Assessing Your Computer-Based Recording System

Whether you are planning on building from scratch, buying a pre-made system, or evaluating your current system for use in recording audio, it is important to keep in mind that computer-based audio involves extremely large files. For example, a 4-minute song with 24 tracks of 24-bit audio will require your system to stream approximately 180 megabytes of data per minute. Needless to say, this is far more taxing than almost any other way you would use your computer.

With that in mind, the following details the minimum and recommended systems requirements for computer-based recording setups:

Delta PCI Interfaces
Minimum System Requirements (PC)
UDMA, EIDE or ATA 33/66
Windows 95 and higher
For 96kHz operation
Pentium III 500MHz w/ 128MB RAM
For 48kHz operation
Pentium II 400 w/ 64MB RAM

Minimum System Requirements (Macintosh)
OS 8.6 or higher; OS 10.1.5 or higher
For 96kHz operation
G3 or G4 w/ 128MB RAM
For 48kHz operation
G3 or G4 w/ 96MB RAM

USB Audio Interfaces
Minimum System Requirements (PC)
UDMA, EIDE or HDD
Windows 98SE/Me/2000/XP
For 96kHz operation
Pentium III 500MHz w/128MB RAM
For 48kHz operation
Pentium II 400 w/64MB RAM

Minimum System Requirements (Macintosh)
OS 9.1 (9.2 recommended); OS 10.1 or higher
For 96kHz operation
G3 or G4 w/ native USB, 128MB RAM
For 48kHz operation
G3 or G4 w/ native USB, 64MB RAM

PC Motherboards

The motherboard is the main hub of any computer. While Macintosh is a known commodity, PC users are confronted with a variety of manufacturers and designs to choose from. There are a few things to keep in mind relating to motherboards when choosing a PC, or evaluating your current one for audio recording:

1. Built-ins. Try to avoid motherboards with numerous built-in audio and graphics functions. These "conveniences" can actually introduce potential conflicts with recording-specific audio cards, and make the process of disabling them for troubleshooting more of a chore.

2. Chipset. Every computer purchase, every motherboard upgrade, and every CPU buying decision comes back to the same thing: the system chipset. If the CPU is the brain of your PC, the chipset is its heart. It controls the flow of bits and travel between the CPU, system memory, and the motherboard bus. Efficient data transfers, fast expansion bus support, and advanced power management features are just a few of the things the system chipset is responsible for. When dealing with digital audio in the computer environment, it is generally recognized that Intel chipsets have proven to be more stable.

3. PCI bus speed. Just as the chipset is the heart of your PC, the PCI bus and corresponding speed are the circulatory system. All the data that passes from installed memory, through the processor, and through any installed PCI devices (SCSI cards, sound cards, etc.) does so through the PCI bus. 33MHz, 66MHz, 100MHz, and 133MHz are all references to how fast the data can stream through the specific motherboard's PCI bus. The higher the number, the faster the processor and the more efficiently it will work. For those who are evaluating their current system, a minimum bus speed of 66MHz is recommended. For anyone building a new system, a 100 to 133MHz (or higher) bus speed is recommended. Keep in mind that your RAM speed should correspond to the established motherboard bus speed (e.g., a motherboard with a bus speed of 100MHz should use PC-100 memory in the desired megabyte size).

Stay tuned for future installments of this series, as we will dive even deeper into finding the right recording solutions for your unique situation.