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Subject: "barebones" PC ?

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Original Message 1/16 23-May-03 @ 02:51 AM - shuttle xpc

Lewin

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Hi everybody...

I'm quite new on the "computerized" music, I've always owned hardware, but... I've tried some nice plugs ans virtual synth, and I was amazed by the loiw cost and the quality you can get from these...

So what ? Well, I intend to get me a specialized mini XPC from shuttle, with an echo MIA sound card and an athlon...
Any idea about these XPCs ? Do they work ?
As the gamers use them, I want one too for the same reasons : they're SMALL !!!
Anybody has tried one ???
Thx for any hint about these ;)
Cheers

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Message 2/16 23-May-03 @ 03:41 AM - RE:

Influx

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one thing about the tiny cases and the necessary motherboards is the lack of PCI slots, and PCI slots are what a lot of what we do is based on...if youre SURE youll only need the one or two then cool

also..theyre just not that expandable. You probably can only have one hard drive, which really...if youre gonna do a lot of audio stuff you should have two (one dedicated to audio)...and are there enough ram slots that support newer faster ram?

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Message 3/16 23-May-03 @ 12:03 PM - RE:

Lewin

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Well, you're right ! But they're more expandable than an i-book or a Thinkpad (real portable PCs), and they're cheaper.

Actually, I think there's just what I need in these tiny cases:
- ONE PCI slot, which is for the ONE soundcard I want
- they can get up to 2 Gb of DDR SDRAM,
- it seems there are TWO 3-1/2 slots u can use (one for the hard disk, the second is supposed to be used for the floppydisk drive but then, who needs it right now ? Wanna save a song on a 1.44 Mb untrustworthy thinggy ?
I guess I'll try it... I wrote a mail to Echo too, as soon as they'll answer, I'll know...

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Message 4/16 23-May-03 @ 12:45 PM - RE:

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could be ok, BUT, be warned, with one drive fitted, IF that drive ever goes down, so does ALL your work, so unless you can network this thing for backup duties, I'd seriously think of fitting some sort of backup external cart if possible.

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Message 5/16 26-May-03 @ 11:49 PM - RE:

Lewin

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Thx for the advice, in fact I've had a thought about that. Loosing all my work ? Hu, that would be kinda bothering me ;-)
Now, thinking about it, I'm sure it can easily be avoided by partitioning my drive.

Or even better, by getting two hard drives, even if one is quite enough: one drive for data "backup", and one for the system and softwares.
It's possible to fit two HDD in those lil beasts (but then no floppy drive, who cares ?)!

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Message 6/16 27-May-03 @ 12:11 AM - RE:

Lewin

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In fact, I think I'm gonna add in my lil box a CDburner, instead of a simple CD drive.
This could allow easy backup too.
I've had my mail from Echo, hu hu hu ! They're quite sure about the Intel chipsets, and the VIAs, but they just told me "you're welcome to try out SiS or other chipsets" :-)
Nice people ;-)

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Message 7/16 27-May-03 @ 08:46 AM - RE:

dARKSTATe

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Hang on a sec.. can't you get those Shuttle PCs configured with a tasty nFORCE2 mobo??

Sure you can, dunno where you're based but in the UK I know Overclockers.co.uk are doing barebones systems based around nFORCE2 chipsets - very nice for sure...

As for the storage option, you have one other choice as well as using an internal IDE drive, coz the nForce2 mobos come with Firewire you *could* theoretically use an external (eg. LACIE) Firewire harddrive too.. (These drives certainly have the chops to be used for Audio purposes if all the reviews and benchmarks I've read are true)

Just a thought..

Marc_D

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Message 8/16 27-May-03 @ 09:07 AM Edit: 27-May-03 | 09:13 AM - RE:

psylichon

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400mbps?? sure, fine for audio! The one studio where I work (which is pretty intense with its Pro Tools HD bandwidth) claims they've gotten 64 tracks streaming no problem. I've personally cut 23 tracks live to a firewire drive with no problem... took a few seconds to lock up but that is to be expected. Only a SCSI and/or RAID solution would solve that. Needless to say, firewire is here to stay. Firewire II anybody??

psy

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Message 9/16 27-May-03 @ 10:19 AM - RE:

dARKSTATe

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Well that'll solve our friends problem then, IF, he's got the budget for it...

Certainly an nForce2 based Shuttle Cube PC with Firewire would solve that... miniturisation/portability comes at a price tho'..

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Message 10/16 27-May-03 @ 10:20 AM - RE:

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Just to say to Lewin - partitioning is fine for deviding a PHYSICAL drive into individual partitioned/lettered drives for easy management... and you can even format each partition differently, BUt the whole point of using multip0le drives is that IF the physical drive dies, that physical drive contains all your partitioned drives so they ALL die... we're talking here about a MECHANICAL drive death, where the actual physical drive dies in some way, not some sort of s/w or formatting problem that just effects one partition.

So always get some backup space, cd burning is ok for achiving (that is burning a finished song with all files etc for archive), but to backup project which still are being worked on and will change every week or every day or every other day etc it results in a mass of CD backups.... Also, Cd backup is just more time consuming that quickly copying a song folder to a second drive.

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Message 11/16 27-May-03 @ 04:14 PM - RE:

99devils

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I don't think you're saving that much loot by going with one of those dinky all in one type jobbers with only 1 PCI slot and no room for expansion. Bite the bullet up front and you'll have a system that's upgradable and usable for years.. Not something you're going to have to throw out in a year.

-Craig

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Message 12/16 29-May-03 @ 12:24 AM - RE:

Lewin

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Thx everybody for so much advice !!

I think that Nforce chipset could do the thing, but I'm not sure about the card compatibility. Nor are the people from Echo, as they just told me to try it out :-)
Anyhow, keeping upgrading my PCs is not really my aim.

In fact, I mean to build up a lil "music box" which I can take easily with me to my friends' homes and make my stuff or my recordings.
Even if I've no experience in it, it's worth giving a try, isn't it ? Once u buy all the stuff and softs u need, I guess now we have a very high level of quality.

I mean, once I have a truly functioning system with a Mia soundcard and UP TO 2 gig RAM and UP TO 3 gig cpu, could I expect more from life ?

There's the risk of bugs from the card and Nforce chipset, but, then, I guess it's worth it...
Dunno what the risk realy is, though :-(

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Message 13/16 29-May-03 @ 09:32 AM - RE:

Marc_D

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I can't speak for Echo, but a LOT of ppl have said the nFORCE2 is fine for music PC configs - try posting on the Sound-on-Sound forums when they're back up, Martin Walker the forum moderator has quite a bit of Echo experience and is a bit of a PC bod too...

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Message 14/16 29-May-03 @ 12:58 PM - RE:

Lewin

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That would be nice indeed, but I haven't seen the slightest sign of this "sound-on-sound" forum !

Where can I find it ?

I guees I'll try and use the Nforce chipset anyhow, because it'll allow me to get a neat Athlon XP 2500+ :-)

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Message 15/16 29-May-03 @ 01:22 PM - RE:

marc_d

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www.sospubs.co.uk

Its the website for sound-on-sound magazine.. and it looks like the site is back up again...

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Message 16/16 29-May-03 @ 03:04 PM - RE:

lewin

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Thanx, I'll try this one out too :-)

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