Buying a ridiculously expensive new system, need advice

[Capi]

Ok, I am running Cool Edit Pro 2.1, FL Studio 9, Acoustica Beatcraft, plus some other lesser programs off a 5-year-old Toshiba laptop and it's getting to the point where I can barely run 4 tracks without it lagging. I also have limited outboard gear at the moment.


I am thinking of buying the following beastcake:

• iMac Quad-core 2.8GHz, upgraded to 16GB RAM, and 2TB of space
• with Logic Studio 9
• and Absynth 5

All in all it'll cost me a hefty £3400. I will probably run FL Studio on it if I can, for the sake of posterity. The only problem with all this is that I have never had a Mac before, let alone ever used Logic, other than briefly in an Apple Store. But I've heard wonderful things, and two of my idols (Devin Townsend and Steve Wilson) confess to using Logic. So I'm kinda relying on this... My questions are:

1. Is this a stupid idea given I've never used the software?

2. I have uptil now been using plugins, a lot of them VSTs, and I know that Logic isn't compatible with VSTs. Is this ever a problem for anyone using Logic? Are it's Audio Units any good? Are there many free ones out there? I'm already spending a fortune on the system, I really don't want to spend a lot on plugins.

3. What are the best drum packages to buy with Logic? Is it's inbuilt drum sampler any good?

4. I am happy with 2TB. But I've never run Logic and want to know, have I gone overkill with the 16GB of memory? Would 8GB suffice, bearing in mind it costs about £640 for the extra 8 gigs (I may be running close to 100 tracks too)?

5. Being a n00b, FL Studio is the most powerful thing I've ever used. For anyone who's used both FL Studio and Logic, how do they compare? I friggin' love FL Studio's synth capabilities (esp. Sytrus), so does Logic have anything comparable?


Thanks a lot! I really don't have the money to spend on this, so I need to make sure it's the right decision...

 

[pipelineaudio]

Thats a stupid amount of money to pay for a computer like that. $1000 dollars US, would buy you a far better system

If you like cool edit, you will probably not have a very fun time with logic...however if you are planning on doing a lot of MIDI, it excels at that

 

[RandyW]

Why not spend a few more dollars and get a mac pro.
Your gonna need a 2nd drive for audio any ways so you
might want to get 2 1TB drives.

Never used FL but have been dappling with logic 9 since
its release. Seems to be work great with apogee hardware.

 

[Capi]

Thats a stupid amount of money to pay for a computer like that. $1000 dollars US, would buy you a far better system

Are we talking Mac or PC? Also what kind of specs would I be looking for that kind of cash?

If you like cool edit, you will probably not have a very fun time with logic...however if you are planning on doing a lot of MIDI, it excels at that

I will be doing a bit of MIDI, so I do hope the synth sounds nice. What DAW do you mainly use, out of interest?

Why not spend a few more dollars and get a mac pro.

It's not worth it. I've looked it up; for an upgraded iMac, it's the same specs, just more money.

 

[pipelineaudio]

Are we talking Mac or PC? Also what kind of specs would I be looking for that kind of cash?

It would be PC, so unable to run logic.
i7 2.66ghz, 16 gigs DDR3 RAM, could go higher in cpu and still be under 1k with some dilligent shopping.

Most importantly, this has TI firewire, which I'm not sure if apple even offers anymore

I will be doing a bit of MIDI, so I do hope the synth sounds nice. What DAW do you mainly use, out of interest?

Its not just about the stock synth sounds, its that logic is an excellent midi sequencer and editor, this is its strong suite and its able to control outboard and deal with midi in extremely elegant and evolved ways.

I use REAPER as my daw, but I rarely do any MIDI

 

[Capi]

It would be PC, so unable to run logic.
i7 2.66ghz, 16 gigs DDR3 RAM, could go higher in cpu and still be under 1k with some dilligent shopping.

That's a fair enough consideration.


Would anyone who has used both FL Studio and Logic and who uses MIDI sequences a lot be able to comment?

 

[sonicpsyops]

What kind of Music Do You Record

What kind of music do you want to record? Do you want to use a lot of orchestral sample libraries? or just synths and and samplers.

Also, you didn't mention what sound card you are using. It makes no sense to buy something with that kind of power that has a half ass sound card. Make sure you get a good sound card with up to date drivers and these such sound cards ain't cheap.

 

[Capi]

I'm looking to record some ambient prog metal. For guitars, drums, bass and vocals I think I have everything, though a VST type plugin for guitar amp modelling on Logic would be really great. Something along the lines of Pod Farm, or AmpliTube (is that available?).

For the ambience, I use a lot of pads, I like making otherworldly sounds, and I don't tend to use orchestral samples much at all. Stuff like this:

[video=youtube;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im_q1Gjwmao]video[/video]

I'm getting Absynth in the hopes that I'll be able to take this up a notch. Other samples I use often include bass synth, but any other synth and samplers would be awesome.


Uhhh, haven't thought about the sound card. I just checked and there's no mention of it at all on the Tech Specs, so I expect it would be the standard one they put in iMac's. How much would a good one cost though?

 

[dastrick]

If you've already got a lot of VSTs that you like and know how to use, then I wouldn't go to a DAW that doesn't use VSTs. I mean, why would you want to waste them? But, that's just me.

 

[mattr]

Uhhh, haven't thought about the sound card. I just checked and there's no mention of it at all on the Tech Specs, so I expect it would be the standard one they put in iMac's. How much would a good one cost though?

Fail

Honestly, a decent soundcard/interface should be at the top of your list, and take much higher priority than the extra 8gb of RAM or any other (in my opinion) fairly superfluous extras you have planned.

That £640 would get you a nice offering from Motu, or go most of the way towards something like an RME FF800.

As for "is 8gb adequate?"... I have 4gb, and easily run large projects with 120+ tracks in them. I don't run many softsynths (usually one instance of Kontakt for Steven Slate drum samples) which may eat up more than audio tracks, but still, I usually don't get anywhere near maxing out my RAM.


Another vital component which you haven't mentioned - what monitors do you have or plan to buy? Again, this is something that should really take priority over computer upgrades which can always be added at a later date (or can they... how upgradable are iMacs?).

 

[Capi]

Fail

Honestly, a decent soundcard/interface should be at the top of your list, and take much higher priority than the extra 8gb of RAM or any other (in my opinion) fairly superfluous extras you have planned.

Duly noted! I am rethinking the idea of buying Apple, as it does begin to seem like my only motivations were the fact that my idols use Logic and the sleek look of a Mac.. I might just patch together a PC as per pipelineaudio's advice, and stick to what I know, maybe with Reaper added.

That £640 would get you a nice offering from Motu, or go most of the way towards something like an RME FF800.

As for "is 8gb adequate?"... I have 4gb, and easily run large projects with 120+ tracks in them. I don't run many softsynths (usually one instance of Kontakt for Steven Slate drum samples) which may eat up more than audio tracks, but still, I usually don't get anywhere near maxing out my RAM.

Another vital component which you haven't mentioned - what monitors do you have or plan to buy? Again, this is something that should really take priority over computer upgrades which can always be added at a later date (or can they... how upgradable are iMacs?).

Good to know.. again I wasn't sure how much memory was necessary, I'm running off of 512mb ram at the moment.

I have a pair of speakers with a subwoofer made by Xemal (don't ask me, got them off my friend when he moved house ) and Bose QuietComfort 2 headphones. Sounds dire I know, but the headphones cost me a pretty penny when I bought them 3 years ago and they do a decent enough job of monitoring. Though I imagine that on these forums that won't mean a thing . Any suggestions for good equipment to buy?

 

[pipelineaudio]

Definitely pick the soundcard first, then make the computer match it

The best currently (firewire anyhow) in terms of latency and drivers are MOTU and RME.

If you know anything about me you know how much I HATE to say there is a two horse race going on, but its a sad fact right now.

f you are going to do firewire, and you are planning on spending a chunk of money anyway, do yourself a favor and do MOTU or RME. Without even getting into sound quality or any of that, the amount of hair pulling you WONT do with one of these cards alone is worth the price

And if you are going firewire, make sure that its Texas Instruments. Other combos sometimes work, but if you are spending the money anyway, do it right.

If you want to do a PCI card or PCI-e theres a lot more choices.

 

[lee miran]

I am rethinking the idea of buying Apple, as it does begin to seem like my only motivations were the fact that my idols use Logic and the sleek look of a Mac.. I might just patch together a PC as per pipelineaudio's advice, and stick to what I know, maybe with Reaper added.

As it seems you still may be debating Mac vs PC, have you considered that FL Studio will not run on Mac OS? So if you'd still like to continue using FL at all, you'd have to purchase Windows anyway and then also something like VMWare Fusion so that it can run. And, from what I've read, when you go this route mileage varies with regards to if you can get it running with respectable latency and no issues.