$600 - $3,000

The $600 Dell
If you don't have a computer and are on a budget, consider a Dell for around $600. I checked out Gateway and they had cheaper computers, but when I upgraded the RAM to 256mb and upgraded the Hard Drive, it also turned out to be about $600. I would suggest you add a 2nd Hard Drive for your audio files, but you can skip this if you're on a budget. You'll just find yourself backing your old songs up to CD-ROM often.

Custom Computer ($850 - $2000)
Update 12/09/2002: Above this budget, Advanced Designs Kentucky makes dedicated audio computers, or you can build your own. You pay extra for this service, but it may pay for itself in terms of time not spent building and  headaches saved. their $1400 model is roughly equivelant to my $1150 computer plus it has some upgrades such as a silent case, and removable hard drive.

While discussing the possibility of opening a pro studio with a friend of mine, I designed an audio computer on newegg.com with the following specs:

• Thermaltake Xaser II 5000 Plus, with (5) PCS silent fans (21db)
• Soyo Dragon Ultra Motherboard
• Thermaltake Silent PurePower 420Watt Power Supply
• AMD Athalon XP 2100
• VANTEC CCK-6040 Heatsink
• 512mb Crucial Registered DDR RAM
• Maxtor 40gb 7200RPM Hard Drive
• Maxtor 60gb 7200RPM Hard Drive
• Lite On 48x24x48 CD-RW
• Sony 1.44MB 3.5" Floppy Drive
• Asus V7100 Magic Pure 32MB VGA Card
• Logitech PS2 Optical Mouse
• Logitech Deluxe Access 104 PS2 Keyboard
• (2) Cooler Master Round 24" ATA133/100 IDE Cables
• (1) Cooler Master Round 18' Floppy Cable

This is roughly equivelant to my computer, though with smaller hard drives, less expensive video card and no DVD-ROM drive. The case & power supply are better than what I'm using and it should be pretty quiet right out of the box. I can't promise complete compatability with every audio card, I've had no problems with it with my Digi001. The Advanced Kentucky Design stuff should be tested to work with most audio hardware, so you may wish to look to them when designing your computer.

Total price? Around $900 plus shipping & tax if applicable. You supply the monitor, OS & audio card. So if you're comfortable putting a PC together from scratch, this is a very inexpensive way to go.

Apple ($1600 - $3000)
Of course, a Mac is always an option. Sure you spend a few extra dollars, but the fact that their operating system is relatively stable - OSX is here to stay, while Windows has kept evolving requiring different drivers & software at every turn. Lots of pro studios use Apple, so if you're predisposed to Apple, or want compatability with Apple studios, this would be the way to go. Of course, Apple is in a transition period right now between OS9 and the completely new OSX, so what OS you buy, if you have to dual boot into both OS9 and OSX and which platform your audio apps run on...

A note on the necessary processing power
7200 RPM is considered the minimum speed for audio applications, but if you're only going to be doing a few tracks, then slower than this may be acceptable. The minimum RAM is probably 256. I have 512, and a gigabyte is probably even better, though Windows 9x can only support 512. Most modern CPU's can handle audio applications.

Be sure to check the chipset compatability with your sound card!
For example either the M-Audio or Edirol (I forget, maybe both) don't work with the Via chipset, so be careful when you're buying your computer.

Laptops ($1500 - $3000)
If you're into laptops, then you'll probably need an external hard drive if you want to do serious work. Firewire hard drives are expensive, but you can buy a normal hard drive and put one in a fireware cheaper. Or so I'm told. If you're on a PC you'll probably need a PCMCIA firewire card because Firewire is a standard that Apple embraced, while the PC world predominantly uses USB. Also, USB audio is limited typically to 2 channels, but with Firewire you can record many more simultaneous tracks.

A note on Operating Systems

The common advice I see in the pro audio groups is "figure out what software you want and then figure out what OS supports it." You need to be sure your software and hardware will all support the OS you choose, or vice versa - you need to be sure your OS is supported by the hardware & software you choose. It's really hard to know what you're going to want to use until you've used something.

OS9 is supported by lots of audio applications, and OSX isn't yet. That'll change quickly. Luckily most Mac's come with both installed. Apple is a major player when it comes to Pro-Audio and Graphic Design, and audio applications that work on both platforms usually come out for Mac before PC.

Windows XP had been around long enough to be supported by just about everything by now, with the notable exception of ProTools Free and older versions of software that can be found on eBay cheaply. Windows 9x (98, 98se, and ME) requires less overhead than XP, but will only run older programs at this point. Windows 2000 is a transition OS between Windows NT and XP, and is the least likely to be supported as it was only around for a little while.

Linux has a lot going for it, but since such a small population of people use it, gets very little commercial support. A major Linux website posted an article because the M-Audio Quattro works with Linux drivers - this was big news! so don't expect anything to come easy here. Mac's OSX is based on a BSD UNIX distribution and should have all the stability of Linux with some major players behind it. On the other hand, Apple's computers are more expensive than a Linux computer.

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