Cheap Pc for audio recording/production.

The Golden Teapot

Hey guys!! Just wondering what kind of specs are even needed for audio production? My friend asked me to build her one. Need this to be as cheap as possible i just need to know around how cheap it can be? Thanks!!

tuxy

I don't know anything about audio production. But if you know what software will be used I could put a build together.

The Golden Teapot

Thanks Tuxy!! Reason and Audacity are what i've been using on my pc. It's for my girlfriend she's starting a songwriters course so it won't be anything heavy. No crazy amounts of samples or anything. Just guitar, vocals and backing vocals. So i'd say audacity will be used.

tuxy

How about this?

Item|Price
Zalman T2 Mini Tower - schwarz, ohne Netzteil|€20.68
Corsair VS Serie VS350, Non-Modular, 80+|€29.56
Intel Core i3-3220 Box, LGA1155|€105.05
8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws PC3-10667U CL9|€56.95
Seagate Barracuda 7200 1000GB, SATA 6Gb/s|€57.74
ASRock B75M R2.0, Sockel 1155, mATX|€58.03
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€347.00

It's probably higher spec than she needs but will allow her to use more demanding programs if she needs to in the future.

The Golden Teapot

Pretty much bang on what i was thinking man. Thanks a lot for that! You hardly have any experience with that Zalman do you? Just wondering what it's like quality wise? It's insanely cheap!!

tuxy

No personal experience, it's been recommended here to a good few people and no one has come back to complain

No real reviews of the case but some customer feedback

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811235043
http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B00949CDBC

The only budget case I have built in recently is the Bitfenix Merc(€32)
It's bigger than the Zalman

http://www.hardwareversand.de/Midi/50576/BitFenix+Merc+Beta.article

I was very happy with it, good air flow and very good value for money.

LKTechGuy

The Golden Teapot wrote: »

Pretty much bang on what i was thinking man. Thanks a lot for that! You hardly have any experience with that Zalman do you? Just wondering what it's like quality wise? It's insanely cheap!!

Zalman seems to be have good quality products, I have one of their cases which I love and one of their coolers, which I love even more, although it has a odd attachment system.

The Golden Teapot

tuxy wrote: »

The only budget case I have built in recently is the Bitfenix Merc(€32)
It's bigger than the Zalman

http://www.hardwareversand.de/Midi/50576/BitFenix+Merc+Beta.article

I was very happy with it, good air flow and very good value for money.

Used 2 merc alpha's now and loved them both!! Such good value!!

A friend of mine ordered the Sharkoon VS3 last week i'm pretty interested to see his and chewck the quality. http://www.hardwareversand.de/Midi/73885/Sharkoon+VS3-Value+Chrom%2C+ohne+Netzteil.article

Not sure how "cheap" it's going to look with the led's though. Will try out the Zalman anyway i'll let you guys know what it's like when i get it!! Thanks!!:)

ham_n_mustard

im not too hot on the technical stuff, but you'll also need to know if she's going to be using a usb or firewire audio connection.

The Golden Teapot

ham_n_mustard wrote: »

im not too hot on the technical stuff, but you'll also need to know if she's going to be using a usb or firewire audio connection.

I THINK it's usb but i'm not certain to be honest. I'll find out!! Thanks! I'm pretty sure firewire pci cards exist if that's an issue anyway.

BloodBath

What about a sound card?

Danger781

If it's music production I'd probably include a good sound card.

To be fair, the onboard sound quality is more than good for most people but it may be a worthy investment for herself if she's going to be recording a lot.

I'm sure there's probably other people online in your situation if you try googling.. something

The Golden Teapot

Gonna be getting herself a midi controller. I think that acts as an external sound card. Just out of interest though what is a good sound card?

indough

this http://www.thomann.de/ie/esi_juli_xte_b_stock.htm

indough

or possibly this if you have two free pcie slots and fancy the option of expanding to the 1616m box in future. they dont sell that on it's own anywhere but i found one second hand before. i'd go with the esi as first choice though and its the best selling pci-e card on thomann