Recording Studio Rig: i7-2700K | GA-Z68X-UD7 | Radeon HD6870

[karpovnious]

I'm a big fan of MOTU gear - I had one of the 1st gen 2408 w/PCI cards ages ago. Also had a first gen 896, too. Good solid gear built like a brick $*^thouse. I'd suggest booting up CueMix & monitoring through the CueMix application. I believe CM offer a "near zero latency" monitoring mode (that would be vs. monitoring audio thru in Logic).

Hope this helps!

Love the Onyx, great line/mic pres, love the sound. Almost picked one up a few years back.... Had a presonus firewire for a while, but I think the motu is a bit more solid...

For the sake of the forum the syba pci (TI chip) I just picked up seems to be working fine for small time tracking / recording, no flaws Ive found yet...

Thanks again man

Karpov

 

[XBassman]

Wow ! Awesome build, awesome studio, awesome thread…


I was initially planning a build to replace my aging MacPro1,1 to use it with ProTools 9HD along with my not really good but trusty Digi002R. But asking the good questions round here, i've been told that i couldn't run SL (10.6.8) on recent Z77 mobo, and that i could even get into trouble with earlier 68s running on SL.
That was my initial plan because i noticed my PT9HD wouldn't run as smoothly on Lion (10.7.4) installed on my MacPro as it would on SL (i eventually went back to SL), money was a big concern as well: buying a new MacPro ? Out of question ! Burning 1000+ bucks at the Avid online shop for an upgrade to PT10HD ? A pain as well as i already had to rob a bank to upgrade from PT8LE to 9HD as soon as i heard that it could run without HD hardware , did it too early and therefore wasn't entitled for a free upgrade to PT10HD when it came out… Bad move :. Consequently, i decided i'd keep my PT9HD and run it on a Hackintosh ! But now the available hardware (mobos) hardly support SL… Nuts!
That means i should build a Hack running on Lion (or ML), but in this case i will have to upgrade to PT10HD (in the mean time i was able to find it around 700 USD from various sellers on Ebay, which is far better than what Avid charges).

I'll have it built in a rack case (i already have it),
with proper PSU & cooling (any advice on that ?)
a 128GB SSD as a boot & apps disk (have it as well),
2x1TB HDs (one for sound libraries and the other as the main audio sessions disk),
32GB of RAM (cheap these days),
an optical drive (dunno which one yet, advice ?)
A descent trouble-free and silent GPU (any advice ?)
2x22" LED displays (i own)
an i7 3770K CPU (slightly overclocked i guess )

I've not decided yet which mobo i'd buy but was seriously considering an Intel board (DZ77RE-75K) mainly because it has a Thunderbolt port and many SATA ports as well (using hot-swap disks feature of my rack case). And this is because i'm considering (not before next summer i guess) a move towards a next-gen audio interface, as sexy Thunderbolt based audio gear begin to show up (UAD Apollo and Avid PTHD TB interface). Can't stick with my DIGI002R and its annoying latency (although i manage to work with [around ?] it) and dull preamps (i do use outboard equipment for that though) indefinitely ! But until then there will be quite a few sessions, and good ole Digi will have to be up and running ! Which leads me to the FW problem, and i guess i'll buy the FW card you advised…

Hmmm… I must admit that this Apogee system of yours is quite tempting as well… Ah ! Hard choice as i also like the UAD and its DSP-powered plug-ins (excellent btw, worked with them in a dream studio last summer and they're far more convincing than any other plugs i came across, be it TDM)...

 

[BoomR]

Thanks for the kudos!

One big question: How are you running PT9HD if you don't have either a) a PT HD|Native card & I/O, b) an older PT HD Accell system, or c) a new PT HDX-based system? If you've upgraded from PT8LE > PT9, you do not have the "HD version" of PT9. PT9HD ONLY comes with (or is available for) PT PCI/PCIe-based hardware. If you somehow got PT9HD software, then that could be part of your problem.

...and I'm not sure where you are and/or where you are getting your pricing information, but if you have an authentic copy of PT9 (the non-HD version - it doesn't say HD on the box or install guide cover), then upgrading to PT10 is only $299US from many of the main retail or e-tail outlets. PT10HD is designed for those guys/gals who have PCIe Digidesign/AVID hardware & simply want to upgrade to PT10. Here's a link to a comparison chart of the varios versions of ProTools 10.

You should still be able to get the GA-Z68-UD3-B3 from Amazon or other such places (plus go Sandy Bridge processor) if you're super-concerned about being able to put SL on it successfully. Having said that, I was running PT9 on Lion (10.7.4) on my hack very nicely until I upgraded to PT10, so not sure why/where your getting the info that PT9/PT10 is not gonna work under Lion. You should also check out Stork's Thunderbolt Build - he's a music guy using GarageBand pretty heavily, plus Ableton & a few other odds & ends (as I recall). That's a full-on Z77-class motherboard & Ivy Bridge CPU he's got running & doing music in a big way

As far as the PSU and cooler advice you're seeking, it would be helpful to know what kind of rack case you have. In other words, there are some cool 1U server rack cases out there, but you are very limited to the PSU and CPU coolers. If you've got a 3U or 4U case, then I'm guessing a standard PSU and any "low profile" CPU cooler should do the trick. I'm partial to the Gelid cooler that I used in my Cube 2.0 hack (check my sig for a link to the parts list).

Optical drive? Just check the 2012 Buyer's Guide to see what's the latest/greatest. I've had good luck with an LG BluRay burner in my studio Hack, plus I have an HP BD reader/DVD-R drive in a Firewire800 housing attached to my studio Hack, too.

If you go the route of a Z77-class board, you might be good-to-go with onboard graphics. That would save you some $$ and you wouldn't have to worry about the fan noise. Otherwise, again, check the 2012 Buyer's Guide to see if there might be a "silent" option. I've had good luck with the ASUS card in my HTPC build (no fan - just BIG heat-sink). Again, check my sig for a link to the parts list. It worked (for me) OoB.

Hope this helps - & have fun with your build!!
BoomR

PS - Apologies for taking us down a rabbit hole - a lot of this "what should I get?" and "will this work with..." sort of stuff really belongs over in the "Buying Advice" forum - or also in the "Music" forum. If you've got additional questions about your build & compatibility for a music rig, you might want to start a separate thread over there. This thread is more about answering questions as they relate to my studio build. Hope you understand! THANKS!! --B

 

[Stork]

I finally got sometime yesterday to finish installing SL 10.6.8 on my Son-of-Zorro build (see my signature block) which uses the Gigabyte 6850 graphics card. I used the iBoot + MultiBeast: Install Mac OS X on any Intel-based PC. It was stable in 10.6.8, not so much so in 10.6.3 (original installation) as BT gave me fits until 10.6.8. I've updated my Son-of-Zorro build description with a post detailing the installation.
There are some good guides in the Snow Leopard Guides forum section. http://www.tonymacx86.com/snow-leopard-desktop-guides/

BoomR is being way too generous about my recording abilities. True, I use GarageBand, but for my personal practice sessions. I'm no where near professional grade in either department.

That being said, the GA-Z68X-UD3H motherboard and either an i5-2500K or i7-2600K processor (both support HD3000) will provide you a low to med level recording capability. You can add a graphics card to drive multiple monitors and improve the performance as BoomR has done.

Good luck!

Update: I put a post in my Son-of-Zorro build description thread on how to install Snow Leopard.

 

[XBassman]

PS - Apologies for taking us down a rabbit hole - a lot of this "what should I get?" and "will this work with..." sort of stuff really belongs over in the "Buying Advice" forum - or also in the "Music" forum. If you've got additional questions about your build & compatibility for a music rig, you might want to start a separate thread over there. This thread is more about answering questions as they relate to my studio build. Hope you understand! THANKS!! --B

Yep, you're absolutely right... Sorry about that, but stumbling across here while using the search engine about hacks builds for PT, noticed you had more or less what i'm dreaming of... Although my control room is half the size of yours. So, in a kind of frantic manner after reading all this exciting thread (mainly because i'm a long time out-of-the-box-brand-new-mac-user kind of guy, which means i'm all new to the hackintosh world), i (wrongly) thought i could share what i had in mind, err... Without thinking i'm afraid. Apologies.

One big question: How are you running PT9HD if you don't have either a) a PT HD|Native card & I/O, b) an older PT HD Accell system, or c) a new PT HDX-based system? If you've upgraded from PT8LE > PT9, you do not have the "HD version" of PT9. PT9HD ONLY comes with (or is available for) PT PCI/PCIe-based hardware. If you somehow got PT9HD software, then that could be part of your problem.
...and I'm not sure where you are and/or where you are getting your pricing information, but if you have an authentic copy of PT9 (the non-HD version - it doesn't say HD on the box or install guide cover), then upgrading to PT10 is only $299US from many of the main retail or e-tail outlets. PT10HD is designed for those guys/gals who have PCIe Digidesign/AVID hardware & simply want to upgrade to PT10. Here's a link to a comparison chart of the varios versions of ProTools 10.

Fyi, when PT9 was launched, i was using PT8LE along with Music Production Toolkit 2 and DV Toolkit. I was kind of excited that PTHD9 could run without any HD hardware and native. So i went to my usual Avid reseller, wanting to get an upgrade to the new PT9HD. The guy i spoke to was of bit confused about the new Avid upgrades and told me that i had to upgrade to PT9 and get a crossgrade from DV toolkit to the new Complete Production Toolkit which would give me the functionalities of PT9HD, which of course was a lot of money ! And of course i wasn't willing to pay so much. But he eventually got me in touch with a representative at the Avid headquarters in Paris (France, where i live), went there and they agreed to let me go with a licence of PT9HD with its new ilok key for the price of a regular upgrade from 8HD to 9HD which was cheaper than what i would have paid the other way. That's why i run PT9HD natively on my 002 rig ! But i had to release all the other licences, and now my only choice is a PT10HD upgrade...

And i was not saying PT9/10 wouldn't run on Lion, i was saying 9HD was running better on SL and that's why i revert. And although PT10 is qualified for Mountain Lion, PT10HD isn't yet...

Hmm, a bit OT (and long), but i thought you might want to know... Sorry again

Hey and thanks for your response, i'm getting a clearer view.

 

[XBassman]

I finally got sometime to yesterday to finish installing SL 10.6.8 on my Son-of-Zorro build (see my signature block) which uses the Gigabyte 6850 graphics card. I used the iBoot + MultiBeast: Install Mac OS X on any Intel-based PC. It was stable in 10.6.8, not so much so in 10.6.3 (original installation) as BT gave me fits until 10.6.8. I've updated my Son-of-Zorro build description with a post detailing the installation.
There are some good guides in the Snow Leopard Guides forum section. http://www.tonymacx86.com/snow-leopard-desktop-guides/

BoomR is being way too generous about my recording abilities. True, I use GarageBand, but for my personal practice sessions. I'm no where near professional grade in either department.

That being said, the GA-Z68X-UD3H motherboard and either an i5-2500K or i7-2600K processor (both support HD3000) will provide you a low to med level recording capability. You can add a graphics card to drive multiple monitors and improve the performance as BoomR has done.

Good luck!

Update: I put a post in my Son-of-Zorro build description thread on how to install Snow Leopard.

That's good news ! And would be perfect for me as an i7 2700k (slightly oc'd) would be a sufficient beast for audio production (remember i'm at the moment using a MacPro1,1 Quad 3.0 for the task, and getting along with it hassle free ! But still want some kind of a speed bump). And i'll get a graphic card with it to power my dual display setup.

Off to check what you posted... Thanx !

 

[actualsizeaudio]

Thanks for the kudos!

One big question: How are you running PT9HD if you don't have either a) a PT HD|Native card & I/O, b) an older PT HD Accell system, or c) a new PT HDX-based system?

I've been running PT10HD with my accell cards sitting in their box in the next room since this time last year. I also picked up a copy of CPTK before they finally made the upgrade path from DV toolkit to CPTK available. It's funny for me to see the HD logo come up on my screen when I don't have a single piece of digi hardware.

Anyway, I'm not in love with the amount of processing I've been able to get when mixing in surround (which I do often). This alone is making me consider a dual processor machine.

How do you feel about the amount of plug-ins you can initiate? Do you ever mix in surround?

 

[BoomR]

I don't do any surround mixing. Mostly my stuff is audio for video projects, demos or custom recording projects for musician friends or clients, or my own custom arrangements/tracks of covers & standars for my live gig... I'm actually doing a new build for my studio, putting it in a G5 case mod Stay tuned!!

 

[Stork]

.. I'm actually doing a new build for my studio, putting it in a G5 case mod Stay tuned!!

Are we having fun, yet? Or what?

I just received my G5 conversion kit from the Laser Hive for my G5 which is still running great! I'm probably going to put either Zorro's or Son-of-Zorro's components into the G5 this Summer to free up my cases for the Haswell / 8-series components. I also have the Laser Hive's G4 conversion kit for my old, hot rodded G4 (1.5GHz) 1.5GB Sawtooth which will probably get Batman's components. I've already got a Mac Pro case mod in work which will have Z68MX-UD2H / i5-2500K / HD3000 (for now) components, and I'm finishing up a HacCube, based upon a H67N-USB3 ITX / i3-2125 / HD3000 system. Ain't life wonderful?!

I'll never forgive eelhead, minihack or neilhart for giving me the case mod bug.

 

[BoomR]

AMEN to that, brother Stork!!!

I'm now secretly hoping & praying that Gigabyte will come out with a Socket 2011 mobo with Thunderbolt so I have an excuse to build a hexcore Beast in another G5 or PowerMac case