Korean Job Discussion Forums

Trevor · Joined: 16 Nov 2005

It's for music production. Gaming computers work good for music, also because sound files and audio plugins eat up lots of processor and RAM. Where's the best deal for mail order? I am in Busan, so I can't do the Seoul Markets.

I know Danawa but I'm just a dumb wagook and I don't know how to search.

spliff · Joined: 19 Jan 2004 Location: Khon Kaen, Thailand

Try here on the left.

http://pc.danawa.com/price.html?defSite=PC&cate1=860&cate2=865

tractor · Joined: 26 Jan 2008

what operating system are you going to run? what music gear are you going to hook up to it?

Trevor · Joined: 16 Nov 2005

Thanks for that, Spliff. I want a fast hard drive with a 32 mg cache, I think. Can I customize those? I am thinking of the one on the bottom for $777 unless there's a better one.

Trevor · Joined: 16 Nov 2005

XP. Vista sucks for music I am told. Running your basic USB midi devices with a standard PCI soundcard for now, though I may upgrade the card.

spliff · Joined: 19 Jan 2004 Location: Khon Kaen, Thailand

Trevor · Joined: 16 Nov 2005

The last one on the left of the link you gave me. That's the one I want, for $777

I see that it's a Quad processor. That's perfect. does anybody know is there anything on that machine that would be counter to good Audio producion? Anything else I should look at? Thanks.

tractor · Joined: 26 Jan 2008

are you sure you need a quad? Music production isn't as demanding on the CPU as much as video and 3d. I would get a decent dual core and spend the extra on RAM, sound card, mixer, or monitor speakers. Even a dual monitor setup is really handy for music production.

Trevor · Joined: 16 Nov 2005

I use a lot of VST's. They eat processor like you wouldn't believe.

chevro1et · Joined: 01 Feb 2007 Location: Busan, ROK

A quad wont help you unless the software supports multi-threading to that level.

The new Wolfdale 45nm Intels seem to be mopping the floor with the previous gen of Conroe duals. One of the OC forums that I frequent has a load of guys hitting 4+ghz on air cooling with way lower temps and voltage than the Conroe duals or quads. Dunno about availability or pricing here in Korea though.

tractor · Joined: 26 Jan 2008

I run logic on a dual core hackintosh. Never had any problems with cpu load even if i use a bunch of plugins (AU/VST) at once. But i'm on the other spectrum with OS X/Logic, so maybe it's different for XP/Cubase.

eamo · Joined: 08 Mar 2003 Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

Audio programs don't stress modern CPU's much. Spend your money on sound cards, amp and speakers.

Remember, what you hear from your speakers is analogue. In the digital realm audio is very simple. Information in= quality. But to convert to an analogue signal for speakers you need a sound card with a superior DAC. I don't know much about soundcards. Read the reviews.

Trevor · Joined: 16 Nov 2005

I use Ableton. I sometimes use 20 VST's in a song and I want to be able to use 24 tracks at once. Can you do that on a Dual core Mac?

tractor · Joined: 26 Jan 2008

Well, I can't speak for Ableton since i haven't used it since version 3. But with logic I've had 12 instrumental software synth tracks + several audio tracks with loops with more than 20 AU/VSTplugins and the CPU never went past 50%. Even if i used NI Kore with tons of compressor/effects plugins layered over several other layers of software synths, it didn't make that much of a difference. But we are comparing apples to oranges here. i'm on OS X/Logic and you are on XP/Ableton. Logic was written by Apple so the quality of software integration is very high. + I have 2 gigs of 800mhz ram which help quite a bit.

It also depends on how well the plugins are written. Logic does a thorough evaluation on all the plugins installed and if there are any problems with them, it will either permit you from using them or caution you about possible problems when used. I never bother with faulty plugins that might be incompatible and as a result i have seldom issues when working.