PowerMac vs. Digi 001 mistake

ekitel said:

Just received my G5 dual 1.8 that I was hoping to use with this Digi 001 I bought from a friend a few weeks ago.... turns out the Powermac won't take that kind of PCI card, it's the 5 V, and it only takes the 3.3....

so now what should I do? return the PowerMac and find another kind of Mac that will take the 5 V PCI, or sell the Digi 001 and buy an Mbox... I don't do much recording, I just wanted to have Protools so I could use those great RTAS plugins, the 002 is a bit pricey, especially after droping almost 2 G's on the G5

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Only G4s will take the old 5V standard PCI cards.

Sell the 001, not the G5.

Digidesign Protools M-box it should cost less than $500.
Take a look here:
http://eshop.macsales.com/Catalog_Item.cfm?ID=6012&Item=DIGMBOX

Things you should know:

Digidesign is quite behind in their spec. Only the Quicksilver is endorsed as "Bug free" with the Protools/Mbox combo. I've had the misfortune of troubleshooting that particular mess. Get yourself a copy of Logic (Currently made by Apple) and save yourself a headache.

It all depends on what you plan to record.

If you plan to have your stuff mixed by a pro, stick with Protools. It's the industry standard. If not, you can use Logic or whatever you feel will get the job done.

Are you going to record with a couple of people, or are you primarily using this setup to write songs and record most of the music solo?

Because the Mbox is a good option if you are going to be recording your stuff a la singer/songwriter style. It won't be able to handle too much more than that.

Mackie makes some pretty good 3rd party options if you you don't want to use Digidesign.

I've never used Logic before, so if anyone knows of a thread that compares the two I would be very grateful.

I was thinking about going with Logic, but I didn't know too much about it at the time. So, like so many others I went with the industry standard.

By the way keep the dual 1.8, I've got one and I love it.

So I guess I will keep the G5, the vendor will only refund 85%, plus shipping that's like losing over $300, though I think it would be easier to sell it on eBay than the 001, there are tons of 001's on eBay right now

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Yeah the 001 is kind of on the low end of the totem pole right now. If you have any friends that work for a music store, they might be able to hook you up with a deal on a trade in for some other gear.

Digi was having some sort of trade in on a Mbox or a 001 for 002 or a 002 console. I don't think it's still active, but you can give it a shot.

Call them and see if they have some sort of trade-up promo. I think M-Audio was doing this for awhile for people who still had the old cards that didn't work in G5s.

well I just found out I can take advantage of my friend's employee discount and get a 002, would it work headache-free with my Powermac?

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As long as you are running Protools 6.4 or better you should be fine. Digi just updated their version to 6.7 ,but it costs $75 to update if you got it before Sept. 25, 2004.

I started with Protools LE 6.2.3 with a PM Dual 1.8 G5 and a 002 console, and it was pretty shaky. I'm currently running 6.4 and I haven't had a problems with it yet. Just make sure that you're running the most recent updates on your plugins and software and you should be good to go.

Here's the site http://digidesign.com/

It didn't help that I was supporting an mbox that was plugged into a pre-sawtooth G4 (Y-series). I think she had the most unstable possible combo 😛

I'm glad to hear it seems to run OK on the G5 after updates, when last I checked (November) Digi was quite delinquent in coming up to date for the MDD and newer Mobos.

Cubase Cubase Cubase!!!

Hi,
I used to be a PT 5.x-6.x user (digi001 also, later 002, which was nice w/ a G5, but a bit overmuch for just project-type needs,) but since going OSX have tried switching "going native" to the much -endorsed Logic (Pro 6) but found it reeaallly frustrating to learn!!
I happend to get a 'free' copy of Cubase SE w/ an interface I bought though and it fit my needs like a glove!! Its just as intuitive and popular as Protools LE, if not moreso, but has all the advanced plugin, midi ect. capabilities of Logic and most of the more expensive SX3. Cubase SX3 is out now too ($299 academic), but for ~$79 you could pick up CubaseSE, which for a project studio or mostly audio is fantastic and shares most of SX's functionality. Or you could just go for an interface like the Novation Xtreme Pack that comes with it and has a lot more features than an M-Box.

Again, Cubase SE or SX3 are great, (not the other "lite" versions, they are just a waste...) and don't require hardly any "learning" time!! (Atleast for previous DAW users). Trying to learn the archaic Logic commands really sucked the joy out of making music for me personally, way too much programming for people who like the simple elegance of PT in my opinion, Waaayyy more midi, ect. than I needed atleast!!... Plus Cubase SX3 is 64-bit optimised, no?!! G5= 😎