I've found  that one of the best places to get what you want is at a travelling computer show.  There is one  that goes to Vallejo, Concord and Santa Rosa that I know  of and if you go this route I recommend that you ask other people at  the show who they think the most reliable people are.  The prices are really good and you find a lot of Asus, Intel and AMD stuff plus name brand products and software.  It's a good  idea to know the specs ahead of time so you can make  sure you're getting what you need.  Go to the website, marketpro.com to get more information if you're interested.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dasovich, Jeff [mailto:Jeff.Dasovich@ENRON.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2001 10:25 PM
To: Avram Siegel; rory@carmelnet.com; eldon@direcpc.com
Subject: RE: On-line Computer Component Info


Suffice to say, Avram, you've explained it a helluvalot better than I
did.  I think I got as far as, "he wants to build a computer-based,
digital recording extravaganza."  Anyway, I'm responding because you
replied only to me instead of "reply to all."  Rory, Eldon, here's the
dope.  I can hardly wait to hear the response.
 
Best to all,
Jeff

	-----Original Message----- 
	From: Avram Siegel 
	Sent: Tue 11/13/2001 7:30 PM 
	To: Dasovich, Jeff 
	Cc: 
	Subject: Re: On-line Computer Component Info
	
	
	Hey Jeff - 
	Thanks for getting the word out there, and hi to everyone
checking in. So here's the deal, I want to build a DAW (digital audio
workstation) - a computer for multi-track audio recording and mixing
etc... I've been researching this for a while but have just gotten more
serious about it in the last couple of weeks, partly because I lucked
into a nice piece of hardware (indefinate loan from a friend). An 8 to
10 channel interface called a Delta 1010 which gives me a nice head
start. 
	    From what I have read so far, it seems that  there are some
specific requirements for a machine to be solid and reliable. It needs
to be fast (not so hard these days, but the faster the better within my
budget). It needs to be paired down - anything running in the background
like power-management schemes can cause pops and clicks while you're
recording and extraneous hareware uses system resources. And it should
have a seperate, fast and large hard drive just for the audio data
(typically a SCSI drive). I'm finding  a lot of recomendations against
buying something off the shelf like a Dell or whatever. Mostly, I think,
to have more control over the specific components and also to cut down
on a lot of the unnecessary (to audio recording) integrated accessories
that those computers tend to have. Also, I'm kind of looking forward to
building it myself. I like that kind of thing and it would mean I know
how the thing works.
	    Here's the plan I'm formulating at this point. I'm thinking
of putting together a dual processor system with the fastest pentium
IIIs I can afford. There doesn't seem to be all that big a price range
between the different speeds just now - probably because they're
yesterday's news with the P4s out there. (By the way the Pentium 4s have
not been getting the best reviews in the audio world - from what I can
tell - and I don't think there's a dual processor motherboard for them
yet. Also, I think they are more expensive.) For this I need to come up
with a motherboard. The one that I've come up with so far is an Asus Tek
CUV4X-D but I'm new to all this and I don't even know what I don't know
as far as what's out there so any suggestions are welcome. Also I know I
need a fast SCSI (ideally, 10,000rpm or better, data trasnsfer rate of
80MB per second, sustained transfer rate of at least 24MB per second or
better, and a seek time of 6ms or less - as quoted in one of my
sources). Of course I need a pile of memory but I understand that it's
pretty cheap right now. There also seems to be a debate going on about
AMD's CPUs these days. 
	    Hopefully I can save some money going low end on stuff like
the monitor, the keyboard, and anything else that doesn't directly
pertain to audio recording because I actually am on a budget . Maybe
there are some elements that I can even save for an upgrade. I am
willing to spend what I need to, though, because if this works well it
could make for a more affordable way to record True Blue's upcoming cd
than going into a regular studio.     
	    So there you have it in a rambling kind of way. I appreciate
any info you all can offer. For instance I really don't know what the
cheapest source for all this stuff is and there are probably plenty of
issues that I'm totally ignorant of. Clearly, all this points to the old
saying about a little knowledge being a dangerous thing. 
	- Avram
	 
	 
	----- Original Message ----- 

		From: Dasovich, Jeff <mailto:Jeff.Dasovich@enron.com>  
		To: Dasovich, Jeff <mailto:Jeff.Dasovich@enron.com>  ;
Avram Siegel <mailto:avramnallison@home.com>  ; rory@carmelnet.com ;
eldon sellers (E-mail) <mailto:eldon@direcpc.com>  
		Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2001 8:43 AM
		Subject: RE: On-line Computer Component Info

		Thought I'd add Eldon, too, since he likely has some
ideas and information, too.

			-----Original Message-----
			From: Dasovich, Jeff 
			Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2001 10:43 AM
			To: 'Avram Siegel'; 'rory@carmelnet.com'
			Subject: On-line Computer Component Info
			
			
			Hi Avram.  Meet Rory, Prentice's brother and
computer guru-type.  Rory and I talked a little bit about what you're
looking for, so I thought I'd just go ahead and facilitate a little chat
room here.  Avram, could you explain one more time to Rory exactly what
it is that you're looking for, just to make sure that I've accurately
and adequately described the situation?  Rory has some ideas.
			 
			Best,
			Jeff

		
		
	
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