Getting a New DAW. Would Like Recommendations

So, I planned, OK wished more like, getting a new DAW in 2014. My current system is way beyond its life expectancy. Funds are limited, but my current DAW took a huge dump and although I'm very grateful I was able to repair it, it doesn't feel stable any longer.
 
So, I looked into Rain and Sweetwater's Creation Station--only to find Rain is out of business and the CS appears to be over-priced and under-powered.
 
I did some research and started looking at ADK or Studio Cat. I heard great things about Scott at ADK, and the email seems to support that, except he seemed to miss a few details about my requirements. I was surprised that the system he quoted was about $600 over my absolute maximum, and he said my current sound card may not be compatible. Card is about 3 years old. If he's right, the cost of a new card comes out of the DAW budget. I emailed the card's tech support for their .02c
 
I emailed Studio Cat and haven't heard back yet. That thing called Christmas, ya know.
 
Anyone have any good pointers like AMD is better, etc?
 
Anyone have any pointers about what to stay away from? I typically buy a little above what I need so the system stays around for a long time--
 
Thanks! 

mixmkr
ah...you've got the 3G like me.  Unless you get a custom build from Studio Cat or ADK, you'll need to either build it yourself or get a Layla replacement, as the PCI slot is basically defunct....and required by your Layla.  However those two high end builders mentioned above, have and use motherboards with one PCI slot available, I believe.  I'm due myself in 2014 and been holding off, just like you.  I've got a "not broke, don't fix" system (as you can see my specs below), but I feel I'm slipping into the dinosaur age and would love a clean computer with X3 and basically nothing else....cept my Toontrack and a small number of other things.
 
Otherwise I've looked at the HP computers just as of recent and for around $1k can get a pretty beefy system. $1200 gets you a lot from HP.  Seems that you'd need to spend another $500 or so from custom builds for the same specs, but I'd think good value and insurance for sure, not to mention you should feel comfortable it'll work immediately upon arrival.
 
Seems Ebay will get you $200+ for the 3G and put that towards something similar to ease the pain of the extra funds.  That's my thought, wearing the same shoes you are. 

Yeah, ADK will have to give me a compelling reason why I should buy from them if their prices are highly than pre - built machines like HP.

Seems like the pre - built systems won't have the type of quiet fans and high quality power supplies like a custom build, or other quiet factors like fanless video cards.

$200 for a used G3 seems high. I think I paid around that for a new one.

I definitely don't want any legacy gear to set the standard for my new DAW.

Thanks for the help.

razor

I definitely don't want any legacy gear to set the standard for my new DAW.

EXACTLY...  I posted a thread about hesitant with PCI or Firewire on another thread...I think in the computer forum...  same reasoning.   But I know talking about this stuff, probably shows how much I don't know.  At least I can play guitar pretty decent ! :-)

I think the other thing you get with the custom DAW builders is a higher level of tech support and tech support that is specifically tailored to DAWs.
 
HP and Dell and the others will not be able to give you very good support for specific audio issues.  Also, they are buying the cheapest components which may or may not be adequate for audio recording and production.  Audio interfaces and programs are quite demanding (and often picky) of the system and a weak link in an inferior mb or video card can bring performance down to unacceptable levels.  The off-the-shelf comps are a little bit of a crap shoot because you don't know exactly what's in them.  They are also not optimized for noise reduction.
 
What you are paying for with the custom build is the builder's knowledge and expertise about what components are best for DAWs and the fact that your system is 1 of a few instead of 1 of 1,000,000 (or more).
 
Good luck with whatever you decide.

Kev999
You haven't said anything about your UAD-1 card.  It's PCI too.
 

Yeah, that's definitely got to go, but it's real old and end of life. The sound card isn't that old which makes it harder to deal with.

ADK said that UAD card won't work--period. The sound card was if-y

Woo Hoo! I did my research, and ADK won the bake off. I pulled the trigger on the below:
 

• Zalman - Z9 Mid-tower case
• PS-CM720W  1 Coolermaster - 720W Silent Pro M Pro 16DB (quiet) power supply - 5-yr warranty
• MB-i7 SB-E/FW  1 ADK - Core i7 SB-E Motherboard: 2-PCIex16, 1-PCIe8x, 2-PCIe1x, 1 PCI up to 64Gig Ram, via Firewire
• IPi7-4930K  1 Intel - Core i7 4930K Processor: 3.4GHz 6core 12meg cache - NO OVERCLOCK
• FC-Z12  1 Zalman - CNPS 12X Triple Fan CPU Cooler 22DB 
• FC-NFS1212  2 Noctua NF-S12 1200 RPM 120mm Quiet Case fan 
• MDR3-ADK4G/1600  4 ADK - DDR3 4G 1600 memory 1.35V (16 GB total)
• SH-WD1TBCaviar  1 OS/PROGRAMS DRIVE: Western Digital - Caviar Black HD: 1TB - 7200rpm - SATA 6.0G (That’s just the system drive. I have TBs of drives I’m transferring for storage)
• VD-A/Radeon5450  1 AMD - ATI Radeon 5450 video card: 1GB fanless 1DVI, 1VGA, 1HDMI
• DVD-A24X  1 Asus - 24X DVD-RW Dual Layer
• SW-Win7Pro64  1 Microsoft - Windows 7 Pro 64-bit OEM software
• 2 year parts and labor, onsite pickup, lifetime tech support 

My current rig is 5 1/2 years old and is only still functioning because I keep it running...
 
I can hardly wait for this new DAW. I am so stoked not to have to archive, bypass, and freeze just to hear my tunes the way I want to create!! Yay!!

BTW, change your thread title!
 

ok... but change the title of your thread... trying to get people to do this!  Make it current...you've made your choice!!!

Mesh

razor
Woo Hoo! I did my research, and ADK won the bake off. I pulled the trigger on the below:
 

• Zalman - Z9 Mid-tower case
• PS-CM720W  1 Coolermaster - 720W Silent Pro M Pro 16DB (quiet) power supply - 5-yr warranty
• MB-i7 SB-E/FW  1 ADK - Core i7 SB-E Motherboard: 2-PCIex16, 1-PCIe8x, 2-PCIe1x, 1 PCI up to 64Gig Ram, via Firewire
• IPi7-4930K  1 Intel - Core i7 4930K Processor: 3.4GHz 6core 12meg cache - NO OVERCLOCK
• FC-Z12  1 Zalman - CNPS 12X Triple Fan CPU Cooler 22DB 
• FC-NFS1212  2 Noctua NF-S12 1200 RPM 120mm Quiet Case fan 
• MDR3-ADK4G/1600  4 ADK - DDR3 4G 1600 memory 1.35V (16 GB total)
• SH-WD1TBCaviar  1 OS/PROGRAMS DRIVE: Western Digital - Caviar Black HD: 1TB - 7200rpm - SATA 6.0G (That’s just the system drive. I have TBs of drives I’m transferring for storage)
• VD-A/Radeon5450  1 AMD - ATI Radeon 5450 video card: 1GB fanless 1DVI, 1VGA, 1HDMI
• DVD-A24X  1 Asus - 24X DVD-RW Dual Layer
• SW-Win7Pro64  1 Microsoft - Windows 7 Pro 64-bit OEM software
• 2 year parts and labor, onsite pickup, lifetime tech support 

My current rig is 5 1/2 years old and is only still functioning because I keep it running...
 
I can hardly wait for this new DAW. I am so stoked not to have to archive, bypass, and freeze just to hear my tunes the way I want to create!! Yay!!

Very nice Razor!! You'll be really happy with this new Hot Rod and not have to worry about any bottlenecks you ran into with your old sys. Congrats!! :)

Hey, thanks.

Ruben

razor I was surprised that the system he quoted was about $600 over my absolute maximum, and he said my current sound card may not be compatible. Card is about 3 years old. If he's right, the cost of a new card comes out of the DAW budget. I emailed the card's tech support for their .02c

 
Another Layla3G user here. 
In February of 2013 I received a response from Marcel at Echo Audio, and he said that they were working on PCIe cards for the Layla3G and Mia. I don't see anything on their website at the moment but it would be great if they came through on this.
 

Yeah, not to sound negative, but don't hold your breath. Echo doesn't even seem to be selling any PCI cards at the moment--not even the Layla.
If the Layla 3G doesn't work with my new rig, I'll have to sell the 3G and fork out some cash for a USB 2 card ('cause there just aint no more cash for a new PCIe card). I've got another thread going on that topic, but at this point in my research, I'm looking at the Focusrite Scarlet 6i6.
 
Other thread:
http://forum.cakewalk.com/I-Have-to-Get-a-New-Sound-Card-Interface-Would-Like-Recommendations-m2961901.aspx

I think Echo is getting out of the audio interface business, given the impression looking at their direction now.  Feb 2013 was a year ago and if they don't have anything by now.......
Will be interested if the Echo works in your new build.  DEFINITELY report back if so.

soo....If I build your same computer on the site that you're getting...well....I get the computer builds over $2k really fast...then I start deleting stuff.   I didn't build "your" computer, but it looks pretty bad boy, and I'd think it would have been MUCH more than a store bought for sure.