Loss Of Faith, tepid digital waters Options

[jesse]

I am feeling rather defeated. last year i purchased an imac 800mgz, 256, and I have yet to match the stability of my fostex fourtrack. the consept of latency is entirely new to me. So I ask myself, and all of you, why would anyone purchase a 2500$ (canadian) machine then purchase 150 dollars worth of software (tracktion) and another 250 on a decent usb interface. currently i am using imic (60$) and i hate it. Back in the good old days, when a fourtrack cost 300 bucks (1994) there was no such animal as "latency". why then ten years and 3000 dollars later do i find myself in a less productive and more expencive situation? And all for a marginal increase in sound quality. My question is this: how much more do I have to spend to be able to find a program and input/output device that is comperable to the fostex cassette machine i had (still do) ten years ago? Have I gone through all this just eliminate the dreaded tape hiss?! Does anyone else feel like they have been hoodwinked by the glitz and gloss of a sleaker digital future?
I am only twenty-seven and already the future looks dimmer than the past.
...triing hard not to become a luddite...

[sethjacquay]

Don't lose faith?

I am using an iMac 15" Superdrive 800Mhz G4 with 512 RAM,
and a 120 GB external FW HD. I will say that while the iMac
is relatively underpowered, it has exceeded my expectations
as far as capability, compatibilty, and latency go.

The iMic was a pretty horrendous experience for me and
forced me to upgrade to the Firewire 410. I swore
off USB audio devices because of the iMic and decided
only to look at Firewire options.

My new setup cost me about $700:
1. M-Audio Firewire 410 ($400)
2. Berhinger B-1 Condenser Mic ($100)
3. Ableton Live Software ($200)

This, of course, excludes the cost of the computer
and the external harddrive, which I already owned.

The latency, of the new setup, is pretty
low even using advanced reverb plug-ins
that add 40% to 60% processor load.
And you can of course monitor using the
hardware instead of the Software Returns.
The hardware monitoring is no latency and
is a pretty nice feature.

It seems like too much to pay, but the
quality of my recordings has improved
dramatically. And I don't regret the
upgrade at all.

Soooo, to directly respond to your post.
I would never again use tape,
my personal opinion, to record music.

What are you are paying all that money for
is a much higher quality recording that won't
fade, decompose, stretch, distort, get slobered
on by your dog, or stolen and then trashed by
your ex-girlfriend, unless you want the music
be effected like that.

You can apply tons of effects and even master
the audio yourself. And then undo it all if you
messed up.

I know, you think "that's great, but $3000 is
still a lot of money."

Sure it is, but the DAW has ushered in
a new era where $3000 gives you more
recording and editing power than anytime
in history at that price.

Before you had to be a professional with lots of
money, effects processors, and a ton of other
sh*t.

Now you need fewer pieces of total hardware.
You have easier tools to learn and use.
And it all costs far less.

But I guess, if the ONLY reason you
purchased an iMac was to replace your old four
track, then bought a cheap DAW, and a cheap
input device, I can understand why you might
be a little disappointed.

You should've just used Garageband and the
pinhole on your iMac's Monitor.