What Mac To Buy?, I am wondering if a quad intel is necessary or whether a dual g5 can c Options

[JonRaven]

Hello there,

first time visiter, first time poster here...

I am currently using a powerbook 1.25 and I want to move into the ability to use some robust virtual instruments like toon track's "ezdrummer" and spek's "atmosphere", along with interested in the new east west quantum leap app called "gypsy" and the like.

My powerbook just wont cut it of course so I am thinking about getting a desktop mac.

Can anyone tell me from real world knowledge whether I could do everything I want with a used dual g5 or whether I really need to bite the bullet and get the new quad 2.66 intel?

I know ram is a big thing so I will upgrade either machine wiith atleast 4 gig ram.

I will be looking to do realistic backing tracks for my songs with virtual instruments and then adding say 16 tracks of audio tracks as well to the track.

Any ideas? Of course the music stores and the mac store are just out to sell the newest greatest of everything so you can't really get any honest opinions based on personal experience so I came here.

Can anyone discuss this with me?

Thanks and glad to be part of the group.

[JonRaven]

tres' bien, merci

I look very forward to hearing from you again about this and what you found out from the users you will be speaking with.

I am anxious to buy my new studio setup but I am not desperate enough to jump in with this type of investment without doing my research well in advance and Am greatful for people like the people on this board who have been helping with their real world un-biased experience.

Till i hear from you again... have a great time at the expo... wish i was there.

Cheers.

[lepetitmartien]

Well, no Leopard, no iPhone, no keynote, not very exciting for now…

As soon as I can grab a mac pro user or two and abduct him, I'll tell you.

funny stuff, one of the guys who came on the booth for hints today, was exactly on the same premises as you… buy a G5 and which one or a mac pro? Seems to be the question of the day:D

[mishmashmole]

I have seen referrals to this thread when people ask about upgrades but I don't really seen any answers here. I myself have a Powerbook 1.5Ghz with 1.5G RAM. I am thinking of upgrading as I use Ableton Live 5.2 and I have problems once I get a few plug ins etc going. I've been reseraching for a while now and I guess what I'm looking for is a system that will allow me to do music with Ableton 6 for the next few years. iMac is a possibility and when when you look at
http://www.primatelabs.ca/blog/2007/08/mac...ce-august-2007/
the latest one shows good performance. When I bought my powerbook 3 years ago I had hoped it would last me 5 years. I almost can't believe the price I paid for it back then. But I guess that's just the way it is with computers. It's out of date by the time you open the box.

[mortalengines]

Go ahead and upgrade to Live 6. I did and I have the same Powerbook as you (with a little less RAM even) and 10.3.9 as an operating system. Live 6 allows you to do a fair amount of editing of frozen tracks which has TOTALLY improved my workflow. You will like some other things about 6 as well: Their instrument racks and Dynamic Tube plug rock.....You won't be disappointed. I bought my powerbook 3 years ago and don't plan on getting anything new for a while. BTW: if your loops aren't on a separate FW drive I would suggest you do that and get a drive with a Sony Oxford 900 chipset. www.pacificproaudio.com has some great deals on Firewire drives that fit almost any budget.

Ce message a été modifié par mortalengines - jeu. 27 sept. 2007, 04:56.

[mishmashmole]

Wow, it's nice to know someone out there has the same setup as me. I won't go off topic but instead send you a pm. Thanks.

I will however, keep a lookout for the G5 Mac Pro.....

Let's not forget that the latest iMac is rated pretty much the same as the Power mac G5...

http://www.primatelabs.ca/blog/2007/08/mac...ce-august-2007/

Ce message a été modifié par mishmashmole - jeu. 27 sept. 2007, 09:50.

[lepetitmartien]

Ttt G5 are either mono, MP or dual cores, with the top being the Quad but were never labelled as "mac pro", it's the G5 desktop line, the Mac Pro is only Intel inside. So G5 mac pro has no sense.

Now, I've had feedback, from audio professionals having a Mac Pro at "home", it runs now fine, the software issues are gone. Only a few plug-ins are missing, but they live very happy without them anyway.

Sorry to have been that long to get back on this.

[JonRaven]

thank you so very much for your collective help.

I have since last post... found a used dual 2.0ghz machine and put 4 gigs of ram in it as well as a couple 500gig sata drives. I am sure that the new mac pro intel machines are lightning fast but due to some unforseen financial reasons I have opted to go for the cheaper machine for now and upgrade later to the pro when I have more money and they have gone into several versions guarantee their bug free. I am only in this machine for $900 US and so I have plenty of power for home use and yet have saved quite a bit in my wallet for saving for the big machine if I need it. So far no issues.

Thanks.

[Mac Daddy]

[thank you so very much for your collective help.

I have since last post... found a used dual 2.0ghz machine and put 4 gigs of ram in it as well as a couple 500gig sata drives. I am sure that the new mac pro intel machines are lightning fast but due to some unforseen financial reasons I have opted to go for the cheaper machine for now and upgrade later to the pro when I have more money and they have gone into several versions guarantee their bug free. I am only in this machine for $900 US and so I have plenty of power for home use and yet have saved quite a bit in my wallet for saving for the big machine if I need it. So far no issues. Thanks."


JonRaven... You secured a "Great Deal"!!! Some guys have all the luck... Mmmm-mmmm-mmmph!

[lepetitmartien]

Yeah cool deal you got! the most important is that you can work, tools are tools, an eventual limitations is creative, now you can anyway do quite some job on this G5.
It's cool i've been able to put here that Mac Pro are fine now, it'll help too.

Happy DAWing!

[JonRaven]

Yeah i feel i got an amazing deal as well. And it leaves me open to buy a great preamp or something if I choose that this is enough power for everything I want to do. As i go to a bigger studio anyways to do real drums... I wont even need a huge track count in real time so seeing as this is a pretty powerful machine just the way it is... I am sure i will be happy for a few years to come so I have plenty of time to start saving or for getting myself some awesome pres and vocal mics.

Thanks to you all for your support and such expertise that you have offered.

All the best to you all. Looking forward to contribute to the rest of the forum.