Hello
Fist off I'd like to say what a great sight this is. I own a recording studio and am building a new box and was hoping I could get some advice on a a full tower case.
I've looked at the Antec P182 and it looks great but I'm going to running 3 pci cards and a graphics card and 3 maybe 4 hard dives and it seems like it could be an issue with heat. I don't need to be silent as I have my computers in a machine room but I still need to knock down the db's, I'm looking for full tower case that's fairly quiet and doesn't break the bank, $200 absolute tops.
Or if you think the P192 would suffice, please let me know.
Thanks
Suggestions for a quiet full tower case for reasonable $$$
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bonestonne
- Posts: 1839
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a lot of cases will do, it just depends on if you want to do a lot of work on it or not. if you buy new fans for it, a lot of cases will work. Cooler Master stacker type cases [including the centurion and elite 330] are excellent choices, because there will be lots of cooling in a machine room for a studio [i work at a radio station, and its chilly all year round]. P180/2B are really overkill i think, you could do better, unless you need the dampening.
since you don't need the dampening, i'd suggest the Cooler Master Stacker 830. its a little large, but the front is open, room for plenty of drives, and room for 7 cards...more than what you'll be using. the mesh of the case will help cool it, and fans can be put where needed.
if you use Western Digital drives, heat will be no issue, they have the lowest power rating, so they'll create less heat in the end, therefore, having 4 of them will not cause any problems. also, running a lower budget graphics card [nVidia 6xxx or 7xxx series card, or ATi 9xxx series card] will also lower heat.
also, choosing a motherboard with larger heatsinks will allow for more heat dissipation, rather than buildup. under load, or during recording, you will have to worry about any soundcards. i have an M-Audio card, but its pretty much baked by my graphics card, which i can't change right now, but i realize its an issue. you can get RAM heatsinks and put those on the audio chipsets, therefore they wont get too hot.
i'm in charge of all of the computers next year, so it'll get interesting, but if you want pointers or anything on how i work with my computers, just ask, i wont mind giving a whole shpeil on what i do with them. its also a dream of mine to work in a studio...i do sound tech left and right.
since you don't need the dampening, i'd suggest the Cooler Master Stacker 830. its a little large, but the front is open, room for plenty of drives, and room for 7 cards...more than what you'll be using. the mesh of the case will help cool it, and fans can be put where needed.
if you use Western Digital drives, heat will be no issue, they have the lowest power rating, so they'll create less heat in the end, therefore, having 4 of them will not cause any problems. also, running a lower budget graphics card [nVidia 6xxx or 7xxx series card, or ATi 9xxx series card] will also lower heat.
also, choosing a motherboard with larger heatsinks will allow for more heat dissipation, rather than buildup. under load, or during recording, you will have to worry about any soundcards. i have an M-Audio card, but its pretty much baked by my graphics card, which i can't change right now, but i realize its an issue. you can get RAM heatsinks and put those on the audio chipsets, therefore they wont get too hot.
i'm in charge of all of the computers next year, so it'll get interesting, but if you want pointers or anything on how i work with my computers, just ask, i wont mind giving a whole shpeil on what i do with them. its also a dream of mine to work in a studio...i do sound tech left and right.
Lot's of good advice. Is this case a waste of time?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811133021
bonestonne
Sure I'd love to hear what you do
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811133021
bonestonne
Sure I'd love to hear what you do
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CountChoculaBot
- Posts: 45
- Joined: Mon Jul 23, 2007 3:48 pm
I'd get this personally.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811119138
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811119138
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bonestonne
- Posts: 1839
- Joined: Mon Feb 05, 2007 2:10 pm
- Location: Northern New Jersey
- Contact:
actually, i wouldn't say that case is bad, but there are many alternatives to take a look at. browsing through newegg, i bumped into a case i saw a few reviews for elsewhere, and its the Cooler Master Cosmos [i must seem to go for cooler master a lot, but its not the only thing i have]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811119138
looks big, it is big, but its got plenty of cooling, some of it you may not even need, but while the Thermaltake is nice, this case is one to really take a look at. two upper 120mm fans. already its keeping that Q6600 cool. look at the middle. you've got this nice duct going over all the PCI slots..keeps graphics and sound cards cool. down at the bottom, a separate PSU chamber. keeps the case ducted, and cool. room for 6 drives, more than you'd need, and it would allow you to space them out. what draws me to this case is a mesh front, dampened sides, and 120mm fans. i have a cooler master fan, and its max rpm is around 1100. while its quiet, you can still hear it, which is something that you almost shouldn't with a fan spinning at that rpm. the case is certainly not cheap, but its got fancy handles on it. thats a plus for me because i move around a lot, but in a studio it helps during upgrades, cleanouts and movings. rather than trying to grab this bulky and very expensive box, you've got handles. now, a factor i don't like is the closed door thats solid. could help keep out dust though. the station i work at has this massive dust problem, but its in part because its also a school. literally 1600 people wandering around during the school year. its insane that the systems can stay remotely clean.
wilba said a stacker, by far, yes. a stacker beats out all else, but you wouldn't want to get one with windows...the stare factor...i'd get lost staring into a Q6600 myself, but also its not as much of a professional look as a LAN party look.
filters are a big plus, drove me into buying cooler master. rather than blowing out the entire computer once every couple of weeks or so, just pop off the front panel, clean that. insides can go a couple of months before its needed.
a stacker 690 would be great too, but its dependent on what you're going to what lying around. but no matter what, Antec Tri-Cools are loud. just go for replacement fans with whatever case you're getting and you'll be happier. Yate Loons, or Scythe Slip Streams are great, Nexus is good too, but i can see its downfall with the performance of the Slip Streams.
viewtopic.php?t=42469
if you look about half way down that you'll see a system very similar to the one you're making, it'll give you a little to work off of.
i pretty much solely use Adobe Audition for recording, and i do a range of different things...concerts on TV? RCA cable to my inputs! SNL, Soundstage..you name it, music! Live recordings? i can take Aux outputs from any soundboard. you name it to RCA...goes into my inputs, live recording. i run Audition 2 because i got that, couple weeks later Audition 3 came out and i'm just not in a spending mood, not even for the cheaper upgrade. I've looked into other programs, but i just know Audition better. I thought about pro-tools, but if i get a firewire mixer, i'll still use audition..i have no reason to change.
if i don't like a sound i hear, as long as theres at least .5 of a second, i can do a noise reduction, its all gone. low fidelity recording or it just sounds bad? multi-effect rack! clean it all up. now that i've got audio better than any creative card can give, it makes a difference to my ears...and the headset does help. in fact, i'm thinking of buying a set of AKG-244's. BSW is a great store to look at for audio equipment...great prices. i've got a magazine somewhere around here by them. there are other places my school gets mail from, i can let you know what they are as well. M-Audio is excellent though. ever since i got that soundcard, i've read into their stuff, and they have better support for their products that most other companies do, they've got 64bit drivers that work!
this is a really strange one, but the apple mighty mouse. i've beat this one around for a long time. during editing, this will help a lot. horizontal scrolling is a feature every mouse should have. i'm not limited to zooming in or out with audition, i can pan across entire sections of audio. thats also reason to have large monitors, 2 if possible, the more the merrier, and also, you more editing room.
soon i'll be building an editing rig in my school that'll run dual or triple monitor just for my use really, that and one of my friends because we do a lot of video editing, but i have a 15.4" monitor here at home, and editing on it sucks big time.
i think thats a pretty good shpeil for now.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811119138
looks big, it is big, but its got plenty of cooling, some of it you may not even need, but while the Thermaltake is nice, this case is one to really take a look at. two upper 120mm fans. already its keeping that Q6600 cool. look at the middle. you've got this nice duct going over all the PCI slots..keeps graphics and sound cards cool. down at the bottom, a separate PSU chamber. keeps the case ducted, and cool. room for 6 drives, more than you'd need, and it would allow you to space them out. what draws me to this case is a mesh front, dampened sides, and 120mm fans. i have a cooler master fan, and its max rpm is around 1100. while its quiet, you can still hear it, which is something that you almost shouldn't with a fan spinning at that rpm. the case is certainly not cheap, but its got fancy handles on it. thats a plus for me because i move around a lot, but in a studio it helps during upgrades, cleanouts and movings. rather than trying to grab this bulky and very expensive box, you've got handles. now, a factor i don't like is the closed door thats solid. could help keep out dust though. the station i work at has this massive dust problem, but its in part because its also a school. literally 1600 people wandering around during the school year. its insane that the systems can stay remotely clean.
wilba said a stacker, by far, yes. a stacker beats out all else, but you wouldn't want to get one with windows...the stare factor...i'd get lost staring into a Q6600 myself, but also its not as much of a professional look as a LAN party look.
filters are a big plus, drove me into buying cooler master. rather than blowing out the entire computer once every couple of weeks or so, just pop off the front panel, clean that. insides can go a couple of months before its needed.
a stacker 690 would be great too, but its dependent on what you're going to what lying around. but no matter what, Antec Tri-Cools are loud. just go for replacement fans with whatever case you're getting and you'll be happier. Yate Loons, or Scythe Slip Streams are great, Nexus is good too, but i can see its downfall with the performance of the Slip Streams.
viewtopic.php?t=42469
if you look about half way down that you'll see a system very similar to the one you're making, it'll give you a little to work off of.
i pretty much solely use Adobe Audition for recording, and i do a range of different things...concerts on TV? RCA cable to my inputs! SNL, Soundstage..you name it, music! Live recordings? i can take Aux outputs from any soundboard. you name it to RCA...goes into my inputs, live recording. i run Audition 2 because i got that, couple weeks later Audition 3 came out and i'm just not in a spending mood, not even for the cheaper upgrade. I've looked into other programs, but i just know Audition better. I thought about pro-tools, but if i get a firewire mixer, i'll still use audition..i have no reason to change.
if i don't like a sound i hear, as long as theres at least .5 of a second, i can do a noise reduction, its all gone. low fidelity recording or it just sounds bad? multi-effect rack! clean it all up. now that i've got audio better than any creative card can give, it makes a difference to my ears...and the headset does help. in fact, i'm thinking of buying a set of AKG-244's. BSW is a great store to look at for audio equipment...great prices. i've got a magazine somewhere around here by them. there are other places my school gets mail from, i can let you know what they are as well. M-Audio is excellent though. ever since i got that soundcard, i've read into their stuff, and they have better support for their products that most other companies do, they've got 64bit drivers that work!
this is a really strange one, but the apple mighty mouse. i've beat this one around for a long time. during editing, this will help a lot. horizontal scrolling is a feature every mouse should have. i'm not limited to zooming in or out with audition, i can pan across entire sections of audio. thats also reason to have large monitors, 2 if possible, the more the merrier, and also, you more editing room.
soon i'll be building an editing rig in my school that'll run dual or triple monitor just for my use really, that and one of my friends because we do a lot of video editing, but i have a 15.4" monitor here at home, and editing on it sucks big time.
i think thats a pretty good shpeil for now.
Everybody Thanks for your suggestions
I did pull the trigger on the Cosmos last night. $90 after MIR with free shipping was hard to turn down. Now I just need a crane to lift it.
bonestonne
Have you ever tried Reaper? A lot of Audition guys are using it and it's a very cool program especially for the price of $50.00. It rivals the best of the DAWs and their support is excellent. I own it and may someday use it full time after a few things are added that I need.
I'm running Cubase 4.1 with a RME HDSP 9652 into 24 channels of A toD and D to A with a 144 input analog console with lots of hardware effects. (they still sound better than plugins). I also have 2 UAD cards
I have a second studio computer also running the RME but I was thinking about picking the Audiophile 2496 and picking up a copy of Protools Mpowered just for transferring projects to the PT format for compatibility with other studios, other than that Cubase 4.1 kills Protools LE and mpowered
Here's a pic of my roomhttp://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n301 ... G_2868.jpg
I did pull the trigger on the Cosmos last night. $90 after MIR with free shipping was hard to turn down. Now I just need a crane to lift it.
bonestonne
Have you ever tried Reaper? A lot of Audition guys are using it and it's a very cool program especially for the price of $50.00. It rivals the best of the DAWs and their support is excellent. I own it and may someday use it full time after a few things are added that I need.
I'm running Cubase 4.1 with a RME HDSP 9652 into 24 channels of A toD and D to A with a 144 input analog console with lots of hardware effects. (they still sound better than plugins). I also have 2 UAD cards
I have a second studio computer also running the RME but I was thinking about picking the Audiophile 2496 and picking up a copy of Protools Mpowered just for transferring projects to the PT format for compatibility with other studios, other than that Cubase 4.1 kills Protools LE and mpowered
Here's a pic of my roomhttp://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n301 ... G_2868.jpg
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bonestonne
- Posts: 1839
- Joined: Mon Feb 05, 2007 2:10 pm
- Location: Northern New Jersey
- Contact:
wow. let me stare for a few more minutes.
hold on....
ok. just did my reality check.
144 inputs?! that is massive. must've cost a very pretty penny at that too.
the station i work at can't compare to that at all, but we also don't really do recordings. but i will have to look further into reaper, it looks really good.
the 24/96 is a great card, but you have to get used to RCA inputs...once i get a 20' RCA cable i'll be able to do passthrough while recording since i don't have a mixer, but it does sound nice. as long as you're monitoring what's going on, and you don't over-mod anywhere, its a great card, but spiking audio levels can kill the recordings. i don't work with midi or synths just yet, so i can't say much about working with that kind of recording, but i would hope the real effect sounds better than the provided ones.
once i get a USB or firewire mixer, i'll do more multi-track stuff, but when i'm recording, i'll normally just do one track with everything, and hope that who i'm doing it for doesn't mess up...if not, they start over.
but wow...that studio looks amazing.
hold on....
ok. just did my reality check.
144 inputs?! that is massive. must've cost a very pretty penny at that too.
the station i work at can't compare to that at all, but we also don't really do recordings. but i will have to look further into reaper, it looks really good.
the 24/96 is a great card, but you have to get used to RCA inputs...once i get a 20' RCA cable i'll be able to do passthrough while recording since i don't have a mixer, but it does sound nice. as long as you're monitoring what's going on, and you don't over-mod anywhere, its a great card, but spiking audio levels can kill the recordings. i don't work with midi or synths just yet, so i can't say much about working with that kind of recording, but i would hope the real effect sounds better than the provided ones.
once i get a USB or firewire mixer, i'll do more multi-track stuff, but when i'm recording, i'll normally just do one track with everything, and hope that who i'm doing it for doesn't mess up...if not, they start over.
but wow...that studio looks amazing.