Rain Computers Intros Event A2 Mini Audio Computer

Rain Computers has released a new version of it’s Event Mini Audio Computer, the Event A2 (A for audio, 2 because it’s the second generation).

This is sort of the Windows parallel to the Mac mini – a $799 computer that packs a lot of power into a compact package.

Here’s what Rain has to say about the Event A2:

Since finding that the musical community was hungry for a low price, entry level system still capable of being the most powerful and stable platform for popular creative software like Pro Tools and Cubase, Rain has been on the hunt for ever increasing levels of power and flexibility while maintaining a budget-friendly price for those who can do without the ultimate in power (and expense).

“There are a lot of us here at Rain, including myself, who come from the songwriting and performance side of the music biz. We don’t need a super-power system to run a big studio; we’re just looking for a solid computer that will get out of the way while we’re doing a quick demo of a new song. That’s the type of artist Event A2 is perfectly designed for.” explained Rain Computers CEO, Kevin Jacoby.

Features of the second generation Event include the option for a powerful 2.6GHz quad-core processor, up to 16GB of 1600MHz memory, high speed Solid State Drive (SSD) technology by Corsair.

The new Event A2 is available now, starting at $799 for the dual-core and $999 for a quad-core with 8GB of memory and a 500GB high performance hard drive.

34 thoughts on “Rain Computers Intros Event A2 Mini Audio Computer”

  3. This to me looks like a good machine. I hate apple and would not buy there shit.
    I lookforward when one day a manufacture would make a hardware sequencer just for midi, no bullshit soft synths or mp3 style reason crap.
    This computer looks interesting and function wins out over style.
    I will look into this machine.

    1. “I hate apple and would not buy there shit.
      I lookforward when one day a manufacture would make a hardware sequencer just for midi”

      i see. you must one of those cryogenic guys.
      dedicated midi seq have been, oh for a couple of decades here. infact most of them are very effectively replaced with what we call apps. but wait, you hate apple.

      also what is mp3 reason style crap? no need to answer. just amazed by the depths of your knowledge that´s all.

  4. I built my desktop with similar specs (AMD Phenom II quad core, 8gb ram, boot SSD and 1tb of hard drive storage) and it cost a lot less than $799…more like $5-600, including a decent video and emu sound card. Not impressed. I *would* like a small silent machine just for music recording, and it doesn’t have to be turbocharged (as I mostly use hardware), but I’d like to pay maybe $300. Because I can pick up an iPad 2 for not-much-more and mix 8 tracks of audio in that.

  5. Good idea ….. but I am not sure you can call $799 budget in the current climate. I can build a small supercomputer for around $680 so they would do well to bump the spec or drop the price a small amount. Still it is the right idea as we need budget audio computers so thumbs up on the idea … but they need to adjust price or spec. As for Apple … I have been helping a friend get a Macbook pro up to spec for audio work and it is so slow and doesn’t handle plugins well. Windows really kills Apple right now for Audio performance.

    1. What sort of “audio work” are you talking about. I can run Protools 10 with twenty or so demanding soft synths (massive, omnisphere, etc), dozens of audio tracks and a bucketload of plugins on a two year old i7 MacBook pro with 8gb of ram.

      1. The audio work my friend is doing is just vocal recordings only 4 tracks deep with these plugins (Aether, waves maserati, and L3 Multimaximizer) in Logic. Her interface is a Mackie Onyx 1220i. So when she started she had the stock Mac book pro i5 with 4 gb of ram. The latency with those three plugins was to high and even with all the normal system tweaks one might do. We have since gone to 8gb of ram and still to high of latency. We did many tweaks to the system to try to get it smooth. Next step will be an SSD unfortunately there is only room for one harddrive internally. We checked to see if it could be Logic itself but Reaper also had to high of Latency. We have each plugin on different bus’s so as to use different cores and still no go. I wouldn’t mind hearing your ideas if you have some.

        I have a PC that cost so little to build it makes a mockery of Apples prices and it has no problems running many plugins and deep track counts. My original point was that its cheaper to do a Windows machine and get good results.

    2. >Windows really kills Apple right now for Audio performance.

      Pretty goofy statement, since they both use exactly the same hardware these days. This is a decades old cliche argument that needs to die.

      1. While the hardware in some cases might be the same, there’s still a huge difference between how OS X and Windows handle audio.

        OS X has Core Audio, which eliminates the need for drivers for a whole lot of audio and MIDI equipment. Windows doesn’t have this, which requires users to use manufacturer drivers and/or software like asio4all.

        In my experience, Core Audio directly contradicts David’s claim. For low-latency performance, I would pick OS X over Windows.

      2. True that it’s a decades old argument, but interestingly, its one that’s been resolved successfully . In the best studios in the world, windows is used in the mastering rooms (sadie) and by the receptionist / studio manager / back office. In the studios, it’s all macs. The reason is perfectly simple – os x is better at audio than windows, despite nearly identical hardware.

        2. Abbey road, air, angel, metropolis, sky walker, ocean way, etc etc etc . All macs in the studios. If windows was better, those places would be using it. They aren’t. And people wouldn’t work there if they did. Because…..windows isnt stable enough when it really, really counts

      4. David, with all those plugins running live on a channel using internal audio as opposed to dsp acceleration (Protools tdm/hdx, Apollo, etc), the latency is always going to be hideous.It has nothing whatsoever to do with mac vs pc

        1. Yes but why is it that my windows box has no problem with the same scenario, but her Mac can’t do it? We both have 8gb of ram ….. I do have an SSD on mine.

          1. Oh yeah …. I am not using Logic on the PC, Apple killed that. I use Reaper. Maybe Reaper on the PC is doing a better job off handling all that DSP as you say. Do any of you know what the drive speed is on an i5? Maybe that’s the culprit. On my PC the other night I had every plugin ever made by Rob Papen running at the same time without one glitch plus a couple of the Waves plugins ….so her Mac has yet to impress me. It also is not as if I don’t know anything about plugin’s …. I design Vst’s on the PC side so I do have some knowledge of this subject.

  6. I have one of these. The value is in the lean OS. High end drives and ram. Practically plug and play. I get twice the performance then my buddy with a sandy bridge core i5 he built for $800. And a super computer for for $680??? You cant even buy a workstation processor on ebay for that price. Dont be a troll…

    1. “a super computer for for $680??? You cant even buy a workstation processor on ebay for that price.”

      No your right …. it was a computer from Craigslist cheap (Box PSU cpu motherboard + Graphics card) then off to NewEgg for ram and an SSD. So yes mixing and matching cheap used with better components but anyone can do the same.

  7. The big question is: how long does it take for you to build a computer with these specs? Is the time you have to invest in it worth more or less than 150$?
    This said I’m not impressed either. But then, if I had to buy a new compuer I would save up until I can afford something more “complete”

  9. Although my setup is less powerful, its kinda cool to have a couple of burners and removable HDDs, not to mention available PCI slots. 😉

  10. imho the pc, and that is personal computer be it win or mac, is on its way out in terms of music making. atleast it its current form.

  11. Does it at least have any interesting features like audio I/O better then a stereo mini jack? I yearn for a computer that doesn’t need an external interface for recording, I already have enough clutter as-is

    1. It doesn’t appear to have any other audio I/O, and the selection of interfaces one would connect is extremely limited without FireWire.

  12. This is retarded. It costs actually MORE than a mac-mini with similar specs! If you want to sell a crummy windows knock-off of a mac-mini you best beat the price by at least 25%, this doesn’t even come close! The lowest costs mac-mini is $599 and the maxed out one (not including SSD) is $1150. If I was a conspiracy nut I would think Apple created this front company to make PCs look like lame knock-offs, which in this case is exactly what it is. I’m sure this thing can run a bunch of video games a Mac can’t but I’ll take Logic Pro and Final Cut X over Army Duty 5 and Dorks Quest 8 or whatever, haha.

  13. I didn’t realize this was a fanboy forum, lol. All ‘Major” studios are using apple because they havent updated their gear in years. These studios are going out of business slowly but surely. Windows 7 is FAR more stable then the mac OS. And Mac Pro’s are DEFINITELY not using the same gear. They havent updated in 4 years, and are using riser cards to seat the X58 chipset Xeons. That’s a true 30% reduction in performance. And it is a FACT that Windows addresses memory more efficiently. i dont know where some of these comments come from, but Im amazed at the amount of people that are ‘certain’ about things without the facts. Just because you watched a YouTube video to DIY system build, doesn’t make you an expert.

  14. “It doesn’t appear to have any other audio I/O, and the selection of interfaces one would connect is extremely limited without FireWire.”

    -Are people still humping the firewire dream? lol. Did no one notice that EVERY major pro audio company has invested in their USB interfaces? Most motherboards don’t even come with firewire these days.

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