Mac G5 Transition Questions, hardware configuration Options

[algofrag1]

wondering if anyone has any suggestions/experience with setting up a G5 for audio. I am currently on a Mac beige G3/G4 upgraded with a Delta 66 sound card for audio, and a serial connected Motu Micro Express for Midi. Motu has announced a PCI card upgrade for the G5 on the Delta 66 so no problem forseen there, but im wondering how im going to get away with using my micro express with this system as it is serial bus and the new G5's have no serial connections. The serial on my G3/G4 upgraded is connected throught its modem port. My wish is to somehow link the 2 systems(G4 to G5) for midi synchronization. One idea would be 2 get a small inexpensive midi app for the G5 and try synching the 2 through the Micro Express, however the only inexpensive solutions there are USB options and my fear is that USB would be too unstable for such a task. Ideally i would like to be able to use the second serial connector on the Micro Express to connect the G5, but as i said earlier there is no
serial connector on the G5. Is there a serial PCI card that is compatible with the G5 though? Any yhoughts on this subject would be greatly appreciated....thx.

[cpotter82]

I don't have any experience specifically with the gear you mentioned, but I have recently upgraded to a G5 from my G4. Upon upgrading I faced all these compatibility issues... my DIGI 001 interface would no longer work so I went with Digidesign's hardware exchange program to get a 002 rack version. of course no one told me it still wouldn't be compatible until they released a software update (due out this friday I believe). Also, the G5 uses a new storage protocol (serial ATA) so none of the drives from my old G4 can be transferred. Same thing goes for my PCI SCSI controller, since the G5 uses a faster PCI bus called PCI-X which is physically incompatible with just about everything, though updated hardware products are now starting to pop up. So... my advice for you would be to wait a month or 2 before getting a G5, and then go ahead and splurge on a new interface - it'll be worth it to see the improvement in performance over your current system. As for the micro express... I would keep that for extra I/O on your G3 and get yourself a MTP A/V from MOTU. This will take care of all your MIDI needs and allow you to sync anything and everything in your setup to any of a number of sync protocols... I recommend SMPTE for its stability, but the MTP A/V will translate between protocols so you can use more than one at the same time. Good Luck!