[LAU] Thinking of getting a Shuttle for audio

[Florian Faber]

Mareije,

> I'm thinking of getting a Shuttle PC to run sound installations from (I need a 
> portable machine for transport). The particular one I have an eye on is this 
> one:
> 
> Shuttle KPC K4500 Desktop, 1.8GHz Celeron, 512MB, 80GB, Foresight Linux 
> Desktop Computer
> 
> probably getting a little bit more memory for it, just to be sure.
> And I'll build in my Terratec EWS88 as an audio card.
> (One of the reasons to go for a Shuttle, rather than the also tempting Asus 
> EeeBox, but then I'd need an external soundcard, which doesn't seem to be 
> there in lowcost, but many channels, and probably USB; I need at least 
> 4in-8out for the installation).
> 
> Does anyone have experience with Shuttle machines for audio work?

Yes. I have several identical machines (SN68PTG6 with AMD 64 X2 3Ghz EE,
2GB Ram, 2x 250GB Raid 0, RME HDSPe MADI + TCO) that I use for
recording, timecode-coupled shows etc.

Regarding audio work, the Shuttles are just as good or bad as any other
PC with the same chipset and configuration. I prefer AMD for
audio/video, but I am lacking hard evidence, so this is just my opinion.

I use the Shuttle transport bags, very handy. I believe they are
designed for easy deployment on LAN parties etc., but it works well for
shows, too :)

The 'big' shuttles are very quiet, I don't know about the K45 series,
though (will get my first K45 next week, intend to use it as a SOHO
server).

If your K45 has to be very quiet, check the TDP of the Celeron. The
smaller Shuttle power supplies tend to be noisy, but you can replace
them with passive cooled versions.


-- 
Flo