PCAudioLabs Rok Box MC 7xs Preview

Name: PCAudioLabs Rok Box MC 7xs
Brand: PCAudioLabs

by Dave Altavilla — Friday, November 18, 2011, 11:48 AM EDT

Introduction and Specs

Specialty or niche' products have always caught our attention here at HotHardware, for the simple reason that, when it comes to PCs anyway, attention to detail or a specific characteristic usually equates to something interesting. And after all, we're not into publishing stories and evaluations of uninteresting things here. You are reading the pages of "Hot" Hardware.

PCAudioLabs is a different sort of boutique system builder out of Chatsworth, CA. While so many custom computer systems you see here are targeted toward gamers and mainstream users, the folks at PCAudioLabs, you guessed it, cater to musicians, both professional and amateur, as well as production studios and educational institutions. There aren't many system builders that can say they've worked with the likes of Peter Frampton, the Grand Ole Opry and Eric Clapton. PCAL builds what folks in the music biz call a "DAW" or Digital Audio Workstation. A DAW can come in the form of a notebook, standard ATX tower or a rack-mount chassis. Today we're looking at the PCAL Rok Box MC 7xs, a mini-tower ATX platform built for sweet, melodic content creation.

Full disclosure; PCAL sponsored this machine for our Giving Thanks Sweepstakes here at HotHardware. As such, for a variety of reasons, including objectivity and fairness, we won't be running down the usual review gauntlet with this machine. Rather, we'll give you a hands-on look at the product, what it's made of and a quick-take look at performance.

PCAudioLabs Rok Box MC 7xs

Specifications & Features

Processor: Intel Core i7-2600K
Cooling: PCAL Quiet Operation
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3
Memory: 16GB DDR3-1333 (4x4GB)
Graphics Card: AMD Radeon HD 5450
Power Supply: Enermax NAXN - 600 Watts
Optical Drive: Pioneer 24X CD/DVD DL Burner
SRT Drive: Intel 311 SSD (20GB)
Primary Drive: 500GB, 7200RPM, 16MB cache
Audio Drive: 1TB, 7200RPM, 32MB cache
Sample Drive: 2TB, 7200RPM, 64MB cache
I/O: Firewire 400 PCI Card
Input: Logitech KB and Mouse
OS: Windows 7 Professional x64

"Anniversary" Software Bundle is installed for free and includes the following items for you to start making music:

1. Sonar X1 Essential (pre-installed)
2. Komplete 7 Elements (pre-installed)
3. VielKlang Instant Harmony 1.5 (pre-installed)
4. Xils 3se (pre-installed)
5. Amplitube Free (pre-installed)
6. Sampletank Free (pre-installed)
7. Nimbit.com subscription (on desktop)
8. Obedia Video Package (on desktop)

At the component level, we get a hint by the way this system is configured, that content creation is of primary importance for the Rok Box. In fact, "content creation" is a bit too sterile. Audio production is specifically what the Rok Box does best, with a secondary strength in video production. Note that the primary 7200RPM 500GB hard drive is setup with a 20GB Intel SSD cache. Storage subsystem access times and bandwidth are always important for the large sequential transfers associated with digital video and audio production. In addition, Firewire connectivity is abundant here, on both the motherboard and with a discrete PCI card, so attaching various forms of AV and DV equipment is well accommodated, not to mention other high speed interfaces like eSATA and USB 3.0 are available.

Then of course there's the software complement. The Rok Box we're looking at came setup with PCAL's "Anniversary" bundle which includes Cakewalk Sonar X1, Komplete 7 Elements and VielKlang Instant Harmony 1.5, just to name a few tools of the trade. Let's take look under the hood.