Phil O'Keefe Posted November 3, 2012 Share Posted November 3, 2012 I'm just curious as to what you folks are using for a computer recording platform, so I thought I'd put up a poll. It's multiple choice, so please feel free to select more than one answer if that's appropriate to your situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TBush Posted November 3, 2012 Members Share Posted November 3, 2012 So far, it's 100% desktop. Oh yeah- I'm the only one so far... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sdelsolray Posted November 3, 2012 Members Share Posted November 3, 2012 I used a Mac G4 tower for about 12 years, running PTLE. Late last year, I upgraded to a 21" i5 basic iMac, upgraded to PT Native 10 and upgraded various plugins to current versions. I only record solo fingerstyle acoustic and classical guitar, and occasionally vocal/guitarists. No need for a powerhouse computer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gubu Posted November 4, 2012 Members Share Posted November 4, 2012 eMac running PTLEIt's very stable, and very low-powered - with little more than 8 stereo tracks (16 mono) and an aux return or 2, it goes Within its limits, it's a great machineI'm planning on installing PTLE on my HP laptop on monday to do some field recording. I'm expecting it to be far less stable than the eMac, mainly because of the puny amount of memory that the laptop has Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted November 4, 2012 Author Share Posted November 4, 2012 Well it was SUPPOSED to be multiple choice... Since it isn't, please select whatever you use the most often, and then tell us about the other things in a post if you'd be so kind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zooey Posted November 4, 2012 Members Share Posted November 4, 2012 Mac Pro here. I don't think iMacs and the like belong in the "tower" category as they lack multiple internal drive bays and PCIe slots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted November 4, 2012 Author Share Posted November 4, 2012 Originally Posted by Zooey Mac Pro here. I don't think iMacs and the like belong in the "tower" category as they lack multiple internal drive bays and PCIe slots. Good point. I separated them into two options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gubu Posted November 4, 2012 Members Share Posted November 4, 2012 Originally Posted by Phil O'Keefe Good point. I separated them into two options. Aaawww man! Can I change my vote? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sdelsolray Posted November 4, 2012 Members Share Posted November 4, 2012 Originally Posted by Phil O'Keefe Good point. I separated them into two options. My vote should be changed also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zooey Posted November 4, 2012 Members Share Posted November 4, 2012 My vote stays the same. For my daw (PT HD), an iMac is the functional equivalent of a laptop in a slightly less portable form factor. You can't use it without an external chassis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted November 4, 2012 Author Share Posted November 4, 2012 Originally Posted by gubu Aaawww man! Can I change my vote? Originally Posted by sdelsolray My vote should be changed also. Two votes removed from Tower and added to All-in-One (iMac, etc.). If that's incorrect, please let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted November 4, 2012 Author Share Posted November 4, 2012 Originally Posted by Zooey My vote stays the same. For my daw (PT HD), an iMac is the functional equivalent of a laptop in a slightly less portable form factor. You can't use it without an external chassis. Quite true. My desktop and laptop are running two different versions of the program. That's less of a limitation than it once was, but I definitely can't run all the same things on the laptop that I can on the TDM setup. I've been thinking about either getting a Magma chassis, or maybe a Apollo or a PT Native Thunderbolt or something along those lines for the laptop. Not sure which way I'm going to go yet, but I sure love the portability of the laptop. Seemed to me that while the iMac would have been a slightly faster machine, from a DAW standpoint, it does sit in that "in-between" zone - without the mobility of a laptop, but also without the card slots of a tower. A good deal for many people, but less of an ideal fit for my needs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MrJoshua Posted November 4, 2012 Members Share Posted November 4, 2012 Tower for me. I build my own DAW computers, usually based on hardware recommendations from the DUC. My current system was built for PT HD with a Jetway motherboard that has four PCI slots. Since then I've switched from HD to HD Native with the PCIe card, but the computer still works just fine. It'll probably be a while before I make any changes, unless something comes along that forces it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted November 5, 2012 Author Share Posted November 5, 2012 Originally Posted by MrJoshua My current system was built for PT HD with a Jetway motherboard that has four PCI slots. Since then I've switched from HD to HD Native with the PCIe card, but the computer still works just fine. Just out of curiosity, which specific mobo and CPU are you running? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CME Posted November 5, 2012 Members Share Posted November 5, 2012 I voted desktop, but right now my work flow goes like this. Church services recorded off an A&H ilive through Dante into a Mac mini with a external FireWire drive in Reaper. Transferred to my MacBook Pro for editing, initial mixing and transferred to Pro Tools. Final mixing done on a hackintosh. I do occasional mobile recording straight into Pro Tools with my MBP. And I can do pretty much everything with my MBP but do push it's limits. The hack has plenty of power and my mc mix attached in my treated room. So it's def my go to preference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted November 5, 2012 Author Share Posted November 5, 2012 CME, what interface are you using with the Mac Mini? Do you transfer to Pro Tools when you move the files from the Mini to the Macbook Pro, or do you continue working in Reaper on the MBP for a while, then switch to PT? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members t_e_l_e Posted November 5, 2012 Members Share Posted November 5, 2012 recording on a lenovo laptop mixing, mastering etc on my tower pc, which is a 6 year old athlon x64 with only 1GB ram sometimes i also record at home on the tower pc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MrJoshua Posted November 6, 2012 Members Share Posted November 6, 2012 Originally Posted by Phil O'Keefe Just out of curiosity, which specific mobo and CPU are you running? MB: Jetway JNAF92-Q67CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz RAM: Corsair 4x4GB (16GB total) DDR3-1333 memoryVIDEO: Onboard video from i7Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bitPro Tools HD 9.0HD|3 PCI-x AccelUAD-2 DuoI have switched from HD|3 PCI-x Accel to HD|Native, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted November 6, 2012 Author Share Posted November 6, 2012 Originally Posted by MrJoshua MB: Jetway JNAF92-Q67CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz RAM: Corsair 4x4GB (16GB total) DDR3-1333 memoryVIDEO: Onboard video from i7Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bitPro Tools HD 9.0HD|3 PCI-x AccelUAD-2 Duo Sounds like quite a cool setup. Is that mobo still available? Have you had any issues with it? I have switched from HD|3 PCI-x Accel to HD|Native, though. Interesting. What was your reason for doing so? Don't you miss the ability to run TDM plugins? I notice you have the UAD-2 Duo too. I'd love to add one to my HD rig, but I'm not so sure I'd want to switch from one to the other exclusively. Besides, I suspect that it would cost me a fortune in plugins to reach parity with what I already have. How are you getting along with the UAD? Do you like it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CME Posted November 6, 2012 Members Share Posted November 6, 2012 Originally Posted by Phil O'Keefe CME, what interface are you using with the Mac Mini? Do you transfer to Pro Tools when you move the files from the Mini to the Macbook Pro, or do you continue working in Reaper on the MBP for a while, then switch to PT? Our iLive system has the optional Audinate Dante card. So we just run a cat5 cable into the mac mini and use the Dante Virtual Soundcard software. It shows up as 64-channels I/O inside of the DAW. And that is why I use Reaper for tracking. Pro Tools is limited to 32 I/O without HD hardware. And I transfer the audio files off the hard drive straight into Pro Tools session on the MacBook Pro. I have separate templates depending on which band does the music. Then go from there. Every once in a while I try to set down and work in Reaper. I'm just so much more use to the Pro Tools editing/mixing work flow.That said the Dante card + reaper allows from some really cool stuff. For our Easter drama I can control levels and monitor sends for backing tracks/samples inside a Reaper session. While also recording the live music and singers. Takes me a minute to think things through sometimes. Could do it in Pro Tools without thinking about it. But it does help me get a better grasp of Reaper. I've toyed with the idea of building a pretty powerful computer to actually use plugs on live audio. But that would probably require the Dante PCIe card, and still might be a little too latent. Plus the iLive really has all I need. Just would be cool to try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gubu Posted November 6, 2012 Members Share Posted November 6, 2012 Just been pricing old g4 and g5 Macs on eBay. Damn, they're hella cheap! Would my Waves 5 bundle/iLok install on an Intel machine, or would I have to buy an upgrade from Waves? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Micky Z Posted November 6, 2012 Members Share Posted November 6, 2012 Just upgraded to a PCAudioLabs rack mount, using Cakewalk Sonar X1 Producer Edition. Need to look into upgrading the Sonar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jerry_L Posted November 6, 2012 Members Share Posted November 6, 2012 I'm using an iMac now, but I still have my PC setup available. The PC has all my softsynths loaded, so I might use it for something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zooey Posted November 7, 2012 Members Share Posted November 7, 2012 Originally Posted by gubu Just been pricing old g4 and g5 Macs on eBay.Damn, they're hella cheap!Would my Waves 5 bundle/iLok install on an Intel machine, or would I have to buy an upgrade from Waves? I don't know if the first sentence is related to your question about Waves, but G4 and G5 towers are not Intel machines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gubu Posted November 7, 2012 Members Share Posted November 7, 2012 I thought the g5s were Intel? Actually scratch that - I'm now the highest bidder, at Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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