Quicksilver 933mhz For Audio/midi Recording? Options

[maurice L]

Hi All,

About to purchase my first Mac. It's a 933mhz Quicksilver. I am wondering if anyone uses this model for recording, what your experiences are etc.

I guess the main thing I am wondering is how much I can do with this machine before it locks up.

Thanks,

Maurice L

[gpax]

The 933 Quicksilver has been my studio for the last three years. And for reasons I can't recall, was touted as even superior to models that came out right after (even some early duals).

That said, it is still a single processor, and three years old. I've done a lot to keep work flow smooth, like maxing out the memory (1.5 g, depending on the specific model), and placing my audio and samples on separate drives. I also invested in two Firewire PCI cards so that I could stream my external FW devices (including audio and drives) without having a bottle neck. Keep in mind that the two 400 FW ports share the same bus.

Depending on the size of your projects, you may have to bounce VST's, or find that bussing to effects is more efficient. I run all three; Logic Pro, SX3, and Digital Perofrmer 4.5, and track count has never been a big issue for me, though, as Ohjay said, high-end fx, (like reverbs) are a drain. So are some VST's. Again, faster, dedicated drives can speed flow considerably for streaming audio and samples. Unfortunately, VST demands are pushing this machine into obsolecence for what I do, however (upcoming Reaktor 5 specs).

In short, you learn your way around the limitations of the 933, but it will get you far. I've produced several projects, and hope to "node" this machine, or use it still afterwards. I'm rather fond of it, but would love not to worry about limits all the time.

Tiger is running very snappy on this system as well.

pax