How The Hell Can I Get Outdated Software?, ...software if i wanna buy a 7300/200 Options

[dr. schoft]

i dont have much money. and to do simple recording/sequence (1trackat a time, maye 2 but i doubt it) tasks. i wont be needing a G-something, right? im a guitarman and i just want to make some songs with midi drummachine, work out structures etc...

theres a company here in belgium that recycles macs and they sell a full equipped 7300/200 for 200euros. i wana buy that thing it looks very interesting for the price(for the research i have done on macs)

the only problem left is SOFTWARE, how do i get older versions of whatever cubase, cakewalk...

another thing: yes i wanna do those things on a computer. i worked with cakewalk pro audio 9 before on this computer (which is a pc that runs on windows and isnt mine) and i like that better than working on the stupid drummachine (alesis) on which i tend to lose my patience all the time. keep in mind that i dont have my own computer yet so im gonna use it for some other minimalistic things

you think id be allright for 400-500 euros?

any suggestions Highly Appreciated

and im sorry if theres been someone else before with a similar question. i looked for a bit and it looks like the most have a g3 or more. so before i got crazy i made my own thread

[inocybe]

'lo

I thought I'd drop in and share some thoughts on the subject...

According to what you want to do you should get away with the computer you're willing to buy. There are a few issues though you need to consider..(some mentioned above already..)

Audio In.. The standard Mac audio interface on those machines is pretty good.. It's not pro quallity but it will give you good results. I've been using mine for ages now. (I have a G3 233Mhz) Adding USB and a USB audio interface can be some pain in the ass on those old machines (see why later on..)

Midi in ... A Serial midi interface is dead cheap right now. I have an Opcode one I simply got for free (15in, 15outs). See that your MIDI interface supports OMS (2.3.8, can be downloaded from the opcode website). Oms (open music system) is from Opcode, and although it's not the best program in the world, it brings midi to the Mac, without any need for drivers whatsoever. I've used several interfaces through OMS (USB & Serial), all worked fine. It's old, but it's tested (and supported!!)

OS.. Take carefull consideration on the OS you install. OS9 might be nice but it eats about 30Megs more RAM then OS 8.6. If you are planning to use internet heavilly, then go for OS9. Otherwise use OS8.6, it will do basic internet OK, has carbonlib support and take up a lot less RAM. Ideally go for 8.1 to get the most juice out of the machine.. Good USB support will probablly require OS9, and therefore it's better not to rely on USB. At all costs avoid OS 8.0,8.5 and anything above 9.0.4 (all the rest are updates concerning mac OSX classic compatebillity)

The soft.. This will be the hardest part. Especially if you want to keep it legal. You might find version of cubase 3/4 somewhere, but buying second hand software is as illegal as copying it. (It's in fact not allowed to sell old versions of software.) Search for it, try to find someone selling it (I do see them advertised now and then..) otherwise contact some mac/music people somewhere to find some old versions (or spend some time tracking P2P (hotmine/KDX, etc...).. again here, go as old as you can and still preserve the functionallity you need.. The older the versions the more happt it will feel itself on your old system..

RAM.. try to get as much as you can as you buy it.. It's old and finding the right RAM to fit in it might be a tendious task.. it's better to have it installed when you buy...

Price.. as you already noticed.. you can find them cheaper as 200Euro. (Especially since it's only a 14" screen..) .. look around.(especially for a bigger screen.. 17" inch is a minimum for most audio apps)

CD-Writer .. Don't fit an internal one.. get a LACIE external instead (YAMAHA drives).. those drives are rock solid and every body is ditching them since there is no way to get them OSX compatible. They are SCSI, but so is your mac.

Ideally you should try to find an old DTP machine. They will have all you need (RAM, screen, DiskSpace). And look around for add-ons. those things come dead cheap at the moment since n,o on uses SCSI, Serial, ADB devices anymore..