Hello all – I’ve been looking around this site for a while now but this is my first post. (Be gentle!) I looked at many other forums, but feel my questions are best suited to folks with quiet computing in mind. I’ve read some of the DAW threads on here so have a feel for what might work, but I want to get some feedback on the selection of my components, given the tasks I will be using the system for - and also to get some input on keeping noise level as low as possible.
My PC will be used for the tasks as listed in the title plus photoshop and website design and office suite, surfing, movie watching. I will not be using the system for gaming. Of key importance is the Voiceover work – this is not something I am currently doing – but something I will be doing once my new system is built.
Voiceover Audio Recording: The voice recordings are mp3 DEMO’s I will send out to clients so professional quality (i.e. from sound booth) is not vital at the outset. The PC will be in the same room (my living room) as the microphone – about 6 feet away. I will buy a recording kit which includes a simple mic acoustic screen. (I cannot post related weblink until I have 3 posts)
I will probably use an M-AUDIO Firewire Solo or similar as an input into the PC. There is some ambient noise which I hope will be reduced by the mic screen - and I can also filter out noise after recording using software such as AUDACITY. The PC will be tucked under a desk 6 feet from mic with the back end of PC/PSU fan exhaust about 10cm from the wall - but it will help if my PC is as quiet as possible.
MY PLANNED SYSTEM & QUESTIONS (some components are “existingâ€
QUIET Voiceover Recording / Video Editing PC - thoughts?
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
video editing can take every bit of cpu horsepower that you throw at it, depending on the codecs used... unless the editing software you are going to use offloads the decoding to the gpu... i'm talking about standard avchd, as recorded by hi-def camcorders.
you don't gain much of anything by overclocking the ram, what you want to do is to overclock the cpu as much as possible.
you can make a pop filter for the mic by stretching pantyhose over a round clothes hanger frame, mounted on the mic, it works surprisingly well... don't expect to get any business by sending out poor quality demos... you don't want to depend on audio editing for quality, there are reasonably priced mini-booths you can get that really help to hold down the ambient noise.
80mm fans are typically not very quiet, are you sure that your hearing is up to par for this line of work
seriously, you would be surprised what gets picked up in a recording.
you don't gain much of anything by overclocking the ram, what you want to do is to overclock the cpu as much as possible.
you can make a pop filter for the mic by stretching pantyhose over a round clothes hanger frame, mounted on the mic, it works surprisingly well... don't expect to get any business by sending out poor quality demos... you don't want to depend on audio editing for quality, there are reasonably priced mini-booths you can get that really help to hold down the ambient noise.
80mm fans are typically not very quiet, are you sure that your hearing is up to par for this line of work
seriously, you would be surprised what gets picked up in a recording.-
maalitehdas
- Posts: 166
- Joined: Tue May 27, 2008 12:04 am
- Location: Finland
Thanks for the input danimal.danimal wrote:video editing can take every bit of cpu horsepower that you throw at it, depending on the codecs used... unless the editing software you are going to use offloads the decoding to the gpu... i'm talking about standard avchd, as recorded by hi-def camcorders.
you don't gain much of anything by overclocking the ram, what you want to do is to overclock the cpu as much as possible.
you can make a pop filter for the mic by stretching pantyhose over a round clothes hanger frame, mounted on the mic, it works surprisingly well... don't expect to get any business by sending out poor quality demos... you don't want to depend on audio editing for quality, there are reasonably priced mini-booths you can get that really help to hold down the ambient noise.
80mm fans are typically not very quiet, are you sure that your hearing is up to par for this line of work
I should mention im not just starting out in voice work - Ive been working as a voice artist for over 10 years with a number of Tv commercials, audio books & documentaries under my belt. Im only now thinking about recording pieces at home. I take your point about the fans. If I go for 120mm fans I will have to change my case - so will think on the upgrade.
I think we have crossed wires about the mic screen - I wasnt able to post a weblink since Ive just joined - the Rode NT1-A kit im looking at has a pop shield and the mic screen I mentioned is a unit that curves in an arc around the back of the mic - its a very simplistic voice booth. Again i'll think on that and may go for something more substantial.
Re: video editing - are you saying the i7-860 isnt enough horsepower? Most of my work is simple showreels (actors reels etc) - I usually bring in footage from DVD/PVR/Canopus ADVC110 then encode into MPEG-2 using Procoder and then use Womble to edit with frame accuracy to compile reels for DVD/web. Other PC video use is H264 mp4 encoding for iphone, web etc. Ive been getting by with a pentium 4 2.8Ghz up to now - but it really is time for something with more horsepower.
Ive looked at cheaper RAM 1333 but its same price as 1600 rated RAM right now. One option is to go i5-750 with PC1333 ram which will save a few pounds to spend elsewhere. will ponder on that.
maalitehdas had a couple of ideas there, i wonder if the integrated video would be enough for now, you could always add a video card later... h55 does fully support i7 860, right? i'm an i7 920 guy, but i'm guessing that 860 should be plenty of hp, and i've read that they make good overclockers? what do you give up with the i5? hyperthreading?
you could always get the new cpu/mb running with the case/fans/ps that you have now, and upgrade later.
the mini-booth that i was referring to was one of those wrap-around deals, we are on the same page... what about doing the narration in a closet that has been lined with soundproofing? have you looked at a usb mic adapter, instead of firewire?
i'm thinking that you'll have to deal with avchd hi-def sooner or later, and your current workflow isn't set up for it... womble is xlnt, in fact i just used it today, but it's sd-only... you should be able to cut the dvd footage directly with it, without re-encoding through the canopus hardware box... with enough horsepower, you can just about eliminate the advc110.
you could always get the new cpu/mb running with the case/fans/ps that you have now, and upgrade later.
the mini-booth that i was referring to was one of those wrap-around deals, we are on the same page... what about doing the narration in a closet that has been lined with soundproofing? have you looked at a usb mic adapter, instead of firewire?
i'm thinking that you'll have to deal with avchd hi-def sooner or later, and your current workflow isn't set up for it... womble is xlnt, in fact i just used it today, but it's sd-only... you should be able to cut the dvd footage directly with it, without re-encoding through the canopus hardware box... with enough horsepower, you can just about eliminate the advc110.
danimal - The recording closet idea would be great - but that would mean a different kind of upgrade 
and real estate prices in london are astronomical. I think one of the wrap around screens will be fine for now.
The ADV110 is an external box - which I only use for A-D conversion from VHS (actors still have old footage tucked away on VHS but the ADVC110 will be redundant at some point - maybe by next year). As you say - other than that I always edit DVD(mpeg2) directly in womble -which im a big fan of.
Im hoping to pull trigger with my components order in next few hours. Decisions still to be made as below:-
PSU Either keeping current one (Qtechnology 400W) versus buying new higher power PSU. (using SPCR recommendations).
Would welcome any thoughts on the dilemma that I described above in my first post - i.e. is the 70 watt headroom enough (calculated at 100% CPU & system load by Antec website) or is it too close for comfort for my system? (assuming I buy the i7-860 & HD4670 GPU)
CPU/MOBO My choices seem to be:-
H55 mobo with i5-661 with onboard graphics (thanks for the idea maalitehdas). lower power draw and less heat. Only 4 threads (dual core with Hyperthreading) but 32nm process.TDP 87W. Review on Hexus shows that the i5-661 loses in many areas compared to the i5-750 / i5-750 with discrete graphics card. http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=21684&page=1
OR
My Original idea of i7-860 with P55 mobo. The 8 threads could come in handy down the line if I do HD editing etc. Price of this OEM versus i5-750 is only £40 difference so if go down the route of discrete components I may as well have the i7-860. At 95W TDP its slightly hotter CPU than the i5-661 but I think the benefits outweigh the heat issue provided I get a good cooler.
Here's a quick link comparison Processor reference for anyone who's interested:- http://ark.intel.com/Compare.aspx?ids=4 ... 1318,43553,
Two of the processors in this comparison table have the "S" suffix. They runs cooler than the non "S" versions but they are more expensive by some margin.
Which brings me onto....
CPU cooling Due to my case width my choices seem to limited to low profile HS/Fan combo or the H50.
Corsair H50
--------------
I couldn't see an H50 review on SPRC - maybe I wasnt looking in the right place? would be interested to see comments on noise from the pump. Some reports say it humms and is noisy - others say its virtually silent.
Anyone got any thoughts on this? The drawback with the H50 is that it doesnt fit my case without a fan adaptor for top blow hole and even then it may by a tight fit getting the rad/fan to fit next to my CPU cables. Im moving away from this idea more and more and onto...
LOW PROFILE Heatsink/Fan Combo
-------------------------------
Here's my latest ideas (Assuming I go for the i7-860) but would love to hear any more:-
1. NOCTUA NH-C12P SE14 (NH-CP12 with 14cm fan)
Gets a good review with comparison against other current Noctua Coolers here:- http://www.clunk.org.uk/reviews/noctua- ... age-8.html:
Its not reviewed/Compared with other coolers on SPCR at the moment - from what I can see.
Has fittings to allow running with 120mm fan if preferred (e.g Nexus)
2. SCYTHE ZIPANG - another with 14cm fan.
Frostytech give good review/rating as does SPCR. Cannot find this in any stores though and the Zipang 2 sound levels arent quite as good.
Anyone got any others I can add to my list OF choices before I pull the trigger on my order?
Thanks. Pete.
and real estate prices in london are astronomical. I think one of the wrap around screens will be fine for now.The ADV110 is an external box - which I only use for A-D conversion from VHS (actors still have old footage tucked away on VHS but the ADVC110 will be redundant at some point - maybe by next year). As you say - other than that I always edit DVD(mpeg2) directly in womble -which im a big fan of.
Im hoping to pull trigger with my components order in next few hours. Decisions still to be made as below:-
PSU Either keeping current one (Qtechnology 400W) versus buying new higher power PSU. (using SPCR recommendations).
Would welcome any thoughts on the dilemma that I described above in my first post - i.e. is the 70 watt headroom enough (calculated at 100% CPU & system load by Antec website) or is it too close for comfort for my system? (assuming I buy the i7-860 & HD4670 GPU)
CPU/MOBO My choices seem to be:-
H55 mobo with i5-661 with onboard graphics (thanks for the idea maalitehdas). lower power draw and less heat. Only 4 threads (dual core with Hyperthreading) but 32nm process.TDP 87W. Review on Hexus shows that the i5-661 loses in many areas compared to the i5-750 / i5-750 with discrete graphics card. http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=21684&page=1
OR
My Original idea of i7-860 with P55 mobo. The 8 threads could come in handy down the line if I do HD editing etc. Price of this OEM versus i5-750 is only £40 difference so if go down the route of discrete components I may as well have the i7-860. At 95W TDP its slightly hotter CPU than the i5-661 but I think the benefits outweigh the heat issue provided I get a good cooler.
Here's a quick link comparison Processor reference for anyone who's interested:- http://ark.intel.com/Compare.aspx?ids=4 ... 1318,43553,
Two of the processors in this comparison table have the "S" suffix. They runs cooler than the non "S" versions but they are more expensive by some margin.
Which brings me onto....
CPU cooling Due to my case width my choices seem to limited to low profile HS/Fan combo or the H50.
Corsair H50
--------------
I couldn't see an H50 review on SPRC - maybe I wasnt looking in the right place? would be interested to see comments on noise from the pump. Some reports say it humms and is noisy - others say its virtually silent.
Anyone got any thoughts on this? The drawback with the H50 is that it doesnt fit my case without a fan adaptor for top blow hole and even then it may by a tight fit getting the rad/fan to fit next to my CPU cables. Im moving away from this idea more and more and onto...
LOW PROFILE Heatsink/Fan Combo
-------------------------------
Here's my latest ideas (Assuming I go for the i7-860) but would love to hear any more:-
1. NOCTUA NH-C12P SE14 (NH-CP12 with 14cm fan)
Gets a good review with comparison against other current Noctua Coolers here:- http://www.clunk.org.uk/reviews/noctua- ... age-8.html:
Its not reviewed/Compared with other coolers on SPCR at the moment - from what I can see.
Has fittings to allow running with 120mm fan if preferred (e.g Nexus)
2. SCYTHE ZIPANG - another with 14cm fan.
Frostytech give good review/rating as does SPCR. Cannot find this in any stores though and the Zipang 2 sound levels arent quite as good.
Anyone got any others I can add to my list OF choices before I pull the trigger on my order?
Thanks. Pete.
-
OddSilence
- Posts: 65
- Joined: Wed Feb 03, 2010 5:03 pm
- Location: Portugal, EU
Am I still in time?Well, just in case I am...
About the CPU cooler, I think Scythe Ninja Rev.B would fit:
it's 152mm tall.
About the processor, if your work uses much CPU power, I would go with a powerful one even if that means getting a separate graphics card...
There are graphics cards that generate very little heat and are passive (ex.: 5450).
About the PSupply, I think you should get a new, more powerful one, because:
- I've read that capacitors loose a bit of their capacitance abilities over time... since you say you already had the psu, i imagine it has been used for a few years so might be too close...
- If you get a "bigger" PSupply (ex: 650w), the fan will probabbly spin slower at the same watts-use, helping you to achieve quietness.
-
~El~Jefe~
- Friend of SPCR
- Posts: 2887
- Joined: Mon Feb 28, 2005 4:21 pm
- Location: New York City zzzz
- Contact:
I wrote something big, but i see you are using an analog to digital recording piece of equipment. In that case:
Put all electronics in another room or shoved in a closet. Get a really long USB cable to the m-audio box.
I couldnt really see recording in a room that isnt a homebrew sound booth unless it is for classical instruments in which all the machinery is outside the room completely isolated.
I would also recommend getting a fanless Dual atom and get an SSD drive for no moving parts. The computer doesnt process anything when you use an m-box. A 1 ghz processor and 1 gig ram is all you need so long as the ability to write to a drive is fast and uninterupted
I just noticed you said Video editing. I would get a 1 gig card with 128 bit interface maybe, eh? I dont know if your software can utilize such things. I know that Cuda is kinda neat. I also would opt for a 1366 board and 6 gigs of ram in a 64 bit environment. The speed of processor wouldnt matter. 1366 boards are higher spec. a 920 is good enough.
If you demand going the 860 route, you should get 8 gigs ram. If you dont need that much power, getting a quad core probably is much more than you need then. The ram does a lot in video editing.
I wouldnt go ATI. It just is sub standard for video editing industry. It might not matter much for you though, it depends on the software and how your process.
I would make 2 computers for your needs. One is a post production one, one is a recording one. The post doesnt matter as much, it's more how more or less frustrating you want it to be for while you work, power wise.
recording must be done in beyond spcr silence.
Put all electronics in another room or shoved in a closet. Get a really long USB cable to the m-audio box.
I couldnt really see recording in a room that isnt a homebrew sound booth unless it is for classical instruments in which all the machinery is outside the room completely isolated.
I would also recommend getting a fanless Dual atom and get an SSD drive for no moving parts. The computer doesnt process anything when you use an m-box. A 1 ghz processor and 1 gig ram is all you need so long as the ability to write to a drive is fast and uninterupted
I just noticed you said Video editing. I would get a 1 gig card with 128 bit interface maybe, eh? I dont know if your software can utilize such things. I know that Cuda is kinda neat. I also would opt for a 1366 board and 6 gigs of ram in a 64 bit environment. The speed of processor wouldnt matter. 1366 boards are higher spec. a 920 is good enough.
If you demand going the 860 route, you should get 8 gigs ram. If you dont need that much power, getting a quad core probably is much more than you need then. The ram does a lot in video editing.
I wouldnt go ATI. It just is sub standard for video editing industry. It might not matter much for you though, it depends on the software and how your process.
I would make 2 computers for your needs. One is a post production one, one is a recording one. The post doesnt matter as much, it's more how more or less frustrating you want it to be for while you work, power wise.
recording must be done in beyond spcr silence.
My two cents:
1. put a switch in line with your case fans so you can turn them off during takes. Your system won't overheat during the few minutes you're recording a voice over take. I leave mine off for more than an hour at a time. A simple way is to get a fan controller like the zalman fanmate and just unplug the fans when you don't want to hear them.
2. the Rode NT1-A is a nice mic. I've used one along with a bunch of more expensive mics and it stacks up. The big diaphram is a good choice for recording the voice IMHO.
Potsy
1. put a switch in line with your case fans so you can turn them off during takes. Your system won't overheat during the few minutes you're recording a voice over take. I leave mine off for more than an hour at a time. A simple way is to get a fan controller like the zalman fanmate and just unplug the fans when you don't want to hear them.
2. the Rode NT1-A is a nice mic. I've used one along with a bunch of more expensive mics and it stacks up. The big diaphram is a good choice for recording the voice IMHO.
Potsy