The Windows Based DAW Part I

I though I would take some time and talk about computers. I know a lot of people use Mac’s for there DAW (Digital Audio Workstations) because PC’s are so unreliable and crash all of the time, etc. I would say that is true to a degree, and also false and the same time.

I also feel that I am qualified to discuss this, I have a 2 year degree in computer technology, I have worked for a large finical company supporting windows based computers for the last 2 years, and I hold certifications from both Microsoft and CompTIA.

furthermore, I think if you were putting to together a DAW in 1999 and had to deal with the pains of Windows ME and 98 then I would agree that windows in unreliable. In this day and age of Windows it is very reliable. Let me start by saying that I am talking about Windows XP and not Vista. If you are having problems with you PC constantly locking up and rebooting then most likely your computer is having a hard ware problem. This is not a windows only problem because Mac’s have hardware failure also, which would cause OSX to start acting strange.

Additionally, I’m not at all supporting any major computer companies such as Dell and HP. I think that these companies skip on some of the more important aspects of a computer and that is stability. They usually make cheap computer for the masses. I think if you need a PC go to a local Ma and Pop shop or order the parts and build it yourself. The company who are selling the parts are for the power user. These parts are usually very reliable and stable and I have had very little problems with them. In fact I have still have a PC I build in 2000 with a 500mhz processor, and it still runs if I need it to.

Another big benefit to these systems is the ability to upgreade. Fore example I upgraded my computer form a 1100+ processor to 3500+ for under $300. In Mac terms that would be compared to going form a G3 to Pentium class Mac’s and I’m sure there would be a higher cost.

to show the flexibility of a PC, I have in the past installed Windows twice on my computer on different partitions. Keep one configuration just for recording audio, and another for what ever else you user your computer for. This way you can reboot into your DAW Windows and know that the OS has been tweaked to provide optimal performance and reliability, yet still be able to pay bills online and watch you tube videos.

This part of the article shows some of the flexibility of a PC based DAW. This just breaks the surface some of the PC requirements. In Part II we will look at some additional “Tweaks” we can apply to windows to try and get some better performance out of our hardware. In Part III we will look at some hardware requirements for a DAW. Then in Part IV we will look at some of the different Studio software Suites.