# Building a home rig (Suggestions?)



## merlinhimself (Apr 15, 2019)

Hey Everyone,

I'm starting to plan out a home rig that I want to put together in 4-5 months. I just wanted to get some feedback and suggestions for how to build an efficient (not totally top of the line) setup that isnt ridiculous in price.

VEP Slave - already have a 6core 32GB PC (going to upgrade to 12core & 96/or 128GB RAM)

Sequencer - Thinking of a refurbished Mac Pro 12core upgraded with 64GB RAM (I really prefer the Mac OS to windows)

ProTools Machine - Basic Mac Mini just to sync & play back video


Audio Interface - Considering one of the UAD Apollo MKII

MIDI - iConnecivity Mio10

Faders - no idea, would love a kenton but cant find them, and the fadermasters are too expensive

Monitors - Still undecided

I also want to buy a good standard mic for recording various things, but dont want to drop a lot of money as most of what I record ends up textural or heavily effected.

Also, any suggestions on what you use to treat your room acoustically would be great!

I definitely want to invest in this but also dont want to go broke doing so! haha

Thanks for your suggestions!


----------



## Pictus (Apr 16, 2019)

4-5 months, then can wait for the new AMD Ryzen 3000 series
https://wccftech.com/amd-ryzen-threadripper-hedt-epyc-rome-server-cpu-support-aida64/


----------



## Jeremy Spencer (Apr 16, 2019)

merlinhimself said:


> already have a 6core 32GB PC (going to upgrade to 12core & 96/or 128GB RAM)



Are you sure you'll realistically use a slave to its full potential? If not, I would try that upgrade and see if you can use a single machine set-up. Are you having resource issues currently?


----------



## Damarus (Apr 16, 2019)

Wolfie2112 said:


> Are you sure you'll realistically use a slave to its full potential? If not, I would try that upgrade and see if you can use a single machine set-up. Are you having resource issues currently?



This.

What do you need? Is it nice to have potentially 3 machines or can you not work without them? New hardware comes out almost every 6 months so there's no need to rush imo.

Scour the Gearslutz forum for acoustic advice. They go into great detail there. Also look at Sonarworks if you are in a room that is less favorable.


----------



## merlinhimself (Apr 16, 2019)

Wolfie2112 said:


> Are you sure you'll realistically use a slave to its full potential? If not, I would try that upgrade and see if you can use a single machine set-up. Are you having resource issues currently?



I definitely could use the single machine setup as I do this now for the composer I work for, but at home I have a PC, and I could get by working on Windows but I find my work flow much faster on Mac os. I could probably keep the slave at 64GB.

The one machine setup is fine, at work I have a Mac mini and an imac as my slaves totalling about 40 extra GB RAM, but I really dislike running cubase and pro tools on the same machine (12core Mac tower). It wouldn't be the end of the world to keep doing it that way instead of getting a Mac mini running PT, save some money and put it elsewhere.


----------



## merlinhimself (Apr 20, 2019)

Does anyone have any thoughts on using AMD processors for slaves vs intel?


----------



## kitekrazy (Apr 21, 2019)

merlinhimself said:


> Does anyone have any thoughts on using AMD processors for slaves vs intel?



Intel is better but still to pricey. AMD needs to up their game.


----------



## chimuelo (Apr 22, 2019)

Pictus said:


> 4-5 months, then can wait for the new AMD Ryzen 3000 series
> https://wccftech.com/amd-ryzen-threadripper-hedt-epyc-rome-server-cpu-support-aida64/



No better advice than this.
Downside is that the 7nm process might not become the single core performance but Intel will drop prices to remain competitive.
Win Win.

I’m not loyal to much of anything other than fastest single core performers.
And midrange TDP.
My favorite CPU still is the i7 8086k DeLidded.

If AMD can beat it on single core, or even get close that’s a seller.


----------



## Damarus (Apr 22, 2019)

I'm all for AMD coming back to be competitive. But I doubt this time around they will "beat" Intel. Their price/performance is still great but have maybe a generation or two to surpass Intel at this point. Intel comes ahead for its ability to overclock. Not to mention Thunderbolt technology..

Although AMD is on 7nm, Intel is still fitting a lot more transistors onto their platform at 14nm. Their jump to 7nm will be a huge upgrade.

The 9900k is going to be hard to beat..


----------



## Gerhard Westphalen (Apr 22, 2019)

I'd suggest running PT on the same machine. I don't see any reason why running it on a separate machine would logistically be any better. 

For monitors (I assume you're talking about speakers and not screens) I'd recommend the JBL 705p. Super compact, go louder than anything anywhere near the same size, and give you a cinematic sound.

If you're not building your own treatment then I'd recommend going with GIK as they seem to be very affordable and offer decent performance although I have no personal experience with their products.


----------



## Nick Batzdorf (Apr 22, 2019)

merlinhimself said:


> Also, any suggestions on what you use to treat your room acoustically would be great!



The rest of your list sounds great to me, but this ^ is the wrong question. It's sort like asking whether you should buy hemorrhoid cream or nose drops in case you get sick 4-5 months from now.

Instead, listen to what the problems are in your room if you have them after your system is set up. Then you can figure out how to deal with them, and whether you need to buy acoustic products.

Contrary to popular belief on the Internet - especially here, it seems - it's not an article of faith that you everyone must run out and buy "room treatment."

Bear in mind that I post the same thing about acoustics all the time. It's not your question that tweaks me, it's the fallacious answers I know you're going to get.


----------



## Fredeke (Apr 23, 2019)

Just a piece of advice: avoid Tannoy Reveal monitors - especially the 402 and 502 models.
Their prices are attractive and they seem to sound good at first, but there are two big problems:
1. overblown (hence muddy) bass, causing clipping and port noises
2. a serious overall quality control issue.
That's my experience anyway.


----------

