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The "shape" of PCs to come?

 
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vkuehn
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Joined: 24 Apr 2013
Posts: 688
Location: Vernon now calls Wisconsin home

PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2015 8:44 am    Post subject: The "shape" of PCs to come? Reply with quote

I am currently struggling with a little do-it-yourself project to neuter all the noise from a PC to have in my recording space. The arrival of really great USB audio-to-digital converters has one significant limitation: they want you to keep your USB cable down in the 5 foot length range. The old run-cables-through-the-wall to the next room trick really butts heads with the limitations.

And in my random reading of newsletters, websites, etc. this morning, I came across this new product introduced by HP:

http://store.hp.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/us/en/pdp/desktops/hp-pavilion-mini-desktop---300-030

The $450 price is for a rather fully dressed model. Apparently they will be selling some less fully featured models for under $200.

My current project is being built around a minimal computer capable of capturing digital audio during the recording session, and then transferring the files out to a more full-featured computer for editing and storage.

Pictures later.
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Bruce
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Joined: 06 Jun 2005
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2015 8:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The nifty thing about these... when you're done with them you can bake a small casserole in them, freeze them, and then reheat for dinner.



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heyguido
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Joined: 31 Aug 2011
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Location: RDU, the Geek Capitol of the South

PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2015 9:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Food for thought...

These units are NOT fanless, and even in their most upscale versions, are somewhat underpowered, with dual core processors, minimal ram, and conventional 5400rpm hard drives. Also, because of the cute, compact design, they're not upgradeable. An SSD is available, but only 32gb, and only with a pentium processor.

Pass.
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dwpthe3rd
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Joined: 28 Feb 2010
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Location: Where palm trees meet pines

PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2015 10:34 am    Post subject: More Food For Thought Reply with quote

To overcome the limitation(s) of short USB cables and needing to stretch 'thru the wall', I found that a powered USB hub creates the solution for an extended length between the PC and USB device. Simple, cheap, and maybe about $25 for the hub.
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vkuehn
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Joined: 24 Apr 2013
Posts: 688
Location: Vernon now calls Wisconsin home

PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2015 10:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

heyguido wrote:

These units are NOT fanless, and even in their most upscale versions, are somewhat underpowered, with dual core processors, minimal ram, and conventional 5400rpm hard drives. Also, because of the cute, compact design, they're not upgradeable. An SSD is available, but only 32gb, and only with a pentium processor.


I have always "looked the other way" on devices like this for all the reasons you just listed.

You were very helpful in working with me, and my current solution is us use an Andoroid device for recording only. But because of other needs and challenges, I really want a "conventional" box... well, conventional in some ways, in that spot. No, I would not expect the little HP device to sit right on the desk and let it's fan hiss, buzz, whirrrr, whatever fans do. I would do for it (and it would be much easier to do!) the same thing I am now constructing for a full-size limited ability and limited use Windows machine.

As I told a friend, I need to hire an Amish carpenter/craftsman and ask that he build me a WOODEN burial vault about the size you would need for a young child. And the longer I thought about that, I realized there is not room enough under the desk for such a device.

I don't care about the limitations of my current work-in-progress machine or the new HP device, or maybe some not-yet-announced competitor of the HP device... I just want a small QUIET machine that can live in a dark, sealed vault-like box and host a recording software and then be connected to the home network so the recordings can be conveniently transferred to my super-duper somewhat-noisy all purpose machine where editing occurs.

The Android is doing that now, but there is this constant plugging and unplugging, and then running back to see which plug didn't make contact and running up and down the stairs during all of this because my super-duper somewhat-noisy all purpose machine lives on another floor in the house.

I may be the only fool in the world who would attempt to work under such Rube Goldberg circumstances... but here I am. Sarcastic
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vkuehn
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Joined: 24 Apr 2013
Posts: 688
Location: Vernon now calls Wisconsin home

PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2015 10:59 am    Post subject: Re: More Food For Thought Reply with quote

dwpthe3rd wrote:
To overcome the limitation(s) of short USB cables and needing to stretch 'thru the wall', I found that a powered USB hub creates the solution for an extended length between the PC and USB device. Simple, cheap, and maybe about $25 for the hub.


Yes, I have a USB extender device and my machine lives on one floor of the house and much of my editing work is done on a keyboard and mouse at the end of a 100-foot cable.

However, my previous USB device hates hubs. (The service tech on the fone finally whispered in my ear one day: "Get a TTL hub!" I don't think he wanted his supervisor to know he was sharing such a secret.) I quickly found out you don't find anyone at local retail who has any idea what a TTL hub is. You order one on the Net and hope the vendor is being honest with you.

I recently upgraded to a better USB device and if latency is the only problem, that would not bother me, but this manufacturer is rather emphatic: DO NOT use any 3rd party USB cable, DO NOT ask about a longer cable. They provided a FIVE FOOT cable. Yes, the mischievous little kid that still lives down inside this old guy will eventually dink around and see what else works... but not today, not this month.
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Lee Gordon
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Joined: 25 Jul 2008
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2015 11:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm not sure what means your USB extender uses to do its extending, but mine uses CAT6 cable.
This is what I use:
http://www.gefen.com/kvm/dproduct.jsp?prod_id=2019
I bought it used on eBay and it carries the video for one of my monitors as well as USB for a keyboard and mouse. In addition to those, I also plugged a MicPort Pro into it and that worked just fine.
My desk is about 30' from my booth and the CAT6 cables running between the send and receive units are either 50' or 100' (I'm not sure which length is transmitting the USB signal, but I don't think it matters; the thing is supposed to work for distances up to 300'.

If you don't need that much functionality, there are ones that just send USB (no video or audio) over CAT5 that I've seen for $10 or less.
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todd ellis
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2015 5:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

i don't guess i get it ... the only thing i have in my recording space is mic, monitors, keyboard & mouse. everything else is in another (adjacent) room in the same rack. it's about a 12' run through the wall. video monitors are hdmi, keyboard & mouse are usb & everything else is xlr.
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Dennis Allen



Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 13
Location: Hampton Roads, Virginia

PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 10:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

There are very small fanless mini PCs out there. Intel has made huge inroads with the NUC. And there are some great AMD versions as well.

In most cases they're sold as barebones units...meaning you might have to provide an SSD hard drive, ram, etc. But there are companies that sell the full unit...but it's much cheaper to build your own.

On a Facebook group, a VO actor build one and raved about it. I've yet to see his final results...i,e. whether a good DAW will work with the soundcard.
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vkuehn
DC


Joined: 24 Apr 2013
Posts: 688
Location: Vernon now calls Wisconsin home

PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 11:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dennis Allen wrote:

In most cases they're sold as barebones units...meaning you might have to provide an SSD hard drive, ram, etc. But there are companies that sell the full unit...but it's much cheaper to build your own.


Thanks for providing the terminology: NUC.

Maybe a year or two from now we will see models of this genre that are ready for "prime time" in our little world. From what I see when searching the web, right now their target market is corporations that want to streamline the sales counter or the bank teller window. Order out a thousand of them with the accessories you need, stick them to the back of a flat screen monitor and away you go.

I can see the frustration if I pursued one of these things today: "Hello, INtel? I'm looking at your NUC model # XYZ. Do you know if it works well with a Focusrite 22VSL audio box? What? Oh, it is an analog-to-digital USB converter for audio."

Dang! He hung up on me. What's up with that!
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DeadDillo
Contributore Level V


Joined: 23 Mar 2014
Posts: 196
Location: Austin, Texas

PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 12:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is the blog post that Dennis was referring to:

http://www.joesdump.com/2014/12/22/silent-computer/
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JoeActor
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Joined: 20 Nov 2012
Posts: 84
Location: Los Angeles, CA

PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 12:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

DeadDillo wrote:
This is the blog post that Dennis was referring to:

http://www.joesdump.com/2014/12/22/silent-computer/


Hi! (Joe of Joe's Dump and JoeActor),

This system absolutely rocks!
Powerful enough for animation and video editing - more than enough for audio work.

So quiet, it's scary. Can't really tell when it's on.

Downside is it's a build-it-yourself setup... but well worth it for me.

Cheers,
Joe
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