Quiet PC Serenity Wavestation i17

The ideal audio workstation PC for music production using any of today’s popular software production suites such as Steinberg Cubase/Nuendo, Cakewalk Sonar, Reason, Ableton Live and FL Studio. Aimed at both home and professional users.

Help To Configure Your DAW

Andy, our technical manager, uses the latest version of Cubase Pro in his hardware-based (synth) home studio so if you would like help to configure a DAW that’s suitable for your needs or just need a second opinion on your own configuration then please contact Andy directly from our contact page.

The Serenity Wavestation

The Serenity Wavestation Pro offers a quieter way to edit and process your music making it perfect for studio use and as such, it is ideal for both home musicians and professionals working in a studio environment where quietness is important.

Case Considerations

All of the cases we offer with this system are selected because they are exceptionally quiet in use and/or have good, internal sound dampening.

The best cases to use for the lowest noise tend to be the cases with solid side panels rather than windowed side panels. That’s because the side panel will be covered with a layer of sound-dampening material on the rear to help keep noise from internal components inside the case.

If you also require a front-panel USB C connection then please check the specifications for your chosen case s not all cases offer a USB C port.

Which CPU do I need?

Given the need for a good processor with any DAW, we are only offering i5, i7 and i9 processors with this system. Any processor on offer with this system will be fine for music production however, if you use a lot of virtual effects and especially VST instruments, they will have a greater impact on the processor, so do consider a more powerful CPU than the one offered by default.

Be aware that the processors with the K-suffix run hotter than the non-K versions so they will need better cooling than the regular processors so please consider choosing a better cooler than the one offered by default.

High Speed DDR4 Memory

We offer the Wavestation with DDR4 memory that delivers up to 20% less energy consumption and twice as much density as the previous generation DDR3. DDR4 can help Wavestation users to load their programs faster, increase responsiveness of their system and help them to handle heavy data tasks in a flash. It’s currently cheaper than DDR5 and in use there would be no perceptible speed difference or benefit for music production. Only your wallet would notice a change to DDR5 RAM!

Today, many musicians are using software based instruments, effects and sample libraries and if you are one of those people then the more memory that you have, the faster and more responsive your audio application will be as the PC will spend less time moving data to and from the SSD.

A good amount of memory to have for a typical home based DAW would 16GB but for more professional users, 32GB (or higher) would be recommended.

Graphics Considerations

All modern processors with onboard graphics can easily support your DAW in 4K on multiple monitors just from the motherboard alone. You can always add a graphics card to take some of that processing away from the CPU or you might require a graphics card for other, more graphically-intensive applications.

To keep the system as quiet as possible, choose a card which is described as Fanless which, as its name suggests, has no fan. The larger, more powerful graphics cards will be fanned so choose a card which is described as Semi-Fanless in operation. They use fans which remain off under normal load and they only gently switch on to cool the card down every once in a while (at around 55-60C) before switching off again.

DVD Drive

If you require an internal DVD drive then please check the specifications for your chosen case as not all cases offer the required 5.25” drive bay.

Storage Considerations

While the default system drive offered with the Wavestation i17 may be large enough for many users, it is of course possible to add a much higher capacity system drive if required along with additional data drives.

Many of today’s large sample libraries, FX and mastering plugins take huge amounts of room on your storage device so an additional drive is recommended and you have the choice of super-fast NVMe (M.2) drives, slower 2.5” SSD’s or traditional hard drives. Always choose the faster solid-state drives where possible as they not only operate at much higher speeds, they have no moving parts and are silent in use. M2. and SSD prices have fallen hugely in the past few years making them much more affordable.

Of course, adding any component with moving parts like a hard drive will make some noise but to keep noise levels low we recommend using 2.5in drives where possible as these are usually quieter in use than 3.5in drives.

Motherboard Features and Options

This particular computer utilises the ASUS motherboard, so expect connectivity like PCIe 4 speeds for all connected M.2 drives and USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 for USB speeds up to 20Gbps. The motherboards also features RAID, multiple M.2 connectors, premium audio, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs and support for up to 128GB RAM. They both also feature Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth v5.2.

ROG STRIX B660-A rear ports

TUF Z790-PLUS rear ports

RAID Storage

Users with more advanced storage needs maybe interested in having two drives configured as a RAID array in order to increase read/write speeds or to provide a more fault-resilient storage system. The two types of RAID we offer are RAID 0 (Striped) and RAID 1 (Mirrored) and they store information in completely different ways.

Note: The ROG STRIX B660-A motherboard does not support M.2 RAID, only SATA RAID.

RAID 0 arrays stripe data and write information across two separate drives and is often used to increase the speed at which data is accessed and retrieved. The downside is that if a drive fails then you lose everything, so it is important to make regular backups. Unless you’re using software that can benefit from the increased sequential write speed, there’s no reward for the increased risk. RAID 0 on PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD’s simply isn’t worth it.

RAID 1 arrays mirror data and write identical information across both drives simultaneously without a speed penalty. So if one drive fails, no data is lost and the PC stays running. However, if both drives (or more likely the motherboard) fails then you lose everything, so it is still important to backup regularly.

Don’t rely on RAID 1 for data integrity. No matter how well you think your data is protected, it’s always good practice to backup your data off the PC, either to an external drive or to online storage.

Recommended Accessories

The Acousti Speaker Decoupling Anti-Vibration Pads isolate your studio speakers from the surface on which they stand for a tighter and more accurate sound by helping to eliminate unwanted buzzing and resonance on a hard surface.

Each pack contains 4 Speaker Pads and 4 pre-cut levelling wedge adjusters so you can either have the speakers sat horizontally or adjust the angle of the speakers (upwards or downwards) and have them pointing directly towards your ears for the best possible listening experience.

These can’t be added from the configuration options so please follow the above link to add them to your basket.

Clean Build™ Promise

These days, many pre-built PCs often rely on cash incentives from software companies to support their prices. These companies pay hardware manufacturers to pre-install limited or trial versions of their software, hoping that customers will eventually opt to upgrade to the full version. Unfortunately, this approach has a downside: it fills the new PC with unnecessary “junkware,” leading to an inflated operating system and performance issues.

At Quiet PC, we firmly believe that customers deserve the utmost performance from their brand new PCs. That’s why we proudly offer our Clean Build™ promise with every system we build. When you choose one of our PCs, we install only the essentials: the operating system (if requested), motherboard drivers, OS updates and Windows Security. Say goodbye to annoying pop-ups and nag screens. With our clean build promise you can immediately start using your new PC without the hassle of uninstalling numerous unwanted programs. Experience lightning-fast boot times and enjoy optimal performance for months and years to come.

Free hardware support and fully inclusive warranty

We offer free hardware technical support for as long as you own the machine. This support covers any hardware query or problem, including advice on maintenance and upgrades. We regret we can’t offer software support or training so we would recommend contacting the software vendor in this instance.

Our hardware warranty runs for at least two years and is “collect and return” meaning that you don’t need to worry about getting the machine back to us - we will instruct our courier to collect it from you on a day of your choosing, then after we have checked and repaired it we will send it back to you by express courier at our expense. In addition, unlike many other PC suppliers, we have an “open-case” policy which means you are free to open the machine and perform your own minor modifications or upgrades without worrying that your warranty might be affected.