12" Ibook G4 W 1.25 Gb Ram, A workable setup for soft samplers? Options

[jofferman]

Hi everyone,

I'm considering to buy a 12" iBook G4 with maximum ram (1.25 GB) and Logic Express as a replacement for my current setup (an aging PC with 512 MB ram and Logic Silver 4.8).

My main worry is whether or not I will get any decent performance out of my software samplers (most importantly Garritan Personal Orchestra) on such a configuration. I don't mind having to freeze a bunch of tracks if I'm working on a big project (which, in my world, means 20+ tracks), but I do need to be able to run at least a handful of tracks in real-time.

Anyone have any experience with iBooks and soft samplers? I searched the forum a bit, but mostly got "PowerBooks are better than iBooks" - which I'm sure is true. Unfortunately, my budget doesn't really allow for a PB at the mo...

(I could get the 12" PB, but then I'd have to cut on the amount of RAM to stay within budget... more RAM is prolly a better idea )

thx,
Jim.

[mhues]

I use a 15 inch powerbook with logic...Im getting ready to buy a low end G5...Portability no but, the bus speed doesnt seem to be able to keep up with these hungry plugs....If you only ran EXS 24 you might be okay...I think the even bigger problem is the lack of screen real estate needed to be able to work quickly...

[jofferman]

I've delved through the Garritan forums quite extensively... the long and short of it is that iBook users on average seem to be able to play only 2-3 GPO instruments at a time, which simply isn't enough. A properly tuned 15" PowerBook can do 10+ instruments. At the moment, that would just do it for me... but I wonder for how long.

Plus a 15" PB loaded with RAM is mucho expensivo compared to a low end Power Mac loaded with even more RAM... like I said, mobility is important to me (I want/need to have access to my samples when I'm on stage), but so is the ability to play high quality samples without a fuzz. So, basically, I'll have to choose between having portable but fairly limited CPU power vs. carrying a G5 around to each and every gig...

Aaaargh! Where are those G5 PowerBooks when you need them?

[Btw. can someone please perform CPR on my finance guy... I think he just had a heart attack ]

[aptmunich]

How about a iMac G5 - seems like the best of both worlds to me.

It's more portable than the powermac, more powerful than the ibook and powerbook and also cheaper than the powerbook / high end ibook.

Think about it!

[roque]

my iBook g4, 640 ram, logic pro can handle 15+ exs orchestra tracks (vsl) with no problem.... I stream vsl from a lacie FW when I need better performance. Freezing becomes necessary when mixing heavy (space designers, etc..)

Personally, I thing any apple portable is weak in terms of dsp, but since sample playback demands low cpu (especially turning exs filters off) it's more a hard disk issue... (hitachi 7k60 hd 7200rpm in this case is very adviceable ;-)

Garritan uses kompakt players, which are not so efficient like exs so expect running less tracks...

if u don't need portability and operating from battery go imac g5 (and it's enough portable for taking to the gig!)

[jofferman]

Hey,

I've weighed all the cons and pros and decided to go for the 15" PB (1.5 GHz). The iMac G5 is cool too, but not quite as portable as the PB... I may buy one (or a PowerMac) for in the "studio" later, though - that is, when I've saved up enough money again.

Thanks for the suggestions/feedback though!

gr,
Jim.