Imac/DAW

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major240

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So, another question.
Looking around for a new computer...I like the iMac for the iMovie, iPhoto, iDvd capabilities...
but, would it fly as a DAW station? Seems that it's powerful/fast enough.
Any one have any experience with one of these as a DAW?
 
iMacs are pretty powerful these days.

They have 2 limitations:

1) no PCI bus. That means you can't use a DIGI 001, for example. You can use USB cards like MBOX, which don't have enough bandwith for big recordings. Or you can use Firewire, like MOTU's box, or the new DIGI 002, which I think is not out yet.

2) You have just one hard disk. Recording is much better with one hard disk for the system and the application, and another for the session files. You'll need an external hard drive, again you can use Firewire.

Otherwise, there are no problems that I know. They tend to be slower than equivalent desktop machines. DOn't know if that's because they ran slow because they don't have a fan or what. But they are pretty fast and they can be use as a DAW.

Cheers, ANdrés
 
When you say "big recordings", how do you judge that. Is it really the amount of content vs. say, the # of tracks?

For example, when I am not songwriting, I like to work with organized sounds. Doing that, I tend to have a track playing that may only have 10 seconds of sound with effect in the course of 2 minutes. Until the eventual mixdown, does the fact that this track is playing for 2 minutes mean more in playback needs/capability than the fact it only has 10 seconds of content?
 
what I mean is number of tracks at the same time, and specially for recording. USB 1 has a very narrow bandwith compared to Firewire and USB 2 (I don't know any audio device for USB 2). Plus USB in mac behaves sometimes strange, and yoy can be interrupted vy other USB device.

Check the Mboc specs. at the Digidesign site, and specially at their forums. I know it has 2 ins, but don't know how many tracks it can play.

To be safe , I'll go Firewire.
 
Firewire sounds right for the playback I'll need. Regardless of the platform.

Thanks.
 
The iMac will do it, of course, and if those other capabilities are super important, then the iMac is ready to go when opened basically. But for less money you can build a PC DAW that will be more powerful, more flexible and configured much better for recording. This is the better route if the sole purpose of the machine is recording. My $.02 :D
 
You could save a couple hundred bucks and get the eMac, which has a bigger screen than the base iMac. That stuff is still expensive though. $1,100 for two year old Apple technology seems pretty crazy.
 
Bar....yes, the other areas are important, but how important I am trying to decide...I am interested in the video, too. I am not much for trying to build piece by piece...but have read enough here to understand some of the benefits. Some of the decision depends on software and interface choices.

ele...yes, eyed the eMac a bit....but kinda dig the larger LCD screen.

Yeah, pricey too.

Frankly, it's all a bit mind boggling. Still expanding the possibilities at this point, then I'll begin narrowing them down.
 
If I were to go Mac, I would definitely go eMac. Definitely the best bang for the buck at Mac right now.

I was playing with one at the Mac Store in Woodfield, my local mall.

I really liked it. Nice screen.
 
I am a little lost about the eMacs. Can somebody point me what are the differences between those and the other macs? What makes them cheaper? Thanks, Andrés
 
I am a little lost about the eMacs. Can somebody point me what are the differences between those and the other macs?
Click to expand...
eMacs are basically iMacs with CRT screens. They're the old iMacs with a bit of a case revamping. I believe they're targeted to the education market, hence the 'e' in eMac. They're still pretty expensive though, which I guess is par for the course.
 
eMacs were primarily for schoos/education but demand brought them to the wider market...I think the screen is the key difference. CRT has more reflection and I believe is harder on the eyes than the LCD.
 
eMacs were primarily for schools/education but demand brought them to the wider market...I think the screen is the key difference. CRT has more reflection and I believe is harder on the eyes than the LCD.
 
elevate said:

eMacs are basically iMacs with CRT screens. They're the old iMacs with a bit of a case revamping. I believe they're targeted to the education market, hence the 'e' in eMac. They're still pretty expensive though, which I guess is par for the course.
Click to expand...

It's more than just case revamping. They also have G4's which the original iMac does not have. 700Mhz or 800Mhz.
 
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