MacOS

[patshep]

i've come to a point where i need to move along.. i'm still in os9.2 (10.1 is installed on the mac) running dp3 and reason mostly...using a g4 733 machine. i need a more solid system as far as timing goes.. and i need to start doing music in osX...

i would rather spend money on stuff like mics, a/d converters and guitars as opposed to a computer, which is quite expensive.. however i know this computer is getting very old.. here's the dilemma.

do i pay the $130 bucks and go through the headache of upgrading the os on my old machine

or....

bite the bullet and get a new mac and forget about any equipment that will retain it's value for a while

btw, i'm not doing huge projects, usually 8-12 tracks with a few plug ins here and there...

[Symbiotic]

Well, if you're only doing 8-12 tracks, you could do an incremental upgrade to a used G5 (or Dual G4) which would run OS X very well and will cost much less than a brand new G5.

Also keep in mind that you'll need to upgrade Reason and DP3 to current OS X builds as well, so that will cost some dough as well.

But, as you noted, your single G4 is not the most robust machine for OS X, so some kind of new hardware is probably needed...

[malfunkt]

If you enjoy working in the software environment then I would recommend upgrading.

Reason 3.0 in OS X on a reasonably fast machine is a great app. Digital Performer 4.6 is now a mature OS X app and is excellent.

Now is good time to move over... I would recommend buying a later model g5 dual 1.8 gHz. There were some issues with noise on some of the earlier models. If you can afford to buy a new G5 tower then that is the best option.

Also if you upgrade to a new model computer, you can buy a newer soundcard that is supported on OS X. Consider that you may need PCI-X for newer cards or you can go the FireWire route.

[patshep]

used macs seem expensive, i would do it if i could find a deal, but people seem to be asking over 1K for used g5s, while a new dual processor 2GB is around $1800... i may just use an illegal copy of panther in the meantime, why pay twice for the same thing... of course then i won't be able to use tech help, and i'll feel a bit quilty.. maybe i'll just buy the new mac after Xmas and be done with that...

[EngineGuitarist]

Originally posted by patshep
.. maybe i'll just buy the new mac after Xmas and be done with that...

be sure to check out www.macrumors.com before you buy. they have pretty accurate info mostly and are usually spot on with new hardware releases. i say this because apple has almost always introduced new hardware at the end of Jan. that way you can either really get the neweest machine or enjoy a price drop.

[patshep]

that's what i'll probably do, the prices should start dropping by the end of jan.

[Lancaster]

Rumor has it that some Mactel Powerbooks and/or iBooks are gonna be launched in Jan.

That should stir things up a bit.

[patshep]

i don't hear anyone saying to stick with my machine? i guess it's served me well for several years...

[offramp]

Don't know much about the 733 Mhz series machines...is that a Quicksilver?...Seems to me you'd be just fine buying a copy of Panther, and getting some more RAM while you're at it. Especially since you're not doing more tracking than 8-12.

I honestly don't see where your headache is going to come from. It's not painful to upgrade to X, especially if you have 10.1 on there already; besides, if you went and got a new machine, you'd have to spend similar energy porting all your stuff over to the new machine and OS anyway.

Stick with your machine. Upgrade to Panther. Upgrade to DP4.12. Add RAM.

[badshirt]

I'm having a similar dilemna but am stuck with the Digi001, which isn't supported for later versions of OSX.

I do have Digital Performer 4.5 but its not really jiving with the digi001 and my new Yamaha S90 ES synth and midi. I'm still fiddling and trying to work it all out.

[EngineGuitarist]

Originally posted by patshep
i don't hear anyone saying to stick with my machine? i guess it's served me well for several years...

it will be expensive to switch, you have to upgrade software like DP, reason, and any third party plugs you may have as well. and i'm guessing they're gonna charge for it. but it might not be much for all i know.

i think your machine is much slower now in part because its only a single processor. I have a G4 dual 1.25ghz and that was doubled on G5's a while ago. this new dual core dual processor stuff should be insane if it does half of what it says in the marketing. my point being, if you got a new computer you would have more than enough power to last you a loooooong time. especially if you keep on only using 8-12 tracks.

[patshep]

it's not the track count, but the plug ins and timing with software synths i'm worried about.. either way i'll have to pay for all the upgrades.. i may be able to get a bit more use out of this machine, it's just that macs are so friggin expensive

[lipids]

A few things to consider:

1. Tiger is faster than panther. Consistently receive better performance benchmarks.

2. Upgrading your video card and RAM is much cheaper than buying a new machine. With Tiger, CoreImage and Quartz Extreme will offload most of the the WindowsManager processing to the graphics card.

3. The System Requirements for DP4 are: Power Macintosh G3 or G4 computer running MacOS X version 10.2 or higher (Tiger Compatible) A minimum of 128MB of RAM is required for MIDI sequencing 256MB is required for audio recording 512MB or more is recommended Optimized for multiple processor G4s.

4. Read this articly. It is an awesome indepth review by the folks at ARS Technica. The machine they use to test DP4 on OS X is a B&W G3. http://arstechnica.com/reviews/2q00/macos-x-dp4/macos-x-dp4-7.html

5. I am not sure why people are so strongly pushing you to get a new machine, other than the single CPU, but your machine should be able to handle this with little effort. 8-12 track using an external drive with properly routed plugins should be completely doable on your machine.

6. If you choose to upgrade the Video card and the RAM you will increase the total value of your Mac. Resale will scare up a few more $$$. The loss will be minimal if this route ends up not satisfying your needs.

Someone need to play devil's advocate here.

[patshep]

thanks, i'll check that article out, i have about 867MB ram, i could easily upgrade that.. i don't get why a video card would help, but what would be the improvement/cost of that

[offramp]

The video card helps because "With Tiger, CoreImage and Quartz Extreme will offload most of the the WindowsManager processing to the graphics card". This means that the card, with accelerated horsepower and dedicated processors, will leave the G4's processor to do other stuff...like process your OS and audio.

[jeffcoop]

You can do okay upgrading your current machine. I have a G4/733 (the Digital Audio model, the one before the Quicksilver--state of the art, January 2001!) that's been upgraded all over the place over the years--a gig of RAM, an upgraded video card (as lipids notes, OS X Panther and Tiger have some features that want video cards newer than four years old), an extra internal hard drive, a USB 2.0 card, and, perhaps most importantly, a 1.33 Ghz processor upgrade. It's not the fastest machine around, by any means--the first-generation Superdrive is particularly slow--but it can handle Garageband 2.0 files with 15+ tracks, including amp modeling and other resource-hungry features, and it's pretty much rock solid (okay, Garageband does crash every once in awhile--it's not the most stable program around).

The problem is, if you try to do all the upgrades at once, you're looking at some money, even with G4 processor upgrade prices having fallen significantly in the past year. CPU plus video card plus Tiger, you're looking at $600, probably. Is it worth pouring that much into an old machine?

Me, I'm hoping to get through the next year before hopping on the Apple/Intel bandwagon.

[patshep]

i don't think i'd spend much on upgrades.. i think i may just try to sell mine and get an imac.. it's enough power, just no slots.. but for around $1200 not bad at all...

[lipids]

Originally posted by patshep
i don't think i'd spend much on upgrades.. i think i may just try to sell mine and get an imac.. it's enough power, just no slots.. but for around $1200 not bad at all...

You do not need to upgrade the CPU. RAM and a video card would be plenty for now. We are talking about $300. That saves you $900 to play with. Of course, a new iMac is a sweet thing.