Buying a Music Production Computer - PC or Mac? AVOID THESE 5 MISTAKES!

[@myrongrimes-broadcastmusic3247]

I am so glad that Presonus had the peace of mind to bring you on staff. You are definitely a Godsend for making Presonus Gear and Software workable and enjoyable as we learn from these youtube videos. I think that Gregor and Joe really make Presonus Studio One and Gear a step above other DAW's because of these great tutorials. Thanks for being a great teaching tool for the masses. Have a great day.

[@presonus]

Thank you so much, Myron! -GBY

[@allinonethegreat]

Yea for sure. These tutorials are the best.

[@Russplight]

Gregor is the bomb!

[@guyjackson1763]

Agree.

[@CRLFNKL]

Exactly my thoughts on this. Well said! Thank you for your contributions Gregor and Joe!

[@barco123456]

Excellent tutorial! For those who do not need the “top 5%” professional studio grade gear: I’m a ship designer who does music production as a hobby. I used to spend tons of money on computers for 3D CAD ship modelling, rendering and calcs….till the gaming laptops arrived. I now do both the design- and the S1 audio work on a high end gaming laptop without problems. Spending less money on a single machine allows also for buying a new (fast-unclogged) state-of-the-art machine each other year… just make sure to get rid of the HDD and use a big SSD instead. Thanks Gregor!

[@Dubb1000]

Been using Studio One for around a month, the S1 family is just, so wholesome. I love y'all!

[@whipsyofficial]

I went for Ryzen 7 5800x, 32Ram, 2TB SSD and so far don't regret it. I wish this video was posted sooner. I spent a lot of time searching for the crucial specs for audio PC. I would also recommend checking how many memory channels your CPU of choice and motherboard supports (not the slots). It can influence latency when playing sample-heavy instruments - obviously the more channels the better. Cheers!

[@sl5311]

That is the situation I'm in with building one with my son. Desktop, Laptop or no laptop, Apple or Windows. Everyone says Apple is popular in music production but what I'm reading on the issues with the MacBook Pros having soldered SSDs and keyboard issues and screen issues and what that would mean... We just killed a Gigabyte laptop and they don't sell the motherboards and it is now trash(or pay them for $1200 for a new motherboard-nope) we don't want another experience like this with Apple. My son really wants to use Logic(he uses Pro Tools at college) because he uses a lot of midi instruments in symphony compositions.

[@prsticks74]

Would love to see you explain the bios setup in computers it's never explained and is very important on how your system performs .

[@didgeman]

Love this. I already had a pc built for me and this confirms I did pretty well. One mistake I made was to think that the system drive would only need to be a half TB because I had two other 2 TB drives for samples and storage. I underestimated how often downloads would want to install to the system drive. So now I'm upgrading it to a 2 TB ssd drive as well. But the motherboard had extra slots for that so it's an easy task. By the way, another great subject to cover might be optimizing all the computer and operating system settings for audio recording. I don't know much about that and have been hard pressed to find resources that are understandable and easier to follow.

[@probilmusic3396]

which motherboard did you get?

[@peinmilan]

9:57 Don't underestimate the number of USB ports that you need! Especially count how many USB C, 3.1, 3.0, 2.0 devices you will have connected. You will need plenty. Auido interface, MIDI keyboard, control pad, some synths, edrum, foot controllers, digital amps, etc... I have a small studio but there are 15+ USB cables at the back of my PC.

[@Cadmeus]

Great tip on the connectivity features. Bought an MSI motherboard advertised with Thunderbolt 3 so I could get a Quantum interface, only for MSI to completely remove support, so you really have to do your homework for both features and manufacturers.

[@nandakishore588]

i got a xeon processor & an SSD to be blazing fast in music production. it was, for a few days. then windows 10 screwed me over with an update which artificially lengthens my boot time to 10 minutes(!) with an SSD. imagine ! i get to stare at a black screen for 10 minutes on startup & this problem has still not been solved with recent updates. never underestimate the power of microsoft to destroy your investment in the blink of an eye.

[@atasinchi]

@@nandakishore588 I feel you bro

[@now_im_here3698]

I bought a PC audio labs Roc Box last fall. Maximum upgrade everything except the graphics card (only upgraded to the first level there) Was about 6k Canadian but holy smokes this computer is BAD ASS. Can literally NEVER hear it and it preforms lke a champ ! Fast AF. I'm sure I'll have it for at least 10 years.... So I chalk it down as a great investment ! The guys over there at PCAL are very knowledgeable and helpful. Highly recommended !

[@ChrisReedJr]

I've been googling for straight talk about this topic for years - what a great presentation of the facts and WHY they are the facts. Thank you!

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

Core i5 that is 3 years old still runs Reason 11 and Fruity loops no issues.

[@comfortzoneall-in-onetv]

​@@HOLLASOUNDSWhat are the specs of your i5 machine?

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

@@comfortzoneall-in-onetv I dont know why I said Fruity Loops because I never run FL on that Laptop also turned out Reason didn't fully work with the more advanced devices or plugins. Also that laptop I cant use anymore because it keeps pressing random buttons on the keyboard and I cant fix it. I got a i7 Razerblade now.

[@djtommykeys]

You nailed it by explaining the need for powerful single core performance. Let us say that eight motor scooters do not equal one truck. I get all I need from a quad core i5 CPU.

[@beautifulcaramelman]

in 2021?

[@djtommykeys]

@@beautifulcaramelman yes! for my beats studio and my EDM recordings with vintage hardware synths I'll be good for another 10 years lol. My CPU meters never break 40%.

[@JeanLoupRSmith]

It's also worth pointing out that different DAWs will have drastically different needs for computer resources. Studio One 5 is really good at only using what it needs but in my experience Pro Tools First, which is the basic, free version of Pro-Tools is an ogre when it comes to RAM and CPU usage, that makes me wonder what the full version is like. I don't know how other DAWs measure up but that's something to keep in mind

[@JohannesNielsen]

I swapped from Abelton to Reaper which is far less resource hungry

[@sl5311]

@@JohannesNielsenDo you know what Logic is like?

[@sm5574]

Mistake #6, buying a laptop. If you NEED a laptop, then get one. But you will likely get a much better computer for much less money if you buy a tower -- especially if you already have a screen to use with it. My HP tower came with an i7 3.2 GHz for $1000. Comparable laptops were priced at nearly double that. Laptops also often have issues with heat dissipation, which is less common with towers.

[@nedim_guitar]

Thank you, Gregor! I built my computer some 7 years ago, and it's still great. A gamer colleague helped me. But this will be even more useful when time comes to upgrade.

[@hayats3583]

everything he says has value, literally no rambling wow. thank you for the incredible video. great tips.

[@D.E.B.T-Music]

I Use an AWD gaming system, that runs my Studio One 5, Professional, with ease, I also keep my soundsets on a separate external hard drive a 250Gb SSD, which works without any problems when recording, mixing, or mastering in studio one. I also use the same system and Studio One to put together my podcast series, I have been impressed since upgrading from artist 4.2 to Professional 5.3, the software has never failed me yet. all that's left to add is to update my audio interface (currently using a Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen) to Presonus io24. Keep up the great work Gregor & Joe

[@Obedia]

Thank you for mentioning PCAudioLabs and what we do! We appreciate you all.

[@Obedia]

@@bahgo thank you! That means a lot to us 😊

[@randallnielson2011]

PreSonus, I know you were just bought out - I don’t care. PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH GREGOR AND JOE AND DON’T CHANGE ANY ASPECT OF THEIR CURRENT APPROACHES TO INSTRUCTIONAL AND PRESONUS CULTURE VIDEOS!!! These guys epitomize an educational and professional ecosystem that is unprecedented in this market. We love it. We need it. We will always come back if it’s here. Thank you for your wisdom and insight in giving these gifted guys their podiums, and keep churning the vids out. Thank you!!!

[@ProgressiveSoundAudio]

Some great tips here, I see a lot of people recommend to others "Just get an i7" without even considering core count or clock speed! With so many options on the market these tips will be great for many, myself included!

[@Bhallmed]

Doesn’t work that way. I have an I7 surface pro. It doesn’t work with the Presonus 24r. The clock speed is what drags it down.

[@pedrosilvaproductions]

Any half decent tech savvy person would tell you it's not really the fact that "it's an i7". And also, intel has been lacking lately compared to AMD. Might as well get a Ryzen. I have a Ryzen 5 3600 and couldn't be happier. It's a 6 core 12 threaded behemoth running at 4.2ghz and it cost me 180€ new. It's more than enough for most people and I work with 40-90 orchestral VST channels all at once without any problems

[@miccullen]

Yeah, anyone suggesting an i7 rather than an AMD is REALLY out of the loop, and should be ignored.

[@rdoursenaud]

@@miccullen I agree, save for a few plugins and applications that are only optimized for Intel, sadly.

[@rickbserrano7648]

DEDICATED VIDEO EDITING & MUSIC PRODUCTION COMPUTER BUILD - $2.300 I would like some help and advise from The Community, as this would be my first Computer Build, and would be exclusively for the above purpose. I don't want to cheap out, but I also can't afford thousands of dollars. and my budget is about $2.000 - $2.500 Max. Are ALL the components below compatible and suitable for this kind of build? Are there better choices, but keeping the same budget? I would REALLY APPRECIATE any help & advise you can give for a FIRST time PC builder! 1- ASUS TUF Gaming B550-PLUS AMD AM4 Zen 3 Ryzen 5000 & 3rd Gen Ryzen ATX Gaming Motherboard. 2- AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 8-core, 16-Thread Unlocked Desktop Processor. 3- ARCTIC MX-4 (incl. Spatula, 8 g) - Premium Performance Thermal Paste for all processors (CPU, GPU - PC, PS4, XBOX). 4- Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition RGB CPU Air Cooler, SF120R RGB Fan, Anodized Gun-Metal Black, Brushed Nickel Fins, 4 Copper Direct Contact Heat Pipes for AMD Ryzen. 5- MSI Gaming GeForce GTX 1650 128-Bit HDMI/DP/DVI 4GB GDRR6 HDCP Support DirectX 12 VR Ready OC Graphics Card (GTX 1650 D6 Ventus XS OC). 6- 2x CORSAIR Vengeance RGB RS 64GB (2x32GB) DDR4 3600 (PC4-28800) C18 Desktop Memory. {128GB Total}. Prevent Bottlenecks - Future Proof? Is it overkill? Would 64GB be enough, and if needed latter on it would probably be cheaper to add the extra 64GB? 7- Western Digital 1TB WD Blue SN570 NVMe Internal Solid State Drive SSD - Gen3 x4 PCIe 8Gb/s, M.2 2280, Up to 3,500 MB/s - WDS100T3B0C. {Operating System & installation of video & music software, plugins and sample & loop libraries}. 8- Inland Platinum 2TB SSD NVMe PCIe Gen 3.0x4 M.2 2280 3D NAND Internal Solid State Drive, R/W up to 3,400/3,000 MB/s, PCIe Express 3.1 and NVMe 1.3 Compatible. {Fast access storage of video & music Projects} 9- Seagate Iron Wolf 8TB NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM 256MB Cache for RAID Network Attached Storage. {Regular mass storage}. 10- Power Supply 850W Fully Modular 80+ Gold Certified with RGB Light Mode. 11- MUSETEX ATX PC Case, Mid-Tower Computer Gaming Case with 6 Pcs ARGB Fans Pre-Installed, USB 3.0, Tempered Glass Panels, Black, MS6-HB. {Would this case work for Music Production?} Note: Not interested in Gaming! Just Dedicated Video Editing & Music Production! Thanks.

[@friedhalloumi]

“All that glitters is not gold.” Frodo did a great job. Lots of helpful information delivered effectively!

[@billaveda6408]

Great video. I've been producing on laptops for almost 9 years, slowly learning my craft in audio producing and composing various forms of EM from EDM to Ambient. I went from Win 7 to 8.1 to 10. I learned lots of work arounds to keep CPU usage down, though many times I would freeze up S 1 by pushing its boundaries. For me, that was the only way to find out what the possibilities and boundaries were with the hardware and the software. Now. I'm looking at opening my wallet a bit and spending more so I can upgrade to current ST 1 V6. This video has been a great help. Thanks.

[@ocelot972]

I'm so glad I changed my main DAW and joined Studio One! Appart from the fact that Presonus knows on which parts of the program to focus and develop, content like this is very helpful and they do it in a very proffesional way and to the point. That's why I rarely need to watch several more videos to get my head around particular things because I can always come back to these well made official ones. When it comes to PC built, this video was my base for further research since I had almost zero knowledge in that area and I've managed to built a great PC that will finally be a great home for Studio One and other applications. I really do hope they continue in the same pace because that's one of the main reasons I realised I need to change my main DAW and ended up choosing Studio One. It's not about "more more more", it's about focus.

[@MrAtsyhere]

Not just great sound but also superb Video Quality of your video here. Far better than 90% of anything else I can see on my low quality monitor!

[@General_Ictus]

Great video, but I would like to point out to everyone watching that this is really for a professional studio that has a $3000-$5000 budget to buy a professional workstation that they will have for upwards of 6-8 years and that they will be loading and saving projects on every day for that time. If you are getting by on a $600 dollar laptop with a 1tb HDD, there is no reason to upgrade. Work with what you've got, upgrade gear ONLY when it is holding you back. Also, this video is really general knowledge if you plan to build or even just check the boxes on a builder site. I would do more research into each area before trying to build something for yourself. I built my computer 4 years ago. It was 1500 dollars by the time I was done, and I see no reason to upgrade it any time soon for audio production.

[@sl5311]

Have you used an Apple laptop? We aren't sure what we are going to do, my son is taking audio production classes and he has been using a Gigabyte 15X something and it just croaked and we found out there is not right of repair-and that Apple is that way now too with the MacBook Pros. He wants to try Logic but needs a laptop. Hard to find the answers.

[@General_Ictus]

@@sl5311 What DAW does he use now, and what problem does he have with it? What is your budget? Lastly, How complex are his sessions? I think these are 3 important questions to ask. If he is locked into Logic, likes Mac OS, and you don't care about cost, the newer Macbook Pros are fantastic, but they are costly, and if the DAW he is using now works well, there is no reason to change.

[@Capt-Cran]

Gregor ... your videos and common sense approach to audio work is so helpful ... I am clueless on many things ... but each time I watch one of your videos ... it helps me immensely to become better in working on my music ... thus making everything better ... thank you tons!!

[@JohnStraussmusic]

Wow this is a very valuable video. Rare to find a company that tells you in detail what computer specs to look for to get the best performance out of there software. Thank you for taking the time to make this.

[@sl5311]

I can confirm! Searching for months and this is the only one I've found useful.

[@weakcannow]

Great video. 👍 But could you help me pick the right parts for a new pc build especially based on what you mention in this video please 🙏 I'm willing to compensate you for your time ⏲️

[@markallen381]

Regardles of all the things available, my basic specs will always be 24/96. I have a large collection of 16/44 and do not want to go back, but I hear the difference at 24/96. So all my recording and results will end up 24/96. I just do not see a need to go higher than 24/96. I also agree with the SSD, fans and PS. I would add a cd/dvd opticle disk drive.

[@nicovo9237]

Why a cd/dvd optical disk?

[@MIHAO]

great beat playing in the background! also, as a die hard geek myself, props to gregor for knowing his way around computers!

[@dk60ish]

Most midi musicians are handicapped by having to watch KZbin guides that focus on graphic-gaming performance 1st, recommended sound libraries 2nd, so this is quite the rare blessing, thanks!

[@YourCaliBos]

Excellent video topic , really helpful info . Hope to see more of these , matter of fact you don’t hear to much about this topic for us musicians. Cheers from Michigan BC

[@sl5311]

Still the same situation 2 years later! Either someone is a musician or they are a computer person, rarely both it seems. Hard to find out exactly what one needs. Great video, the only one I've found that gets into the intricacies of the systems

[@RonaldFigura]

Great video. A must watch for all S1 users.

[@KASmonkeys]

I just purchased a new PC after many months of researching it primarily for S1 use. DLC performance is key to choosing a motherboard peeps, along with single core performance.

[@davidjenkins8449]

Gaming machines are great for audio production! When I first started building computers I thought more cores is better but I soon discovered higher cores cpus are more expensive and their base clock and even boost clocks were not as fast a lower core cpus that gamers raved about. I though I'm building a workstation so I need a xeon not a gaming rig and I thought the workstation should be able to handle gaming. However I wanted to game and all the videos on youtube showed that higher core count cpus were actually worse at gaming. So I went with the fastest cpu I could get at that time and luckily I was right. This translated to great performance in the daw. A fast cpu is where the money should be spent just like gaming where you want to get high fps. I think most audio pcs don't need more than 8 physical cores. The faster the better.

[@Daniel-Hawk]

My self build PC is a mix between gaming and studio rig. Low latency , 8 cores , 9tb on several ssd.. 32gb ram at 3300 mhz And cost me a fraction of professional studio PC .. 3 years ago, with 16gb and 2tb hd and a rtx2070 I spend 1800€ Now upgraded to 32gb , liquid cooling system, 4 tb on hd 5tb on ssd and a big fat rtx3090

[@RodKruz]

I own an MSI Prestige 15, and it performs great for audio and even video. It could get a bit loud when running a big project, but I would still recommend it.

[@canvoodoo]

Thank you, Mr. Frodo sir. One DAW to rule them all and in the darkness bind them.

[@KoolKatBeatz]

how did you get the site in english?

[@retrowaweru2180]

Gregory Positive 1 !!!!! King of the United Kingdom Studio One !!!

[@roberthazelton6347]

I checked out PC Audio Labs. Wowza. Their prices are pretty high for not the best choices internally. Other than the site, I really appreciated your insights. Thank you for the video.

[@Po1itica11yNcorrect]

I filled up a 2 TB internal SSD in less than a month. Ended up moving almost all of my sample libraries over to a Samsung 8 TB external SSD and have since used up about half of that.

[@katnax3059]

I feel that some topics were left out, oversimplified. For example. What kind of SSD should i get? Is Sata enough for larger sessions? And RAM, what clocks should it have? I thinkt that many people ask what computer should they get for audio, but rarely there are guides with specifics on what to aim for exactly.

[@rainyrelaxing9887]

This video is ABSOLUTELY spot on! Tip of the hat, PreSonus

[@travelan]

I would never advise anyone to buy an Intel Mac anymore, even for audio. It's going to be Apple Silicon all the way. Studio One lacks behind with compatibilty, but this is the future. Performance of my M1 is comparable to my old Intel i9!

[@presonus]

We are actively working on M1 support.

[@NocturnalRecords7]

One guy to not take advise from is the one telling you to buy new/untested chip for specialized task over already proven one- "its the future and mac's are free!"

[@b.h.f5116]

@@presonus hello do you have any idea when it will release ? I would like to switch to studio one but hesitating with Logic because it’s M1 native

[@Jazman342]

I’ve been using computers for music for the last 20 years, the last 8 of them with an early retina MBP. Been thinking of a new MBP fo r a couple of years and nearly pulled the pin on a 16”. So glad I didn’t with the launch of M1. My current mbp works fine for what I need as I have a 2 tb ssd installed. ( it was one of the last ones you could replace it). Bought a Maschine mk3 a few years ago and am at the moment considering a stand alone unit rather than a new pc. MPC Live2 current first choice though Maschine+ also being considered. Really waiting to see the new mbp M1x though, and just when music software developers in general catch up.

[@seok84]

Im a Studio one user since the 1st version. Im on a i5 4th gen and its still super fast! I have Ableton live and used to use cubase for over a decade but only use studio one now. You guys are doing a really good job. Thanks.

[@toddwmac]

Thanks Gregor. Love to see you do a geeky walkthrough of all the tech settings w/in S1. I suspect even the basics are helpful for many.

[@mainpage725]

Where was this video 2 months ago when I finally made the upgrade from my 5 year old toshiba laptop to to my lenovo i7 9500 3.8ghz up to 4.3 I belive, 512 GB HD 16 ddr4 ram it's not the best but on my budget it works for me. Great video btw!!

[@sl5311]

How is it working 2 years on?

[@vanderloo1978]

You should update this video every December each year. Do an annual update with recommendations for pc and max models.

[@seangarrison3515]

I was looking for a video like this. Thanks for putting it together.

[@nissimtrifonov5314]

You showed Diva while you were talking about how 1 channel can only be processed by once core (~3:14) and of course this is true most of the time but an instance of Diva can actually use multiple cores, the button for enabling this is right up there near the "Output".

[@saricubra2867]

If you want the sweespot between singlethread perfomance and core count, it is the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X CPU . Singlethread is a little slower than Intel Core i9-11900K but it's basically the same thing, in fact, in gaming both are pretty close like 1% difference or something like that. Then that will change with 12 gen Core.

[@cinemaipswich4636]

Speed over cores. As much RAM as possible. 4 NVMe drives (OS+Programs, Samples, Temp Cache, Export Storage).

[@xOWSLA]

Gregor, I think every time you are reading my mind and making a video about that. I am trying to build a music production/gaming pc and I researched a lot about components I need to able to fit together work as a harmony. According to this video, the only thing I should consider is my ssd storage which I was thinking for 1tb nvme ssd and 2 tb hdd. Now instead of that 2tb hdd, I will look for a second nvme ssd. Thanks a lot :D

[@fabellara01]

this is one of the most important topic so far. thank you gregor

[@ikamy]

I'm searching over a week and this is the best information I found ! Thank you

[@sl5311]

I found it after months of searching. I wish it was only a week! Why is there so little information out there like this I will never understand.

[@ikamy]

The information is outdated for now@@sl5311

[@2482jamie]

would love an updated vid for this. but thank you!

[@Stuart.Branson.]

Good explanation - big orchestral arrangements = more cores. Thanks a lot.

[@themikeymaulerproject527]

I would love to see a comprehensive and up-to-date deep dive into setting and tweaks for best audio performance; especially towards S1 users. Nice job Presonus & Gregor... keep it up!

[@davidjenkins8449]

With windows 10 there isn't many tweaks you need to make other than putting your pc into high performance mode in the power options settings. I don't know about Mac or earlier versions of windows.

[@chillwalker]

...have been working for 5 years with an 11 year old HP Z800 workstation (about 8000 $ then, 600 now) with 2 6-core 3.3 Ghz XEON processors. Now for the first time I have a problem that the new NI Massive synth needs a newer chip generation. I got a 5 year old laptop for this. Folks, buy old workstations for 1/10th the original price and be happy. I recommend anything from the HP Z620.

[@brendanhoffmann8402]

I bought a PC for approx $2000 AUD, I built it myself and it is fantastic for audio. I'm thinking of upgrading my cpu at a further $500 AUD though (Currently have a 5600x, want a 5900x). But I have 48Gb of ram, many many hard drives including 2 nvme SSDs (1 spare slot) and mechanical drives for raw data. I even got a 1660 super graphics card so can play casual and older games just fine. I'm hoping a new cpu will give me more headroom when recording at lower latencies in Ableton 11. I upgraded to this system from a 2015 MacBook pro, which was frankly terrible for recording. Just not powerful enough and I hear Apple silicone macs are terrible for recording audio too. lol @ using 11900k as an example, the 10900k was actually faster!

[@216Numbskull]

Excellent information with a straight forward explanation for any music enthusiast to understand. Great job my friend. Danke! ++Peace, Funk & Rock n' Roll 4 Your Soul++

[@AHOY_MATEY]

Informative and delivered in a way that an amateur (me) could understand. Thank you.

[@gregolson6424]

Thxs Gregor for this very informative info on computers for DAWs.I am looling into upgrading my PC and this helps tremendously on my decision.thxs again.

[@Russplight]

Excellent video Gregor! You articulated the confusion with purchasing a computer for audio. I take you're using a mac - what model are you using for audio?

[@marcpinion]

Thanks this is fantastic and very helpful.

[@KC-bi9jw]

I would just like to add that you can have the most powerful computer, fancy expensive monitors, and preamps and gear to boot. None of that means anything in your untreated (or poorly treated) room. I get asked advice all the time about gear and I always have to bring this up.

[@letmebreakitdown2u152]

Please explain further.

[@KC-bi9jw]

@@letmebreakitdown2u152 …acoustic treatment is more important than gear…

[@letmebreakitdown2u152]

@@KC-bi9jw but what is that? Padding on walls? Something different?

[@216Numbskull]

​@@KC-bi9jw Although I do agree with you to the importance of a acoustically well designed room to work in. If we're talking about things more important than the other in music production? You can have the best gear & acoustically designed rooms to record & mix in all you want. However, the most important thing to have over everything else is "EARS" my friend, good ears period. If you don't have a good ear for sound all that money you spent on expensive audio gear is all for naught. Real Talk! +Peace & Rock n' Roll 4 Your Soul+

[@KC-bi9jw]

@@216Numbskull well how about this: a well treated room can show you HOW to use your ears correctly. 🤔 (glasses for your ears)

[@dennmillsch]

I'm trying to understand a little deeper than what is presented here. Seems to me that RAM is where the recording and mixing happen because it all happens in real time and RAM is the fastest memory. We need enough RAM to record all of our tracks, and we need enough RAM to hold our effects processors, and enough RAM to give space for that track data to be processed by those effects. RAM would also contain the basic virtual instrument engines being used. So we need many GB of RAM for all that. The min requirement that PreSonus lists is 8GB and 16GB recommended. But I could see where you need even more RAM with lots of tracks and lots of effects. My computer came with 12GB, so I wonder if I'll hit the wall with more complicated productions? The DAW software can be stored on any drive, the type of drive determining how fast it loads into RAM. Same for effects processors. If they are used, their engines get loaded into RAM. In other words the DAW software and the effects processors are loaded up once as needed and that's where they execute. The drive storing these things doesn't need to be screaming fast. On the other hand VST instrument data is stored on a drive and is streamed real time as needed into a recording session. The transfer rate from the drive needs to be very fast to keep up with real time streaming data for all instruments being used. Data is probably streamed in chunks and buffered in RAM. Buffering makes it possible for less demanding songs that a hard drive could possibly be used. But for busy songs with lots of VSTs, then Solid State memory is needed because it is much faster than a spinning magnetic based disk drive. A SATA SSD would be the next step up, but SATA does put some limitations on transfer rate. Is it restrictive? I don't know. Or you can use a PCI based SS memory which is the highest performance and much closer to RAM speed than hard drive speed. The amount of storage for VST and other related stuff probably depends on how many VSTs you have, so from a fraction of a 256GB, or 2TB or more if you have lots of instruments. Lastly to store and retrieve our song files we could use a hard drive. Speed is not important as nothing needs to happen real time since we are just storing or retrieving. But if we are impatient and don't want to wait for load or store times, we could use an SSD. We can mix and match and just use SSDs for all of the above. But massive SSDs can get spendy so that maybe we'd use a hard drive where possible. Is this a correct analysis? If not, could you explain why not?

[@sillyfello]

Really helpful Gregor, Thanks.. Can also share your System Configuration and your type of workflow on it.. It would be a great reference point to start with..

[@KirbyDTrim]

Yup, i'd love to see his setup and workflow too.

[@robflores5172]

Super hyped for my next studio pc build!

[@sue08401]

With a lot of people now using DaVinci resolve's Fairlight for tweaking their videos you might want to think about GPU memory too. You don't need to go full gonzo video render mode - but Resolve does use GPU memory so something in the 4+ GB range is good as an addition to regular memory.

[@johndeskin9429]

Thank you for these videos, You can not understand how much I appreciate a Professional presentation and intelligent information. Are you doing these on the fly or scripted, if your going from the dome you have a true talent….

[@mikecole2837]

Amdahl's law specifies that increasing core count will always result in diminishing returns. once you get to around 10 cores, there is an inflection point where adding more cores really doesn't have much benefit in most situations. I think the sweet spot for most people is an 8 core 16 thread with amazing base clock speed. Good advice here!!

[@TheArakan94]

You might want to check out Gustafson's law.. :) Answer to diminishing gains is simply to increase amount of parallel work and you get benefit from more cores again.. Yes, it won't decrease the minimal time to complete the task, but you can complete higher quality or bigger task in same time. That being said, it is true that most common workloads do not benefit much from more than 8 cores.. Yet. Ten years ago, same could be said for having more than 2 cores ;)

[@producertv8964]

I'm waiting for the upcoming new Macbook Pro 16' M1X and I'm exited.

[@casperhowell6523]

This is a must watch for those starting out. Great vid 👍

[@vinyljunkie07]

Wait does the PC version of Studio One not also have hardware acceleration?

[@NocturnalRecords7]

The goal is to get Studio One(and other daws) to process 1 audio channel with multiple cores and spread the load evenly (single clock speeds are not really going up anymore but core counts do)- no one managed (yet) to accomplish this. Having that said SO is utilizing resources better than most DAW's out there.

[@Mitsumata]

Reaper sends his regards

[@rdoursenaud]

If it was that simple it would already be implemented! Parallel computing is no joke. Add the near real time nature of audio and the synchronisation and latency compensation being paramount and you have quite a programming challenge!

[@NocturnalRecords7]

@@rdoursenaud You concluded from my reply that I think "X" is simple- how? In my reply, I was referring to words said by the host -if that wasn't clear. In the comment above this one, i also mention something more obvious - "Clock Speeds are no longer going up but core counts do". We are at the stage where utilizing all cores and dynamically assign resources effectively is a must to unlock the potential of ALL DAW's - i don't see any other path. I really don't want to see Studio One X with mandatory HDX cards (same as ProTools HDX) You have CPU and VGA to with - utilize those popular resources and you won't go into a niche market. I hope my position is not clear.

[@NocturnalRecords7]

@@Mitsumata Havent tested it for a year now - are you claiming Reaper is ahead of the pack now? - if so, do share some tests.

[@cfs]

@@NocturnalRecords7 I use Audiogridder (free) on the same machine (or other). I have it use 1 block of latency, which is compensated for. Using Audiogridder can then result in MASSIVE differences in CPU usage, even when running on the same computer. Let's take the CPU hog of Transatlantic plate running at 96khz in S1. If I bump that up to a reverb time over 3 seconds, the CPU pegs (i9 9900K at 5ghz). Run it in Audiogridder, and it uses < 50% of that CPU amount.

[@NicholasMazzio]

thank you so much!

[@slayabouts]

Can you put this onto a pdf list or something? I’d love to be able to read a list of recommended specs when looking at parts lists

[@earledaniels4539]

I want to upgrade to a new PC. Unfortunately, after reading thru the comments, I am more confused than ever. The other problem with Windows PCs is that their system is not user friendly for music production. There are so many system settings you need to change to maximize its efficiency.

[@luis996]

Great video, Gregor! Can you do something similar for laptops users?

[@ahawk706]

This is more towards Music Production.What about for only Mixing and Mastering purposes ?

[@oscarmorales-cn3hz]

I'm about to buy a new computer, the big problem with studio one is that you need a good graphic card, that's why my CPU was too hot in studio one but not in reaper. The prices of graphic cards are insane because of mining... Thanks for the advice about graphic cards, cheers.

[@Bcwilderness]

brilliant clear info, so single core high base count a good place to start, thanks

[@Bcwilderness]

im looking for a laptop with low latency monitoring for layering say 4 powerfull drum vsts and guitar sims low sample rate, my 6th gen i7 and 16gb ram is clicking all over the place and dropouts any suggestions on a good base start, many thanks

[@marksadventures3889]

I use use loads of Kontakt, Spitfire, bbc orchestral plug ins and heaps of live recordings, drums especially and layered guitars with or without fx, plus then I I want to put it to 4k film I'm editing at the same time. So far I've been trying to do score in parts and then add them in a final score, it takes up far too many hours. i want to work on the fly. I'm going for 128 ram ddr4 and m.2 @2gb. G-force card I've got - 3 years old but okay for the requirements and more. I'm going to use the big drives for external storage - Hdd from experience I got through 2tb in a year, so 20tb in old skool drives and as you say keep the fast drives where they're needed.

[@TheToolshedStudio]

Thanks for that very informative video, I especially like that you take the time to explain why the most expensive option is rarely the best option. Check your needs before specing out a 5000€+ computer or you set yourself up for disappointment !

[@michaelanderson4265]

Great information..!! Thanks

[@johnwade7430]

I am going for a Mac in my next studio set up. Are M1 machines ok??

[@sarahtonin4649]

I would add that if possible, dedicate your audio computer to audio production, and optimize it for that purpose. Also, go with a PC, unless you enjoy spending money unneccesarily (Mac).

[@budgetguitarist]

I run three platforms at my house (Windows 10, Mac OS, Linux), and they're each very good at different things. I think that it's a bad idea to give advice like "Don't waste money on platform X" because there's a use case for everything. The M1 and M2 Mac Minis are very competitive with inexpensive PCs, performance-wise. For a dedicated hardware tower that can be upgraded, PC is the way to go. If you have to have great performance AND great battery life, the MacBook Air has no competition because of the low power usage of the M1/M2 chip.

[@winstontk]

This presenter is amazing. Thank you for this very informative video!

[@briancase6180]

The other reason to over estimate the "hard drive" size (is an SSD a hard "drive"? Nothing is being driven....): Drive lifetime. An SSD has a "terra-bytes written" rating, which has to do with how much data writing is expected and can be accommodated by the drive over its lifetime. The issue centers around the facts that: (a) an SSD writes data in large blocks, and (b) these blocks can be written only so many times (maybe a couple thousand) before writing fails. A larger SSD can handle more data writes because it has, simply, more blocks.

[@tradrudeboy]

I would like to see a breakdown of ATX vs Mini ATX builds for music production.

[@gitarman666]

Low box checker here, Guilty of overspending and yes it’s very frustrating BTW Diva backwards I’d AVID! Coincidence? Umm yeah probably just a coincidence

[@caderik1386]

Oh finally some sanity on the CPU benchmark and specs. But quick note... I did many experiments on the SSDs for my sample library but sadly this doesn't seem to make too much difference on my project loading time - there seem to be a lot of complex stuff happening when Studio One loads a project (well same with Ableton). And last comment, buying a high quality power supply did reduce my overall noise.

[@erichoodmusic5810]

Thank You for this video. I learned alot. I wish that this video came out before I purchased my last computer. LOL!

[@natanyofsho]

It literally depends on your audio interface and it’s connection type. And there’s three main pc company’s AMD Intel and Apple. AMD is great for gaming and streaming and video editing, Intel good for music and gaming, and apple best for music. Thunder bolt connectivity is an apple proprietary connection so it gets finicky when paired with other pc parts and thunder bolt is the fastest on the market so everyone who is professional audio mainly uses apple computers. You can use a custom PC instead but then it gets really noisy compared to how silent apple computers are and also custom pc will have to mess around in the bios if you wanna gets thunderbolt comparable connection. Otherwise you can just use a USB audio interface but they don’t sound as prestine as the high end interfaces

[@flossyEnt412]

Great Video lots if Important Information

[@phillamoore157]

This is the reason I purchased the i7-8700K processor. But, as of this video, I don't know if anything has taken its place. I'm not ABOUT to drop that much money on a Mac. And, the vast majority of stuff I record is outboard. The fastest single core processor made, and 32g RAM, with the option of 32g more. And, solid state drives including NVME. Is that still the norm? Again, I'm recording standard outboard gear (i.e. 70's/80's classic rock recordings).

[@hulkslayer626]

I have been thinking about getting a computer (my previous 2 were older models when I got them years ago and on the lower end of the price spectrum to begin with) and am pretty computer illiterate... lucky, I saw that Sweetwater offer "custom" PC's specifically built for music production with all these problems well thought out and addressed... allegedly lol Seems the way to go.

[@chillwalker]

Justbuy a double Xeon Workstation from the last decade (like a HP 600 - HPZ 840) And you will be happy for the next 5 Years...with spending less than 600 Bugs for up to 16 cores....Just acknowledge: Today's "New Tech" in Consumer Products was already available in professional Gear 10 Years ago. I am running a dual Processor HP Z800 as main Video and DAW (12 cores at 4,2 max)...,and a second Dual Xeon Z600 via network...just as a additional VST Rack.....Sometimes I try to get a bluescreen...but I am failing at this task ;-)

[@nothingmemorable486]

Hi all.... Great vid Gregor as ever... I'm going through this right now. My Options: 1: Mac Mini... Great power and silent but 16gb too much for me. 2: Upgrade old PC to Ryzen 5600x with new mobo, 32GB and NVME approx £700. (after watching this video I understand that integrated graphics is not a good idea... shame because I ws gonna go for a 5600g or 5700g) 3: Buy older but high spec Xeon workstation e5 1650 v4 six core 3.6 ghz or e5 1680 v4 eight core with 32gb etc etc £450.... I understand the M1 and Ryzen will be more powerful than the Xeons but by how much???Those workstations were mega bucks when new and a lot more power than I have right now.... It might be a great Studio One pc maybe?? Its so hard making the right choices in life.. haha..