Help me with spending my hard earned on a Mac for audio

marbles · Jun 6, 2008

So , I have saved and saved and now it is time to buy the hardware

.

Basically , I will be buying either a Macbook or MBP(Apple refurb) very soon along with some external storage, a MIDI controller and maybe a sound card too, probably just after WWDC , I would love to get some advice on on it all.
I've been looking at this http://www.g-technology.com/Products/G-SAFE.cfm & http://www.g-technology.com/Products/G-DRIVE.cfm for back up .
I'm thinking about getting a faster drive as scratch disk for every day use but to be honest I don't really know what to choose or if I would need it ,do I go in using the PCI slot on the MBP and FW800 drives or what

, I don't really know what to choose , I suppose it depends if I go MBP or not.

I like the look of the G Tech back up hardware at http://www.g-technology.com/
and think I will buy stuff from there it is kind of sexy looking and there stuff gets reasonably good reviews .

I'm also trying to decide if i need to buy a sound card and MIDI controller or not which, hope fully , is where you come in.

I mix vinyl on Technics at times & record to digital ( need to record in pristine audio) .
I make electronic music & remix's ( well try too) using software instruments in Logic Express 7 (soon to upgrade to LS) & GB ,I use no external 'real' instruments, I'm waiting on new purchase(s) to start on the learning curve that is Reason , I've dabbled for a while and would like to start to get more serious about quality of sound and production ....

Sorry about the long ,rambling & possibly incoherent post

...I have been reading all over the forum for weeks now and suppose I'm really just looking to bounce some ideas around with some like minds and chat about buying options

I need some advice , I have about £1200(ish) UK £ as budget limit

Help me spend it

thanks

firestarter · Jun 6, 2008

marbles said:
So , I have saved and saved and now it is time to buy the hardware .

Basically , I will be buying either a Macbook or MBP(Apple refurb) very soon along with some external storage, a MIDI controller and maybe a sound card too, probably just after WWDC , I would love to get some advice on on it all.
I've been looking at this http://www.g-technology.com/Products/G-SAFE.cfm & http://www.g-technology.com/Products/G-DRIVE.cfm for back up .

Mirrored storage is not backup (even if they say it is on their web site)!

Mirroring protects against a single disk failure only. If you:
- Accidentally delete a file
- Drop the box / loose it in a fire / get it stolen
- Get file system corruption
etc. then you're hosed - and arguably these are more likely events than a disk crash.

If you're going to pay for two disks, it's better to have them in separate boxes, and rotate them offsite (leave one at work / parents house etc.)

I'm thinking about getting a faster drive as scratch disk for every day use but to be honest I don't really know what to choose or if I would need it ,do I go in using the PCI slot on the MBP and FW800 drives or what , I don't really know what to choose , I suppose it depends if I go MBP or not.

I like the look of the G Tech back up hardware at http://www.g-technology.com/
and think I will buy stuff from there it is kind of sexy looking and there stuff gets reasonably good reviews .

I like the MacBook - especially since you can really easily swap the internal hard drive (without voiding your warranty). The most cost effective option for a bigger fast hard drive may be to get a low end MacBook, and swap the internal drive over to a fast 7200rpm drive.

I'm also trying to decide if i need to buy a sound card and MIDI controller or not which, hope fully is where you come in.

I mix vinyl on Technics at times & record to digital ( need to record in pristine audio) .
I make electronic music & remix's ( well try too) using software instruments in Logic Express 7 (soon to upgrade to LS) & GB ,I use no external 'real' instruments, I'm waiting on new purchase(s) to start on the learning curve that is Reason , I've dabbled for a while and would like to start to get more serious about quality of sound and production ....

Sorry about the long ,rambling & possibly incoherent post

...I have been reading all over the forum for weeks now and suppose I'm really just looking to bounce some ideas around with some like minds and chat about buying options

I need some advice , I have about £1200(ish) UK £ as budget limit

Help me spend it

thanks

I have the Motu Ultralight which is awesome:
http://www.motu.com/products/motuaudio/ultralite/

It's a bit more expensive than the ususal entry level interface - but it's on firewire (low latency) and has everything you need - Midi, audio etc.

For better value, there are some really good combination keyboards / midi / audio interfaces around (if you haven'[t already got a keyboard for reason).

The Novation X station looks awesome:
http://www.novationmusic.com/products/midi_control/xstation/

marbles · Jun 10, 2008

Hello , sorry about the long time no post ,I had a bit of crazy few days here , then WWDC ....

firestarter said:
Mirrored storage is not backup (even if they say it is on their web site)!

Mirroring protects against a single disk failure only. If you:
- Accidentally delete a file
- Drop the box / loose it in a fire / get it stolen
- Get file system corruption
etc. then you're hosed - and arguably these are more likely events than a disk crash.

If you're going to pay for two disks, it's better to have them in separate boxes, and rotate them offsite (leave one at work / parents house etc.)

I thought it would be a good idea to go for a mirrored drive because it would protect against a 1 disk fail scenario but I hear what you say about keeping the back up in separate boxes & to use a different site to store one at , so thats sorta what I think I'm going to do

.

I'll get a mirrored drive for back up at my home & every day use ( good idea or not ?) then , a 500Gb or 1TB drive off site , probably this : http://www.g-technology.com/Products/G-MINI.cfm

firestarter said:
I like the MacBook - especially since you can really easily swap the internal hard drive (without voiding your warranty). The most cost effective option for a bigger fast hard drive may be to get a low end MacBook, and swap the internal drive over to a fast 7200rpm drive.

Sounds like a plan to me

, this way I'll save having to buy that mini drive , shame , I really fancied having that too I think it was its looks that where making me want it .
Your right , don't need it ...just upgrade the HD in the MB.

firestarter said:
I have the Motu Ultralight which is awesome:
http://www.motu.com/products/motuaudio/ultralite/

It's a bit more expensive than the ususal entry level interface - but it's on firewire (low latency) and has everything you need - Midi, audio etc.

For better value, there are some really good combination keyboards / midi / audio interfaces around (if you haven'[t already got a keyboard for reason).

The Novation X station looks awesome:
http://www.novationmusic.com/products/midi_control/xstation/

This is where I start to get confused . I don't really know if I'm going to need any external devices (tbh,why I need them) , I make music using only software instruments ...I also record dj mixes & would like to edit them .
( do I need the MBP & 4Gb ram ?)

Do I need to get an external soundcard and controller for what I want to do ? what are the benefits if I go ahead and get ?

or maybe ....would a high end dj mixer with MIDI control be a good solution ?

I'm stuck

marbles · Jun 24, 2008

I'm sure some more folk on MacRumors vcould help me spend my hard earned

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