YOUR COMPUTER: Is it ready for Digital Audio?

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While the specified minimum system requirements necessary to run Cubase should be met, you need to consider that they are just that: the absolute minimum. To take full advantage of the power that this program has to offer, the host computer’s processor and memory specifications should exceed the minimum to varying degrees depending on the type of tasks you’re looking to do.

The listed minimum requirements for all current versions of Cubase can be found here.

Audio workstation components and what they do

It’s good to have at least a basic understanding of how an audio workstation works, i.e. which pieces of the puzzle do what and who’s handling most of the work. This will help you when it comes to selecting what hardware to purchase when you’re building a digital studio.

This is a simple overview based on a requirement to record and process audio, and then monitor it through your computer’s audio output.

Many things are happening at any given time within the computer as each component contributes to the ongoing processes:

The audio card receives the analog audio signal to be recorded and converts it to a digital signal that can be understood within the framework of the computer and the programs processing and saving the audio. The reverse is also done as audio is played back and converted back to a signal that can be heard through your monitoring system.

The hard drives hold information that can be used to initiate processes such as the recording software you are using. Hard drives also hold audio as it is recorded plus the audio samples you may use within a project. In general it is a good idea to have a second hard drive for holding samples and other audio in addition to the drive that contains the programs you are running. With two drives on board you are then not asking a single unit to handle both the running of your programs and access the (large) audio samples being used within them.

VST instruments and plug-ins, which are commonly used within Cubase, tend to use quite a bit of CPU power and RAM. This is why meeting the system recommendations in these categories may be important depending on your intended uses for this software. A system that is only used for MIDI recording will generally use less resources than one that will also be used for electronic music production.

RAM
RAM (memory) is a temporary information storage device as compared to a hard drive, which is a permanent storage device. RAM - measured in Megabytes (MB) - holds information to aid in the processing of something that is currently running.

A good rule of thumb to follow when purchasing a system or upgrading your RAM is to "buy as much as your computer will take, and you can afford." The more RAM you have in your computer, the easier it is for your computer to do its job.

Recommendation: With the current system loads caused by today’s audio software and OS, 512MB or RAM should be considered to be the minimum to run for any serious processing. Check your computer's (or motherboard's) manufacturer for specifications on how much RAM you can use and of what type.

CPU
The CPU (processor) is basically the "brain" of your computer and understandably then affects almost everything that the computer does. Certain CPUs claim to process ‘floating point’ calculations better than others. This type of calculation is very important to audio processing.

At one time AMD processors were generally considered to be the best when it came to floating point calculations, an integral role in digital audio processing. However with the introduction of Intel’s line of Pentium4 processors, many experts claim that this is much less of an issue. Both manufacturer's chips are in use by major computer manufacturers such as Dell and HP/Compaq.

Recommendation: A system built around either AMD's Athlon XP CPU or Intel's Pentium 4HT CPU will perform quite well. We would suggest looking at a system that has at least a 1.5GHz - 2.GHz processor speed.

Motherboard
The Motherboard (often referred to as the MoBo) is where all the component parts of your computer (CPU, RAM, Audio Card, etc.) reside and communicate with the CPU and each other. The motherboard can be thought of as the "heart" of your system.

Recommendation: If you are purchasing a pre-built system from an established manufacturer (such as Dell, HP/Compaq or Gatway), then the choice of motherboard is not really an issue and has usually been made for you. However, if you are building your own computer (or having some one do it for you) there are a few things to consider.

One of the most important issues to consider when choosing a motherboard after its support for the desired processor and memory, is its chipset’s compatibility with your audio card. Certain motherboard chipsets, especially in conjunction with some audio cards/drivers, have been known to cause problems; specifically clicks, pops and dropouts in the sound and transport timing when playing back audio from applications. It's always a good idea to check with your audio card manufacturer to verify motherboard chipset compatibility.

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