Sound engineers running Cubase and Focusrite what workstation build?

[BatmansHardware]

It will be Windows for me because of my software.

I have a sound rack and everything is running through a Focusrite 18i/20 https://focusrite.com/en/usb-audio-interface/scarlett/scarlett-18i20

I use Cubase and run many plugins.

I have never designed a PC for sound engineering but I have for graphics rendering. I am not very knowledgable on how to cater for an audio workstation. I tend to think it would be much the same.

So what would be good to get? I need a recommendation for motherboard, CPU, hard drives, power supply, RAM, video card, and whatever really makes it a good audio workstation.

I suppose it's a media workstation of some design.

 

[BatmansHardware]

Cubase sound engineering workstation - DAW Build design pls.

I have never designed a PC for sound engineering but I have for graphics rendering. I am not very knowledgable on how to cater for an audio workstation. I tend to think it would be much the same.

So basically I want a good DAW design. Something mid-range priced in the end. Nothing high end like Apple. I know some people recommend Apple for pure media stuff like this but I already have the software.

I use Cubase and run many plugins. I also use Reaper. These are the DAW software. I tend to be intensive when working the software and memory usage soars.

So what would be good to get? I need a recommendation for motherboard, CPU, hard drives, power supply, RAM, video card, and whatever really makes it a good audio workstation.

I suppose it's a media workstation of some design.

It will be Windows for me because of my software.

I have a sound rack and everything is running through a Focusrite 18i/20 https://focusrite.com/en/usb-audio-interface/scarlett/scarlett-18i20

I also asked this in the sound forum first but now think also here might be a good idea.

Oh and workstation size. Not miniATX or notebook, etc.

 

[NiHaoMike]

Go for a Ryzen APU, that way you won't need a separate GPU. (Unless you're using the GPU to do advanced audio processing, but that's a very specific case.) Any decent SSD will do - audio isn't exactly high bandwidth. But definitely get a very good PSU, since cheaper PSUs can introduce a lot of electrical noise.

For cooling, get a CPU cooler with a lot of surface area to minimize noise, and make sure the case and CPU fans are all variable speed. If you go liquid cooled, oversize the tank to increase the thermal mass and add in some way to force the fans to full speed to cool it down more when noise is not as much a concern.

 

[BatmansHardware]

Go for a Ryzen APU, that way you won't need a separate GPU. (Unless you're using the GPU to do advanced audio processing, but that's a very specific case.) Any decent SSD will do - audio isn't exactly high bandwidth. But definitely get a very good PSU, since cheaper PSUs can introduce a lot of electrical noise.

For cooling, get a CPU cooler with a lot of surface area to minimize noise, and make sure the case and CPU fans are all variable speed. If you go liquid cooled, oversize the tank to increase the thermal mass and add in some way to force the fans to full speed to cool it down more when noise is not as much a concern.

Huge points. Noise and interference. Silence and insulation. I need to consider those.

 

[David]

I'm no expert on audio workstations, but I know that Scan in the UK sells pre-built systems, so it might be worth looking to see what sort of specs they tend to be building these with?

https://www.scan.co.uk/shop/music-and-pro-audio/pre-built-systems/scan-pro-audio-workstations

Obviously they will range from low-end to high-end but it might give you a feel for the balance of CPU cores/clockspeed/RAM per core/etc..

 

[EarthDog]

Merged threads since this is all about the same build.

 

[BatmansHardware]

The whole no noise route is very interesting.

The big thing I would like though is no electrical interference as audio equipment can be very sensitive. I don't want to have the PC far away or hyper expensive shielding. Just stuff that doesn't result in hum in my equipment. I run a power conditioner for my audio stuff including the Focusrite USB audio interface I have.

 

[Zerileous]

If you have extra rack space, you might consider doing a rack mount.