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Power Mac soundchip vs Dell soundchip...

AforAndromeda

AforAndromeda

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 30, 2009
78
1
UK
Hi,

I have deliberately put this in the music discussion forum rather than the hardware forum, in the hope of engaging those of you that actually use a power mac for sound recording.

I have been using an MBox Pro 2 / Pro Tools / Audition for recording for quite some time with PC or laptop, but often in the past I did not need that quality.

My needs have now changed.

I now need better quality, but also portability, and a unit that I can also do my work on or even play games.

So I may be buying a Macbook Pro shortly - but I could do without carrying the Mbox stuff round unless it's really needed.

So my question is "Is the normal sound chip in the Mac Pro any better than the stuff you get in a new Dell?"

If better, how do you quantify the difference?

...or how do you handle this issue of getting excellent sound without carrying round extra clobber?.. do you change the chip/card


:confused:

Thanks all.
 
mkrishnan

mkrishnan

Moderator emeritus
Jan 9, 2004
29,776
15
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
AforAndromeda said:
I have deliberately put this in the music discussion forum rather than the hardware forum, in the hope of engaging those of you that actually use a power mac for sound recording.
Click to expand...


Sorry, please use Digital Audio for this kind of post. Music Discussion is for "I <3 Social Distortion," "Why does U2 keep releasing music" kinds of discussions. ;)

FWIW most people I know don't consider the audio ins on a Mac or any other computer usable for audio recording... they carry around an interface of some kind. Sadly, it isn't possible to "change the chip" that's internal to the Mac. Some (good) interfaces are smaller than others, though.
 
C

ChrisA

macrumors G5
Jan 5, 2006
12,561
1,672
Redondo Beach, California
There are some serious problems with using the built in audio for quality recording

  • How are you going to plug an XLR cable in to the Mac's audio jack? It won't fit.
  • How can you set the preamp gain? There is no knob and no UV meter or LEDS
  • The input is "line level" and not usable for a mic or instrument input unless you have an outboard preamp.

You are going to haver to use some kind of USB or firewire audio interface
 
AforAndromeda

AforAndromeda

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 30, 2009
78
1
UK
mkrishnan said:
Sorry, please use Digital Audio for this kind of post. Music Discussion is for "I <3 Social Distortion," "Why does U2 keep releasing music" kinds of discussions. ;)

FWIW most people I know don't consider the audio ins on a Mac or any other computer usable for audio recording... they carry around an interface of some kind. Sadly, it isn't possible to "change the chip" that's internal to the Mac. Some (good) interfaces are smaller than others, though.
Click to expand...

Oops,... :eek:

apologies. Thanks for the comments
 
AforAndromeda

AforAndromeda

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 30, 2009
78
1
UK
ChrisA said:
There are some serious problems with using the built in audio for quality recording

  • How are you going to plug an XLR cable in to the Mac's audio jack? It won't fit.
  • How can you set the preamp gain? There is no knob and no UV meter or LEDS
  • The input is "line level" and not usable for a mic or instrument input unless you have an outboard preamp.

You are going to haver to use some kind of USB or firewire audio interface
Click to expand...


Thanks ChrisA

I wasn't sure whether anyone used any other technique. I needed to check it out.

Sometimes I come across a situation where a feed from a mixer desk / other source can just be put into the input. It's quick but nasty, hence the Mbox.

Thanks for your comments
 
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