Best Audio I/o For Mac G5 Options

[cyanbaby101]

I am building a new studio funded by my company so money is no obeject.

1) What is the best, top of the line, AD/DA converter and Audio I/O that is compatible with MAC G5 Panther.

2) If I am suping up my MAC with 8GB of RAM is it still necessary to buy additional DSP Cards for my VST processing? Ifo so, what is the difference between the two?

Thanks in advance.

[cyanbaby101]

BUMP

[Quindo]

It all depends on what software you are using, and what you want to do with the studio. If money really is no object, and you want to use Protools, look at a Protools HD system. The DSP cards start at £6000 or so, A/D convertors to match will set you back the good part of £10000, and Digidesign is currently designing a control surface that will cost around £40000. Luckily after speding all that the software is included.
Another alternative would be to fill the PCI slots of your G5 will Firewire cards and fill a 19" rack with MOTU 828 (about £700) or MOTU 896 (about £1100) audio interfaces. You can run (in theory) as many of these at once as you like, and each one offers about 10 analog ins and outs, and 10 digital ins and outs. Unlike the Protools system, while a simple audio sequencer is included, you have to pay extra for something with MIDI and clever features. Luckily the interfaces are compatible with most any OS X audio software. The 896 differs from the 828 in having a higher sample rate and more mic pre-amps. The MOTU interfaces have built in mixers, but no practical control built in, so MIDI fader boxes would probably be required.
As mixing can be handled in either of my suggested solutions, a G5 with 8gb of RAM should handle any plugins you throw at it. The protools DSP cards also handle some plugins.
Enjoy what sounds like a dream studio.

[td3k]

I'd have to agree with the first part of Quindo's post. If money is no object, ProTools | HD Accel is the King of DAW's. TDM systems provide the greatest amount of DSP available today. All of the big-boy's use ProTools TDM systems.

...plus, have you seen the ICON integrated console?! Wheeew!

Just my $.02 (2 cents)

TD

[cyanbaby101]

I will be using Logic Pro. Not Pro Tools. The main reason being that Logic has better integrated Midi features. Along with sound design, I will be composing music.

I have been researching the Apogee Rosetta 800. It seems to have higher end AD/DA converters compared to the MOTU stuff. Any thoughts on that?

Does anyone know if the Apogee runs smoothly with MAC OSX and Logic?

[Mac-Dee]

well i would say the main ones man to look at is RME-audio/ apogee/ protols is kick as but if its for composing i think go for the apogee or the high quality ad/da converters by rme audio
how many ins/ outs is a question .
the best i/o card i would say is the rme audio HDSP9632 very expandable

[peabreu]

Check: Lucid converters or Lavry (4496) converters...and if the price of Rosetta ain't a problem, then you can't go wrong with that. Apogee is very good for the price point...ofcourse you canalways aim at the bigger/higher end of the game but its probably to much...you have to decide. AFAIK the Apogees, Lavry et al, are not in the same league as RME (its good but not comparable...no way).
Check this guys, they have the "full story" on high quality converters:
http://www.mercenary.com/lavry.html

[Dabr]

Hey Cyan

In my opinion, the Apogee would be the way to go - for Sound Quality
they have the optional Firewire 800 card that goes w/ most of their interfaces and you could get,for example, the Rosetta 800 ( 8 in / 8 out ) and add later when you need more channels - easy setup

G5 + Logic 6 Pro + Rosetta = MMMmmmm.......

the only reason I could see for getting the Pro-tools hardware ( using Logic as the front-end ) is the TDM plug-ins
but I don't know if Digi has the PCI-X thing happening yet - maybe somebody else knows that or call Digi

Have Fun w/ your G5 !!!!

......running Logic since vers. 1.0..........

[DigitalAssault]

Just becasue you have lots of money to spend doesn't mean the most expensive option is best... Don't forget that your music won't be as pristine on the end users system. Ram is a great investment and it looks like you have that more than covered. Logic 7 Pro is a great DAW for MIDI (arguable the best for MIDI). A Motu 828mkII firewire interface with an Apogee Big Ben clock and some Mackie monitors will give you more clarity from your system than any end user will ever be able to appriciate...

Once you've completed a piece burn it and play it through an average end users system. If it doesn't kick there a $40000 Pro Tools mixer and rack of $6000 dollar converters won't make it sound better to the audience... [Unless you equip each theatre with the same kit and stop serving noisy snacks (like those damn nachos!) to the patrons.]

[editbrain]

not trying to troll, but i would like to add that logic has come a long way with audio production not just midi. the audio sound coming from logic 7 is pristine. even the big boy PT users have to give it for logic 7.

happy recording. have fun with your new setup.

[CanadaRAM]

Don't confuse RAM with processing power.

Having too little RAM will slow you down because the machine has to swap out information to the hard drive. Once you have "enough" RAM, your machine will run at full potential, and adding more RAM will not speed it up further. Of course, "enough" is a variable number that depends on what you are running for programs and how large your sessions are.

Improving the DSP/VST performance depends on adding processing power. One way is starting with a powerful computer, dual G5 2 GHz or 2,5 GHz.

Another way is to move some tasks (samplers, etc.) to another computer and run them in parallel. Logic 7 has added some features for this, also check out Cubase's VST Stack and research what if any ability it has to integrate with your main setup. Some people run one or more Intel PC's as dedicated Gigastudio playback stations.

There are also effect/VST co-processors available from TC (the Powercore series, both internal PCI and external Firewire) and Universal Audio (UAD- series internal PCI). These provide additional CPU(s) to run effects and instruments, reducing the load on the computer's CPU. They only run the VST devices programmed for them, however, you can't arbitrarily assign your favorite soft synth to a Powercore for example.

Here's one thing to keep in mind: once you start running multiple hard drives, Firewire A/D-D/A devices, Firewire Powercore(s) you are going to have a major traffic jam on your Firewire bus.

Install two internal hard drives. Put your system and applications on one, reserve the other for audio data, then ONLY use the internal audio drive for your current work. Archive and backup to the Firewire drives of course, but don't use them for live capture/playback/mixing. This is to keep the data traffic away from your Firewire interface and/or Powercore.

Alternatively, install one or more Firewire 800 PCI cards, and or a SATA PCI card with external connections, so that each hard drive/ Powercore/ A/D-D/A can be given its own channel to run at full bandwidth.

Thanks
Trevor
CanadaRAM.com

[istiban]

Hello,
I am building up my modest home studio, so unfortunately money will be a big factor. I've just bought a 1.8 DP G5.

The problem: I've an apparently incompatible Delta44 i/o I bought way back in 2001. From posts, I've gathered that the Delta44 is noisy when used with 1.8 DP & that Apple/M-audio aren't dealing with the issue (ugh).

so...here are my questions:

1) What are the top contenders in the $200-300 range AD/DA converter and Audio I/O that is compatible with MAC G5 1.8 dp (o/s: Panther).

2) What's the smartest way to go with the power a g4 1.8dp's got onboard...firewire perhaps?

I'm quite the newbie here, so I'd really appreciate some help

Thanks in advance.

((steveo)))

[The Guitar God]

my fave audio I/O is the m-audio mobile-pre and it is quite cheap. Its small and practical and isnt going to blow the bank. I couldnt reccomend a store because your american. But you could type it into froogle to get a cheap price, i found it for £119.

[Billy T]

Hi folks

anybody using an MBox with logic and a G5 in their studio? If so, has it been an enjoyable experience? I've had for a while and its caused me nothing but grief. If its possible to get it stable then I'd like to stick with it (for financial reasons) but don't want to be wasting my time.

Thanks

[jeffca]

Since you asked, check out the Prism Sound ADA-8XR. It is the ultimate hook up. It also costs about $9,000. If that's too much, any of the stuff by Apogee Digital kicks ass. If that's still too pricey, check out MOTU's stuff.

All of the stuff I mentioned is THE stuff to have at their price points, but what you need for your studio and the type of music you're producing will dictate how important and feature rich your I/O has to be.

To future proof your purchase, you'll probably want to stay with Firewire as opposed to a PCI card solution. I have a MOTU 2408/308 rig hooked to my G5. When I bought it, Firewire was in its infancy and there were no I/O's available. As it stands, though, I'd still need this system so that I could connect all of my digital effects to my DAW.

Let me offer one bit of specific advice since I'm already in the boat you're boarding: load your G5 with an extra 2gb of RAM and spend the money you'd have spent on the rest of the RAM on a Powercore or UAD-1, some plug ins (the Sony Oxford plugs are fantastic) and a fast Firewire drive such as a Medea G-Raid.

Even now, most apps can't access more than 2 gigs of RAM. While this may not be the case with Logic, you'd have to be running ridiculously large samples in an absurd number of soft synths to run a G5 out of steam that has 2.5gb of memory. Considering Logic's powerful Freeze function, you'd be seeing little or no benefit from the extra RAM.

I would seriously suggest a G-Raid as your project drive. It has G5 cosmetics and Medea is a real player in AV storage solutions. While a second S-ATA drive in the G5 will be good as extra storage and on-line back up, drives get unbelievably hot in that cramped drive bay. Both the OEM and the second Hitachi drives that I have in my G5 fried in less than 6 months when I was running audio projects on the internals. Ever since I got the array, everything is running smooth.

That's my 2 cents.
Jeff

Ce message a été modifié par jeffca - mar. 11 janv. 2005, 16:48.