Members dave quinn Posted May 4, 2005 Members Share Posted May 4, 2005 i would really appreciate your advice on this. i have the follwing gear g4 1ghz powerbook running cubase sx2xv-5080 with srx-04, 07, 08 cardsakai s3000xl novation ks4 tla audio fat compressorlexicon mpx100 reverbmotu 828 firewire interfaceyamaha 01v mixerother bits and pieces running on cubase i havetrilogyatmosferephatmatik prokontaktwavesalbino as you can probably imgaine the powerbook really struggles when i use any of the vsts. i make mainly electronic music, sample and synth based stuff, some elctro, some house and some beats-based stuff. i am looking to get a g5 to simplify everything - i really do this as a hobby and want to simplify things as much as possible, so i can get my ideas down as quickly as possible. my question is, to fund the new g5 dual i am thinking of selling everything i can and doing it all on the mac. is this a viable proposition? do you think i need to keep the xv-5080 and cards to use as a rompler or are there alternatives on the mac? i only really use it for some keys and the symphonic strings card which is very good and easy. sound quality is not of paramount importance as like i said i would be using it mainly as a project-type thing and then taking stuff into a professional studio. what would you keep/definitely sell? any advice greatly appreciateddave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members keyman_sam Posted May 4, 2005 Members Share Posted May 4, 2005 I would sell the Lexicon Reverb, akai sampler and the G4 mac to fund for a G5. Since you are going to a professional studio, they would have obviously have better reverb units than this one. Even if i wanted my own reverb, i'd get software versions of quality reverb units. The Akai sampler would not be of much use because you already have Kontakt as your soft-sampler. So, i'd sell these three and get the latest Mac G5 plus upgrade to the Cubase SX3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sizzlemeister Posted May 4, 2005 Members Share Posted May 4, 2005 It's like crack; the next thing you know you're selling off the kids, whoring out the wife, and robbing convenience stores to feed your Mac addiction. Don't do Mac, get a PC. For the children. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Umbra Posted May 4, 2005 Members Share Posted May 4, 2005 What's the bottleneck? Is the drive meter spiking or the cpu meter? If it's the cpu metter look up freezing tracks in the manual. If you would have to get rid of stuff you use to upgrade I wouldn't upgrade until I saved up enough $$, just freeze tracks instead. Adding some extra ram may help as well. If it's the drive meter add more ram and an fast external drive. I would suggest at least 1gig of ram. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MuzikB Posted May 4, 2005 Members Share Posted May 4, 2005 Originally posted by keyman_sam I would sell the Lexicon Reverb, akai sampler and the G4 mac to fund for a G5.Since you are going to a professional studio, they would have obviously have better reverb units than this one. Even if i wanted my own reverb, i'd get software versions of quality reverb units. The Akai sampler would not be of much use because you already have Kontakt as your soft-sampler. So, i'd sell these three and get the latest Mac G5 plus upgrade to the Cubase SX3. I second that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members keyman_sam Posted May 4, 2005 Members Share Posted May 4, 2005 Originally posted by Umbra What's the bottleneck? Is the drive meter spiking or the cpu meter?If it's the cpu metter look up freezing tracks in the manual. If you would have to get rid of stuff you use to upgrade I wouldn't upgrade until I saved up enough $$, just freeze tracks instead. Adding some extra ram may help as well.If it's the drive meter add more ram and an fast external drive. I would suggest at least 1gig of ram. The guy has a 1Ghz G4. Nowadays, its tough to run stuff with that low a processor. I assume your running with the stock 256 MB which again is less than sufficient (the minimum nowadays being 512 MB). To operate these softsynths without a glitch, i'd either upgrade the system or ditch it and get a G5. If you sell the stuff i mentioned, it should get you enough bucks to fund for a G5 (if the price is right. ;-) ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cybermooks Posted May 4, 2005 Members Share Posted May 4, 2005 For what you are likely to get for your G4 alongside what you paid, you're better off keeping it as a second computer for other duties. It is perfectly serviceable as a midi source, running processor hog stuff on the G5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members keyman_sam Posted May 4, 2005 Members Share Posted May 4, 2005 Is there some way to chain Gs to create a super-powerful processor or something like that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dave quinn Posted May 4, 2005 Author Members Share Posted May 4, 2005 the powerbook is already maxed out on memory and i have a fast external firewire drive. i think the powerbook really isnt up to it for cubase sx2 - i have to be very careful using any vstis, and as its really an ease of use thing for me i dont really want to get in to the freezing tracks as it seems to be inconvenient, time-consuming and not very intuitive the pc route may be less expensive but i am too old and stupid to start looking into a new os for my computer. if anything goes wrong on windows my nasty side comes out and i get brain block. i think you may be right about keeping the pb - the amount i will get for it i so low as its a bit bashed up and has a few keys missing. anyway if i get a new g5 i will use it just for music and use the pb for the internet and my girlfriends stuff. i'll have to do some maths and see what i think i might be able to get for the outboard i can sell. it might be that it's not worth me selling it as i wont get much. seems like the only thing i have that will really get me some money is the xv-5080 and srx cards but i am being enouraged to keep them as they are such good bits of kit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Meatball Fulton Posted May 5, 2005 Members Share Posted May 5, 2005 Originally posted by keyman_sam The guy has a 1Ghz G4. Nowadays, its tough to run stuff with that low a processor. I love that statement...just 2 years ago 1GHz was pretty speedy for a Mac. This is one reason I'm not nuts about softsynths, you need to keep upgrading the hardware underneath it every 6 months Actually, if he ditched everything he could run Reason just fine on his current machine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members keyman_sam Posted May 5, 2005 Members Share Posted May 5, 2005 Seriously though, what is Reason ACTUALLY used for? I have Reason 2.5 and find very little use for it. Thats one reason i dont consider the upgrade to 3.0 what the heck is Reason used for? It has a sequencer? my Sonar 4 has one. it has a mixer? check. subtractive synthesizer? check. Pattern sequencer? hmm...no. Effects? check. Sampler/drum machine? check. So, this interesting question arises : Why should ANYONE get Reason when he/she has a DAW? i brought reason because of the hype of it. Now i totally regret wasting my damn money in it. BTW, i'm much happier with Mr.Ray 73 (a freebie EP) than my Reason (cost me near 400 dollars) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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