Mac Book 'studio' Setup Help, first time mac man Options

[mark_m]

Hey guys,

I'm wondering if you can offer me some advice on setting up a modest Mac Book 'recording hub'. I have read around this and other forums as well as searching on the internet in general, but I just felt that I needed to clarify a few things! So excuse the list of questions, but the help really is appriciated.

First off, would a Mac Book be good enough for general recording and mixing purposes, i.e no more than 15-20 tracks in Logic (can it cope with Logic Pro?) with plugins, for example, on each track. I am going to get one with 2GB RAM, but is there that much difference between the performance overall of the machines with the different processors? (2.0 and 2.16)

Also, I'm aware that you're not supposed to record on the system HDD, so I suppose it is best to get an external HD - would any external HD do? For example at the moment I have a 250GB 7200rpm Lacie drive with USB support on my current rig, would something like this do, or would you recommend a better brand/not usb etc. Are there any assosiated problems with recording to an external drive? Is it quick enough to read/write for example? Also, on a similar note, would you recommend replacing the internal HD with something quicker, seeing as all the MacBooks come with 5400rpm?

Another implication of the external HD would be if it were Firewire...I am planning on getting a Firewire mixer purely for preamp purposes (if that makes sense), something as a go between from mic to mac. Obviously this uses the firewire port on the MacBook - is it easy to daisy chain the external HD and mixer through one Firewire port if nessesary? Or are there any USB mixers that provide the same functionality of a Firewire one, (but quicker??) Which Firewire/USB mixers would you recommend?

Finally, what monitors would you guys recommend? I've heard good things about the KRK Rokit range. Are there any similar priced monitors with greater performance?

Again, any help or input is greatly appriciated. Thanks for reading this far!
M

[lepetitmartien]

First there's already many threads on these issues so to sum up (you can read there's plenty around)

- The macbook will cope
- think about RAM (there's a rumor on 3GB support on core 2 duo models undocumented, with 2GB chips, I've got to cross check this still)
- any decent external drive will do it, USB 2 can do (but may cause problem, have a try in normal use for you), but firewire is definitely better.
- keep the 5400 rpm internal inside, you'll get the most with the RAM, a 7200 will only start faster, launch apps faster run HOTTER, and get the battery dry faster.

On the other issues, I let people with better hands on expertise answer about interfaces (your "mixer" I think) and the drive cohabitation.