Audio workstations provide a high performance and stable platform for artists, musicians and studio engineers using digital audio workstation (DAW) applications. As audio workstations are available in a huge variety of configurations, the choices can seem overwhelming. This guide walks you through the main considerations when choosing an audio workstation, so you can make the best choice for your studio.
There are multiple brands of audio workstation available in the market, and it’s an important decision to get right to make sure you receive a professionally assembled system, built from high quality branded components, it’s competitively priced, and is provided with excellent customer service in case you need support. 3XS Systems has been hand crafting PCs, workstations and servers for more than 30 years, so we have a huge amount of experience in building highly reliable systems that deliver the most performance for your budget. Here are the key reasons to buy a 3XS Systems audio workstation.
Our audio workstations are used by musicians and studios around the globe.
Our systems have won hundreds of awards in the media.
Our experienced technical support engineers are available seven days a week.
3XS Systems include a three-year warranty offering complete peace of mind.
The processor or CPU is the most important component in an audio workstation as it plays a key role in creating on-the-fly sounds and effects. Consideration should be given to the frequency, IPC (instructions per clock) and the number of cores. Audio Stream Input / Output (ASIO) drivers used by audio interfaces have their own buffers and these are a slice of time where the CPU does the audio processing work. As such, the higher the CPU efficiency, the more work can be done before the buffer is reset and the process starts again.
For live effects processing where you require just a few channels, with effects at the lowest latency possible, your chief concern is simply the fastest CPU often with fewer cores overall. For users with a lot of tracks, but less concerned with the real-time performance such as studio-based artists and post production roles, increasing the core count and running with a slightly higher ASIO buffer so that you can process more in parallel will give you huge gains in regards to the total amount of tracks your project can handle.
Our audio workstations can be configured with either AMD Ryzen or Intel Core Ultra CPUs and you can learn more about clock speeds and core counts by reading our most recent audio CPU test results on our PRO AUDIO BLOG.
System memory or RAM is the where your project gets pre-loaded and where the CPU calls data from as and when required. Having an adequate amount of memory will allow the system to operate as it’s best, as the OS will otherwise start to swap data back and forth with the drive when memory space is exhausted. Once a project exceeds the available memory space, the resulting heavy swap file usage can bottleneck performance and potentially result in audio drop outs and glitches.
Entry-level systems start at 32GB of memory, however 64GB or 128GB is recommended for scoring with large sound libraries, often including composition work with music for film and TV. If in doubt and you are in the process of upgrading from an older system, loading up some of your existing larger projects can often help to give an idea your memory requirements when looking to specify your new system. You can learn more about RAM by reading our MEMORY BUYERS GUIDE
A key concern for any studio system is the noise level of the system it makes. Audio work is demanding on any computer system and setups with aggressively loud cooling are a deal breaker when it comes to recording or even just mixing within earshot of a computer system.
With all of our audio systems we aim to keep the noise down through carefully picked components such as fans, coolers and PSUs.
3XS Audio Workstations can be configured with a range of storage, power and connectivity options.
We use the latest high performance NVMe SSDs in our graphics workstations, as these are around eight times faster than a SATA SSD and over 25 times faster than a traditional HDD.
Our audio workstations are supplied as standard with high-quality 80PLUS Gold power supplies, ensuring a reliable and efficient power source for the system.
Our workstations are equipped with best-in-class connectivity, including ultra-fast USB-C ports, high-speed network ports and plenty of DisplayPort outputs for connecting multiple monitors.
Our systems are preinstalled with Microsoft Windows 11 Home. The Pro version supports larger memory configurations and offers many advanced security features.
3XS audio workstations can be complemented by a range of accessories to suit every workflow.
At the heart of the digital audio world lies arguably the most important part of the system, the analogue to digital and digital to analogue converters. Browse our range of AUDIO INTERFACES.
Professional audio workloads will be accelerated by the use of dedicated DAW editing keyboards offering many simple shortcuts. You can learn more by browsing our EDITING KEYBOARDS section.
These DAW software packages will allow you to record, edit and mix your music inside the PC to a standard that only a few years ago required a professional studio to achieve. Browse our range of DAW SOFTWARE.
Click the links below to view the range of 3XS Systems audio workstations.
If you still have questions on how to select the perfect system, don't hesitate to contact one of our friendly advisors on 01204 474747 or [email protected].