I think Im ready for a Dedicated Rackmount

M

MaZe

New member
I think its time to build a Dedicated Rackmount Synth

Ive been mulling it over for a while now but I think I might make the plunge into building a nice 4U rackmount PC dedicated to running soft synths only. My motivation is two fold. One I have read about that over priced and not very visually pleasing dedicated VST Rack, and, I have been looking into the very pricey XV5080. I figure I could build a very nice rack myself with quality components that will be at the most expensive end, equal to a second hand XV5080 ($900), but with many more sounds (VSTs).

I envision buying VSTRack and loading the rack up with VSTs and utilizing it the same as I would any another rackmount synth. I am betting (assuming?) that if the PC was just dedicated to this one task and had sufficient specs (Good Mobo,enough RAM, Fast CPU) that I shouldnt need to worry about latency and too much lock up (I guess that also depends on the always stable Windows OS).

There is one sticking point though. And that is the souncard of course. Any rack synth worth its weight in salt has a plethora of outs (see XV5080 8 outs and my s5000 16 outs). Obviously getting a soundcard with that many outs would probably cost me as much as the PC itself and possibly even more. Therefore defeating the purpose of trying to save some money but still building a great machine.

My DAW has a 1212M which is great for recording but only has two outs, which isnt good for this type of task. I am looking at the Delta 44 because of its nice breakout box and 4 outs (I guess I would have to live with 4 outs). Unfortunately, that doesnt have midi so I would have to buy an interface. I am then looking at the midisport UNO because I for the life of me cant find a cheap PCI midi interface without it being attached to some crappy OEM soundcard.

I guess this all boils down to this. Do you guys think the Delta 44 would suffice for this task? Do you know of any cheap dedicated PCI midi interfaces? Is the midi sport uno a good enough (NO LATENCY!) interface? And of course all in all, what do you guys think of this undertaking?

TIA

MaZe
 
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Is the midi sport uno a good enough (NO LATENCY!) interface?
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Nothing is zero latency, best you are looking at on a computer is around 2-5ms.


If you want lots of outputs use the ADAT on the 1212.
 
MaZe said:
Ive been mulling it over for a while now but I think I might make the plunge into building a nice 4U rackmount PC dedicated to running soft synths only.
Click to expand...

Is there any special reason why you want a dedicated unit just to house VST's?

I think todays computers are far advanced to have everything rolled into one. I wouldnt be happy about having 2 computers to manage (1 for VSTs and the 2nd for other tasks).

I am not trying to talk you out of it, I was just curious what led you to this desicion. I would build a single powerful computer and use that for all the audio/MIDI tasks.
 
Three reasons actually.

1) I love hardware. A nice dedicated 4U rack PC is the closest thing (rationalizing it to myself) I could get to an actual hardware synth rack, but with softsynths of course. (I already have a triton and an s5000 loaded with sounds)

2) The specs on my main PC are very good. 1GB Ram, XP3000+, 1212M, KT400 Chipset, etc. And I still have to deal with latency and sluggish behavior when dealing with sofsynths, recording, etc. simultaneously

3) Its a challenge, I like building PCs, and it will look good in my "studio"

MaZe
 
I understand, I have a rackmount PC but all is rolled into one. I would rather keep all rolled into one unit (easier management).

But you do what you feel more comfortable with.

Good luck with it.
 
CubaseRox, Your management point is kinda confusing me. I am not managing a complex token ring network here. Boot up, load up and play.

Is there something that I am not seeing? Its very possible. What do you see?


MaZe
 
Its a hell of alot of work to constantly switch between two machines and balance the load.

If you are running out of grunt invest in some DSP to off load the processor.
 
MaZe said:
CubaseRox, Your management point is kinda confusing me. I am not managing a complex token ring network here. Boot up, load up and play.

Is there something that I am not seeing? Its very possible. What do you see?
Click to expand...

I just see that managing 2 computers with 2 operating systems being cumbersome at times. There are sync issues, constantly keeping the computer(s) in top performance, now you have 2 bulky things taking up space (if space is an issue). Not to mention the ever growing "noise" problem that people seem to complain about, how their computer sounds like a buzz saw. Having 2 PC's running simultaneously will be louder. Unless both are rigged for ultra quiet, and those parts are more money.

And similar to what mungo said... The main thing is that with todays computers you can build a strong enough unit to handle everything all rolled into one.
 
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