Apple Computers For Recording...

Ella_Guru

Ok, First off I'm using Cubase SX on a Dell laptop (3.06 GHZ, 1GB Ram, 60 GB Hard Drive). I'm considering purchasing an apple in the near future, so really I'm looking for advice.

Ok, Cubase I find really buggy and jumpy and it doesn't pick up all devices correctly, numerous times I've lost entire songs due to it crashing (usually due to some midi problem). From what I hear Macs are generally more stable? (This is my main reason, that and I was in my friends house and thought theirs looked really cool....). Are they really better suited to audio recording?

What I'm thinking of is this (with a GB of ram): (the one for 1319)
http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/irlstore.woa/6334042/wo/OF3cTFtAkoN229q6TQ92WzPvHLc/11.PSLID?mco=32B42242&nclm=MacBook

or else this (again with GB of ram) (the one for 1399)
http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/irlstore.woa/6334042/wo/OF3cTFtAkoN229q6TQ92WzPvHLc/11.PSLID?mco=899BECBF&nclm=iMac

The whole laptop/desktop isn't really a big issue to me, portability isn't really an issue since its just going to be set up in the house. The bigger screen of the destop attracts me, but the faster clock speed of the laptop also does. The other thing that attracts me to the laptop is the space saving, but from what I've seen the desktops are quite small too, true?
Any recommendations which to go for?

Regarding software.....I'm thinking of using garageband. Is this a wise/foolish decision? Basically what I'm looking to do is:
1) Record Audio with Tascam US-122
2) Play midi from VST samplers etc.
3) Use VST effects.
4) Mixdown to CD

I don't need or want high end professional features, I just want to get songs down and play with arrangements etc. I also don't have a lot of patience for learning programs, is garageband user friendly?

Finally in the band I'm in the other person is using an apple mac too (Not sure what kind, the type just before they brought in the intel processors). I'd hope to be able to swap Garageband songs files so she could work on them too, are the different types of garageband compatible?

Ok, thanks if you actually read this far. I know this a long winded post but any help/recommendations are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

sturgo

i've been using macs for about a year now and there no way i'd go back to a pc. things certainly aren't perfect with macs, but they work a whole lot better than a windows based pc. the main problem with a pcs, of course is the operating system. xp is simply ****e compared to osx.

if you're gonna be multitracking you'll need more ram. i'd say 2gb. check out www.shop4memory.com, it a fair bit cheaper than buying from apple. garage band is pretty easy to use and comes free with any new mac. i think your gonna need something with more fautures though. personally i use ableton live. also logic is well worth checking out.

this is my setup,

Software:
Reason 3
Recycle
Ableton Live
Peak 4
Arturia VST Synths

Hardware:
Powerbook G4 1gig ram
Macmini 1gig ram
Miglia Harmony Audio Interface
M-audio O2 synth

welcome to apple-macworld... where shít actually works!

jtsuited

buy an apple and your life will be significantly more enjoyable. All those great features and infinitely more stability than xp. A debate is about to ensue!!!

Pixel8

Or you could just install Linux on your current Dell laptop which would solve your stability and skipping issue's.

Ella_Guru

How easy is it to upgrade the ram? Those desktops seem to be all one unit, are they easy to take apart or is it a job for apple?

sturgo

very easy! i've a powerbook but i think the mac books are the same. all you do is unscrew a small plate beneath the unit. take out the old ram chip & insert the new one.

Ella_Guru

Cool, didn't expect it to be that straight forward.

So anyone know anything about compatibility between garagebands? Will the files for version for the intel machines work for the non-intel version too?

sturgo

Ella_Guru wrote:

Cool, didn't expect it to be that straight forward.

So anyone know anything about compatibility between garagebands? Will the files for version for the intel machines work for the non-intel version too?

don't worry, the files will be 100% compatible.

sturgo

Pixel8 wrote:

Or you could just install Linux on your current Dell laptop which would solve your stability and skipping issue's.

that's a good point. what kind of editing programs re there for linux?

frobisher

Don't automatically believe the Apple Mac hype. They are amazing computers but the days when they are streets ahead on audio are gone. I have used macs and PCs and have had equal problems with both. I run a very similar set up to yours and it has never crashed once or caused one single problem after many many 100s hours recording. My mate has rang me several times to help him rescue his crashed MAC set up. For what you're after a PC should more than suffice. If you want to spend your money on looking good (nothing wrong with that!) buy a double head grapics card and an extra monitor and you can have your work spread over 2 monitors. Looks great! All that said, if you want a mac then buy one, there's nothing at all wrong with them!

One thing you might want to have a look at is your hard drive. Make sure there's plenty of empty space. If it's partitioned make sure the space is on the partition you use for the audio. Also, what speed is your hard drive, it's not a sexy statistic but it's seriously important for audio work! 7200rpm is what you should be after. Keep an eye on background programs too, they can eat up valuable proccessor power.

Ella_Guru

Hi frobisher, yeah sad as it it to admit half the attraction of the mac is how nice it looks, (the other half is supposed stabiliy and ability to share with garage band)
In recent times though my pc has become very sluggish, thinking of getting an external hard drive to store non essential stuff. The hard drive at the moment is 7200 rpm, 15 gb free. Realisticly how much would you recommend for good performance?

frobisher

Hey Ella_guru, even though I use PC I'm not knocking macs, it's not a case of saying one is better it's just that you should be able to get enough from your present set up.

15 gigs free should be fine but it depends on different issues; Is your drive partioned? When was it last de-fragged? Do you have many background programs running? etc If you have msn you can pm me and chat in real time. I'm more than happy to help.

sturgo

Ella_Guru wrote:

Hi frobisher, yeah sad as it it to admit half the attraction of the mac is how nice it looks, (the other half is supposed stabiliy and ability to share with garage band)
In recent times though my pc has become very sluggish, thinking of getting an external hard drive to store non essential stuff. The hard drive at the moment is 7200 rpm, 15 gb free. Realisticly how much would you recommend for good performance?

i suggest you install a 2nd internal drive & use it only for your audio recordings. so you have your os, programs, & vst's on one drive, and all of your audio tracks on another. also make sure you defrag your drive regularly & kill any non-essential porgrams running in the background. anti-virus programs can take up a serious amount of resources. this is where macs have a clear advantage over xp systems (particularly whan it comes to security). audio production aside though, there are pros and cons for both osx & xp, but most people will agree osx is a far better operating system.

Ella_Guru

Well, It would have to be an external hard drive since my current PC is a laptop. Are these significantly slower?

Moving back onto garageband? What everyones experience, I've heard its kind of a fun utility but also genuinely useful/powerful...any thoughts?

Assuming also I was to go for a 1.83 GHZ apple intel mac, would that be a significant step down from a 3.06 GHZ pentium 4?

Thanks for all the help and suggestions to everyone so far.

eddyc

In my experience as far as pro audio gos, macs are indeed better BUT you will be paying a hell of a lot of money, Logic 7 costs an arm and a leg and to get a good apple to run it on i.e. a macbook pro (which will incidentaly run xp also) will cost you your other arm and leg then theres buying the extra ram bigger harddrive etc.. if you have the money go for it otherwise, you can tweek xp to be pretty audio friendly , sites like audioxp.com or something like that give you some good tips to get the most out of xp .

My advice is if money is an issue stay with a regular pc, they are cheaper and more modular than a mac and as far as I know MS Vista (when it comes out )will have a much improved audio stack which will go some was to improving any audio stability issues that are currently troubling xp.

Pixel8

sturgo wrote:

that's a good point. what kind of editing programs re there for linux?

Here's a music oriented linux cd:

http://www.mininova.org/tor/269146

Havent tried it though...