The Watering Hole

I am thinking about building a new DAW something with an Intel i7 chip in it,  one of the faster more capable ones. Of course it will be Windows based with either Win7 64 bit or Win 8 64 bit if it comes out in time.

I am having no questions about building the DAW in this thread, but I do want to get some better sound quality than I am getting now. And I am thinking Pro Tools 10 software, Waves reverb and a few other gems in the samples dept. I am going to also put in my Layla 24/96 sound card for the MIDI and ADAT in outs, if I can get the newer PCI card still. But I am thinking of also adding the Avid M-Box version 3 one of the better ones with PT 10, would that get good sound quality nearer the Pro Tolls HD. With that stunning clarity I hear coming from Pro Tools rigs.

Of course I can go also with other options as well, as I am going to research the thing for some weeks before I decide on what to buy/build, I will also buy a half hour of Jim Roseberry's time from Studiocat dot com, to help in my DAW build I know him and have done biz with him before and he know this shit to the smallest degree. A half hour on the phone with him is worth every penny.

I've been in talks with Scott at ADK, but Jim is good people too!  I've exchanged messages with him on another board quite a few times.  :)

I am now thinking of using XP Pro SP3 32 bit, with the new machine because all of my gear and software is compatible with XP Pro and all of it is already acquired. And I have an unused CD of XP Pro that I never loaded on any machine.

You can use Pro Tools with any audio interface.  We just made the switch over to Pro Tools HD (using the Pro Tools HD Native card, and an HD I/O). Was not cheap, but that is really the sound that you hear. I have a Pro Tools 10 non-HD rig at home, and don't get me wrong, I love Pro Tools, but the headroom and conversion in the HD I/O are just on a higher level.  That said, it's thousands of dollars and probably not worth most people's investment... if we didn't know an employee and get the employee discount there's no way we would have done it.

If I could afford it, I would go to Pro Tools HD in a heartbeat. I have friends who have that system, and my goodness, I was in his studio when he was reviewing a recording he made for a cellist from The Beverly Hills Symphony. And I could almost hear the individual hairs on the bow as it passed over the strings on slow bow sweeps. The clarity was stunning to say the least.

Just something to consider Dave, XP will be unsupported by the end of the year (if it's not already).  With Win 8 around, Win 7 is the new "past version" that we will have for awhile I think.

but with a $39 update to Win 8 how many people will stay on 7?  

Me? Because I don't want everything to break?

My DAW on XP Pro SP1 runs flawlessly and has since 2003. If I upgrade however and want to use Pro Tools 10 I have to be at Win7 or better. However I have the waves suite and the IR 1 Reverb and tons of samples, and software that won't run on a 64 bit system. So I am thinking maybe XP Pro again because I already know how to tweak it to perfection starting before the actual load on in the BIOS, then during load on the OS there are things I can do to make it run smooth as silk without a hiccup. With Win 7 or 8, I am in total darkness, although a half hour on the phone with Jim Roseberry at 40 bucks will help me past that barrier.

Now all that said I had my Les Paul almost sold last weekend and a looker at my SG Special Faded. Both fell through, although not finally gone, both are still interested. So I am on hold for the moment. So if I don't sell, I don't buy new gear at this point. But the two guitars go back on Craigslist every Friday and I delete the ad every Sunday so I can have it back up top on Friday nights. We shall see.

All of that software will run on a Windows 7 64-bit system. All of mine does, and in fact, Pro Tools is a 32-bit app.

charger — Sep 20, 2012All of that software will run on a Windows 7 64-bit system. All of mine does, and in fact, Pro Tools is a 32-bit app.

Thanks Charger, that helps in the decision making process. I will try Win 8 if and when I do a build. Which will probably be after the 8 version comes out. If it don't work it is just a day or so to reload the one XP Pro disk I sill have unused.