Hi there,
after my iBook is showing its age and after I decided to have one dedicated Linux PC for my audio stuff (since Ardour is my weapon of choice), I wonder how I am gonna get one. As of now money is a bit tight and so I looked for relatively cheap but sufficient components for this PC.
I decided to go with an AMD Athlon64 X2 4850e CPU (2,5 GHz Dualcore) and 4 GB of RAM. I spotted the ESI Juli@ as a possible candidate for an affordable PCI interface. Its MIDI part doesn’t seem to work in Linux, but since I barely use any MIDI stuff that isn’t a problem for me. By the way: Is it possible to cascade the Juli@?
I haven’t decided yet if I am gonna get two Harddisks, but from what I’ve read it’s better to have one for the system and another one for data (I think it should be possible to start with one HD and throw in another one later).
Is this basic configuration enough for a decent amount of tracks with some plugins in Ardour? I will record a small Funk/Jazz band in the summer, so I will need at least twelve tracks of audio with the usual plugins (compressor, room, delay etc.) – nothing too fancy. At home it should be easy: I have outboard gear (mostly guitar stuff, so no CPU hungry amp simulation necessary) that I will use a lot, so I think the PC shouldn’t have too much to work.
Is there anything I have to look for or to be cautious about? I really don’t have any clue about this, because the last time I built a PC was 1998 and I appreciate any help or hints you can give me.