Mac Mini + Live Multitrack Recording Options

[Quintron]

Hi All, glad to have found this knowledgable spot!
First off I know hardly anything about Macs except they have a good track record as stable units good with audio applications.

As I'm sure is the case with many others I have become enamoured with the new Mac Mini but am wondering if it will be sufficent for what I need.

I run a small Jazz CLub in Ireland and for a long time was considering a laptop to record live gigs there. I was looking at Macs and PC laptops, but on a budget of next to nothing with the venue, all desirable options were off limits.

With this new machine there is some hope. I am looking at the 1.4Ghz mac mini with 512MB RAM option. I would also get an Edirol FA-101 usb capture card and was wondering how good these would be at live multitrack recording using Logic or Cubase (Have both). I would need to record usually up to 6 Mic imputs or 4 MIc ins with maybe 2-3 Line ins at a push. The usual setup for a night is about that. Sometimes less. Mix it down when I get home. What can I expect from this box with the FA-101 (or indeed a cheaper alternative if anyone knows??)?

Any options / help / advice greatly appreciated!

One of the sellers of this for me is that it would also be an excellent replacement for my ailing PC at home.
Adding a KVM switch I'd have the best of both worlds. Not a laptop, but a unit in the two places I need it most. (Its' lighter to transport than a lot of Laptops) and a hell of a lot cheaper!

If my above expectations are unrealistic then caould anyone suggest the max abilities of this unit for live recording. I could work something out.

Sorry for the barage of questions.

Cheers in advance,
Quintron.

[Marcia]

You will be just fine with either the mac mini or a powerbook. FYI... I use an older 1Ghz Powerbook and have recorded 10 track simultaneously with the MOTU 828 breakout box. And that was with the Mac's small internal drive. The (very) important thing to note is that you must max out your RAM for the best recording/mixing/effects results. I have 1Gig of RAM in mine and, though older, it is a smokin' workhorse. So you should be plenty fine, my friend.

When people say their computer isn't good enough and they are running only 256 Mg of RAM, well... no wonder. You can't run a marathon if you don't have any calories in your bloodstream.