Once again it's time to build a new "Roll Your Own" Computer for audio! A lot has changed since I wrote the last installment of "Roll Your Own". The price of both CPUs and memory modules has dropped dramatically. So much so that some of the cost cutting measures we used in the past RYO's aren't really necessary now. And, while in the past we staunchly supported Intel processors for providing the best performance, we now have an improved AMD Athlon chip which provides substantially better performance than any Intel processor, and at a bargain price. We will first describe the specification for the new Roll Your Own computer, and then we will provide a detailed, step-by-step instruction for how to build it.

Upgrade It! An outstanding feature of the RYO computers is the continuing ability for them to be upgraded. In fact, before I get into the new Roll Your Own recipe, I have some good news for those of you who are still running the previous versions. Yet again it has become both viable and financially...

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Anyone who has had to fool with audio cards knows that compatibility is a real consideraion when putting together an audio computer. Clearly, the Intel processors are the benchmark for compatibility. What are the viable options then? 1. The PIII Coppermine FCPGA "EB" which runs on the 133 Mhz bus and a Motherboard using the VIA Apollo 133 Mhz chipset. 2. The PIII Coppermine FCPGA "E" which runs on the 100 mhz bus and may be successfully overclocked using the Via Apollo chipset at 133 Mhz bus speed 3. The PIII Coppermine FCPGA "E" running on the venerable BX chipset, which is also capable of being overclocked on the 133 Mhz bus. 4. The new Celeron Coppermine FCPGA (AKA "The Celermine") which natively runs at 66 Mhz FSB but may successfully be overclocked to 100 MHz FSB on appropriate motherboards using the Intel BX (or VIA Apollo) chipsets CPUs: The Issues 1. The PIII Coppermine "EB" chip is made to run natively at 133 FSB. We have already established that the Intel i820 motherboards that Intel intended to be used for this CPU are not suitable because of expensive memory requirements and/or poor or faulty performance in general. Another consideration here is the cost of the chip itself. At the time of this writing an Intel PIII chip at 850 Mhz (our nominal CPU speed goal) costs around $800! ...

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The Case Let's begin with the case. For our purposes we need at least a mid-tower ATX case. These have at least three 5.5 inch drive bays, a couple of 3.5 bays and most important of all, plenty of room for air to circulate. Most of the items we are going to discuss today I am going to recommend that you purchase on the web, but the case is one that you might want to consider getting locally, as any savings you may accrue will most likely be eaten up with shipping charges. In any case, (no pun intended), an ATX mid-tower case with a 250 to 300 watt power supply should cost you around $70. One more thing, if the case you find has only one fan (and most do) it would be a good idea to add and additional fan to the front of the case, where you will likely find a port made this purpose The Motherboard For our purposes, we will use the ABIT BE6-II. This board still uses the Intel BX chipset which unbelievably is still the highest performing desktop chipset on the market. Although it does not officially support...

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It's hard to believe that nearly 2 years have passed since I wrote the original "Roll Your Own" Article! I have heard from hundreds of you who built the original machines, and I want to take this opportunity to thank every one of you for all of the kind words and input. This time we are going to more than double the performance of that machine, and for only a bit more cash. And for those of you who already own the original Roll Your Own, you will be glad to know that you can pretty much double your machine's current CPU performance for only about $200. Needless to say, there has been a lot of advancement in computer hardware since the first article was written. As with the original Roll Your Own, our goal will once again be "how to construct a DAW that has the highest possible performance within reasonable economic boundaries". I realize that this article will be read by those of you who built the original machine and have...

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For the purposes of this article I am going to assume that most of you have a fairly good knowledge of computers and know how to do things like F-disk and format. If you don't, I bet you have a friend that does. Invite him over, order a pizza, make him some coffee, offer him your significant other. No, wait a minute, that's going too far. At least have someone on the hook that you can call to bail you out if you get in over your head. In any case, my intention here is to outline the basic procedures for assembling a bare-bones high performance audio computer from the components that I am using and recommend, and not to go into fine detail. 1. Attach the motherboard to the case using the standoffs that are included with the case. 2. Insert your memory in the proper slots. Consult the schematic in your BE6-II manual. 3. Lift the metal locking arm on the adapter and drop in the CPU (you will see a notch which allows the CPU to drop in only one way) Do not force the chip - it will drop in by itself...

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I can hear it now. "What do you wanna do tonight honey?" "I dunno. What do you wanna do?" "Why don't we design the best compressor in the world for under $1500?" "OK, dear. That sounds like fun" Not your ordinary domestic conversation, but the couple who designed and market the RNC (for Really Nice Compressor) aren't your ordinary couple. They are of course, both electronics engineers. Unsatisfied with the way that most compressors sounded, and in need of a high-quality compressor themselves, they simply designed their own unit. Well, one thing led to another and before long word got around that something special was happening in a little shop in Austin Texas. FMR Audio was born. Don't like to shop around and compare? Need a compressor? Don't have about two grand or so to spend? Save yourself some time and don't even bother to look at any thing else. This has got to be the all around best sounding compressor at anywhere near it's price and many hundreds of dollars above. I was simply astounded...

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Note from the Editor: Waves sent us a full CD of software for review. Always the overachiever, Pete reviewed all the software sent to him - many of which are not included in the Native Power Pack. The Native Power Pack includes the Q10 EQ, the C1 compressor, the S1 StereoImager, the L1 Ultramaximizer, and the TrueVerb. The other plugins reviewed here - Renaissance Compressor, DeEsser, and MaxxBass - are part of the Native Power Pack II. You can read a full review of NPP II here. Either ya's got class or ya' ain't. The '57 Chevy is a classic. The '62 Stratocaster is a classic. So are the Rolling Stones. Add to the list the Waves Native Power Pack. The minute you first lay eyes on the box you begin to understand that Waves cares about quality. This is one product that wasn't rushed to market in a half-baked state. The abundance of quality is again apparent in the manual. A beautiful black loose-leaf type notebook with heavy...

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Ever heard this one? " If you spend one more *&^% penny on that &^%$ studio we're getting a divorce!" Well, I have some bad news for you. You are very likely going to spend that penny and a little more, because here is one product that you absolutely have to have. All of the tweaking, all of the endless hours you spend getting that "perfect" guitar tone, or that "killer" snare tuning doesn't amount to a hill of beans if you blow it all when you lay down the lead vocal. How many times have you put all your heart and soul into a lead vocal only to play it back and find that although the feeling was there, and the emotion was there, on a few phrases the pitch just wasn't quite in the pocket? Ok, here we go again. You punch in here, you punch in there, you finally get the intonation right, play it back and discover the emotion is gone, the moment is gone and you may just as well take it all from the top once again. Frustrating as hell isn't it? Well, thankfully and finally, that's no longer...

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What in the world have we here? Can it really be true? An $85 high quality sampler? Well, err, yes! It seems so! For years the very word "SoundBlaster" has been enough to send shivers up and down the spine of any self respecting digital audiophile, and rightfully so! From poorly written drivers to, shall we say, "somewhat misleading" advertisements, to package info that boldly claimed "full duplex" when such was not the case at all has left a bitter taste in the mouth of those who have attempted to use these cards with a digital audio sequencing app. The real truth is that these cards were not primarily designed for digital audio they were designed for gaming and here, as any rabid "Unreal" player will tell you, they have greatly succeeded. However, in an attempt to garner a bigger market share, Creative Labs decided to try and grab a share of the rapidly rising "computer musician" market. With the release of the SoundBlaster 32 series of cards, Creative labs introduced something called a "Soundfont"....

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Hey Ted? How about laying down some funky rythym guitar on this track, I'll zip it over to you. Hey Pete? Could y'all put some of that New Orleans/Dr. John style piano on this file, using that 9 ft Baldwin at your place? I'll e-mail you the rough track and oh, by the way, I need it back in LA in an Hour. Huh? What am I talking about? I'm talking 'bout MP3 compressed audio, and I'm here to tell you that it's better than you may think. Imagine taking an entire stereo 2 track mixdown file (usually about 25 MBs) and compressing it down to less than 2 MBs with barely any audible degradation of the sound quality. Are you getting the picture? The time is coming when we can all collaborate over the e-mail, and I'm not talking about MIDI files, I'm talking about that '63 Fender Strat plugged into that Mesa Boogie. MP3 is capable of compressing audio at a 12 to 1 ratio and still producing very fine results. The question is "how dey do dat?" And the answer is your ears are playing tricks on you,...

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Tube simulators, tape simulators, tube warmth? What in the world is this all about anyway? Our fearless editor has commisioned me to write a report on these plugins, but I don't think it should be done without a little background info. First of all, I would like to stress that overdriven tubes (and overdriven tape) add distortion! If it's very light, they call it "warmth", if it's really heavy they call it "Marshall stack turned up to 11!" Regardless of what you call it, it is distortion. Maybe it's pleasant distortion, but it's still distortion. The only reason I mention this at all is because ever since the dawn of digital audio, them good ol' boys and girls in the marketing department of damn near every audio-oriented company on the planet have been throwing tubes into anything they can get their hands on, running up and down the banks of the river and screaming "warmth" to the top of their lungs! What this really amounts to is an attempt to cash in on the fear of the unknown. The unknown in this...

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