Advice on 2nd hand mac and cubase audio software

[LloydieDB9]

Hello All.

I need advice from you learned people out there.

I currently have a Dell PC (Sorry bout that) but have recently been given a Phonic Helix 12 mixing board which has firewire output and cubase recording software.

I am itching to use it but my Dell PC won't cut the mustard and quite frankly, all this right clicking has given me RSI!!! I also need to buy a firewire expansion card and blah blah blah.

The Dell's quick enough for what I use it for (excel,inet,word, storage and ripping of music) but for video, audio editing (other than ripping) and graphics, its a bit challenging i.e. slow and crashy!

I used to use Macs ages ago and liked them.

My use will be

• Using Cubase to record stuff
• Making CD's
• Storing my music (itunes - I guess, currently use Creative software)
• Home videos - pictures, graphics and movie soundtrack stuff
• Photo editing (nothing too heavy)
• May or may not be connected to internet (Is this a major problem?)
• Also used for writing (word), excel stuff (work) and maybe some presentation creation. Will I have compatibility issues between my Dell and Mac?

I have been scouring ebay for 2nd hand macs and the main ones I find are:
G3's upto 512 ram and 300 to 500 mhz processors.
G4's upto 1.5gb ram and 1ghz processors.

Main questions about this are:

• Is buying a 2nd hand one a good idea any way?
• What kind of spec do I need to run what I want.
• How easy is to up the processor speed (Is it worth it?)
• Does anyone else out there use cubase. Woudl love to hear about your spec mac and how easy it is.
• How easy is it to up the ram
• How easy is it to increase hard drive size
• costs of the above
• What can people recomend

On the line here, I can't afford a new one, not even on finance. Have limted budget (hence e-bay) and just shelled out £700 for my poxy car!!!

Apologies for War and Peace but I couldn't find a cubase thread.

Cheers all

Steve

 

[Mr. DG]

I assume you have a monitor & keyboard from the PC, so if you're on a budget i would go for a 1.66 Core Due Mac mini. Put 1GB of RAM (2Gb if you can afford) in it and buy a decent sized external 7200RPM Hard Drive. Store all your music data on the external.

Issues: I dont know if Cubase is a Universal Binary yet, nor do I know if the driver for your mixer is. If neither is, then i'd get one of the last generation iMac G5s if your budget will allow.

Sorry to advertise another forum here, but www.bigbluelounge.com is good for audio.

 

[21stcenturykid]

firstly you need at least 2GB of Ram atleast if ur ever gna go near using all 12 tracks on the interface and . secondly is the interface compatible with mac? thirdly cubase is indeed not yet a binary so your better off with a iMac G5...unless you can find a cheap powermac...but still... is the version you have compatible with mac?....possibly silly questions as you most likely have allready checked this before even thinking about macs, yes?
4. which version of cubase is it out of curiosity because if its LE then you cant record more than 4 tracks of audio simoultaniously at once on that version anyway. You need SE at worst for all 12 tracks...and even then the features on that are abismal if you want to achieve any quality.

Finally what are you going to be recording with your equipment? (just 'cos im nosy)

 

[LloydieDB9]

4. which version of cubase is it out of curiosity because if its LE then you cant record more than 4 tracks of audio simoultaniously at once on that version anyway. You need SE at worst for all 12 tracks...and even then the features on that are abismal if you want to achieve any quality.

Finally what are you going to be recording with your equipment? (just 'cos im nosy)

It is Cubase LE. and yes, it is compatible with mac. In fact on the front of the instruction manual, they have a picture of a Mac!
I am new to this software so am not fully up to speed about its functionality. I haven't loaded it up yet as I am waiting to get the right equipment i.e. Mac.
4 tracks simultaneously should suffice until I get clever with it. This is my first 'venture' into digital music recording (always had mates that have the gear) so am not too fussed about quality yet.

What am I recording? Mainly music stuff. Guitars, vocals bass, maybe a drum track. Creating music to some of my home movies, my kids, free running etc. Also, my cousin is in the Musicians Institute and whenever he is up, we end up writing a song or two. It would be nice to record it on something better than a dictaphone.

Thanks again for the replies. Steve

 

[21stcenturykid]

It is Cubase LE. and yes, it is compatible with mac. In fact on the front of the instruction manual, they have a picture of a Mac!
I am new to this software so am not fully up to speed about its functionality. I haven't loaded it up yet as I am waiting to get the right equipment i.e. Mac.
4 tracks simultaneously should suffice until I get clever with it. This is my first 'venture' into digital music recording (always had mates that have the gear) so am not too fussed about quality yet.

What am I recording? Mainly music stuff. Guitars, vocals bass, maybe a drum track. Creating music to some of my home movies, my kids, free running etc. Also, my cousin is in the Musicians Institute and whenever he is up, we end up writing a song or two. It would be nice to record it on something better than a dictaphone.

Thanks again for the replies. Steve

Sounds good! also as an alternative i used to use a mic plugged into a soundesk with the output routed from the xlr they are to a stereo mini jack and into the input...that worked really well but only 2 tracks truthfully or as many as your desk had into stereo...jst another option.

 

[LloydieDB9]

Sorry to advertise another forum here, but www.bigbluelounge.com is good for audio.

I'm glad you did. Lots of info there. thanks for the advice about spec.

Speak soon
Steve