considering buying a mini desktop computer. what specs for recording these days?

  • Thread starter Thread starter JimAnsell
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JimAnsell said:
i'm so out of the tech loop. i use a microsoft surface 7 now for basic internet and word processing stuff. I'm considering buying a mini desktop for some small one man band type projects, and some light video editing of family stuff. can someone more in the know point me in the right direction as far as specs go? i'm not a gamer, and i don't need the most expnsive, fastest thing, i just need something that performs solid. apple is a hard sell but a lot of people seem to like them. last time i gave apple a chance was in 2010. i'm so used to pc, and was weirded out by things like the in ability to CUT and paste files, only copy and paste, then go back and delete. that alone drove me nuts. i don't know if it was just the os i had or if its still like that. would prefer to stay pc. anything to avoid?
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Hello! I am an IT professional/Sr Network Engineer, etc. If I am reading the post correctly; I would always advise against a 'mini-desktop' that mount to the monitor or 'All in one' desktops and the like. Repairs are basically nil and the performance you tend to get is inferior to many other choices. Laptops are plenty powerful for what you are looking to do. Video editing pushes some systems hard depending on what you are using. Music recording isn't that crazy but still need something decent. You can get great prices on Laptops and the like that will rival one that is hand built. Crazy, I know. Building used to be the way to go but parts are so up and down you can just sit and find a deal that is comparable. I am not sure how much this actually helped but I have seen, tested and repaired thousands of units in a large environment (School District). Best of luck!!



Also, MACs cannot be worked on or have any parts replaced or upgraded by users. If you want a more 'hands on' experience to be available, do not go with Apple. That being said, their products are suited very well for music recording and video editing applications! You could get a comparable machine though generally for less money than the MAC. Decisions, decisions.
 
I'm running a 2022 Lenovo Legion laptop at home and Desktop at work. They work great with 32gb ram and Windows 10 pro with Cubase Pro.
 
If you want to stay PC, then absolutely do. I use MAC just because I ended up there years ago but used PC before that (Nuendo) with no problems. Nothing wrong with PC for audio recording. Gives you more flexibility with the machine itself and avoids what may be some proprietary nonsense that Apple has that will bug you. If you’re just doing some recording for fun and it’s not going to be 20 plus tracks, all running plugins etc don’t sweat getting some performance monster. 8-16Gb RAM, towards 16 for a little longevity…Internal Storage just enough to host all your Applications. 512 GB is plenty. External drives are easily used for housing audio files and sound libraries for drum software etc. and you can pick between a variety of sizes. Plus you might get more mileage out of a PC considering MAC’s forced phasing out of Hardware though update obsolescence.
 
Mac mini. I refuse to do any audio/video stuff on a Windows PC any more. Been using Logic since 2007. Plus garage band is good enough for smaller projects.

You can copy/paste/whatever just as easy in Mac, always could. I’ve never used an Apple mouse in my life. I do like their thinner keyboard but you can use whatever keyboard you want as well. Windows key is Command for cut/copy/paste.

Edit: there is an Ubuntu Studio distro which is alright but that is just the OS with all software, no hardware — which could be anything, even certain Mac models.
 
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