VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Moe Egan · Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 8:31 am Post subject: Rain Gear

Happy Monday all!

Question. Does anyone use the Solstice by Rain? . Me likey. But before I put my money down on one, I was wondering if anyone here has experience with them.

I swear that "computer update zone" is one of the outer layers of hell.
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Moe Egan
i want to be the voice in your head.
~~~~~

CarynClark · Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 9:43 am Post subject:

I don't, but I'm curious to hear if anyone does, and what they think. I've always regretted my CPU purchase from Sweetwater b/c in hindsight, it was just overpriced. I'm going on 4 years with this CPU, and I think I should consider getting a new one soon before this one blows up. However, I've thought about going the way of Bob Souer with a Dell like he has. Or maybe a laptop (I think George has mentioned there's a quiet laptop he likes... I think it's a Dell). Or both, if the price is right.
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Gp · Guest

I've used one and they are nice. I think Curvo has one but am not sure.
They are very quiet.
There are a number of companies doing a similar thing. There is a guy on ebay selling a nice piece that is also capable of running Mac stuff. So kind of the best of both worlds.

Let us know what you get. I have been looking at a rack mount. Yes they are quiet enough (at least the one I heard was) to have them right next to you.

brianforrester · Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 7:21 pm Post subject:

Seems a little odd to me that they all come stock with Windows 7 with no apparent option to customize to WinXP... last time I checked Win7 didn't play nice with earlier versions of ProTools.

Am I wrong?
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ricevoice · Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 8:55 pm Post subject:

A couple years ago I was in the market for a new PC and it seemed like the 2 most recommended companies were Sonica Labs and ADK. fwiw, I wound up eventually buying custom machine from a guy off e-Bay for a little cheaper and it's turned out fine but I know a lot of people aren't interested in rolling the dice like that.
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georgethetech · Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 12:47 am Post subject:

The Rain PC's are great for what it they are:
Expensive, purpose built PC's for intensive multitrack recording an sample based music composition. They are completely over-kill for your needs.

I spent 30 minutes on chat with two different sales reps from Dell this afternoon. I asked which of their desktops was the quietest. The Inspirons I was told were some of the quietest, including the XPS series.
For an EXTRA $120 you can order certain Dell desktops with XP downgrades, but they still include Windows 7 installers as well.

My opinion has remained pretty un-wavered in this area.
The Mac Mini is extremely quiet, plenty powerful enough for VO recording, and runs Mac and Windows OS without breaking any EULAs or hacking, can drive two monitors, and is reasonably priced, especially if you find one on Apple's refurb store.
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Moe Egan · Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 5:43 am Post subject:

Thanks for the insight George- I really respect your opinion and insight!
_________________
Moe Egan
i want to be the voice in your head.
~~~~~

Bish · Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 6:29 am Post subject:

I'd never come across Rain Gear before, so I did some digging and came to the conclusion that it's a nicely-speced, stylish and quite boutique PC. I agree with George that it's overkill for VO work but may work well in a more intensive recording environment. It's not that I've got anything against overkill... I'm running a well-configured MacPro as my "everything" computer. If I was looking for a high-end PC that also served as a general purpose machine to support my Final Cut, Photoshop and other more demanding requirements there are some more cost-effective options... the Rain gets pretty expensive once you start adding options (not that a MacPro doesn't). I also didn't like the way they gave you four options with the power supply. This can make upgrading difficult. If you want to have a second drive and a bit more memory, are they going to up-sell you on the power supply? What happens if you want to upgrade the storage and memory in a year? Do you want to have to change the PSU? I really don't like their position on this at all.

Big echo on George's Mac Mini comments. I'm thinking of getting an eBay special and separating myself from the MacPro for recording (I'm currently in negotiations to claim some more basement space, so I'm looking to have a stand-alone VO-booth solution). Modding a Mac Mini with a solid-state drive looks like a nice experiment... and silent.

Cheers
Peter
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georgethetech · Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 11:44 am Post subject:

Even with an SSD, the Mac Mini won't be silent because it does have a fan.
I recommend just mounting it to the outside wall of the booth.
There's some cool options here.
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If it sounds good, it is good.
George Whittam
GeorgeThe.Tech
424-226-8528
VOBS.TV Co-host
TheProAudioSuite.com Co-host
TriBooth.com Co-founder

kjedlicka · Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2010 9:59 am Post subject:

georgethetech · Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2010 10:27 am Post subject:

Yep, just pass the cables through a cable port into the booth.
It's a much better solution than the iMac, IMHO.
Yes, the iMac i7 is a much more powerful machine, but it won't be silent in a Whisper Room because it has a fan. It will also act as a radiator, and you don't want that!
However, you can put it outside the booth on your desk, and run a 2nd monitor inside the booth, which is another popular option.
_________________
If it sounds good, it is good.
George Whittam
GeorgeThe.Tech
424-226-8528
VOBS.TV Co-host
TheProAudioSuite.com Co-host
TriBooth.com Co-founder

JTVG · Backstage Pass Joined: 21 Jun 2007 Posts: 433

Can't speak for Rain but I have a Dell workhorse for my studio that I purchased new in Jan of 2004 and is still going strong for me. I added a stick of RAM and overall it certainly doesn't compete with the specs of today, but man, I'm impressed with that kind of longevity.

Now, Dell laptops are an entirely different story.
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