DAW for $1,000?

Hi All,

I'm planning to put together a DAW for home recording use and I have relatively low technical knowledge (and I would much rather spend the time I have on music than on setting-up and fixing a system).  I can't really justify spending more than about USD$1,000 on my computer.  I do plan to use a decent amount of vst synths and effects, in addition to guitar and voice that I will record.  Also, I already have Sonar 8.5, but my crappy old laptop is just not cutting it--latency is through the roof.

Any advice about what the smartest move would be?  It's clear that you can get more bang for your buck by building a machine, but I'm worried that my lack of technical knowledge will make that a nightmare path of manuals and hardware fixes (instead of recording).  Do you think this is true?

Some of the entry level prebuilt DAWs (for instance, from ADK) run about $1,000.  Are these good enough?  The "lifetime" technical support from those companies sounds appealing.  Does anyone know if it's genuinely helpful for someone like me?

How about out-of-the box computers from Dell or HP or something?  Do any of these work pretty seamlessly?

Thanks very much, folks.  Any insights you all have will be greatly appreciated.

stm27


Hi All,

I'm planning to put together a DAW for home recording use and I have relatively low technical knowledge (and I would much rather spend the time I have on music than on setting-up and fixing a system).  I can't really justify spending more than about USD$1,000 on my computer.  I do plan to use a decent amount of vst synths and effects, in addition to guitar and voice that I will record.  Also, I already have Sonar 8.5, but my crappy old laptop is just not cutting it--latency is through the roof.

Any advice about what the smartest move would be?  It's clear that you can get more bang for your buck by building a machine, but I'm worried that my lack of technical knowledge will make that a nightmare path of manuals and hardware fixes (instead of recording).  Do you think this is true?

Some of the entry level prebuilt DAWs (for instance, from ADK) run about $1,000.  Are these good enough?  The "lifetime" technical support from those companies sounds appealing.  Does anyone know if it's genuinely helpful for someone like me?

How about out-of-the box computers from Dell or HP or something?  Do any of these work pretty seamlessly?

Thanks very much, folks.  Any insights you all have will be greatly appreciated.

stm27, I was in your position 6 months ago. I went with an ADK $1000 system and am very happy with it. After toying with the idea of taking chances on a Dell and thinking about whether I could be bothered with the research necessary to build myself (bearing in mind I'm more technically "reclined" than "inclined" and don't have much time to reverse the situation right now), I contacted Scott at ADK and told him what I wanted. He didn't try to sell me more than I needed - quite the opposite in fact. I'm using what I consider to be "a decent amount of vst synths and effects, in addition to guitar and voice," but my needs may differ from yours. I've got no complaints about the machine or the service.
 
You might also try Jim at Studio Cat, as thomasabarnes suggests. I've not dealt with Jim directly but he is all over this forum like Scott, dispensing valuable advice. Anything they write I read. I appreciate their knowledge and willingness to share it (when they can, given that they are in the business of building and selling DAWs).
 
Good luck with it.
 
Ben

Thanks very much for your suggestions, all.  I'll post again when I've gotten something (which may take a little while as I research this, work out the finances, etc.).

Jim at Studio Cat is great.  I got my DAW from him a year ago, and it was worth every penny.  The advice and support alone is worth the difference in price.

"""Any off-the-shelf laptop will do."""

BULLCRAP complete and total bull even with USB this is not true
with USB you have a better change with firewire good luck.