Setting up my "new" Mac?

U

Unsprung

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Ordered a used Dual 2.3GHz Power Mac G5, which should arrive on Wednesday. I've already got figured out which HDDs to put inside, and that I'm going to max. the RAM at 8 gigs, along with buying Logic Studio and several software instruments by Native Instruments. What I haven't yet figured out is, which external interfaces would be best? Once I get things setup, I could start out by recording to my Fostex MR-8mkII digital multi-track recorder, then sending it all to the Mac via USB. I'll have FireWire 400, FireWire 800 and USB 2.0 to play with, so I'm thinking I might want a mixer on the FireWire (400) bus. Would I have any need for PCI/PCI-X?

It's been 5 years since I've used a Mac ("Jaguar" was the current OS X, the last time I've used the Mac OS), so I'll need to play around with the "new" G5 to become familiar with the OS X interface, again.

Matt
 
Don't expect a very long life out of that G5. Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6) comes out in September and drops all support for PPC Macs meaning you will never go beyond Leopard and Logic 8.

Its a safe bet to assume any new softsynths released after September will not run on that system either.
 
If I really must, I'll build an intel box and install OS X on it. By the time I get around to that, I should have played around with/worked in Logic enough to know what I'm doing. Was going to hold out until this coming Friday (my next big fat OT paycheck), and buy a MacBook Pro, but I don't really need a portable DAW, and I'd be tempted to use it for things other than music production. If I really wanted to, I could gather my parts toward assembling a working Power Mac G3 MiniTower, install Cubase VST 4.5 on it, and play around with that.

If I have to get a better Mac, in the coming future, I can always reconfigure the G5 for something other than music production. Otherwise, I'll have OS X Leopard, iLife and Logic Studio installed before September comes around, with the release of OS X Snow Leopard.

Matt
 
choose your parts very carefully if you plan to build an intel box and install osx on it,,,,

often isn't as straight forward as it seems..
 
G5's run really hot as well which means they sound like mini jet engines, especially if you're in a quiet environent like a recording studio.

I strongly advise you reconsider your purchase and return it if you can.

My CoreDuo Mac Mini would do everything that G5 could do and much more.
 
Maybe I could unload it on eBay? It will arrive on Wednesday, and it would seem too much like "buyer's remorse" to try sending it back to the seller (MegaMacs). Might take a loss, or maybe score a (very) slight gain. Then use that to buy one of the intel Core 2 Duo Macs available. Somewhere along the line, I may end up my DAW production plans, and maybe use the G5 for another purpose if I'm not able to sell it myself.

If I absolutely must play around with music production, I could always get one of my beige G3s going again, and install Cubase VST 4.5 on it, although I'd have to dig up the cables that came with my Audiophile 2496 card, to be able to go between the digital recorder and the Mac. Yeah...that version of Cubase might night be the latest and greatest, by any stretch of the imagination, but it is something I have available.

Matt
 
To your original question: there are several interface options available for PPC Macs. How many simultaneous inputs & outputs do you need? What's the budget?

Personally, I'm a big fan of the Apogee interfaces. On the simple side, there's the ONE and the Duet. Up from there is the Ensemble, and if you need to feel like Phil Ramone (and have his budget), there's the Symphony.

One the OT discussion, I wouldn't fret too much about Snow Leopard. I hardly ever perform system upgrades on my "recording" Mac. Best to establish a solid, working system and keep it that way.
 
KineticSound said:
To your original question: there are several interface options available for PPC Macs. How many simultaneous inputs & outputs do you need? What's the budget?

One the OT discussion, I wouldn't fret too much about Snow Leopard. I hardly ever perform system upgrades on my "recording" Mac. Best to establish a solid, working system and keep it that way.
Click to expand...

At this point, I'll likely be the only person recording anything, and I do have a Fostex MR-8mkII (digital 8-track recorder), as well. I'm figuring on recording to that, which already has multiple inputs, then send the files to the Mac via USB. I'll definitely have to play with settings, both on the Fostex and in Logic, as the Fostex already has a mixer. If I do decide to go entirely with the Mac DAW, I'll get an interface that has the same amount of inputs as the Fostex does, and likely something in the FireWire flavor.

If the Mac ever does go belly-up, as has been suggested from looking at the horror stories in the one link, I could either look around for a replacement mobo, or buy a more current Mac. There is also that I could play around with Cubase VST 4.5 on a Power Mac G3 (beige) with an M-Audio Audiophile 2496 card in it. It may not get to that, but I've got enough parts and pieces toward "building" 3 working beige G3 Power Macs, and also have a 266MHz G3 Power Mac...not to mention the 3-4 potential "Wintel" systems worth of parts I also have laying around.

So far, I'm a budding guitar geek, having amassed a collection (acoustics, electrics/guitars, basses) of 23 guitars, and collecting parts toward assembling my first partscaster. And, of course, it would seem that I'm a bit of a computer (hardware mostly) geek, so what's one more geek badge, once I get a decent home recording studio setup. As I've been figuring for the Dual G5 Power Mac, prior to my starting this thread, I should be setup fairly well, to max. the RAM to 8 gigs and install 2x 1TB HDD's (possibly). Once I ever get all of my miscellaneous computer parts assembled into working boxes, I could always put any leftover HDDs into external cases, and use them toward the music storage effort. :)

Matt
 
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