Audio recording with the new ibooks or powerbooks?
i was wandering which would be better for audio recording. i'm want to get a computer that is good at multitrack recording. i'm familar with pro tools and have used it on G3's and iMacs at my school. i'm thinking about getting the 14 inch ibook with 1.2 GHz or the 15 inch powerbook with 1.5 GHz. i know the powerbook cost a 1,000 dollar more but i was wandering can a 1.2 GHz ibook compete with 1.5 powerbook in audio recording and is it going to be worth spending the extra thousand bucks to just use it for audio recording?
Comments
The PB would beat it hands down anyway, even if it wasn't for the lack of an input.
Originally posted by Arion151
i was wandering which would be better for audio recording. i'm want to get a computer that is good at multitrack recording. i'm familar with pro tools and have used it on G3's and iMacs at my school. i'm thinking about getting the 14 inch ibook with 1.2 GHz or the 15 inch powerbook with 1.5 GHz. i know the powerbook cost a 1,000 dollar more but i was wandering can a 1.2 GHz ibook compete with 1.5 powerbook in audio recording and is it going to be worth spending the extra thousand bucks to just use it for audio recording?
The iBook will do the job nicely, but the powerbook will give you more screen real estate for all the windows, and it will let you run more plugins and virtual interments. The Powerbook is certainly better, but you might need to spend the extra $1000 on software or the a/d converter.
Questions:
1) What are you planing to record? (This will help determine how many inputs you need.)
2) have you decided which DAW you are going to use? (If you are going to use prodools you are stuck with digi hardware -- if you are going to go with Logic, DP or Live, or something else, you have a lot of options).
The main choices are:
MOTU 828mkII (about $750)
Analog Inputs: 8 TRS, 2 Combo (XLR + TRS) Phantom Power on channels 1 & 2
Analog Outputs: 8 TRS, 2 x Stereo Main, Headphone.
Digital I/O Adat Lightpipe, S/PDIF
Digidesign Digi 002 Rack (about $1200)
Analog Inputs: 4 TRS line and 4 XLR mic.
Analog Outputs: 8 TRS line
Digital I/O 8 ch of ADAT optical, 2 ch of S/PDIF.
Comes with Protools LE
Tascam FW-1884 (about $1300)
8 balanced XLR mic/line in
Analog Outputs: 8 TRS line
Digital I/O 8 ch of ADAT optical, 2 ch of S/PDIF.
The FW-1884 is not only a Fireware A/D interface, but is also a DAW control surface with nine motorized touch-sensitive faders.
Metric Halo 2882 (about $1200)
This is the one I have, it comes with:
4 balanced XLR and 4 balanced TSR (for a total of 8 analog inputs). Each input has 24bit 96k A/D converters (110db SNR), Pre amp w 40 db gain, Switchable impedance, 20dB pad, and phantom power.
8 Balanced TSR outputs (120dB SNR).
8 channels ADAT lightpipe I/O.
Stereo S/PDIF (on RCA connectors).
Stereo ASE/EBU (on XLR connectors).
The MH 2882 has the best A/D converters of the bunch. The pre amps are also better up to a gain of about about 30dB, at which point they become a bit noisy.
As for DAWs:
I think that Logic Pro is a great buy right now. It comes with a whole bunch of software instruments, and it is the most efficient in processor use, so it is a good choice for a iBook/Powerbook.
Digital Performer is a great program and has some cool features, but I have heard that it had some problems on powerbooks (that was a while ago, and they might have fixed it by now).
I used to use Cubase, but it became quite unstable on the Mac side, and I gave up on it a few years ago. I hear that it is better now, but still not on par with the PC side.
Ableton Live 4 is due out soon, and everyone is raving about the previews, but I need to play around with it before I have a real opinion on the program.
Protools is a standard, but it doesn't work on non-digidesign hardware, which can get very expensive.
You should check out the forums over at OS X Audio they are a great place to pick up information on recording with your Mac.