Music Production PC UPDATE | With Performance Examples!

[@JohnnyColeMurdockMusic]

I love that I am not the only one doing music production on a PC. I've been using an MSI Creator for awhile but I just ordered the parts to build a killer creator PC

[@EnricoAnsaloni]

Recently I made a PC build for a musician friend, and I chose the same CPU as yours. My build is a bit more powerful because I got an Asus z790 TUF motherboard with 64Gb DDR5 6400 RAM and a 420mm AIO radiator to keep the CPU temps in check, also the case I chose, a Fractal Meshify 2, XL has more airflow than the NZXT ad I filled it with 6x140 Noctua industrial PPC fans which I tuned to keep the noise down while keeping good temps. My friend has still to try it fully with his larger projects: he is a classical musician and composer so some projects have more than 200 tracks and tons of VST, and he is still in the process of updating to the latest versions of all the plugins he needs which are a lot (We did a fresh windows install). So I'm very happy to hear that your PC performs so well, because I was not 100% sure about that, since I have a very similar PC also but I only male very small projects that are more for exercise and learning, so I wasn't 100% sure about the performance he would get. Thanks for reassuring me with your video!

[@ZachWirchak]

Sounds like a great build! I'm pretty confident the one you built will be able to run 200 track projects really well!

[@mark-ze4en]

Keep us posted on that guys success with the board I am doing similar work.

[@vinceliljohnmusic]

i can't wait til the day i build my first pc, FL Studio is my DAW of choice

[@chills_tiny_mom]

same

[@successdivisioncorp]

Whats up Bro, Great Video. Was wondering if the Intel degradation Problem with 13th/14th cpu has affected your 13700k? Have you noticed any issues with your processor?

[@ZachWirchak]

@@successdivisioncorp I have not noticed any issues on my end. I've been super happy with it. I use it pretty heavily with all the music production and video production as well. Most of the time no matter how hard I'm pushing it, I'm still sitting under 50-60% CPU usage.

[@cfhklhog]

Why B-760? It's not OC-able. Why not Z790?

[@ZachWirchak]

@@cfhklhog I ended up going with a Z690 from MSI. I touch on it briefly in the video. I wanted to keep the over budget as close to $1200 as possible. But the one I got initially needed to be flashed to work with the 13700k, and after doing a little research on that, I saw that there was the MSI Z690 in stock down the road.... so I went and snagged that to put in the build. There should be a link to the exact board in the description for this video.

[@Skai_music]

Thank you so much for this useful info! I'd also like to know: 1. If you were to build a PC today, would you use the 14700K? 2. Do you have liquid cooling on your CPU? 3. Would you say your PC runs silently? Thanks!!

[@ZachWirchak]

Great questions! 1) I like to have up-to-date hardware, so I would probably lean towards the 14th gen just because it's the newer of the two. But, there is no question the 13th gen has all the power needed. 2) It is not liquid cooled. In fact I still use the stock fans on the box and the cpu fan/cooler I got. And the temps even under heavy load never get close to any unsafe levels. 3) I would say it is a little louder than I'd want. I am wanting to replace the case fans to something quieter, but I am unfortunately getting use to it. And it hasn't been a problem when tracking in the same room.

[@Skai_music]

@@ZachWirchak Thank you for all the help! 💡🙂👍🏻

[@novalogue]

Why Intel over AMD?@@ZachWirchak

[@ZachWirchak]

@@novalogue My last handful of builds I've had, have had either an Intel i3, i5 or i7 and they've all been perfect. Never an issue. I personally haven't had an AMD build since maybe my very first recording rig back in high school? I'm not an AMD hater, I just happen to always end up with an Intel.

[@Dust_lust]

Excellent video, I saw that your round-trip latency is 8.7 ms. At least for me, that is quite noticeable, especially if I play fast stuff on guitar. How low do you think you can take your round-trip latency with this setup before you get clicks, pops or other issues?

[@ZachWirchak]

So I believe what I'm about to say is correct... but that 8.7ms is round trip. So what Cubase is working with is half of that. I'm super sensitive/annoyed by any type of latency and I can't tell any type of delay when working in that 8ms range. Another thing to keep in mind, is some plugins or once you start to pile them on it can add a lot of latency no matter that the software/computer might say. For example I use Soothe2 and it is impossible to do any type of tracking with it active in the project (which is usually on all my group buses and master bus). I also do most of my instrument tracking early in my process, when the project is still pretty clean of "heavy" plugins. To answer you question about clicks and pops - I think it really depends on how you setup your project. If you utilize FX send/returns, that can save a lot of PC workload. And if you are working in a smaller project, you can get away with a lot. If I have a drum kit, 2-4 guitars, bass guitar, sub bass guitar, 3-5 vocal tracks and have EQ, compression, FX groups and a master chain loaded with little or no track automation, I can put the buffer size even lower and have no issues. When I have a larger project (50-100 tracks) that has beefy plugins, VST instrument heavy that I don't print down and a lot of automation going on, that can cause some clicks and pops if I keep the buffer at or below the 256 range. But at that point I'm mixing so the latency doesn't matter as much so I can adjust the buffer even more if needed.

[@sawz_z]

I'm glad I found your video. Steinberg website points that Cubase 12 have audio and performance problems with Intel 12th+ gen CPUs due to the hybrid structure with E cores. I wanted to buy a 13600kf and wasn't sure but I see that you use cubase with the 13700. You confirm that you didn't experience any kind of the problems they expose, right?

[@ZachWirchak]

My 12th gen has been a dream. I'd like to think the 13th would work just as well, if not better. I'm currently running the Cubase 12.0.52 build. So maybe they fixed the bugs before I even had a chance to experience them?

[@PostRave.]

AMD Ryzen 9-7845HX 16GB RAM 1TB SSD RTX 4060 good or bad?

[@nicolasarianos9731]

My Pc is : intel core i9 14900kf with 128 G ram , but for some of kontak plugin I have issues. Sound cracking and click voice and glitches... Really I don't know what I do...

[@ZachWirchak]

What buffer size are you running? Also depending on which DAW you're using, there are some settings to help with virtual instrument performance.

[@Barncore]

Any problems with using Windows 11 instead of Win10?

[@ZachWirchak]

I have had zero problems with it. I've actually really enjoyed windows 11 since having it.

[@bbxnine_]

I have this cpu with 32 gb of ram but have issues with fl vocal recording with minimal plug ins. Compared to my Mac with an old i5 and 8 gb of ram I can run that thing with 10+ tracks most with heavy processing. Sadly I can’t do this with this cpu I’m hoping it’s fl 😭 I tried a lot of different buffer rates and still a slight delay

[@ZachWirchak]

Oh wow! I wonder if there is an option deep somewhere in the project settings that can improve performance. I'm not very familiar with FL, but I know if Cubase there are something you can change based on your CPU to improve the performance.

[@PascalVermeulen-f6x]

Interesting video, pitty your not showing how many VSTi tracks the system can handle. I plan to build a new system as my current one became too old. i5-2520M CPU 2.50GHz, 16 GB ram, Elitebook Laptop. It can not even handle 8 stems tracks really lol. So always used my sampler most for drums and run VSTi. Viper Vsti, Nexus, Sylenth. So electronic music. Can run about 4 instances of Nexus and drums, and 2 others, but then it starts to fail. Recently found a free VSTi that emulates the Virus hardware Synth. Sounds great on video's but when i play it i only hear crackles. So my cpu is simply too weak to play it. So very curious to know how many midi channels your kind of system can handle ? My goal is to be able to play the Emulator on 10 different channels, and then 10 more channels of different synths, and some Kontakt for drums and fx. So very curious how much nowadays systems can handle while running the VSTi in the sequencer, instead of playback of bounced recordings. Recordings are more how many tracks it can play, incl effects. But running VSTi instead of an audio track must give different results. THINK streaming recordings is heavier as i can run way more tracks using tracks with synths playing then when i stream audio tracks. So may be no problem at all to run as many VSTi as i want, but haven't seen any video where they tried how many tracks could be played of VSTi. I'm probably building an over kill for what i need, cos i have no clue about how much a 10th gen can handle compared to my 2nd gen. Do know my laptop is about as strong as my old core2duo. CPU-Z just gave my sys a score of 98 single core, 326 or so multicore. The i9 goes to 902 single, 4146 multicore. So it looks like its impossible to compare the ancient thing i'm working on to todays tools. That would mean that the new system i want to build would be at least 8 times faster then what i use now, and probably even stronger then that. Just curious how that translates to the amounts of tracks i'm able to run together, as i seldom bounce tracks to audio, as i like the freedom to edit the midi and automation. But if you can stream 40 channels of audiotracks all playing at the same time, then what i want should be peanuts. My say 6 tracks stems now vs 50 to as i read 200 on the new system. That would mean i am building an overkill, but would be ok as then it should be useful for the next 10 years, which is what i want. Mobo can handle higher speed ram, so can upgrade that in the future and got an extra free M2. So figure i be ok with these parts. 16 GB eam was said to be overkill when i bought that, but it served me well for 10 years even ran mac on it virtually. But time to be free and able to layer as many synths as i like instead of always having to improvise cos the computer lacks power. THANKS for your video as i'm bench watching many to try to make the right choices. SO if i picked any parts that need to improve or downgrade as their not needed, then please let me know if you have the time to respond. Worked in a studio 10 years back, now most dj,ing, but want to build some new songs again. But digital recording, so i don't have to record acoustic instruments, thus took a silent case but think mid range as a bit of noise is no problem when not recording microphones. DDR5 option - 2.382,58 [200 more for DDR5] Intel Core i9-14900K, 3,2 GHz (6 GHz Turbo Boost) socket 1700 processor [699] GIGABYTE Z790 GAMING X socket 1700 [222] G.Skill 64 GB DDR5-6800 Kit [323] Noctua NH-U12A chromax black cpu-cooler [123] SAMSUNG 990 PRO, 2 TB SSD [168] (Read 7450 MB/sec, Write 6900 MB/sec.) Lexar NM790 4 TB SSD [198] (Read 7400 MB/s, Write 6500 MB/s) Seagate Exos X20 20 TB [339] (284 MB/s i think, but 7200, noisy i bet, Storing) be quiet! PURE Base 500 FX midi tower [139] be quiet! Light Wings PWM 140 mm high-speed case fan [Top case] [27[ be quiet! Straight Power 11 Platinum 850W [175] Total 2.382,58 ----------------------------- DDR4 option = 2.157 Intel Core i9-13900K, 3,0 GHz (5,8 GHz Turbo Boost) socket 1700 processor [649]-699 plus 50 for gen 14, best to do i think. ASUS PRIME H770-PLUS D4 socket 1700 [179] Kingston FURY 64 GB DDR4-3600 Kit [186] Noctua NH-U12A chromax black cpu-cooler [123] SAMSUNG 990 PRO, 2 TB SSD [168] {Win 10-Logic PC} Lexar NM790 4 TB SSD [198] {OSX Hackintosh for Logic MAC & 2 TB for Sound banks} Seagate Exos X20 20 TB [339] {Storage only, but 7200 so it can handles soundbanks if M2 is full} be quiet! PURE Base 500 FX midi tower [139] be quiet! Light Wings PWM 140 mm high-speed case fan [Top case] [27[ be quiet! Straight Power 11 Platinum 750W [149] Total 2.157 Thanks in advance and hope it educates fellow musicians to see different builds. And that they see that you can build the strongest computer now for 2000 Euro. I expected a system with these parts to be far over 3000. Had i known computers became this affordable then i would have upgraded years ago already. The 20 TB pulls it over the 2000 but figure i need that to save backup files when using a 2 TB operating drive. Don't want to have to delete my previous backup to be able to save a new backup but rather keep 5 and do it a bit more organized. Like you explained i constantly have to hold myself back and even have to reduce on using simple eq and reverb use and indeed automation, which even crashes my old daw Logic PC which i've used for 30 years and still can do everything on i need. Just lacks the power. Greets from the Netherlands.

[@mark-ze4en]

So,, not using midi controller for Sample instruments? MIDI ;latency an issue with the DDR4 no Thunderbolt?

[@ZachWirchak]

I use a midi controller to write most all of my sampled instruments, and I have zero latency with midi. But, I will say, my main midi controller is connected via USB... but even with the other devices I have hooked up with midi, there is no latency.

[@mark-ze4en]

@@ZachWirchak Thanks. I'm looking to 'finally', after 2 years of research and Industry(ASUS) debacles, building my Audio production machine. Midi latency and Efficient Orchestral sample, scoring are my main goals in this build without that ,it's hardly worth an upgrade even from my aging Dell quad core. I know the CPU can be a barrier in itself so I'm hoping the i7-14700K with Thunderbolt4, and USB3.2x2 will solve this issue.

[@sahilgaikwad530]

AMD Ryzen 7 5700G vs i7 12th 12700k vs i5 13th 13600k

[@thunderstein5041]

this is not a tech channel buddy 😅

[@sargemourer6301]

"PromoSM" 😕