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johnb1027

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 5, 2010
4
0
Been researching for a while and am about to buy a 21.5 in imac. I plan on doing some home music recording. My question is, are the 4gb Ram And the standard processor ok or should i spring for the upgrades? Also ive decided to go with ableton live 8 suite over logic because it seems to be much easier to use. I plan on recording vocals guitars and synth stuff. What otheritems will i need i have mics and i plan on getting the akai mpk25 to use too. Any input or help would be greatly appreciated thanks.
 
Been researching for a while and am about to buy a 21.5 in imac. I plan on doing some home music recording. My question is, are the 4gb Ram And the standard processor ok or should i spring for the upgrades? Also ive decided to go with ableton live 8 suite over logic because it seems to be much easier to use. I plan on recording vocals guitars and synth stuff. What otheritems will i need i have mics and i plan on getting the akai mpk25 to use too. Any input or help would be greatly appreciated thanks.

There's not a whole lot on the iMac - or any other Mac, for that matter - for connecting recording equipment. There's only a single 3.5 mm input connector for audio, so depending on how you want to connect your gear/instruments, you might need to buy some external hardware to properly connect it. If you have the gear to plug into the iMac, I can't imagine your having a hard time using the 21.5. It has a fair amount of horsepower for recording. A Mac Pro would do the job as well, but if it were my money, I'd stick with the iMac for your tasks.
 
There's not a whole lot on the iMac - or any other Mac, for that matter - for connecting recording equipment. There's only a single 3.5 mm input connector for audio, so depending on how you want to connect your gear/instruments, you might need to buy some external hardware to properly connect it. If you have the gear to plug into the iMac, I can't imagine your having a hard time using the 21.5. It has a fair amount of horsepower for recording. A Mac Pro would do the job as well, but if it were my money, I'd stick with the iMac for your tasks.
Thanks for the quick response i figured i would need to get more usb inputs a midi interface as well as an external hard drive i just didnt know if the basic models ram and processor would be enough but from what im reading it should be cool.
 
Thanks for the quick response i figured i would need to get more usb inputs a midi interface as well as an external hard drive i just didnt know if the basic models ram and processor would be enough but from what im reading it should be cool.

Yeah the iMac will handle it, your biggest obstacle is the MIDI interface, I think. You can always get a powered USB hub if you need one, or even an external sound card if that's your thing.
 
Yeah the iMac will handle it, your biggest obstacle is the MIDI interface, I think. You can always get a powered USB hub if you need one, or even an external sound card if that's your thing.
Wheres the best place to buy a usb hub
 
Are you based in the UK or US or somewhere else?

You can pick them up cheaply from the majority of electronics online stores.
 
im in the us and ill def look at a powered hub thanks any other ideas please keep them coming
 
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