Best Macbook for recording music?

[Ploki]

great, playback is great. recording is another story. you hardly stream more than 6 channels (5.1, and thats most of the time COMPRESSED) when playing back. and 44.1/16bit CD stereo. rarely you playback 96/24, right? mostly you RECORD 96/24 bit more than 2 or 6 tracks

i most certainly did not anywhere state that usb2.0 could handle only 2 tracks...

Well, thats why you stay away from a Mac for recording. OS X wastes CPU cycles like theres no tomorrow. Similar tasks in OS X and Windows generally result in Windows using less than half as many CPU cycles. I know my first MacBook would waste up to 25% total CPU cycles when copying files over USB.

thats completely stupid!
you cant ever open a windows machine out of the box and expect to run low latency audio on it!

here: FW vs USB2.0
http://www.usb-ware.com/firewire-vs-usb.htm

You can daisy chain on USB also. Up to 127 devices per port. Its just a matter of the devices being designed to have the ports to connect to another device itself.

really? and then via ASIO you can use all i/o of all devices?
Core audio can handle devices on different protocols to act as one
and MY firewire interface has a statement of direct daisy chaining in the manual. please find me an interface with that in the manual and is USB2.0.
another i remeber is Presonus Firepod, also firewire device.
find me two usb devices daisy chaining like that and i will take bake this claim completely.
im not saying it could work as a HUB... im saying about daisychaining making device work as one...

M-audio and EMU are great, but the strongest argument you claimed was PLAYBACK (up to 7.1, whatever).

RME is known for one of best ADC's, awesome zerolatency system.. and is preferred for RECORDING, not for playback.

and by the way, the controller on mine has given me ZERO problems with Audiofire8 (on MBP..). and its 500$ device, not 1700$. and i bet it still smokes the hell out of m-audio.

and your whole statement "Who can afford a 1,7k interface" makes YOUR every statement obsolete, because mostly we were discussing which is better for audio, not which is more affordable.
oh, and find me a 1700$ USB2.0 audio interface.
you wont. because nobody will make such a card on USB2.0.

oh, and on the Maudio side:
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FastTrackUltra8R.html
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/ProFire2626.html
usb2.0: 8x8 24/96...
firewire: 26x26 24/192.
looks like they have decided to use FW on their biggest piece. why I wonder. because its obsolete and inferior, i guess.

edit:
which interface do you have?

 

[kasakka]

But with a PC and PCI, you get both in one neat little package. Not possible with a Mac even with Firewire

Right there you prove that its better to have a desktop PC for recording than any Mac.

I never argued for or against desktop recording systems. I'd also prefer a desktop PC for recording but for many a laptop is just as viable option, especially something as powerful as the MB or MBP.

USB was always meant to be a low powered bus. I'd personally rather have a high power device have its own power supply rather than drawing from a portable computer.

With a laptop it's another big block transformer to carry around. I'd rather hook up just my laptop to the outlet than several devices.

Well, if screen resolution is important then a MacBook Pro is out of the question as well, seeing as how you can get a 1680x1050 glass screen on a PC (offered months before Apple did it) plus blu-ray, faster processor, more video memory on the same GPU, etc. for just a little over half the price of the MacBook Pro.

Yes, you can get higher spec PCs, but the people who want a Macbook don't usually want Windows, like the sleek design of the Macbook in general. While I use Vista on my desktop PC, I'm going to get a MBP just for OSX, better trackpad and so on. I'm not a big fan of small screens with high resolution, text tends to get a bit small to read comfortably and unfortunately text size scaling doesn't work nicely on current operating systems.

Ah but see, on desktop PCs with smaller cases than the Mac Pro, they too have multiple PCI and PCIe slots. In the case of Firewire, the standard is dead and there was simply no room for it on the new MacBook motherboard. However, the Mac Pro? No reason for it not to be there.

Absolutely, I was merely contemplating the reason why Apple decided to do that. It's a shame that Microsoft keeps hauling all the legacy baggage whereas Apple stays a bit too cutting edge at times.

Nobody said M-Audio was better. I said go to Hydrogen Audio and Head-fi, two of the most respected, if not THE most respected, audio sites on the web. And tell them that M-Audio and E-Mu are bad.

While those are good forums, they're more geared towards music listeners than people who record music. I don't think anyone was saying that M-Audio or EMU is bad stuff (though M-Audio does make some cheap crap devices too) but that their USB interfaces don't compete with the better FW interfaces. Perfectly fine for playback, but for recording there are higher quality units.

 

[Jolly Jimmy]

What's the fuss about? The firewire/USB issue just depends on what you need to record. What DOES the OP need to record? Just remember we are talking about recording on a notebook here. It's no use comparing with desktop capabilities.

 

[rumourguy]

For serious and professional (i.e. more than amateur iLife projects) needs, FireWire 400 may be a necessity. Since you're on a budget, you're actaully lucky in a sense: The only MacBook with FireWire 400 is the white plastic MacBook, which is the cheapest MacBook that Apple offers. It's $300 cheaper than the second-cheapest MacBook, and it's 100GHz faster than the second-cheapest MacBook. With the $300 you'll save, you can max out the RAM to 4GB from Crucial.com for $43.99:

http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=6540BB19A5CA7304

You can also get a 320GB 7200 RPM notebook hard drive (which is the biggest capacity currently available in 7200 RPM) made by Western Digital at Newegg.com for $89.99:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136280

For the RAM and the hard drive, you'll spend a total of $133.98, and still save $166.02.

+1 all good advice and pick yourself up an apogee duet

 

[marbles]

What's the fuss about? The firewire/USB issue just depends on what you need to record. What DOES the OP need to record? Just remember we are talking about recording on a notebook here. It's no use comparing with desktop capabilities.

err , no . it all depends on which external audio interface is used + the port quality on the machine .wether it's a notebook or desktop is irrelevant from what I can see ...a desktop would have a faster CPU usually but this is of little consequence with recording.

 

[Jolly Jimmy]

Let me remind you of this thread's title : Best Macbook for recording music?

We are talking about recording on a notebook.

it all depends on which external audio interface is used

Well yes... and that depends on what you want to record.

So if the OP can tell us what he wants to be able to record, we can tell him what Macbook he will need. There's no need for all this fuss.

 

[nick9191]

Uh actually, no, Firewire doesn't. As I've explained, in Mac OS, Firewire received (obviously) better support than USB 2.0. Anyone with an Intel Mac can experience this for themselves. Install Windows and then copy files over USB. You'll see it takes significantly longer in OS X than it does in Windows. I mean, just syncing my 80GB 5.5G iPod takes longer in OS X. A good 5 minutes longer.

Shame about your dismal network transfers, eh: Gizmodo

 

[marbles]

Let me remind you of this thread's title : Best Macbook for recording music?

We are talking about recording on a notebook.



Well yes... and that depends on what you want to record.

So if the OP can tell us what he wants to be able to record, we can tell him what Macbook he will need. There's no need for all this fuss.

My bad , I must have miss understood your original post.

I agree , no need for any fuss , .....soon as Apple reinstate firewire it'll all go away (joke)

 

[justaphase094]

Hey, thanks for all of the input everyone.

As for what I want to record...I will only be recording guitar, bass, and a USB MIDI controller into the computer. I won't be recording any live drums...possibly in the future, but not any time soon.

 

[kasakka]

Hey, thanks for all of the input everyone.

As for what I want to record...I will only be recording guitar, bass, and a USB MIDI controller into the computer. I won't be recording any live drums...possibly in the future, but not any time soon.

In that case you definitely want FireWire.

 

[marbles]

Hey, thanks for all of the input everyone.

As for what I want to record...I will only be recording guitar, bass, and a USB MIDI controller into the computer. I won't be recording any live drums...possibly in the future, but not any time soon.

I'm in the same boat ( needing firewire) and the current notebook offerings don't cut it at the moment unfortunately , except for the whitebook that is but.....

Personally I'm holding on till macworld (early Jan 09) to see what happens .

I'd advise you to do the same , if nothing changes , I'm going to have to start using windows and that is a depressing thought as I've only ever used OS X.

Now watch all the fanboi's n gals jump in and flame me , sorry but it is the truth .I don't like it either!

To reiterate to those who will want to bash my comment , I have only ever used OS X before now !! and it depresses me to possibly have to turn to windoze ! to get my work done .

 

[Ploki]

the difference to get base model MBP with firewire will probably end up spending for software for windows (and windows alone), except if you wont go legit. than it doesnt matter anyway.

i cant have the comfort of opening my laptop and working in logic without interface connected anywhere taken away.

 

[mosx]

here: FW vs USB2.0
http://www.usb-ware.com/firewire-vs-usb.htm

Okay so you're using a STORES comparison that doesn't tell the devices used, it doesn't tell the COMPUTERS used, OSes used, chipsets used, configuration information.. absolutely NOTHING.

That basically invalidates the rest of your post because its clear you do NOT know what you're talking about if you're using that kind of nonsense as a basis for Firewire being better.

Oh and one last thing, before you talk bad about E-MU, you should read up on the ADCs and DACs they use and what other devices use them

I'd also prefer a desktop PC for recording but for many a laptop is just as viable option, especially something as powerful as the MB or MBP.

The MB and MBP are anything but "Powerful" compared to equally priced PCs.

With a laptop it's another big block transformer to carry around. I'd rather hook up just my laptop to the outlet than several devices.

Most notebook bags have room for multiple power bricks.

While I use Vista on my desktop PC, I'm going to get a MBP just for OSX, better trackpad and so on.

Better trackpad? I have the aluminum MacBook and while its neat for flipping pictures around in Preview or iPhoto, realistically its no better than a PC trackpad. Plus OS X is way behind Vista in many many ways.

Absolutely, I was merely contemplating the reason why Apple decided to do that. It's a shame that Microsoft keeps hauling all the legacy baggage whereas Apple stays a bit too cutting edge at times.

Apple being cutting edge? Yeah, thats why they don't have memory card readers, standard display connectivity like HDMI, eSATA, etc.

And you realize that nearly all PCIe audio cards are just standard PCI cards with a chip that changes the controller interface, right?

Pretty much the only devices that actually NEED PCIe bandwidth are GPUs. And Apple is behind in that department too!

Oh and if Apple is so "cutting edge" why is the Mac mini still sporting a combo drive and an Intel GMA 950?

Shame about your dismal network transfers, eh: Gizmodo

Obviously a problem with their system. Vista has been every bit as fast as XP for me when it comes to networking.

In that case you definitely want FireWire.

Why? There are plenty of cheap and high quality USB devices that will do that just fine. And they use the same ADCs as some of the costlier Pro Tools equipment.

 

[kasakka]

Better trackpad? I have the aluminum MacBook and while its neat for flipping pictures around in Preview or iPhoto, realistically its no better than a PC trackpad. Plus OS X is way behind Vista in many many ways.

I don't have extensive experience with it, but when I've tried it the multitouch gestures etc have been great to use compared to what's on most laptops. I also like the "buttonless" design because it gives more space for navigation.

As for OSX being behind, I just don't see that. The only things I feel Vista does better is window resizing, file browsers, video/audio players and games. OSX as a whole is IMO more coherent, has a far better program installation paradigm and is generally a bit more fluid to use. Of course it has its quirks and flaws as well.

Apple being cutting edge? Yeah, thats why they don't have memory card readers, standard display connectivity like HDMI, eSATA, etc.

Cutting edge as in making fairly bold decisions (like dropping PCI support) compared to other manufacturers who'd rather include every possible device, old and new. I'm not saying they're good decisions though, especially since in something like the Mac Pro space isn't a relevant reason to omit the PCI slots.

PS. Happy new year!

 

[mosx]

I don't have extensive experience with it, but when I've tried it the multitouch gestures etc have been great to use compared to what's on most laptops. I also like the "buttonless" design because it gives more space for navigation.

What are the gestures even useful for, other than flipping photos? Zooming in? On a PC with Vista, just simply move your finger up on the little scroll bar and you'll zoom in much faster and easier than the pinching and unpinching motions.

And I've had no issues with "navigation" on my PC compared to my aluminum MacBook.

OSX as a whole is IMO more coherent, has a far better program installation paradigm and is generally a bit more fluid to use. Of course it has its quirks and flaws as well.

I've used Leopard, Tiger, XP, and Vista extensively over the last 2 years and I just don't get that. I've never seen an instance where OS X is "more coherent" or "fluid" or "intuitive" as some say.

Plus the amount of OS crashing and app crashing makes up for any theoretical advantage OS X might have had.

I also like how unstable both OS X and iTunes become when trying to update multiple iPods one after another.

Oh and the application installation isn't better once you discover that upon uninstall, you have to search down all the little config and plist files left behind by the app.

Cutting edge as in making fairly bold decisions (like dropping PCI support) compared to other manufacturers who'd rather include every possible device, old and new. I'm not saying they're good decisions though, especially since in something like the Mac Pro space isn't a relevant reason to omit the PCI slots.

Dropping PCI isn't a bold decision. It's a stupid decision. Like I said, nearly all PCIe sound devices out there are just PCI cards with a converter chip.

Theres more people out there using PCI TV and HDTV tuners than there are Mac users in total. Not to mention all of the other PCI devices, like SATA controller cards, eSATA expansion cards, high end audio devices that haven't moved to PCIe because theres no benefit to them.

I mean, cutting out PCI support cuts out more potential customers than Apple currently has as paying customers.

The lack of upgradeability is the sole reason that millions won't buy a Mac. I mean, I bought a MacBook, but notebooks have always had limited upgradeability thanks to their design. But, the few people I know left with a Mac (the rest have switched back to Windows) feel exactly the same way I do. We would NEVER purchase an Apple "desktop" because of the limited upgradeability. Not to mention the fact that an $800 "Desktop" shouldn't have an Intel GMA 950 as its GPU along with 1GB of RAM and an old Core 2 Duo. The MacBook is the only Mac I'll ever purchase and the last 3 people I know with a Mac (down from a couple dozen who recently switched back to Windows) feel the same way. Their current Mac is the last they'll purchase or the only they will own, wishing they could have returned it in time.

 

[nick9191]

Obviously a problem with their system. Vista has been every bit as fast as XP for me when it comes to networking.

Yeah I'm sure it is.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=vista+slow+network&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

In that case every problem you have ever had with your Mac, USB speed, crashes etc. etc. I'll just chalk that down to a problem with your system, because I have never experienced any of it.

 

[Ploki]

mosx:
your posts are extremly biased which renders them utterly useless.
ive had worse experience with 10 PC's than with 2 Macs.
all of them.
i had dig in to the guts of the XP system to retain it fast enough for serious work.

Just like a Virus is consequence of user stupidity on windows, so is not being able to work a mac.
of course, if you drive a car like you would a boat you will probably crash...

i would probably believe bits of what you say if not a person who actually studied computers (and is con-mac) had Vista on for one month and reinstalled XP.
he actually makes money with his computers.

http://marketshare.hitslink.com/os-market-share.aspx?qprid=9
http://marketshare.hitslink.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10

vista has been out for a year and it has poor market share. if it wasnt for OEM computer it would probably have more than half less .

by the way, i am not a fanboy. ive deleted every "iSomething" form the dock first thing i got it.
you forgot to mention which version of protools have converters in common with EMU. HD series? I seriously doubt it...
if so, please link it.
And dont give me Protools LE links because the interfaces success is based mostly on the fact that they run Protools..

 

[mosx]

mosx:
your posts are extremly biased which renders them utterly useless.
ive had worse experience with 10 PC's than with 2 Macs.
all of them.
i had dig in to the guts of the XP system to retain it fast enough for serious work.

Just like a Virus is consequence of user stupidity on windows, so is not being able to work a mac.
of course, if you drive a car like you would a boat you will probably crash...

i would probably believe bits of what you say if not a person who actually studied computers (and is con-mac) had Vista on for one month and reinstalled XP.
he actually makes money with his computers.

http://marketshare.hitslink.com/os-market-share.aspx?qprid=9
http://marketshare.hitslink.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10

vista has been out for a year and it has poor market share. if it wasnt for OEM computer it would probably have more than half less .

by the way, i am not a fanboy. ive deleted every "iSomething" form the dock first thing i got it.
you forgot to mention which version of protools have converters in common with EMU. HD series? I seriously doubt it...
if so, please link it.
And dont give me Protools LE links because the interfaces success is based mostly on the fact that they run Protools..

"Not being able to work a Mac" has nothing to do with the fact that the OS randomly crashes while doing absolutely nothing. I've had the OS crash while just emptying the trash, clicking "Burn" in a "Burn Folder", while clicking through game screenshots at Gamespot, and other little things like that. That has nothing to do with the user.

Getting a virus in Windows has EVERYTHING to do with the user. Why? Because, in XP SP2 and Vista, you have to deal with multiple warnings from the browser and OS and still install the virus against the OSes wishes. You still have to execute it and run it yourself.

Vista has poor marketshare? Are you kidding me? Your own links show that Vista has roughly 10 times the marketshare as Mac OS X!

It is TRULY hilarious when Apple apologists make fun of Vista's "bad sales". Because, even though Vista has been out for only 2 years now, it has 10x as many people using it as their are Mac users TOTAL. Even if Vista was only used by half as many people as it is now, it'd still have 5x as many people using it as Mac OS X.

Don't even try to make fun of Vista's "bad sales" when Mac OS isn't even close to breaking the 3% mark worldwide.

Oh and you seem to have deliberately misunderstood what I was saying about E-MU so you can look it up for yourself.

 

[Ploki]

"Not being able to work a Mac" has nothing to do with the fact that the OS randomly crashes while doing absolutely nothing. I've had the OS crash while just emptying the trash, clicking "Burn" in a "Burn Folder", while clicking through game screenshots at Gamespot, and other little things like that. That has nothing to do with the user.

Getting a virus in Windows has EVERYTHING to do with the user. Why? Because, in XP SP2 and Vista, you have to deal with multiple warnings from the browser and OS and still install the virus against the OSes wishes. You still have to execute it and run it yourself.

Vista has poor marketshare? Are you kidding me? Your own links show that Vista has roughly 10 times the marketshare as Mac OS X!

It is TRULY hilarious when Apple apologists make fun of Vista's "bad sales". Because, even though Vista has been out for only 2 years now, it has 10x as many people using it as their are Mac users TOTAL. Even if Vista was only used by half as many people as it is now, it'd still have 5x as many people using it as Mac OS X.

Don't even try to make fun of Vista's "bad sales" when Mac OS isn't even close to breaking the 3% mark worldwide.

Oh and you seem to have deliberately misunderstood what I was saying about E-MU so you can look it up for yourself.

Oh really? Guess what! ive just emptied trash SEVERAL times and it hasnt crashed. and when i think of it, i havent had a single crash of logic or a single kernel panic on this mbp im typing on right now.
whats my point? Your bad experience does not make OSX a bad OS.
so i guess crashing has something to do with the user, or you were extremly unlucky and got a mondaymorning mac...

sure you have to execute the virus yourself, but i dont remember multiple warnings you speak of, except ALL the time warnings for every single click (oh and btw, ive had about one or two viruses which i cleaned manually without antivirus in 10 years...)

youd have to compare tiger to leopard vs xp to vista sales.. or windows to os x sales.
and i told you vista sales have 10% solely because of OEM...because an average computer user is a dickwad and has 0 sense of whats going on.
"hello mr. salesman, gimme one of them windows computers with 12 jiggawatts of power"

if you look at Windows vs Mac OS X trend you can clearly see that windows has gone 3% down while OS X rised for about the same amount.
that says something..

you still havent told us which audio interface do you use and on which is your personal experience based

 

[RemarkabLee]

jiggawatts

"What the HELL is a jiggawatt??!" - Marty McFly

 

[Killyp]

Ladies, put the handbags away!

I would avoid the current aluminium MacBooks. The lack of Firewire is a little worrying. Bear in mind:

• USB takes up CPU power all the time it's being used, which makes working with audio less stable under high-CPU load conditions. Firewire puts no load on the CPU.

• Firewire has a higher bandwidth and lower latency = more channels of audio should you ever need it and less delay from audio inputs.

And on top of that, the majority of decent audio interfaces use Firewire. USB is reserved generally for the much lower-end of the market.

If you really can't stretch to the MacBook Pro, then I would go for either the white plastic MacBook (which has a lot of drawbacks in comparison to the aluminium MacBook's single drawback of no Firewire) or the 2.4 GHz MacBook, but bearing in mind with a lack of Firewire, your choice of audio interfaces will really be quite restricted.

 

[mosx]

and when i think of it, i havent had a single crash of logic or a single kernel panic on this mbp im typing on right now.
whats my point? Your bad experience does not make OSX a bad OS.
so i guess crashing has something to do with the user, or you were extremly unlucky and got a mondaymorning mac...

I guess I've had multiple "monday morning" Macs. I guess everyone I know with a Mac has had a "monday morning" Mac as well, seeing as how everyone I know with a Mac has had some sort of OS lockup while doing mundane tasks.

sure you have to execute the virus yourself, but i dont remember multiple warnings you speak of, except ALL the time warnings for every single click (oh and btw, ive had about one or two viruses which i cleaned manually without antivirus in 10 years...)

Well, you claim to have 2 Intel Macs in your possession. Install Vista and see for yourself.

I've also never had a single virus and I've been using Windows for more than 15 years now.

The user definitely has everything to do with getting a virus and not the OS itself.

youd have to compare tiger to leopard vs xp to vista sales.. or windows to os x sales.
and i told you vista sales have 10% solely because of OEM...

Only 10% of Vista's sales are due to OEM? Well hey, that makes things even better. That means that 225 million Vista licenses were actively purchased and not a forced purchased! Thats what? Still 9 times more people using JUST Vista than total people are using a Mac.

if you look at Windows vs Mac OS X trend you can clearly see that windows has gone 3% down while OS X rised for about the same amount.

Actually, the links posted on this forum show that OS X, worldwide, is only at about 2.5% marketshare. In the US its higher, but worldwide its only 2.5% or so. I don't remember exactly.

You also have to keep in mind that the market itself has grown significantly and people have chosen to run OSes other than Mac OS X or Windows. See, thats the beauty of PC hardware. You get to CHOOSE what you want to run and buy.

But the fact of the matter is that Vista is still being used by more people in total, even if you bring in all the nonsense like "forced OEM sales" and "downgrades", than there are Mac users total.

you still havent told us which audio interface do you use and on which is your personal experience based

I'm not foolish enough to rely on a notebook for audio recording, nor would I be foolish enough to rely on a desktop PC with Server processors for audio work

USB takes up CPU power all the time it's being used, which makes working with audio less stable under high-CPU load conditions. Firewire puts no load on the CPU.

This is only an issue with OS X. OS X's USB support is awful and eats up CPU cycles and is PROVEN slower than Windows. Moving data over USB in Vista on a Core 2 Duo won't even make a noticeable dent in CPU use.

Firewire has a higher bandwidth and lower latency = more channels of audio should you ever need it and less delay from audio inputs.

Do some real googling and you'll find that USB 2.0 on Windows has a sustained and proven transfer rate of 40MB/sec, while Firewire 400 on Macs with higher quality controller chips (NOT the ones used in the current MacBook Pros, which have proven to be problematic for recording audio) has a sustained transfer rate of about 30MB/sec average.

And on top of that, the majority of decent audio interfaces use Firewire. USB is reserved generally for the much lower-end of the market.

USB devices use the same ADCs and DSPs as the "higher end" Firewire devices.

Truly high quality audio interfaces are not connected via an external bus like Firewire or USB at all, seeing as how even Firewire 800 has a sustained real world transfer rate of about 1/3 of that of the old PCI 2 bus.

 

[Killyp]

Do some real googling and you'll find that USB 2.0 on Windows has a sustained and proven transfer rate of 40MB/sec, while Firewire 400 on Macs with higher quality controller chips (NOT the ones used in the current MacBook Pros, which have proven to be problematic for recording audio) has a sustained transfer rate of about 30MB/sec average.

Although it's latency is still higher, which is the bit that really matters

USB devices use the same ADCs and DSPs as the "higher end" Firewire devices.

Partially correct, although the DSP used has no bearing on the quality of an interface. A Creative Soundblaster has a much faster DSP chip in it than some of say, Apogee's kit, but the Apogee would massively outperform it from every aspect short of gaming. The truth is, there is no supplement for good engineering, and this is what I'm referring to. The low end of the market is aimed at producing the most acceptable sound with the highest feature count at the lowest price; they're products which sit in small home studios and do the job well. Try streaming 16 channels of 96 kHz 24 bit audio over USB too, it simply can't cope (Windows or Mac).

Truly high quality audio interfaces are not connected via an external bus like Firewire or USB at all, seeing as how even Firewire 800 has a sustained real world transfer rate of about 1/3 of that of the old PCI 2 bus.

Actually a large proportion of studios are switching across to ethersound. PCI2 has long been a standard but the industry is moving away as it's a technology which is still evolving correctly, and with every revision, in a lot of cases it requires replacing a lot of kit.

The fact of the matter is the OP was looking for a Macbook to record music on, which dictates that he/she will need a USB or Firewire driven interface, and choosing a laptop with no Firewire severely restricts the choice of interface which can be used.

 

[mosx]

Although it's latency is still higher, which is the bit that really matters

Really?

I hope you realize that there are ASIO drivers available that take even USB 1.1 devices down to 0.73ms worth of latency.

Try streaming 16 channels of 96 kHz 24 bit audio over USB too, it simply can't cope (Windows or Mac).

And why not?

USB 2.0 = proven 40MBps sustained transfer rate (Windows, less in OS X). Firewire 400 = 30MBps proven sustained transfer rate.

The fact of the matter is the OP was looking for a Macbook to record music on, which dictates that he/she will need a USB or Firewire driven interface, and choosing a laptop with no Firewire severely restricts the choice of interface which can be used.

And going with a Mac limits the OP in many more ways than just what audio recording interfaces are available

 

[Ploki]

please link the proven 40mbps sustained rate of USB 2.0... it might be true but i havent found any data like that.

so, what are you using for audio then?

you can install more OS's on a mac than you can on a PC. one more.