Please critique my dream music DAW

[JerGoertz]

And are the "cheap-o OEM" websites a legit and reliable way to get Win 11?

Everybody get from https://www.guru3d.com/news-story/ad-ba ... ffice.html

This seems like one of the cheap-o sites I mentioned. Can I rely on these licenses being legit?

[Pictus]

They are legit Microsoft OEM.

[T-CM11]

Any recommendations on an external flash drive to back up my internal 4TB and 1TB drives?

An SSD for backup? Why? Too much money to burn?

[chk071]

And are the "cheap-o OEM" websites a legit and reliable way to get Win 11?

Everybody get from https://www.guru3d.com/news-story/ad-ba ... 10-25<span class="skimlinks-unlinked">-for-office.html</span>

This seems like one of the cheap-o sites I mentioned. Can I rely on these licenses being legit?

I don't know how much it costs where you live, but, here, it's about 200 €, including the Windows license.

[chk071]

They are legit Microsoft OEM.

No. No store where you can buy Windows licenses for $15 is in any way legit. Those are licenses from volume contracts which were never supposed to be resold, or from even shadier sources (keys bought with stolen credit card credentials, or student keys which have been illegitimately resold, for example). A few of such stores have been closed here, after Microsoft sued them. Microsoft actively blocks such licenses on client computers. I wouldn't touch those with a ten foot pole.

[Pictus]

They are legit Microsoft OEM.

No. No store where you can buy Windows licenses for $15 is in any way legit. Those are licenses from volume contracts which were never supposed to be resold, or from even shadier sources (keys bought with stolen credit card credentials, or student keys which have been illegitimately resold, for example). A few of such stores have been closed here, after Microsoft sued them. Microsoft actively blocks such licenses on client computers. I wouldn't touch those with a ten foot pole.

I do not know anybody who have the key blacklisted.
If this happens, simple buy another.

[chk071]

It's not that simple. If the key really comes from a questionable source, and you have no original certificate which states you as the original buyer of the key (I don't mean the invoice you get from the store, but rather the receipt for the purchase of the original), then Microsoft will first come to you. And, even worse, in case of a credit card fraud, and a really illegally purchased key, you're also the first which will be adressed.

Sure, if people want to take that risk. I wouldn't. It's not just about blocking the key, as you can see. Buying such a key is like buying a Rolex for $50 off the street. Could be a replica, or it could be stolen. Noones knows for sure. All you know is that the price is too good to be true, which should be common sense. Just because such shady stores spring up like mushrooms doesn't mean they're legit. A store which sells Windows 10 or 11 keys for 15 or 20 dollars isn't legit. Period. They're no official resellers, and they don't sell legit keys.

Frankly, I don't see a reason to not pay another 150 bucks for a legit Windows license, when you build your 2.000 to 3.000 dollar PC.

[Pictus]

It's not that simple. If the key really comes from a questionable source, and you have no original certificate which states you as the original buyer of the key (I don't mean the invoice you get from the store, but rather the receipt for the purchase of the original), then Microsoft will first come to you. And, even worse, in case of a credit card fraud, and a really illegally purchased key, you're also the first which will be adressed.

Sure, if people want to take that risk. I wouldn't. It's not just about blocking the key, as you can see. Buying such a key is like buying a Rolex for $50 off the street. Could be a replica, or it could be stolen. Noones knows for sure. All you know is that the price is too good to be true, which should be common sense. Just because such shady stores spring up like mushrooms doesn't mean they're legit. A store which sells Windows 10 or 11 keys for 15 or 20 dollars isn't legit. Period. They're no official resellers, and they don't sell legit keys.

Frankly, I don't see a reason to not pay another 150 bucks for a legit Windows license, when you build your 2.000 to 3.000 dollar PC.

https://www.techadvisor.com/article/730 ... -work.html

[chk071]

"There’s nothing illegal about buying an OEM key, so long as it’s an official one. There are plenty of legitimate sites online that deal in this kind of software, Amazon has a number of sellers offering OEM keys, as does eBay, and more specialist sites like the aforementioned Lizengo are an option."

Funnily, Lizengo is a store which was subject to an investigation, when Microsoft sued them and Edeka for selling illegitimate keys. They even closed it down for a period of time, and did house search of the premises. Translate it to English: https://www.ict-channel.com/software-se ... 23752.html

This doesn't make sense either: "There’s nothing illegal about buying an OEM key, so long as it’s an official one."

You can't know as a customer, whether the key is "official" (whatever that means) or not. Such stores buy used keys from universities in Asia, sometimes beta keys which were handed out to people there, which were never for resale. Those keys come from the most obscure places you could imagine.

Anyway, if you're fine with buying a Rolex from a street buyer, by all means, do it. I won't, and I also won't recommend to do so to anyone. Common sense. If Amazon (yes, Amazon, no market place seller on Amazon) sell Windows 11 keys for 134,99 €, and stores like yours can do that for $15, then anyone with half a brain should become wary.

Just because Microsoft can't block a million keys which are purchased and used illegitimately out there doesn't mean that they won't block some keys where they find out that they are illegitimate. And, again, it could be even worse (for you), if the keys are very shady.

[jamcat]

Get a 20-core Mac Studio. Use the educational discount. Make interest-free payments with an Apple Card over a year (and get an additional discount.)

You'll get a quieter, faster computer with more CPU cores that can run way more plugins, with an OS that handles multi-threading way better than Windows, for just a couple hundred $ more.

[chk071]

You'll get a quieter, faster computer with more CPU cores that can run way more plugins, with an OS that handles multi-threading way better than Windows, for just a couple hundred $ more.

It costs 4.599 € in the Apple store, for the most basic configuration (compared to ~3.200 € for the computer in the OP), and it isn't faster (M1 Ultra is slower than a i9-12900K, and it will be significantly slower than an Intel i9-13900K). It also doesn't handle multi threading "way better than Windows". It's quieter though (if that matters).

And, the basic configuration which costs 4.599 € has 1 TB SSD, instead of 1 TB + 4 TB like the PC in the OP, and doesn't come with a monitor either.

And, last but not least, the golden question is if the OP even wants to have a Mac.

[jamcat]

You're comparing euros to dollars right now. Mac Studio Ultra with edu discount is $3,599 US. Plus another $100 off if purchased on an Apple Card. To get the edu discount, you just order through the edu page. Making payments on an Apple card would be around $300 a month for 12 months. Or you can pay it off early at any point. It ends up being more affordable than building your own Windows DAW.

Anyways, I've built a lot of Windows machines. Using the quietest parts on the market. But they still never get as quiet as a Mac, especially once you actually start hitting the CPU with a mix. Macs were designed for pro-audio. Windows was designed for email.

With a Windows DAW, you never really know what you're going to get until it's built. Building a Windows DAW is a juggling act. And even if you get golden parts that all work together nicely, in the end, you're still dealing with Windows, which just does not handle real-time audio and multicore processing distribution as well as Mac OS. Bottom line is an M1 Mac can run more plugins than any x64 processor running Windows, with lower latency, and it does it a hell of a lot quieter.

My M1 MacBook Pro's built-in soundcard runs without a hiccup with 16 sample latency at 96kHz, right out of the box. That outperforms any ASIO pro-audio device I've ever used on my Windows DAW with all the system tweaks necessary to make Windows usable.

And yes, the OP wants a "dream music DAW" so that would have to include a Mac.

[JerGoertz]

Any recommendations on an external flash drive to back up my internal 4TB and 1TB drives?

An SSD for backup? Why? Too much money to burn?

Faster backups, presumably, unless the price difference is too great.

[Pictus]

Anyways, I've built a lot of Windows machines. Using the quietest parts on the market. But they still never get as quiet as a Mac, especially once you actually start hitting the CPU with a mix. Macs were designed for pro-audio. Windows was designed for email.

We can have a 100% silent PC if we use a custom water kit and put the kit in another room.
https://youtu.be/T2UAmloX8o4
Or build a passive PC.
https://youtu.be/VgJlXnRt9cA

BTW, if the OP builds the PC as I suggested it will probably be quieter than your
MAC when doing heavy work, the big 420mm AIO radiator has a lot of surface to
exchange the heat, so can limit the maximum fan RPM and keep it quiet.
The PSU is also semi-passive and +- up to 410W the fan is off
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/co ... ply-review

But if the OP is not going to use an external GPU, can change to a fanless PSU.
https://pcpartpicker.com/products/power ... ice&page=1

With a Windows DAW, you never really know what you're going to get until it's built. Building a Windows DAW is a juggling act. And even if you get golden parts that all work together nicely, in the end, you're still dealing with Windows, which just does not handle real-time audio and multicore processing distribution as well as Mac OS. Bottom line is an M1 Mac can run more plugins than any x64 processor running Windows, with lower latency, and it does it a hell of a lot quieter

https://gearspace.com/board/music-compu ... st16070954

[Pictus]

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