Hi,

Time to buy a new rig. Any experiences to share with rigs built by studiocat and pcaudiolabs?

Thanks!

Hi -

Well, I've got 5 potential rigs to look at, from three different companies, that seems like a good amount of shopping I'd think (?). ADK has closed its doors, Fundamental AV is not answering emails or online queries, so the remaining three companies are:

• Sweetwater (Option 1 Below)
• Studiocat (Options 2 and 3, below)
• PCAudiolabs (Options 4 and 5, below)

I'm thinking the Sweetwater option is overpriced in comparison to the first studiocat option, especially comparing chips.

The PC Audiolabs Option 5 uses an AMD chip - does my use of a UAD-2 Solo card rule that chip out?

I'm thinking Studiocat's Option 3 might hit the sweet spot in terms of price/performance.

OPTION 1: Sweetwater:
$US 2,699
https://www.sweetwater.com/shop/creation-station/
Operating System: Windows 11 Home 64-bit
CPU: Intel 14th Generation Core i7 (i7-14700), 3.0GHz Clock Speed (5.4GHz Max Turbo Boost)
Motherboard: Intel Z790 Chipset
Graphics/Video: Intel UHD Graphics 770 (integrated)
Maximum Resolution: DisplayPort 7680 x 4230, HDMI 4096 x 2160
Memory - Included: 32GB DDR5/5600 (4 slots/2 filled)
Memory - Max: 128GB
Storage - Included: 2TB NVME PCIe 4.0 M.2 Module
Storage - Expanded: 1x Open 3.5" SATA Hot Swap
USB Ports: 2 x USB-C 3.2, 1 x Type-A 3.2 Gen 2, 4 x Type-A 3.2 Gen 1
PCI Slots: 1 x PCIe 5.0 x16, 1 x PCIe 4.0 x16, 1 x PCIe 4.0 x4, 2 x PCIe 3.0 x1
Video Ports: 1 x HDMI, 1 x DisplayPort
Ethernet: 1 x Intel 2.5Gb Ethernet
WiFi: PCIe 801.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi Card
Audio Inputs: 1 x 1/8" (mic in), 1 x 1/8" (line in)
Audio Outputs: 1 x Toslink, 2 x 1/8" (Rear, Center/Bass), 1 x 1/8" (line out)
Height: 7" (4U)
Width: 19"
Depth: 20" (face to rear), 20.75" (handles to rear)
Manufacturer Part Number: CS400.9.0

OPTION 2: Studiocat http://www.studiocat.com/
StudioCat Pro Studio (15th Gen)
$2,658.00
Power Supply:
850w ultra quiet
CPU:
Intel Core Ultra CPU: Core Ultra 7 265k (5.5GHz)
RAM:
32GB DDR5/6000 (2x16GB)
OS drive:
1TB M.2 (3500MB/Sec)
Audio drive:
2TB M.2 SSD (3500MB/Sec)
Samples drive 1:
4TB M.2 (3500MB/Sec)
Video:
Intel Graphics
Operating System:
Win11 x64 Pro
Probably no DVD/Blu-Ray

OPTION 3: Studiocat
StudioCat Platinum Studio (15th Gen)
$3,399.00
Arrow Lake CPU:
Core Ultra 9 285k (5.7GHz)
Power Supply​:
1000w ultra quiet​
RAM:
32GB DDR5/6000 (2x16GB)
OS drive:
1TB M.2 (3500MB/Sec)
Audio drive:
2TB M.2 SSD (3500MB/Sec)
Samples drive:
4TB M.2 (3500MB/Sec)
Video:
Intel Graphics
Operating System:
Win11 x64 Pro
Probably no DVD/Blu-Ray

OPTION 4: PCAudioLabs
https://pcaudiolabs.com/product/rok-...ustom-desktop/
$US 3,490
Rok Box MC X POWER Desktop or Rackmount Pro Audio PC
Case:
Rok Box Full Tower
Intel CPUs:
Ultra 7 265K 20 cores (8P+12E) 20 Threads 5.5GHz
Motherboard and Power Supply:
z890 Chipset DDR5 RAM with 850w PSU
CPU Cooling:
Quiet Fan
Thunderbolt 4:
None
High Performance Memory - DDR5:
32GB DDR5 (2 x 16GB)
Hard Drive Options:
Standard Drives
Primary Drive (OS):
1TB m.2 NVMe SSD
Secondary Drive (Audio):
2TB m.2 NVMe SSD
#1 Sample Library Drive (Data):
4TB m.2 NVMe SSD
Additional Standard Drives:
Select
Operating System:
Windows 11 Pro 64-bit
Windows USB Recovery:
No thanks
Graphic Card:
2GB Triple Display NVIDIA Graphics
FireWire Card:
None
WiFi Adapter:
None
Internal Optical Drive:
None
Keyboard & Mouse:
None
Install Software:
Yes please
Installs::
Please list any applications and drivers here you would like installed
OBEDIA Training Session:
OBEDIA - 30 min Session
OBEDIA Diamond Coverage (Warranty):
One Year Coverage
Lifetime Technical Support:
FREE!

OPTION 5: PCAudioLabs
https://pcaudiolabs.com/rok-box-mc-z-series/
$US 3,350
MC Z POWER Desktop and Rackmount
Case:
Rok Box Full Tower
AMD Ryzen CPUs (but I have a UAD-2 Solo card, and UADx native plugins - so maybe AMD not so good?):
RYZEN 7 9700X 8-Core, 16-Thread
Motherboard and Power Supply:
AM5 Socket with DDR5 RAM, 850w PSU
CPU Cooling:
Quiet Fan
Memory - DDR5:
32GB DDR5 (2 x 16GB)
Hard Drive Options:
Standard Drives
Primary Drive (OS):
1TB m.2 NVMe SSD
Secondary Drive (Audio):
2TB m.2 NVMe SSD
#1 Sample Library Drive (Data):
4TB m.2 NVMe SSD
Additional Standard Drives:
Select
Operating System:
Windows 11 Pro 64-bit
Windows USB Recovery:
No thanks
Graphic Card:
2GB Triple Display NVIDIA Graphics
FireWire Card:
None
WiFi Adapter:
None
Internal Optical Drive:
None
Keyboard & Mouse:
None
Install Software:
Yes please
Installs::
Please list any applications and drivers here you would like installed
OBEDIA Training Session:
OBEDIA - 30 min Session
OBEDIA Diamond Coverage (Warranty):
One Year Coverage
Lifetime Technical Support:
FREE!

I am thinking that there is nothing to sneeze at with the Option 2, Core Ultra 7 265k, 5.5GHz, it should be relatively future proof for the next 7-10 yrs or so ...?

But if anyone wanted to spend the time to look these options over and let me know if they see any pitfalls, or can think of further questions I should ask the vendors, I'd be very grateful -

Thank you very much!

PS: Should I ask for fan details? "Chip details"? More details on the video card?

Are you averse to apple? I’m going to buy a Mac mini when my win10 machine tries to force me into win11.

The silent fans have me sold… I also spent way less time on system config/resource issues when I worked on osx, vs windows. But I also do IT for a day job so I find that stuff annoying.

Not an Apple guy, thanks.

Any recent experience on the board with studiocat.com ?

Thanks!