Rain Recording Element computer

Floyd Patterson · Post by **Floyd Patterson** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 4:04 am

Hi there, long time lurker making first post.

I'm looking into buying a ready built DAW system fairly soon. I think I've narrowed it down to a choice between Rain and Carillon. I've heard lots of good things about Carillon, just wondering if anyone here is using a Rain setup, and if so, how they've found it. Stable? Quiet? Good Customer service? Stuff like that.

Thanks in advance.

E-money · Post by **E-money** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 5:57 am

My $.02.

These ready made DAW PCs are a bad investment. They're very expensive, and they're going to be obsolete in 5 years.

You can get a rock solid PC for recording for a fraction of the price, and invest your savings into a microphone, or better converters, or guitar picks, etc.

inflatable · Post by **inflatable** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 6:20 am

dan0war570 · Post by **dan0war570** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 6:20 am

Yeah, those pre configured recording computers are a bad investment. when i started recording on DAWS i didnt know anything about computers, but i did know that my old HP Pavilion PC couldnt handle more than 8 or 10 tracks with about 4 plugs at a time.
I looked around at alot of those Pre Made Recording PCs but spending $2,000 to $3,500 on a computer seemed way out of hand to me.
So for about 10 months i saved up cash did alot of research (read Message boards, read every recording magazine i could get my hands on, and talked to tons of friends and computer builders about what would make a great Audio PC)
In those 10 months i had learned enough about computers to bulid a very powerful and stable WinXP PC for about 1/2 of what alot of companys were charging for their PCs.
And if you dont feel comfortable building a PC yourself go to the local computer repair shop, im sure they would be more than happy to build a PC to your specs.
Youll be alot more satisified with your investment when you have a pile of cash left over to invest in Mics, effects, etc.

Hope this helped,
Dan

Floyd Patterson · Post by **Floyd Patterson** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 4:26 am

Well, for me it's a time / money / what I want to focus my efforts on thing. Building my own is not an option I'm considering, for lots of reasons.

I can and have built my own systems in the past; am currently using one of my own. But I'm not so interested in spending my music making time assembling, installing and tracking down hardware and driver problems any more. I want something that's been put together for audio by people who know exactly what they're doing, and more crucially, will provide after sales support aimed at audio users. So basically the same service you'd want from a good mixing desk supplier, really. They deliver it, I plug it in, then I start recording. Anything goes wrong, I send it back, they fix it and send it back to me.

Obviously, a lot of pre-build systems are just that; pre-built PCs. I already know I can put together a better PC than PC World can, for a lot less. That's not what I'm talking about. Rain and Carillon (and a handful of others) build highly audio specific PCs; ultra quiet, high data throughput, etc etc. Very well balanced and thought out systems. And I've heard excellent reports about stability and after sales support. I was just wondering if anyone had direct experience of either of these companies, and had any stories good or bad.

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 7:47 pm

I found a little shop in Chicago's south 'burbs that custom-makes computers from overstock.

In this case, I had him make mine from HP parts.

I needed XP Pro, specifically (for CEP2.1).

I bought a P4 3kHz, 80g Sata (I wanted the smaller drive for OS and progs, only; I added another SATA from a box store on sale, and I use USB drives for storage), CDRW/DVD with 2g of memory, a floppy drive ( I replaced the card reader) in a cool black minitower for US$500. I even talked him into throwing in a basic XP restore disk.

Look around for simaller shops, particularly if they sell "closeout" stuff...

Good luck!

lharless · Post by **lharless** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 11:16 pm

I bought an ASUS notebook (Z84jp) that outperforms everything that Rain Recording sells, for half the price of one of their premium jobbies. Got it last week. $1600US. Couldn't be happier. This thing will do all kinds of crap. I'm retiring my desktop as of this week.

Be very careful not to fall into the marketing trap that some of these shady companies lay out for the new guys. They'll have you thinking that nothing but a Rain will do, but from here on out you know better. Look around; there's more performance in a barebones for less money, without the fancy name-brand sticker on the case.

Nobody cares the brand of your computer. I certainly don't and neither does George Martin or Steve Albini...(whoever *they* are), nor do I or myself..or me. All we care about around here is that you don't get jacked in the process of buying that peice of equipment, and we hpe that it works for you, to get the job done that you want it to do.

Don't go broke for the name brand fluff crap. Get what works for the job. Put a little thought into what you're doing. If you're too lazy to pick out components for a barebones on a website and have somebody build it for you, then perhaps Rain is your thing, but I never met a lazy engineer that was successful. And I'm not saying that to hurt your feelings. I'm saying it to help you.

Go build a computer that works just like you want it to. You'll thank me later on for saying this to you. Maybe not at first, but later in life, you'll remember, and it'll help you accomplish something and you'll want to send me money. ...and well, my PayPal acct info is... ...nah! haha!! jk. lol.

Yes, i'm drinking tonite, so I reserve the right to erase this post if it's retarded when I look back tomorrow.

Good luck,
Lee

Floyd Patterson · Post by **Floyd Patterson** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 5:57 am

I dunno, none of this actually answers the question: "does anyone have experience of this company and are they any good?" That's all I asked. I've explained above why I don't want to build my own, as long as I can get the kind of service I've described from a custom builder. What's the problem?

phalex · Post by **phalex** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 9:46 am

OMG don't touch those things!

Floyd Patterson · Post by **Floyd Patterson** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 10:40 am

kayagum · Post by **kayagum** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 7:40 pm

It's your money, and you can spend it however you want. Free market and all that.

However, since not many people on this board went that route, and many if not most people are happily recording away (for money even) should tell you something.

Think about your recording situation (i.e. are you really going to record 48 simultaneous channels), and find the machine specs that will get you there.

Read through the computer forum, and you'll find out a lot about what will work or not.

And yes, many people are using stock Macs. Or even old ones. I'm even using a 4 year old Celeron machine that was retired from my day job, and it's paid for itself many times over.

wrenhunter · Post by **wrenhunter** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 8:33 pm

Floyd, I feel for you, pal. I would categorize the replies thus far as UNHELPFUL.

I am not drunk. I like Macs, but understand that you may already own Windows software. I don't think you should do the same thing everyone on this board does. I think all computers will be obsolete in 5 years -- yes, even Macs.

So, to address your actual question -- sorry, I have not used Rain or Carillon. They seem good, but I agree with the drunks and Steve Jobs that they also seem pricey. I have heard good things about these guys over on the Sonar board.

Good luck!

P.S. Guys, Floyd Paterson is a famous boxer, so he's super rich. He's also the subject of the best American poem ever. Finally, since [boxing + poetry = music], you should be a lot nicer to him.

Floyd Patterson · Post by **Floyd Patterson** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 9:50 pm

wrenhunter wrote:Floyd, I feel for you, pal. I would categorize the replies thus far as UNHELPFUL.

Yeah, indeed. And pretty rude too, Apparently my question isn't actually worth answering and I'm lazy.

I am not drunk. I like Macs, but understand that you may already own Windows software. I don't think you should do the same thing everyone on this board does. I think all computers will be obsolete in 5 years -- yes, even Macs.

Yeah, I reckon on about a five year cycle for each serious upgrade. As for getting a Mac; I really like Macs also, but everything I'm working with is PC based right now, and it would be quite a large migration process to change over that I'm not keen on doing right now. As I've said, I want to plug in and go.

So, to address your actual question -- sorry, I have not used Rain or Carillon. They seem good, but I agree with the drunks and Steve Jobs that they also seem pricey. I have heard good things about these guys over on the Sonar board.

Yeah, I've also heard good things about ADK. The only thing steering me away from them is the fact that I'm in the UK and they are in the US, meaning there would be a greater lag on any repairs / returns.

P.S. Guys, Floyd Paterson is a famous boxer, so he's super rich. He's also the subject of the best American poem ever. Finally, since [boxing + poetry = music], you should be a lot nicer to him.

People don't know their history these days, eh?

Floyd Patterson · Post by **Floyd Patterson** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 9:59 pm

kayagum wrote:It's your money, and you can spend it however you want. Free market and all that.

However, since not many people on this board went that route, and many if not most people are happily recording away (for money even) should tell you something.

I didn't ask "should I build my own computer or buy one ready made?" I asked "does anyone know much about this company?" Sorry to be testy and all that, but it's a pretty simple question.

Think about your recording situation (i.e. are you really going to record 48 simultaneous channels), and find the machine specs that will get you there.

Really? You think I should think about the recording situation and buy appropriate gear?

Radical. I hadn't thought of that.

Sorry to be sarcastic and all, but these are basically pat replies that are more than a little condescending, and seem like a long winded way of saying, actually, "gee, I don't know anything about this company".

Read through the computer forum, and you'll find out a lot about what will work or not.

Read through what I posted, and you'll note I have built my own computers for audio use. I don't want to do that this time around. Is that a problem?

kayagum · Post by **kayagum** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 6:12 am

Sorry you think I'm rude.

But people who say, "gee, I wonder if I should buy this overpriced piece of equipment" often are posting more to brag about the ability to buy said overpriced piece of equipment than really seriously considering its application, and want us to bow down before their greatness. That's why I have the quotes in my sig. And that's why people on this board can be a bit testy when someone asks about a piece of equipment that's perceived to being overpriced.

But if you're not one of those people (and that's what I'm assuming- seriously) all I'm saying is that you have other options that will cost you maybe half of what these companies are charging, and you'd get a similar or even better machine.

If you really want to get something ready out of the box, and you value your time, then there is value in getting a solution like what you're asking. But like I said, it's your money, and your time, and only you will know what's the best cost benefit solution for yourself.

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