- A minimum of 2.4Ghz quad-core processor power (i5, i7)
- At least 4GB of RAM.
- A 64-bit operating system.
- A minimum of 500GB of internal storage (HDD or SSD)
- A 13″ screen.
How to choose the best computer for music production?
- Smaller screens (10–13” diagonally) will nestle easily in backpacks. ...
- Midsized laptops (14–16”) generally represent a balance between portability and performance.
- Large laptops (17–18”) are great for music producers who need to monitor dozens of tracks at once, which is the norm with hip-hop, pop, and EDM productions.
What is the best laptop for music production?
Best budget PCs for music production 2022: plenty of power and performance for less
- Geekom Mini IT8. There’s a growing market for these tiny desktop PCs, and on paper it’s not hard to see why. ...
- Dell Inspiron 15. Many a producer has started their career tinkering with a Dell Inspiron 15. ...
- Microsoft Surface Laptop Go. ...
- HP Essential Tower. ...
- Lenovo IdeaCentre 3. ...
- Acer Aspire. ...
- Acer Revo RN96. ...
- Huawei MateStation S. ...
How do I learn to make music on the computer?
Part 1 Part 1 of 3: Equipping Yourself to Make Music
- Select a DAW. DAW stands for Digital Audio Workstation. ...
- Build or buy a computer. You can save money on computer costs with a low-end video card since you won’t need sharp graphics to produce music.
- Collect production equipment and accessories. ...
- Educate yourself about your DAW and equipment. ...
What is the best software to make music?
- Vienna Symphonic Library Soft Imperial. RECOMMENDED VIDEOS FOR YOU... ...
- Spitfire Audio Cello Moods. ...
- PaulXStretch. ...
- SampleScience Marimba Renaissance. ...
- Bytedance Mawf. ...
- Ableton Learning Synths. ...
- Splice CoSo. ...
What is the best computer for audio production?
There are various important factors when choosing the best computer for audio production. CPU. The CPU is the brain of your PC. The Central Processing Unit, or CPU, is of utmost importance when shopping for the best computer for audio production.
Why is RAM important for audio production?
RAM is important because it acts as a buffer between your hard drives and the content stored and being loaded from them, and your CPU.
What is PCAudioLabs?
At PCAudioLabs, we build and configure our music production PCs with the best components, selected and tested for music production.
Can you use a mechanical hard drive for audio?
Most PCs are loaded with mechanical hard drives that have spinning parts. While these hard drives have been in used for many years (even decades), they are not optimal when choosing the best computer for audio production, specifically with respect to the Operating System hard drive, where your Windows Operating System resides.
Can a big box PC be used for music production?
Off the shelf PCs from big-box PC makers are not built specifically for music production. This means that they’re not tested with Digital Audio Workstations, and while software has gotten more advanced over the years, it’s also become more complex, leading to the need for better hardware to operate it.
Can a PC be used to make great things?
While the PC that you choose is important, there is no reason that a PC cannot be used to create great things. When properly configured, you’ll get more out of PC than you’d ever got buying a computer from Apple.
Can subpar hardware keep up with pro audio?
Sub-par hardware cannot keep up with a pro audio workflow, so don’t trust cheap computers when you want to record your band, produce beats, edit video, or create on your computer.
What is the most important thing in a music production computer?
As we said above, the processor is one of the most important requirements in a good music production computer.
Why is it important to have a good processor for music production?
The better the processor in your computer, the quicker it can crunch numbers and therefore the quicker it can load things and perform tasks. Music production is especially CPU heavy, so it’s important to get one that can handle the process.
What is the best frequency for a processor?
Generally when looking at the frequency speed of the processor, we don’t want to go any lower than 2.2GHz.
What is the frequency of a CPU?
Frequency is the clock speed of the CPU and is measured in gigahertz or GHz for short.
What is RAM used for?
That means that your RAM is responsible for helping to access applications and tools within that application, which makes it perfect for handling, multiple high speed tasks.
Why is it important to have a sound card?
It’s important to have a good external sound card when making music. Without it, your computer can distort the audio signal more and cause latency issues in sound (which aren’t fun)!
Do onboard graphics work?
Onboard graphics will do the job you want them to fine.
What makes a great music production PC?
For music production, there is a holy triumvirate you should look for; processor, RAM and storage. Gamers and video producers will need to include the graphical capability in their search criteria but, assuming this is an audio powerhouse, the three areas above should top your list.
Why use a desktop computer for music production?
For music production, there is a holy triumvirate you should look for; processor, RAM and storage. Gamers and video producers will need to include graphical capability in their search criteria but, assuming this is an audio powerhouse, the three areas above should top your list.
How much RAM do I need?
For audio production that means sample files, bounces and other important data which you’re dipping in and out of. Thankfully, most desktop computer builds are capable of being upgraded – best to check before you buy – as this does at least allow you to boost its capability in the future. It’s usually fairly inexpensive to do this too. As a minimum, however, we wouldn’t advise starting out with less than 8GB of RAM installed.
What type of storage do I need?
Storage is the other key ingredient. For audio work, we’d recommend a hybrid approach. Regular hard disk drives (HDDs) offer huge amounts of storage, but lack in the speed department. Solid state drives (SSDs), on the other hand, are much quicker at accessing data making them ideal for storing sample libraries but are usually more expensive. Combining the two is often a good solution.
What is the CPU of a computer?
The central processing unit (CPU) is the brain of the computer. It’s the part that carries out the work, and makes things happen. Whether it’s running multiple VST plugins, or exporting audio, or fetching data; the processor is the heart of any computer and shouldn’t be overlooked. Typically, the absolute lowest spec processor we’d advise looking at would be Intel’s i5 range, or the AMD Ryzen 5. While a slower CPU will technically be able to run DAW applications, and their associated processes, everything will just take that much longer to occur. This means freezing tracks, rendering or exporting finished mixes and using complex plug-in effects or instruments.
What do you look for in a music production?
For music production, there is a holy triumvirate you should look for; processor, RAM and storage. Gamers and video producers will need to include the graphical capability in their search criteria but, assuming this is an audio powerhouse, the three areas above should top your list.
Is water cooling good for recording?
We particularly liked the all-in-one water-cooling feature, which cools the CPU using liquid as well as fans. This reduces the low-level hum produced by the computer considerably, making it good for recording environments.
How many gigs is enough for music production?
8 GB is plenty for the majority of music production processing.
What is memory in computer?
Memory refers to your computer’s RAM specification.
What does CPU mean in computer?
CPU stands for central processing unit. It’s the component where the fundamental operations of your computer take place. CPU performance is measured by clock speed and number of cores. Higher clock speed means faster overall pace of the calculations performed by the CPU. But additional cores are also important.
How do laptops bring down costs?
Many inexpensive laptop and desktop computers bring costs down by using integrated graphics in place of discrete GPUs.
Why use SSD as main OS?
Using an SSD as the main OS and applications drive makes a big difference to the speed of startup and other read/write intensive tasks.
Is a laptop good for music production?
But that’s not to say that a well-spec’d laptop isn’t a good choice for music production. There are plenty of laptops with perfectly good performance for running your DAW and plugins. That’s good news if you need the portability to produce music on the go.
Is 64 bit architecture good?
64-bit architecture has been around for a while, so there’s no excuse at this point. All the major DAWs support it and the performance benefits are considerable.
What Computer/Laptop Ports Do I Need For Music Production?
Since you’ll most likely be using a USB audio interface, you won’t have to worry about various audio jacks or MIDI ports, nor the onboard soundcard. However, be sure there are ample USB ports to support not only the interface but additional peripherals like controllers and physical interfaces. Don’t forget your mouse and other basic peripherals also use a USB port.
What Processors Are Good For Music Production?
A fast processor renders and exports tracks quickly and will keep pace with live performances. Ideally, you’ll want a quad-core (i5 or i7) and a high clock speed that is no lower than 2.4Ghz.
How Much RAM Do I Need For Music Production?
Random-Access Memory, or RAM, determines how many things your computer/laptop can juggle at once. For those looking to get serious about music production, 16GB is fast becoming the new standard (some are even opting for 32GB of RAM these days). VSTs, sound libraries, WAV files—all of these consume a lot of RAM, making it a crucial spec to pay attention to for producers.
What Laptop Screen Size Is Optimal For Music Production?
If you intend to spend a lot of time tweaking parameters and monitoring tracks, seeing them all at once on a 15” or larger screen is preferential.
Do I Need A Portable Laptop For Music Production?
Looking to perform with the laptop as well as use it in the studio? Mobility will be something to consider, then.
Is The Onboard Soundcard Necessary For Music Production?
Short answer — no. Music producers do not need to worry about onboard soundcards because it is assumed that you are going to be purchasing a dedicated audio interface, which will take care of that for you.
Should You Buy A Refurbished Laptop?
While the temptation of saving a few bucks is hard to resist, in my experience — it’s been mostly a bad idea.
How much RAM do I need for a laptop?
RAM: 8 GB is probably enough. 16 GB is likely more than you need. 32 GB is only needed if you use lots of sample-based instruments, each running Multi-GB orchestral libraries & ROMpler style plugins. Don't install more than 32 GB of RAM, for music production. Spend the money on your CPU, audio interface, video card or plugins. If you have 4 or 6 slots, try to leave pairs of RAM slots free for future upgrades as RAM usually installs in pairs.
What processors are compatible with FL Studio?
ARM / Apple Silicon - FL Studio is compatible with Apple ARM processors (M1, M1 Pro and M1 Max). Any of these are great for FL Studio.
What is real time audio processing?
Real-time audio processing and synthesis are key, a fast CPU and an audio interface that has a manufacturer supplied ASIO driver are your top priorities. Generally laptops offer less power/performance compared to desktops at the same price-point. Laptops also limit your options for expansion and upgrades. Of course, laptops can be used but you ...
Why use SSD in FL Studio?
SSD's are great for achieving fast boot times, initial program loading. While a SSD will load projects faster, you don't load/save projects all that often so we rank a SSD fairly low on this list of FL Studio priorities. Given large SSD's are still prohibitively expensive.
How much performance gain is needed to make a CPU faster?
Psychology - When comparing benchmarks, a 10% performance gain is 'just noticeable', you won't be impressed with this sort of improvement, so don't bother. 20-30% increase is needed before a CPU feels noticeably faster in use (for a while). Of course, the bigger the percentage jump, the happier you will be.
Does FL Studio work on Windows 10?
Windows - FL Studio will work on Windows 8.1 or 10 is required. Windows S users need to first upgrade to regular Windows 10. macOS - FL Studio requires macOS 10.13.6 or higher to run. CPU: The CPU is the primary factor in your ability to run FL Studio with large complex projects.
Can I run two video cards on FL Studio?
Video Card: Look for a video card with two DVI or some combination of DVI + HDMI + Display Port outputs (see also Quiet PC below). This will allow you to run two video monitors. Any modern Video card will perform similarly. FL Studio work-flow is significantly improved with two ( or more) video monitors.
An Overview of the Gear and Tools You Need to Make Music on a Computer
We are going to start with an overview, the big picture. These are the tools you will need to make music on your computer, some of them you already have:
How to Record Your Voice on a Computer
Keep in mind that if you want to record your voice using an XLR microphone or if you want to record an instrument (such as a guitar), you will need an external audio interface .
Do I Need Speakers for Making Music?
Speakers (AKA Studio Monitors) are essential for every music producer. But for now, just use your laptops built-in speakers or anything else that you have readily available.
The Tools You Need to Obtain to Make Music on Your Computer
Okay, so you already have a computer, a set of headphones and a a pair of speakers. I will now show you the software and hardware tools you need to make music.
The Best External Audio Interfaces
An audio interface (AKA audio card) is a piece of hardware that helps you record your voice and other instruments that can’t be connected via USB to your computer.
The Best Budget and Hi-End Audio Interfaces
Professional music studios use high-end and rather expensive audio interfaces. But when it comes to a home studio setup, there are some truly affordable options that will deliver outstanding professional results without breaking the bank!
5 Features to look in a quality Audio Interface
You want to make sure that the audio interface is compatible with your OS (Windows, Linux, or Mac). Nowadays, most interfaces are cross-platform compatible.
Computer Components
Mac vs. PC
- Before you start looking at specific builds or models you should decide which computing platform is right for you. Mac and PC are the two main types. There is a dedicated community of Linux audio producers out there, but Linux-based OS is much less common among beginners and professionals when it comes to audio. Mac vs. PC used to be a big debate in the pro audio com…
64-bit Operating System
- No matter what platform you choose, it’s critical to make sure you use a 64-bit version of the OS for music production. 64-bit architecture has been around for a while, so there’s no excuse at this point. All the major DAWs support it and the performance benefits are considerable. 64-bit applications in a 64-bit environment can address much more of...
Laptop vs. Desktop
- The overall strength of the components in your computer is limited by factors like size, power consumption and heat generation. Desktop computers can accommodate larger components and house power supplies with enough juice to power them—all while dissipating heat more easily with fans and heatsinks. In comparison, laptop designs have to compromise on these factors to …
Gaming PC For Music Production
- Many PC brands offer high-end builds specifically optimized to run games at high settings. Almost all gaming PCs are up to the task for music production, but for most situations they’re a bit over the top. The high-end graphics cards and powerful RAM configurations of most gaming PCs add extra cost that might not translate into better performance for music production. If you alre…
AMD vs. Intel
- AMD and Intel are the main CPU manufacturers. The two brands have been competing against each other for decades. In the past, AMD was associated with budget builds and offered slightly less performance at a more affordable price. Today the two companies are mostly neck-and-neck when it comes to performance for music production. AMD has made a big splash with its Ryzen …
Integrated Graphics vs. GPU
- Many inexpensive laptop and desktop computers bring costs down by using integrated graphics in place of discrete GPUs. Integrated graphics means that the graphics processor is located on the same chip as the CPU. This can save on space, heat output and overall cost, but the trade-off in performance is considerable. However, a dedicated GPU isn’t always necessary for recording. …
Music Production Center
- Buying a computer for music production seems complicated. There’s a lot of different factors to consider. But the cost of a fast computer has never been lower. You can make great music with almost any decent machine, and that’s encouraging. Use this explainer to help you choose the perfect music production computer for your setup.