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.

[Quintron]

Hi Tree Leopard et al,
Firstly Cheers for all comments!
@ Tree Leopard, You are correct in assuming that the recordings would be important to me both as a continuous archive and some with possible release dates etc.
As it stands I have outside engineers in ocasionally to do professional recordings of some acts and others with good setups have offered their Computer based services with some excellent results.
Problem is, we are currently not funded by anyone but ourselves and while I would love a proper permenant solution at the venue, I see the above option as a cheap starting point with which to furnish regular recordings to other organisations so that they may see the benefits of a proper solution, so, your comments are bang on, but the cash is not there (yet) to facilatate that dream set up. Mores the pity. Good music does deserve good audio..

AS a bridging unit to a better system a year or so from now I was worried that the Mac Mini even with 512 ram would not be adequate and hence the original post.

The Mac Mini, though would solve a lot of problems:
:Help take the load off my ailing PC.
:Record Gigs at venue,
:Its bloody cheap
:Now I can afford an FA-101 or similar and a Mac from the same price as an ibook.
:Don't need Monitor Keys etc have too many bits and pices lying idle....
:Fellow musicians have raved about the virtues of Macs for their work...
:So, Mac has a decent rep as an audio processor and I want a go.. :-)

SO based on Mac User comments here I hope that my assumption is correct that the Mini with 512 and external HDD coupled with a good SoundCard and Logic or Cubase SX could scrape it! Cheers again all for taking the time to reply!
If yer ever in Dublin and ya like jazz...

Ce message a été modifié par Quintron - mar. 18 janv. 2005, 01:08.