Members UstadKhanAli Posted October 15, 2008 Members Share Posted October 15, 2008 As some of you know (like blue2blue), I have an old system (OS 9.2.2/Pro Tools LE 5.1/Digi001. I am going to receive some money from the radio show that I do work for, going towards a new rig. But I'm sort of like Austin Powers, where I've had this ancient system and I'm suddenly whisked into the future, where cars are flying past me and Pro Tools has Elastic Time. I was thinking of contacting Sweetwater and buying another Pro Tools LE rig with an iMac, although I'm not tied to this and would consider a PC (I'm very comfortable on XP - but if you do give advice on this, either PM me or avoid the Mac vs. PC thing - I like both and am comfortable on both). I want to continue working in Pro Tools because many of my sessions are in Pro Tools and a lot of people I know work in Pro Tools. In terms of operating systems or anything else, is there anything I should get? Or avoid? Should I avoid Leopard? Can I? Should I wait for PT 8.0 or simply get the free upgrade and install it later? When is it coming out? What should I ask for or look for when getting this? Can I get the Mellowmuse ADC installed with this rig or should I do it myself after I get the system? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted October 15, 2008 Members Share Posted October 15, 2008 Whatever computer you get, choose from a company that does custom audio computers (PC Audio Labs, ADK, Sweetwater, etc.). It's not just about the hardware, but the support...PCAL has been great in terms of support, they've saved my butt several times. Ditto ADK. I don't have any experience with Sweetwater computers, but knowing Chuck, they likely rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus Lozada Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 Macs + Leopard are tEh GoodZ. ... or get a powerful PC, built for music (ala Carrillon, AlienWare, etc) with Windows XP. Anyway Pro Tools works pretty fine on Leopard and Windows XP. ... Even in Vista 32 bits but I would also say "stay away from Vista". Let me tell you a story: I was in Venezuela three weeks ago. There is this music producer / computer geek called Juan Carlos Nieto. Good friend of mine. He joined us to demonstrate his new line of music-machines. Water-cooled, eight-core machines. While he was talking, he opened: - a NUENDO session with 98 tracks and 102 plug-ins. Played perfectly. - he also opened a Photoshop session - and a power point presentation - and microsoft word - and got connected to the internet ... and... ... opened a SONAR project with 8 tracks and some plug-ins. It played back perfectly. All at the same time while the NUENDO session was running. And that was NOT the top-of-the-line machine. That was the "middle" model. That said, a well-built PC absolutely rocks. Then, it only depends on what you want to buy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted October 15, 2008 Author Members Share Posted October 15, 2008 Going to a company that does custom audio computers: 100% for sure I am going to do that. I need the support!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Duddits Posted October 15, 2008 Members Share Posted October 15, 2008 Going to a company that does custom audio computers: 100% for sure I am going to do that. I need the support!!! If I were you, I'd first go through a personal, interior, offline Mac vs. PC debate. I'm sure you know the pros and cons of both, so it's only a matter of a decision. That strikes me as a good place to start. Then, everything flows from that. If it's helpful, I have a new iMac that I use for some audio and like it, although I haven't installed ProTools on it (I may though). Also, I haven't pushed it that much either, as I have a tower that I use as my main axe. At this point, I believe any Protools registration gets a free upgrade to version 8 (someone please correct me if I'm wrong), so you should feel comfortable buying the current version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted October 15, 2008 Moderators Share Posted October 15, 2008 12 years ago I was a Mac guy. Then I got a gig doing telephony work. Very PC. So, I switched. I built a PC for Pro Tools based on the DUC info and it worked without issue. I recently bought a nice Dell. Based on some comments about its chipset, etc. on the DUC. I've yet to get it working with my 003. {censored} {censored} {censored}. So I'm no PC vs. Mac guy, but I do know that specific Macs work with PT. I wish I had gone that way now. Of course once I do get this working I'll sing a different song, I'm sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted October 15, 2008 Author Members Share Posted October 15, 2008 Something I keep forgetting is that I have two older OWC external HDs, and they are Mac-only (my XP-based PC does not recognize them at all), so actually, I think the choice is made for me. Anyway, okay, iMac + Leopard + Pro Tools + Sweetwater... Mellowmuse...the ADC...should I install this myself? Or maybe that's my only option? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted October 15, 2008 Members Share Posted October 15, 2008 Ask around about iMacs. I've been told that it's way worth getting a Mac Pro instead of an iMac for serious audio/video work, but I have no personal experience with iMacs so I can't comment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted October 15, 2008 Moderators Share Posted October 15, 2008 Mellowmuse is a piece of cake to install. It's just a vst plugin and soon to be RTAS. If you're buying prior to him completing the RTAS port, then you'll need the VST wrapper as well. But... just plan on getting the wrapper anyway. It's silly not to with all the cool freebies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted October 15, 2008 Author Members Share Posted October 15, 2008 Ask around about iMacs. I've been told that it's way worth getting a Mac Pro instead of an iMac for serious audio/video work, but I have no personal experience with iMacs so I can't comment. I've heard this too, but I don't think I can afford one of those. I'll check into it, though. These tips are very helpful. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gus, that story is fascinating, thanks!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted October 15, 2008 Author Members Share Posted October 15, 2008 Mellowmuse is a piece of cake to install. It's just a vst plugin and soon to be RTAS. If you're buying prior to him completing the RTAS port, then you'll need the VST wrapper as well. But... just plan on getting the wrapper anyway. It's silly not to with all the cool freebies. Thanks. Lee, do you know when Mellowmuse is going to have the RTAS-compatible plugin? Just curious. But you're right, I should get the wrapper anyway. And is this VST wrapper - doesn't one get some sort of discount with MellowMuse, if I remember correctly? There was some sort of tie-in, wasn't there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 I've heard this too, but I don't think I can afford one of those. I'll check into it, though. These tips are very helpful. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ken, you have a PM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 And is this VST wrapper - doesn't one get some sort of discount with MellowMuse, if I remember correctly? There was some sort of tie-in, wasn't there? I thought I read about a discount when you purchase them together, but I'm not sure. The www.fxpansion.com VST -> RTAS wrapper is just about the best $100 you can spend IMO. I like it a lot, and it works great with the vast majority of VST plug-ins I've tried it with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted October 16, 2008 Author Members Share Posted October 16, 2008 I called Sweetwater, and they answered a lot of my admittedly naive questions, and it all sounds really good. He also verified that Pro Tools runs really well on an iMac (for my needs, at least) and simply recommended that I max out the iMac RAM to 4G to make everything run better (I did the same in my laptop with Vista and it runs amazingly well now). I'll probably order this in mid-November, when I get another paycheck and can also determine how much money I am getting from the radio show that I edit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted October 16, 2008 Moderators Share Posted October 16, 2008 When I bought the Mellomuse plugin they offered the wrapper for 49 bucks, You got a discount code and a link to a deals section of the FXpansion site. you enter the code and download. All very easy. So the plug intself was $29 and the wrapper $49. Way worth it. Don't know the word on the RTAS. And... I'm not sure if they're still running the wrapper deal, though I woud think so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted October 16, 2008 Author Members Share Posted October 16, 2008 They are still running the wrapper deal, thankfully! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fetishfrog Posted October 16, 2008 Members Share Posted October 16, 2008 I called Sweetwater, and they answered a lot of my admittedly naive questions, and it all sounds really good. He also verified that Pro Tools runs really well on an iMac (for my needs, at least) and simply recommended that I max out the iMac RAM to 4G to make everything run better (I did the same in my laptop with Vista and it runs amazingly well now). I'll probably order this in mid-November, when I get another paycheck and can also determine how much money I am getting from the radio show that I edit. I'd think twice about taking the iMac route. I've never heard of anyone having an overwhelmingly positive experience doing serious audio work on them. I've heard plenty of negative...not enough power comes up a bit. If you're gonna go Mac, spend the dough, get a screaming G5 tower, and be happy with it for the next 5 years or so. If you're going to go PC, I'd go to ADK or Sonica LONG before I'd go to Sweetwater. A composer friend of mine does really well on his ADK PC, another engineer friend loves his Sonica. Everytime I've checked out sweetwater's DAW specs, they always seem higher priced and lower in spec than ADK or Sonica. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted October 16, 2008 Author Members Share Posted October 16, 2008 Thanks. If I go PC, it'll probably be PC Labs or ADK, I would think. But the people I've spoken to so far think that I'd be fine with an iMac, especially since I offload reverb (hardware unit via S/PDIF) and generally don't use that many plug-ins or tracks. You think that the iMacs are really underpowered for this kind of thing? Lemme know. I'm coming from a 1.5GHz G4 computer running PT LE 5.1/OS 9.2.2 and PT LE 6.4/OS 10.3.7, where I was doing quite well with my plug-ins and tracks and and the computer never came close to breaking a sweat. What say you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fetishfrog Posted October 16, 2008 Members Share Posted October 16, 2008 Thanks. If I go PC, it'll probably be PC Labs or ADK, I would think. But the people I've spoken to so far think that I'd be fine with an iMac, especially since I offload reverb (hardware unit via S/PDIF) and generally don't use that many plug-ins or tracks. You think that the iMacs are really underpowered for this kind of thing? Lemme know. I'm coming from a 1.5GHz G4 computer running PT LE 5.1/OS 9.2.2 and PT LE 6.4/OS 10.3.7, where I was doing quite well with my plug-ins and tracks and and the computer never came close to breaking a sweat. What say you? Admittedly I am a little out of the loop on current iMac performance but I do recall, when researching to buy my latest DAW (ultimately I went PC) I remember being very put off by their limitations. The fact that you cannot have a second internal drive is pretty much a deal breaker for me...in fact, if you're going to get into more serious project sizes, a second internal drive will almost be a must. For example, ALL my audio and project files are on a second SATA drive in my computer, ALL my samples are streamed from a firewire 400 drive. This config really allows me to push the limits and remain stable, even at high sample rates (88.2 and 96 are not uncommon in my world) When it comes to most things in life, I always err on the side of headroom. If you go small, and suddenly get the urge to run more reverb plugins/soft synths/etc. than you normally do, you may find yourself hitting a wall. If you go big and never increase your project size, your computer will never even know you're working. I suppose if you KNOW you'll never increase your project size, an iMac will probably be just fine, but I personally would never commit myself to that approach, if for no other reason than to never have anything stifle the creative moment. Good luck with whatever you choose . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted October 16, 2008 Author Members Share Posted October 16, 2008 Thanks! I really appreciate the advice. BTW, ALL my HDs are external drives. The rest...good advice. I just am not sure that I can afford the, er, Big Macs , so I'd have to consider PCs (not a bad thing...as I said, I'm comfortable on XP as well as OS X). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fetishfrog Posted October 16, 2008 Members Share Posted October 16, 2008 Thanks! I really appreciate the advice. BTW, ALL my HDs are external drives. The rest...good advice. I just am not sure that I can afford the, er, Big Macs , so I'd have to consider PCs (not a bad thing...as I said, I'm comfortable on XP as well as OS X). Well externals are for the most part just fine for most folks' needs. I do prefer the internals for the added speed, but the difference is neglegible for most applications. The big Macs are pricey, but they are great machines. If you're staying on pro-tools, you'll probably have a slightly easier install/adjustment. That said, a well configured PC will haul ass for less dough, and ultimately that was my deciding factor in going the PC route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted October 19, 2008 Author Members Share Posted October 19, 2008 Fetishfrog, there's now a chance that I may be able to get my mitts on someone's G5 from the radio show. Now, I don't think i could afford one of these, uh, Big Macs. They're really expensive, aren't they? Anyway, that's what's going on. I don't know what kind of G5 or how old it is yet, or whether it has a secondary drive or not or even what OS, so I still need to find out a lot more. And then on top of that, I may be purchasing a "used" (it's still in the box, apparently) Digi002 controller bundled with PT LE 7.4 for really cheeep. So we'll see where this goes, but it may be a lot cheaper than I originally thought!!! Thanks again for the info! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eightyeightkeys Posted October 19, 2008 Members Share Posted October 19, 2008 I highly recommend the Music XPC. www.musicxpc.com I started with the C1 and then went up to the S2. They are specially designed/built/tweaked for audio use and that's no sales/marketing hype. Les is a mad genius (in a good way). The RecoverPro comes standard and is a feature that I didn't really think about too much, but, if you like trying out a lot of plug-ins/VSTi's like I do, you know that sometimes you get a freaky one in there that messes with your system. In comes Recover Pro. You hit Restore and you're back to normal. Pretty cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted October 20, 2008 Author Members Share Posted October 20, 2008 Okay, this is really starting to look good! A friend from the radio show we all work on is going to let me use his G5 (which is just sitting around) for the "foreseeable future" and I can do anything I want to it (modify the OS, install new apps, use it for my own personal use, or anything I want). So after asking some questions about it, I think I'm going to take him up on this offer. I can also buy a Digi002 with the controller and PT LE 7.4 from a trusted friend and buy some cheap plug-ins, all of which will probably cost somewhere around $150. So essentially for $650, I'm going to have Pro Tools with a controller and a fast machine. Today's my lucky day. I feel like I've won the lottery!!!! ~~~~~~~~ That MusicXPC site looks pretty great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ernest Buckley Posted October 22, 2008 Members Share Posted October 22, 2008 I had my first Apple put together by Sweetwater, they did a great job and as always, their tech support rocks. I did purchase a G5 just for music back around 3 years ago and configured it myself so its not that hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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