Tough decision...

[studiomaster]

I finally collected some cash to spend on a Mac G4 or for some upgrades.
Currently, i'm running a PC but want to switch to a mac for better stability for my motu 828mkII and also wanna run Logic. as for the upgrades, i'm thinking of selling my at-3035 and add some cash to it to get the rode nt-2 or at-4050.
i dont know which route will be beneficial for me. any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

 

[studiomaster]

So anyone.........?

 

[ssscientist]

My advice is to dig in and learn how to use the stuff you already have.

We went back and forth about your problems with the MOTU828 earlier this week and if you're still plagued by those problems, by all means sort them out. Maybe go back to the MAudio FW interface that was working so well, sell the MOTU and pocket the diff.

But once your system is running smoothly, use it. Use it.

Just mess around. You don't even need a great idea or even an idea at all. Just play and see where you wind up. When you feel you have reached a dead end on the piece you have in front of you save it to disk and start a new one. Part of the beauty of using a computer for music is the 'total recall' aspect --- especially with Reason. I have 250 + snippets of melody, rhythm or both on my hard drive from 2006 alone just waiting to be grabbed up and made into songs. And that's in addition to the 50 finished songs I've done since the start of the year.

 

[studiomaster]

I like my MOTU...everything's great about it. But i don't know..i have seen logic at work and i loved it even though it'll be tougher to learn than cubase. and also the motu people even said that their products are not very friendly with PC's either. so i don't know yet...by the way about the motu problem, it still doesnt work properly..and i tried everything but no success. and i dont think that my motu is faulty at all cause i visited other websites regarding motu products, and 65% of the problems others were encountering were the same as mine. they had this problem with pc's and macs(rarely though).

 

[ssscientist]

You asked for advice regarding a 'tough decision'.

I offered some.

Take it or don't.

 

[studiomaster]

ssscientist, thanks for the advice.

Anyone else?

 

[fraserhutch]

What scientist said.


Seriously.


If you get into this circle of "if i could only get this new gear/software/whatnot, it would all work", I promise you you'll get nowhere fast.
The best purchases I made where the ones I talked myself out of until I really NEEDED it. Until that time, making do with what I had, making it work, until I knew it inside out. At that point I really understand the limitations of what I'm using and am ready to take advantage of the new features/strengths of my upgrade.


My $0.02, probably worth half that.

 

[studiomaster]

So you guys would prefer me to save up the money and not spend it on the Mac or the other items?

 

[Mindset]

I don't know, maybe you like your motu more then me, but if I was you, I would still save up, and sell the motu for either something compatible or better.

I've worked as a computer tech for quite some time, and sorry that I couldn't help fix your problem, but maybe your best bet would to uninstall windows, and delete everything, and restart your computer with a fresh copy of windows and reinstall your motu first (after your drivers) usually that would fix most of peoples problems.... it's just people don't like to loose stuff (back it all up)

 

[macmoondoggie]

If you want to change to a Mac, why a G4? It is a perfectly good processor, but not in the same league as a G5. I'm not trying to complicate your decision, but if you are serious about changing to Logic, I highly recommend a G5 PPC, or iMac (PPC or Intel) or wait for the Intel Powered Mac Tower (I don't know what it will be called). Anyway, the advice above about not jumping around with gear and program in the quest for perfection is good. Settle on the program that is your primary one and learn it well. Knowledge and technique is the true key. IMHO!

 

[studiomaster]

I really want the Mac though. it will cost me $430 CDN for a 833MHz mac with 768mb RAM.

 

[studiomaster]

Also, is the Mac mini stable enough to run Logic pro?

 

[macmoondoggie]

Also, is the Mac mini stable enough to run Logic pro?

Stable-yes. Powerful enough- barely meets the minimum requirements which is a nice way of saying dont bother.
Keep in mind if you get the 833 mhz G4, its processor(s) can be upgraded down the line.
I personally love Logic Express. I switched from Cubase SE because of stability problems (I know SX is more stable) and have no problems with stability. But like its counterparts, Logic is demding of resources and you should probably do a little more research on its requirements before you make a purchase.

 

[studiomaster]

I love the way mac mini is setup..extremely portable and what not. well like, the mac mini is faster than the G4 833 no doubt..so the G4 wouldn't meet the minimum requirements either. so then what's the difference?

 

[altitude909]

Keep in mind the a 833 G4 is almost 3 generations behind the times and has about as much horsepower as a pentium 3. And at 430$CA your getting ripped off. Save up for the intel based one or the duo based imac. eeking by with minimum requirements is not the best approach and will likely lead to only frustration

 

[studiomaster]

and what about the mac mini?

 

[altitude909]

The core duo one would be fine but add the price of a monitor, and your almost the price of a 17" iMac, which has a larger HD and slightly faster processer

 

[macmoondoggie]

I love the way mac mini is setup..extremely portable and what not. well like, the mac mini is faster than the G4 833 no doubt..so the G4 wouldn't meet the minimum requirements either. so then what's the difference?

Read what I said- the 833mhz G4 has 3rd party processor upgrades- that was my only point. Geez you take exception to every point someone make whose trying to help you.
Bottom line- your probably not going to run Logic 7 very well with either machine you have talked about. We have all talked about machines that will run Logic extremely well. Hope you find what you are seeking. Do some research!
Signing off this one!

 

[Mindset]

I would say even though clock speeds of mac computers are a whole lot slower then amd/intel counterparts, they can still keep up. Their processors use a whole different set of directions. The mac 1ghz is just as powerful or more as the pentium 2ghz. During any given clock cycle, a power pc mac chip has more than double the work given then a pentium clock cycle can work. It's like a pentium would be say a ferrari, and a g4 would be a dump truck moving slower speeds.... picking up trash, the pentium would need to move back and forth (hence being slower) to pick up trash while the dump truck can do a whole lot more work than the pentium can. AMD is like half pentium (clock cycle) and half power PC (more work done then pentium in clock cyle)

To do any instruction takes the pentium 4 20 steps to finish (thats why it needs a faster clock speed) and it only takes a G4 7 to 8 steps to finish the same ammount of work.

That's one of the reasons mac computers are more common in the media production field. You could see a whole lot less latency & more stability, and a faster chip. Faster multi-tasking too.

 

[altitude909]

That's one of the reasons mac computers are more common in the media production field. You could see a whole lot less latency & more stability, and a faster chip. Faster multi-tasking too.

Not true at all. That may have held water 5 years ago, but not by a long shot today. Read this months SOS and they do a full review of the Duo based iMac based on Logic and Live! And guess what, the Duo based mac is TWICE as powerful (amount of tracks, plugins, etc) as the G4 and was in fact matching their dual G5 performance marks in some area's despite the fact that it was a 32bit chip running at a slower clock speed. Apple did the right thing swithcing over and i'm sure that will be even more evident when the new PowerMac is released. My guess is it will be based on Conroe (Duo 2) and those will be available with quad cores.