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music on g4 apollo or must i wait for g5?

post #1 of 11
1/9/02 at 3:10am
Thread Starter 
I currently own a blue and white G3, 400mhz
for the sole purpose of writing/recording
music. (with cubase VST) It barely functions like
an exhausted alzheimers paitent. It seems like everyone is obsessed with graphic design, but what about
us musicians? I was about to buy a dual 800 g4,
but i was told by a cubase tech helper that it was
mostly designed for graphic/video apps, and that
it would be too weak to run software synths and
samplers. When can i expect a mac to contain
adequately sized audio balls? Will the apollo
do the job, or must i wait ages for the g5? I'm no computer expert. Is the mhz/ghz
speed the most relevant stat, or is it more an issue of bus speed? PLEASE HELP ME SOMEONE!!@$#%#^
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post #2 of 11
1/9/02 at 3:29am
[quote]Originally posted by nepo:
<strong>When can i expect a mac to contain
adequately sized audio balls?</strong><hr></blockquote>

<img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" /> <img src="confused.gif" border="0">
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post #3 of 11
1/9/02 at 4:36am
Any G4 will have "adequately sized balls" for audio production.

I'd wait a bit though - cause new ones are on the way. If your G3 is too slow....try this...

Buy a 7200 rpm hard drive
Add LOTS of RAM (i.e. maximum)
Streamline your system
Use Logic Audio (only kidding - I love it though)

Wait a while...it will pay off. I have a G4 400 nad it's a champ. I can run softsynths, software samplers - the lot.

If you get a dual 800, it will be more than sufficient for all but the most rediculous tasks.

Naplanderr
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post #4 of 11
1/9/02 at 5:42am
I run Digital Performer on a TiBook 500 w/384MB RAM. Audio comes in via a MOTU 828 Firewire interface, USB MIDI, and I keep my projects/masters on a 7200 RPM Firewire hard disk (40GB) from LaCie.

I've gotten nothing short of phenomenal performance from this setup. Thus, I think a current G4 or even the 800MHz iMac (!) would suit your purposes fine. Obviously, though, you may wish for a screen bigger than the iMac's to lay out all your tools on the screen at the same time.

The current G4's obviously beat my PowerBook on raw chip performance, but they also have a faster bus speed, PCI for your sound cards, and you can add an internal 7200 rpm drive. Considering that I'm having no problem doing about 20 tracks at once with effects on *all* of them....you're not going to get any problems on the current machines.

My biggest concern with buying a Mac for audio production right now is that OS 9 is on its way out, and we have yet to see which audio products will make it to Mac OS X compatibility and which will die off. I'm sure most of the major apps will be ported - Logic will be the first when complete - but check your hardware too. You may end up having to replace some audio equipment, and thus you might want to hold off a few months to see what an entire audio solution is going to end up costing you.

Best of luck,
-S
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post #5 of 11
1/9/02 at 6:59am
If you are using software synths, you are going to want to get as much power as possible. With logic, a g4 400 can easily top out with 8 exs24's if there are a lot of events. I will often use that many, and if I have something like the as-1 also using the cpu, it will invariably overload. Pop in a Waves plug-in or two and it will barely play. And this is before audio tracks. But at the same time, if your style depends primarily audio, you can get quite a bit more out of the processor. It all depends on how you make your music. If you aren't hitting a lot of notes on many different tracks, you should be fine with a slower machine. But if you're using a G3, I would suggest just getting a new G4 and throwing Logic on it. You can wait if you want, but those G4 are really good. You should be able to get at least twice as much out of it as what I described above. Don't worry about it too much or else you'll always be waiting for the next thing. Oh, and Logic supports DP and will be out for OSX at the end of the month. You should be able to dig around and find it for only a few hundred bucks.

This isn't really a future hardward thread.
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post #6 of 11
1/9/02 at 7:09am
For now, I don't think that the dual processor models are worth the money for a VST-based program. The stuff just won't work too well becuase a lot of plugins are going to mess stuff up with multi-processor support enabled. Don't ask me why, I have no idea.

I've basically got the same thing going as you do, except I have hte 350 G3. I'd wait at least until the Seybold conference to see if the speedbumps are coming in.
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post #7 of 11
1/9/02 at 7:12am
[quote]Originally posted by Big Red:
<strong>For now, I don't think that the dual processor models are worth the money for a VST-based program. The stuff just won't work too well becuase a lot of plugins are going to mess stuff up with multi-processor support enabled. Don't ask me why, I have no idea.

I've basically got the same thing going as you do, except I have hte 350 G3. I'd wait at least until the Seybold conference to see if the speedbumps are coming in.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Agreed on waiting until Seybold.

Dual processors WILL be a great advantage once you're set up in Mac OS X, which you should get used to.
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post #8 of 11
1/9/02 at 7:22am
Yeah, I'd agree that you should wait until at least april to buy a Power Mac. There obviously will be a speed bump real soon.
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post #9 of 11
1/9/02 at 7:24am
The current G4's are MORE than adequate. What do you think all the big studios use? Most studios that run Pro Tools (and that's just about all of them)n run it on a Mac, mostly first or second generation G4's. It might be smart to wait but there really is no conclusive evidence that the PowerMacs are going to get a big bump anytime soon...it's a gamble. The dual processor will be utilized by OS X, but I'm not sure if that means that all apps running within it will also take advantage of it...I'm not sure. Anyway the pro audio world will not have fully made the transition to OS X for many months, perhaps a year or more, so why go dual processor? Although, I think Logic Audio has support for it now. (Don't like Logic Audio, though.)

I've run projects on my 450 b/w G3 where I had 12 or so audio tracks, each with one or two plugins running in real time, a software sampler/synth running and being imported into my audio program, tons of mix automation, and synch to external devices with yet more tracks. The machine choked a bunch of times, but eventually made it through.
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post #10 of 11
1/9/02 at 7:36am
Do remember that those professional studios are running on TDM systems and are not dependent on the processor in the same way a non TDM system is. But I agree. G4s now are going to be enough for what you are doing, I'm sure. Few of the the most successful electronic musicians are using those kinds of systems. Most are using the current G4's, G3's and hardware sequencers. Hell, look at what the Neptunes use. That's why I say don't worry about it too much.
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post #11 of 11
1/9/02 at 7:45am
Moving to General Discussion.
"...within intervention's distance of the embassy." - CvB

Original music:
The Mayflies - Black earth Americana. Now on iTMS!
Becca Sutlive - Iowa Fried Rock 'n Roll - now on iTMS!
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"...within intervention's distance of the embassy." - CvB

Original music:
The Mayflies - Black earth Americana. Now on iTMS!
Becca Sutlive - Iowa Fried Rock 'n Roll - now on iTMS!
Reply
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