I've got $2k for a new workstation...

[unsilpauly]

Ok then... another question... I dont believe Ill be able to swing $2500, and definitely not $3k right now...

So is the "basic" $2k Dual-core 2GHz PowerPC G5 good enough? Or should I continue to hold out? Or are the dual processor single core "first gen" G5's a better way?

See? I dunno fuck all... hence the topic, and thanks again

look on the apple website go to the store section and then click on the lookin for a deal halfway down on the right and that brings you to the refurbished section of their store where the stock changes daily. there are really good deals on there. i got my powerbook on there a few months back. still the full applecare and everything. just have to wait for the right machine to be on there and youll save a bundle. check it out.

 

[ThatGuitarGuy]

I don't now where you live...or if you go to school...but there are student discounts for a lot of schools out there. Check that out.

 

[Glenn Fricker]

Well, you know what I'd recommend.....

 

[LydonB]

I have a dual 2.5 GHz "first gen" G5 and it absolutely screams with speed. I haven't used a machine that's faster honestly. I have yet to max out on plug-ins. I can run multiple instances of Guitar Rig, AltiVerb, etc. with plenty of CPU headroom to spare. I have large track counts and lots of software instruments/samplers going. I installed 1.5 gigs of RAM and I never max that out either.

Make sure you get at least a gig of RAM in any case!

As for the Intel switch, I give it another 6 months to a year before we'll see people doing pro music production on those machines. A lot of programs need to be recompiled as Universal Binary, which for high end music apps is a more complex process than it is for everyday software. PowerPC hardware is going to be supported fully for at least another decade, and the difference in speed between the G5 towers and the (yet to be released) pro-level Intel driven Mac towers has yet to be determined.

Yeah...what he said!

 

[J the TyranT]

Kazrog, thanks man... I guess Im just trying to figure out if it'd be wiser to get a "first-gen" system like yours, or one of the new $2k dual core ones. Honestly, Im not that technologically savvy.

Cuz like I said, on the flipside, I could always have my buddy build a dual core Opteron, water cooled, 2 gig of RAM, RAID 0 monster and save a few bucks too... which isnt to say Im trying to cut corners... just trying to maximize financial effectiveness =P

Maybe even I should build a super PC for now, and then buy that Quad monster next year? Too many F'n decisions.

Where's Andy and James to chime in on this?

 

[Mulder]

I have a G3 with some ProTools(pci) TDM cards and an ADAT interface that hooks up with my PC, who runs at 3.5ghz@1000FSB with an 3xADAT RMEcard.

I have a G4 with a Digi 001 running Altiverb amongst other stuff, also connected with the PC through ADATlightpipe.

I spent time learning how all this stuff works, it paid off pretty well. I'm no longer a believer in a one-platform-religion anymore, if tomorrow some Linux app comes along that offers good higain guitarampsimulation I'll put a Linuxbox next to the other machines.

I made a list of the apps I needed and collected machines around it, I learned pretty fast I couldn't do it on just one machine without breaking the bank. Buying PT HD to run three plugins is silly, so I got me a (very cheap) PT pci system with two DSPfarms.

One thing I'm looking at right now is this new chipset from nvidia, allowing six sata-disks. Which means I can run two raptors as mirrors (no more work lost due to HDcrashes) and still have four ports left for massive samplestreaming from in-line disks, those harddisks that were build to run 24/7.

That's really the only hard advice I can offer you: buy harddisks that are made to last. Put your creative work on a RAID-1 (mirror). HDcrashes WILL happen. And they hit you hard.

 

[Noumenon]

uhm what? can you run just the tdm card and another audio interface (like rme hdsp) and pro tools will work?

 

[Kazrog]

I don't believe in a one-platform religion. The Mac just happens to be the best platform on the market today, and as much as alternative operating systems like Yellowtab Zeta and Linux interest me as a hobby, they just don't measure up against the Mac. Windows isn't even in the running. I was an Amiga user for years, briefly went to Windows when the Amiga was no longer supported, and switched to the Mac when it became advantageous.

 

[Mulder]

uhm what? can you run just the tdm card and another audio interface (like rme hdsp) and pro tools will work?

I have a dedicated machine for Protools 5 TDM and connect that machine via ADAT lightpipes (glassfibre interconnects) to a PC with an RMEcard and use the TDMplugins as remote FX inside Cuendo or Logic. Works just fine. Ditto for the G4, the Digi 001 also has ADAT lightpipes.

On the pc are some killerplugins you can't find on a Mac. On the Mac are some killerplugins you can't find on a pc. On PT TDM are some killerplugins...

That's how I decide which platform suits me. The quirks I've learned to live with and I had major issues on all machines, including the Mac.
During a year I tried to work Apple's own Logic Audio 6 (legit) on a dual MDD G4 running 10.2. It was a bleeding nightmare. I put a WinXP pc together running Logic 5.5 and could work again without crashes, having roughly the same amount of plugins as a dual 2 ghz G5 (no shit).

But I really like my G3 running OS9, absolute rocksolid without all that gayish eyecandy.

And it's a shame BeOS is dead, could have been the killer OS for DAW..

 

[Kazrog]

But I really like my G3 running OS9, absolute rocksolid without all that gayish eyecandy.

You can theme OS X with ShapeShifter. Problem solved.

http://www.unsanity.com/haxies/shapeshifter

And it's a shame BeOS is dead, could have been the killer OS for DAW..

BeOS is back as YellowTab Zeta. It's fucking killer!

http://www.yellowtab.com/

Oh yeah - I don't recommend using Logic (no wonder you had problems.) That software still has a long way to go. Apple inherited a beast!

 

[Mulder]

You can theme OS X with ShapeShifter. Problem solved.

http://www.unsanity.com/haxies/shapeshifter

I don't care that much how it looks, but how many manhours they spent making it look this way while other parts of the OS needed serious bugfixing.. (like the ultra poor HDperformance under 10.2..)

BeOS is back as YellowTab Zeta. It's fucking killer!

http://www.yellowtab.com/

Fuck, didn't know that! Just before Apple took over Emagic they started transporting Logic to BeOS.. Damn, if only Steinberg...

Oh yeah - I don't recommend using Logic (no wonder you had problems.) That software still has a long way to go. Apple inherited a beast!

No, Apple screwed it, raped it. I own (notator!) Logic since 1.5, my first Mac was a IIci.

Under OS8/9 there was no competition, people bought it to run on top of PT hardware (so did I). Killerapp. But under OSX you have two sorts of coding: carbon and cocoa. Carbon is a sort of Rosetta, making it easy to switch from OS9 to OSX, cocoa is sort of OSX 'native'.

I had this little app (Ape) that could make all the cocoa'apps give the metalbrushlook, like Mail and stuff. But only the cocoa's, so it was a nice way of finding out which app was OSX native and which wasn't.

Logic wasn't ported to OSX, it ran (crawled) under carbon 'emulation' for two years.

The development was pushed backwards I guess to be able to write apps like iPhoto and iMovie and iSuck & stuff, so the senior morons of this world could connect their digicams to a firewire port of their stylish iMac and watch their (grand)children vommit over the internet.

It was then that I decided that Apple clearly had other priorities than making my main software run good again so I downgraded to Logic 5.5 pc (as did many others).

Now I run all sorts of DAW's, just what suits me. Logic 7 seems to be worse than Logic 6. Maybe 7.2 will run ok on the new macintels, will give that a look. At last Apple will run some decent hardware inside their beautycases.

The new Intel cpu is great, much better than the P4. And their chipsets & stuff don't give you that AMD 8131 shit UADowners have to endure on their G5's.

Anyway, the policy of Apple concerning Logic Audio pissed off a great deal of loyal users. And made them switch.

So thanks to Steve Jobs I own a pc. Imagine that.

 

[J the TyranT]

Man you guys are really fucking me up now... lol.

I have Pro Tools on CD... so, I suppose that's what Im gonna use. To run an effective pro tools based workstation for 2k, Kazrog is suggesting a PowerMac, that's about all I've gathered... lol

J

 

[RipShredmohr]

do you remember what happened with my mac?

 

[J the TyranT]

LMFAO... oh yeah... well...

That's unexplainable, I suppose? Im just trying to hook up the best shit so we can finally track some shit decently, lol

 

[RipShredmohr]

I guess I can break anything

 

[J the TyranT]

Or Velvet Revolver can!

 

[Mulder]

On a Mac you can run the metric halo channelstrip. That's one of the reasons I've got one.