Every single studio in the world today has a DAW . They are in bedrooms , basements, Galleries, on the road, in your hotel room and in music film and post/voice studios world wide. They all have one thing in common They are Computer based. WHAT THEY DONT HAVE IN COMMON IS ALMOST NOONE IS USING THE EXACT SAME MAC/PC UNIT AND SETUP. That exac fact and well the fact that ther are only 2 us based DAW pc builders at the moment, and while im sure both of those manufacturers build solid units, after running the build numbers and seeing there pricing, I was driven no compelled, no FORCED to start up HSE. Im gona tell you right here and now, what those other two nameless , mostly because i dont need a defamation suite to kick off my launch are freakin ripping people off. I can build A top of the lin latest core and board high ram multiple drives for 2/3rd of what they are trying to retail out. For just a tad more than theyre "base" model I can deliver my top end stuff. and yes there are alot of factors to look at when choosing a build configuration and that mainly lines up with where and how you will be using the unit .
I have 3 basic chasis configurations, they are..
The NUC a splendid little cube with some monstrous capabilities, integrated thunderbolt 3 even dual drive capability and multiple display integrationwith the cabality of 64gb of ddr4 at monent and multi core /threads . I have used two generations for upto 24 track count at once at 48khz 64 bit float at 256samples on studio one 7 with no glitching or issues and able to play back 38 tracks to 4 stereo busses with 10 or more busses and loads of waves, API and presonus plugins with zero issues. So these arent just bedroom toys but they do have their limits. the biggest being expansionand a complete and utter lack of cooling. I will be offering a mini mmulti muffin fan side assembly tray unit that will help abate heat, its in developmant and will be ready by launch.
This is still a bedroom/home or small studio/mobile studio pc though as you will not be able to run with the big boys. but for the price it will be offered at its a great starting point to jump on in from.
The TOWER Now im a rack guy myself ,but hey to each his own. This is where pro level starts and and opens you up to almost any interface and configuration on the planet. While i know there are a couple units out there that just arent windows friendly, Protools aint one of them. The motherboards I use are the latest from MSI. integrated imbedded thunderbolt4/5, Heavy duty heat sinks etc. and intel ultra core I7/I9 plus up to 192 gb ddr5 ram and you have a universe worth of power. My idealogy is, if you start with the best youll end at the best point.
The main diffrence between tower and rack configurations beyond the obvious points is that most rack cases are actually built for server use which means more hard drives can be employed that are embbeded and not just attached like a DAS. Its that exact reason that I personally prefer rack over tower , Well that and the ergonomics of it shorter cables etc. I use the largest MSI approved power supply available to insure peak performance and no brown out or to put it another way youll have plenty of power for everything you want in it and power to spare.
The RACK CHASSIS This is the one, Neo would be proud of. Again just like its tower brethren it satrts with the fastest best most integrated components Miinimum 64gb DDR5 ultra low latency RAM a ram cooler A hard core MINIMUM heat shielded m2.2 ssd for bbot and 3 6TB seagate baracuda platters configured to raid zero so that your throughpur is in unison all the way through
A word on RAID 0 RAID 0 takes multiple drives 2 to upto 4 in a tower or 6 in a rack chassis and configures it so that the mother board sees it a one large volume or D. Why would you do that???? wel frankly it is simple math lets say you have a thunderbolt 3 enabled ad?da converter box now that thing is capable of 40gbs one way or 20gbps in and out, your motherboard and proccessor and ram can all hang tough but your seek drive labeled D which is where you record to and plkayback from has a max at moment 6 gbs which equals 3gbs 2 ways...now that can work but if you start trying high tracjk counts at higher sample rates like a protools hdx2 setup can do your can have real problems. I insist on 3 6tb 6gbs derives because that gives you 18gbs one way or 9gbs both ways which on a thunderbolty 3 system is typically very adequate. HDX 2 on the other hand can handle massive track counts at upto 364khz and 64bit float point bit rate and high buffer settings which equates to buss crashing throughput and pc shutdown which l;ets face it. NOBODY wants to see that on their screen especially if your workin for a living. so with the HDX 2 stuff im recomending 5 or 6 6tb 6gbs platters which provides a ton of throughput and matches what even a thunderbolt cable can do at full bandwidth which lets be honest well never see it. and yes a 6 drive raid 0 configuration is possible it costs more but its a dead sure fire way to not have throughput issues. Im sure ill catch heat from the industry on this because as far as I know ,Noone else does this, well I do and that just one of many things that set me apart.
There is no one size fits everyone pc build veryone has diffrent needs and usage points, which is why I only do orders over the phone. I like to talk to my potential clients and get a good feel for no just what they expect but how it will be used what software what hardware what type music how many tracks . It seems nosey , Yes it does, but its how I do things. This personal consult allows me to get the feel I need to advise them on their potential build which in turn will wind up giving them what they need and ultimately what they want. a hassle free system.
How this works .
Goto the contact us page , fill it out, tell me a brief summary of how you intend to use it what product lines your intrested in and what converter box you have or are going to buy so that when i call, oh yeah be sure to leave your digits with best time to call, I will already have a hit the ground running first look and not have to waste our time with starter questions.
Thank you for visiting HSE asnd I hope to hear from you soon G