Best products from r/protools

I may come back and edit this if I mess something up, but I'll try to be as granular as possible and give links because I sure wish I would have had someone help me when I was building this. I will say this, I looked for these items over time and waited until I found good deals.


Case:[ Corsaire Air 540] (http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbide-Series-Airflow-CC-9011030-WW/dp/B00D6GINF4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421547180&sr=8-1&keywords=corsair+air+540) - This is a large case. However, I have built many PC's and this is the best case I've ever used. All of your cables are hidden, so you have a very clean build with very easy access.

Proc: i7 4790K - I got this on sale for $279. Although I don't need to, I can very easily use the ASRock to overclock to 4.5 ghz straight from the OS.

Video: EVGA GTX 760 SC (I got this at Microcenter for $230.00) - As mentioned, I run three 1900x1200 montors with this. For games - I can run anything (to date) at 1900x1200 on ultra when the Proc os overclocked, unless it is just coded crappy. Lately I'be been playing ESO and Wildstar, but I've also done Bioshock Infinite and The Vanashing of Ethan Carter (beautiful game) as well.

Ram: Crucial Ballistix Elite 16gb - See my comment below on ram.

Motherboard: ASRock z97 Motherboard - Believe it or not, I got this for $86 at Microcenter.

Firewire Card: Syba FW Card with TI Chipset - This is low profile, but comes with a full size bracket. Works great with the Focusrite Saffire Pro 40.

OS: Windows 8.1 Professional

PT Version: PT11 (Latest Build)

Audio Interface: Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 - Make sure you get the latest software for this and run PT as administrator. I had to do this before the Midi would work right through the Saffire.

Proc Cooling: Corsair Hydro 105 - Do your research. There are a lot of cooling options. I had this in a separate machine and really like it.

Case Fans: Corsair Air Series AF140 LED Quiet Edition High Airflow Fans - One again, there are a lot of options with fans. These matched my case and are relatively quiet. Iknow the Noctua stuff is really awesome too.

Power Supply: Corsair HX850 - This might be overkill. I got this because I game some on this system and figured I would add another GTX 760 at some point. Also, not sure you need the HX. You might be able to go with a lower end PSU.

Video Monitors: Two of these are Lenova which I already had and are not included in the build price. The other, I just got and it beats the Lenovos significantly. It is an ASUS PA248Q 24-Inch LED-Lit IPS Professional Graphics Monitor. I use these large monitors because my eyes are bad from years of IT work, staring into monitors. Imagine that. This would be overkill for many as they take up a lot of space.

HD1: Crucial MX100 512 gb SSD. Everybody gets Samsung, and even I have one in my purchased gaming rig. However, before you do that, read this review from Tom's Hardware on the MX100. I'm completely sold on this SSD. I got this for $180 on a Newegg sale.

HD2: [Seagate 3tb 7200](Seagate Desktop 3 TB HDD SATA 6 Gb/s NCQ 64MB Cache 7200 RPM 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive ST3000DM001) - It is a platter HD I put my sessions on, nothing more. I've never seen a slow down.

A couple of other notes.

1. I use a service SOS Online Backup to back up my sessions so in case of a drive failure I don't lose anything.
   
   
2. If I could change anything about this - I would have bought a motherboard with Thunderbolt. However, I think it was a $200 price difference at the time, so I stayed with my budget and I've had no issues with the firewire.
   
   
3. I'm a singer songwriter, so this setup geared for me. I think it would work for just about anyone, but I've seen some of the mixing engineers on this forum say you may need more ram if you ar running huge sessions. The biggest song I run is probably about 25 tracks (including buses), few of which would be simultaneous, and I've never used more than 1/2 my ram.
   
   If you have anymore questions let me know. I had this info an a word doc from when I was planning - so I'm glad I was able to pass it on. I hope this helps.
   

Like others said, the 100 and 110 courseware is a good start.

Here's another one. Very good, and unlike the courseware it is post-production specific. It was part of an Advanced Post Production class I took.

http://www.amazon.com/Tools-Video-Multimedia-Second-Edition/dp/1598635328/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342223453&sr=8-1&keywords=pro+tools+for+video

https://www.amazon.com/Icon-i-Controls-Potable-9-Fader-Controller/dp/B003NVQL06/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=icon+control&qid=1556316949&s=gateway&sr=8-2

I ended up buying this! It looks well built and small plus I like the coloring of it. The only wonky thing is the joystick; apparently it's only useable as a mouse! Super weird right? Anyway I'll try to see if I can give you a review of it in a little bit.

What tonyorlando said, you can get the book for about 30$. well worth the money if that's the info you are looking for.

It's easy to learn. trust me.

http://www.amazon.com/Tools-Official-Courseware-Version-DVD-ROM/dp/143545880X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342211813&sr=1-1&keywords=Pro+tools+110

Don't overthink it. And don't overspend. Just get something like this.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FRHTSK4/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_7WBxub0R2QV35

I have used USB 2.0, FW800, and USB 3.0 drives running both 5400 and 7200 rpms. The transfer protocol is much more important than the rotation speed. If you have USB 3.0, you are halfway to thunderbolt, and the other half won't make a difference. I can't say I've ever used an external SSD, but honestly, how much do you want to spend on external storage?

If it were me, I would get the drive I linked to, or a similar desktop version, and then buy a second, larger desktop version to do Time Machine backups of both the computer and the audio drive.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002QQ8H8I/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=

This one is my lowest price option that I'm looking at. Would it be a good idea to go for this one and buy RAM afterwards, or should I go for a model with 8gb of RAM already installed? Basically I'm setting out several options, a cheapest option and an ideal option and some inbetweeners, and I'm trying to get a handle on how low I can go before it becomes problematic. Thanks so much for your guys' help by the way!

Found two laptops that you could be interested in Acer Predator Laptop

Asus Rog Strix

1st one is cheaper but has a smaller 256gb m.2 ssd drive in it but is upgradable and has a secondary storage drive available to put a hdd in for larger capacity.

The 2nd laptop is a little more expensive than your 1500 budget but provides much better GPU power. Comes with 512 m.2 sdd and another storage drive slot.

Like I realize this isn't Thunderbolt, but would something like this help me out?

honestly its worth it to buy a ilok, lots of plugins still require it, and GC dose price matching (as you know) so you can get it for $30:https://www.amazon.com/PACE-Software-Authorization-Device-99007120900/dp/B01M34E5G4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1543286467&sr=8-1&keywords=ilok

The Matebook you mentioned doesnt have Ryzen processor. The specs are here:
https://www.amazon.com/Huawei-Matebook-Signature-Edn-Laptop/dp/B07MK3SLG2
(It has 8th generation i7 processor).
Only thing im worrying about at the moment is the lack of RAM (8gb). However, other people in this sub have said that their device is running well without 16gb of RAM, mainly because their good CPU and fast SSD. Looking at these specs, this device should be pretty solid for PT.

This new MIDI controller connects to the computer with a USB like one of these cords below:

AmazonBasics USB 2.0 Cable - A-Male to B-Male - 6 Feet (1.8 Meters) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NH11KIK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_R0sYBb0NFMF6A


I am using a Alienware laptop from 2015ish. I'm assuming I have the newest version of Pro Tools First since I only downloaded a few days ago.

Also what is ASIO and why do people keep talking about it?

Also thank you for responding.

You can probably try to find an Mbox Micro. If it's just editing, and no recording this would probably be pretty good.

Yeah, I found both of them on Amazon for 60CAD (iLok 2, iLok 3), I just don't really know if theres a difference between the two. Does it matter which one I buy? I don't want to have to buy an iLok 3 a year from now if I buy an iLok 2 now.

In some stores, yes. If Amazon is more convenient, see here https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M34E5G4/

UK Amazon link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pro-Tools-Student-Edition-Mac/dp/B0064RU526/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347025733&sr=8-1

USA Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Avid-Pro-Tools-Student-Edition/dp/B006PKIJ16/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347025752&sr=8-1&keywords=pro+tools+student