID 1 or 10 drive array.
 
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BillyZeppa said:
I would just add that a low noise case might be a benefit depending on where the PC will be located. I have larger than normal case (Fractal Define R5) with a oversized CPU cooling fan and heat ducting that manufacturer clams to be as effective as water cooled - was an option at the 'a la carte' PC store i went to.
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I went the same route also with the Fractal R5, and for a while before ordering parts, flipped flopped between Fan or water cool.
Ended up with the MasterAir Pro 4 (Coolmaster) very happy, temps are not even a consideration even while stress testing this thing and dead quiet.
 
iaresee said:
The Logical Increments builds are geared mainly towards gaming. You'll only need a fraction of the graphics power that most of those builds have. I recommend going for a mid-tower build so you've got room for hard drives. And then scaling back the graphics card (a 1070 is plenty for a recording rig) and spending the savings on RAM.
Click to expand...

Would that DAW's leveraged GPU's, and that DAW development was at least as sophisticated as bitcoin mining...

A 1070 is good enough to drive my Oculus Rift.
 
I can't recommend specific motherboards or other parts, since I've moved to notebooks and/or nettops, but, since I've tried several recently, I can say this - the more cores a CPU has, the better. It matters much more than clock speed for audio (not so for all applications).
 
ChristThePhone said:
I would agree that an i5 is not state of the art anymore. However, it is enough for my average project size which is about 5 stereo guitar tracks plus base, drums, and occasional keyboards. The whole thing depends on your project size. If you're going to do dozens or hundreds of audio tracks than you want more memory. If you want dozens of various samplers you want even more memory and CPU power. If you want to be on the safe side and avoid data losses you want a RAID 1 or 10 drive array.
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I only recommend i7's for 1 reason
i5's are misleading

Not all i5's are quad core
i5's depending on laptop vs pc can be VERY different

Also- even if you have an i3 i5 and i7 with the same specs same numbers- the technology in an i7 is better, faster in more ways than just the numbers

All i7's are quad core and have hyperthreading

so- that's 8 processors in protools
 
Depends on your project size and complexity and how many plugins you use. ChristThePhone's specs are plenty for simple home recording projects. That said, the cost difference to upgrade that would be small.

I would also steer clear of large SSD's for storage. They are far more expensive and less reliable in the long term. Better off getting a small, fast SSD for the boot/OS drive and use HDDs for bulk storage and back up the OS drive to that.
 
mr_fender said:
Depends on your project size and complexity and how many plugins you use. ChristThePhone's specs are plenty for simple home recording projects. That said, the cost difference to upgrade that would be small.
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Right now I want something that handle my own recordings. But that would still mean handling a full band's worth of separate tracks. And I do a lot of multi guitar tracking. Also I want something that can handle those plugins as I learn to use them and be useful for a long time to come.

I would also steer clear of large SSD's for storage. They are far more expensive and less reliable in the long term. Better off getting a small, fast SSD for the boot/OS drive and use HDDs for bulk storage and back up the OS drive to that.
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Yeah, that's pretty much what I had in mind.
 
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