(in case someone needs an example of a working combination of soft/hardware)
Hardware:
Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow
Motherboard: Asus ProArt x570-CREATOR WIFI (BIOS: 0504)
CPU: Ryzen 9, 5900X
Cooler: Scythe Fuma 2
Memory: G.Skill TridentZ neo F4-3600C16D-32GTZNC
Sys Drive: WD_BLACK 500GB SN750 SE NVMe (PCIe 4.0, m.2)
Audio Drive: SPCC 1TB m.2 nvme
Video Card: Radeon VII (driver 30.0.14011.2006, firmware 0.40.60) *
PSU: EVGA SuperNova 750W GT
MOTU A16
UAD-2 PCIe Quad **
Samsung SJ55W, 3440x1400
Acer 1920x1200
Kensington Expert Trackball
Software:
OS: Windows 11 Pro, 21H2, build 22000.376
Nuendo 11.0.3
TDR Nova
Acoustica Post bundle
Native Instruments Komplete
Resolve 17.4.3
iZotope Post
Macrium Reflect
Backblaze
Voicemeeter Banana
VBAN Talkie
Notes:
The basic build of the computer was super smooth. The case is really good with a focus on airflow as the name implies. Case fans are fairly quiet and so is the Fuma 2. See āGamers Nexusā reviews for both or their ābest ofā for respective category.
Motherboard seems to be very high quality. Heavy. Sturdy. Easy to install into case and install components on. Inspires confidence. It also comes with a management software for control of multiple installs of the ProArt series in a larger multi-room facility.
OS install from install USB thumb drive was quick and easy. Memory setup was incredibly easy. Just picked 3600MHz and it auto-selected CL16 latency. Other than that things are pretty much at stock with no tweaks - the exception being some power settings.
(*) Radeon VII drivers are buggy and finicky. Was the same on my previous build. Multiple attempts to get the driver loading properly, and the fundamental problem people have with this card seems to be that screens either flicker every now and then or they simply go black despite the computer being on. Repairing the driver seemed to do the trick. Be aware if youāre moving from Nvidia to AMD on the same system and be sure to nuke all old drivers using DDU or similar to avoid conflicts. (I got this GPU years ago for not that much money, so thatās why Iām using it). Also note that for this card I set the PCIe slot for the card to PCIe 3.0 instead of āautoā.
(**) UAD-2 Quad PCIe has had issues on numerous boards and despite Asus solving it on other boards including the little brother B550 ProArt I have so far not gotten it to work on this one. Support ticket submitted so weāll see if Iāll need a BIOS update to make it work. Fortunately I currently donāt rely on this card for paid work so itās more of a nuisance than a showstopper for me.
Iām using Voicemeeter Banana (from vb-audio) as a āhubā for computer audio and it had install problems early on. Iām thinking the software is a bitch glitchy and might rely on certain processes completing before loading, so I get no problems as long as I let the computer boot into the OS and sit for like a minute before launching. The software + MOTU 16A + Nuendo allows me to route out of Nuendo through ābananaā into Zoom/Skype for client playback, and Iāve also installed VBAN Talkie which allows me to network into Voicemeeter and use my phone as a talkback trigger and mic and send that to clients. The MOTU 16A driver allows for multi-client operation so the Voicemeeter plugin routes to the same outputs as Nuendo giving me playback of clients (Zoom/Skype/Computer) on my mains. Voicemeeter also allows to send out of the desktop computer to any networked device so I can check mixes on my phone or laptop that way.
So far it seems like a massive improvement over my previous CPU, which is to be expected (a Ryzen 7 1700). Part of my workflow includes rendering video files from H.264 to DNxHD to play back in Nuendo and it used to take close to 45 minutes in the summer due to the risk of overheating my old CPU. Itās now down to 3.5 minutes. Nuendo seems smoother (I have yet to test it fully). OS is way snappier.
Overall this build seems great. It also has plenty of room to grow in terms of connectivity and storage.
(PS: Iām in post-production so I currently am not running a bunch of VSTi instruments at super low latenciesā¦)