DAW Advice

[Patre]

Hi All,

I'm in the process of buying a PC DAW and would like some advice on it. The soundcard I'll be using is the Gadgetlabs 824. Woot Computers (http://www.wootcomputers.com/daw/amd_athlonx2/tier1.html) had this ad that had most of the specs I'm thinking of, but would like to be sure before purchasing it.

I'll be using it for my project studio and I'll be upgrading to Sonar 7 Producer. I'm also thinking about getting the UAD-1 (bundled with the Sonar upgrade), and would like to know of any concerns/issues with this.

 

The general specs are:

 

Case: Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black Mid Tower w/450Watt SmartPower 2.0 Power Supply

Cpu: AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+(65W) Windsor 2.0GHz Socket AM2 Processor

Ram: CORSAIR XMS2 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 675 (PC2 5400) Dual Channel Kit

Hdd: 160GB Seagate Barracuda (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s

Hdd: 320GB Seagate Barracuda (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s

Odd: SAMSUNG 18X DVD

[boosh]

What is your goal? Midi ? Recording several audiotracks at a time??

In other words? What will you be using it for?

[Magpel]

Gadgetlabs?!?! Did they even make it as far as XP drivers?

 

I recall them being quite good cards back in the day, and I may be mistaken, but I think Dylan, who posts here, might have worked for them.

 

Still...are yiou sure that card works on XP?

 

Specs look fine, BTW, to my eye. You can record on virtually anything these days, with plugin count still being the major hog/limitation

 

PS, I'd get more RAM

[Patre]

I'll be using it mainly for recording audio tracks (possibly some midi)...it'll be for my personal use (1 man show), but would like to record several audio tracks at a time.

I do have the current XP drivers on my current PC, but I'd like a dedicated PC for just music, and the card works fine....just need help with a fairly decent DAW which will work well with Sonar 7. (I'm planning on 1 more GB of Ram).

Thanks for the input...

[Dylan Walters]

 

Gadgetlabs?!?! Did they even make it as far as XP drivers? I recall them being quite good cards back in the day, and I may be mistaken, but I think Dylan, who posts here, might have worked for them.

 

 

You are correct, sir! I worked for up them up until they went out of business. One of the GL founders released the source code for the drivers and someone has developed an XP driver since then. I haven't used it, but apparentely it works well. Re: the system build. RAM is dirt cheap right now, so put at least 2GB in there FWIW, I just bought four 1GB sticks of DDR2 800 from Newegg two weeks ago for $110. Also, as much as I love Antec cases I do not recommend the Sonata line. They scratch very easilly and show blems due to the shiny 'piano' finish. The non-shiny finishes hold up much better, IMO. I checked the link you provided and if you are comfortable building your own systems you might try spec'ing out the parts on Newegg. You could probably save yourself a few hundred clams by RYO!

[Magpel]

 

FWIW, I just bought four 1GB sticks of DDR2 800 from Newegg two weeks ago for $110.

 

 

HOLY SMOKES!

[Racy]

www.gadgetlabs.org has Mostec's XP driver. It works well with one 8/24 card.

 

 

Now if I could figure out how to make it play happy with my OTHER 8/24 card I would be very happy.

[deanmass]

I'd punt the gadget card and go with one of the more widely supported brands.

 

Since this is the core piece for your intended purpose, it is a bad place to save money.

 

It may be awesome, but if they went under, your entire rig is dependent on a dead product.

[blue2blue]

I'd punt the gadget card and go with one of the more widely supported brands. Since this is the core piece for your intended purpose, it is a bad place to save money. It may be awesome, but if they went under, your entire rig is dependent on a dead product.

 

I predict the Allies will win WWII.

 

 

 

[alphajerk]

8GB is going for $309 right now.... one of my next "upgrades".