GB requirements

[JBReed]

I'd like to get my 13 yo son this app but am concerned about the system requirements and performance. He'll be running in on his G4 tower but it's an older Sawtooth (400 mHz, 576 MB RAM). I've updated the graphics (Radeon 8500) and am thinking of throwing in a processor upgrade. Does GB run well with these upgrades (am thinking of bumping it up to 1.5 gHz OWC)? Any thoughts on USB keyboards that'd be appropriate? He plays piano and drums and is in his school jazz band.

 

[cluthz]

I'd like to get my 13 yo son this app but am concerned about the system requirements and performance. He'll be running in on his G4 tower but it's an older Sawtooth (400 mHz, 576 MB RAM). I've updated the graphics (Radeon 8500) and am thinking of throwing in a processor upgrade. Does GB run well with these upgrades (am thinking of bumping it up to 1.5 gHz OWC)? Any thoughts on USB keyboards that'd be appropriate? He plays piano and drums and is in his school jazz band.

I can confirm that GB works great on my powerbook 1.33 ghz (768 mb ram)
I suppose Garageband will run good on a upgraded sawtooth.
The minimum reqs is G3/600 and recommeded is a faster G4,
so with a 1.5 G4 you more than good to go!
I would probably buy a little bit slower CPU upgrade and get a bit more memory. I guess that GB run better on a 1.2 ghz with 1 GB ram than on a 1.5 ghz with 512mb

If you already own a keyboard with midi you can buy a midi interface, it shouldn't cost you more than $50-$60. There are also good midi+soundpreamps with multiple inputs for a few hundreds USD.
I would strongly recommend a preamp if you are recording audio.
(the sawtooths only has minijack audio-in)

 

[JBReed]

Thanks for the thoughts. I don't have a keyboard with midi, anything you'd recommend? Plus I'm not sure what you mean by your comments about needing a preamp. Could you clarify that for me?

thanks

 

[AdamR01]

He's basically saying you can get an adapter to plug in a guitar for example straight into the line in of the computer, but it will not sound nearly as good as if you used a preamp to amplify the signal coming from the guitar.

 

[cluthz]

Thanks for the thoughts. I don't have a keyboard with midi, anything you'd recommend? Plus I'm not sure what you mean by your comments about needing a preamp. Could you clarify that for me?

thanks

The Powermac only has a mini jack in.
Many instruments (especially microphones and guitars) level on the signal isn't sounding great if you use it with the minijack input.

There are serveral kinds of preamps.
Many guitar effect processors has a preamp (i'm using a digitech rp6).
You can use regular analog preamps, like used on PAs or stereos. (like the smaller behringers, i'm usng a cheap vivanco mx510 which is a stereo mixer.
The third category is digital USB or Firewire mixers.
Apple sells a few like M-audio mobile preamp

Check also out the www.m-audio.com site. they also have many usb keyboards. Apple also sells m-audio usb keys, the costs from $99 (48 keys i think).

(I'm a guitarist, no piano player (using a bit midi though), but I hope this helps..)

 

[JBReed]

There are serveral kinds of preamps.
Many guitar effect processors has a preamp (i'm using a digitech rp6).
You can use regular analog preamps, like used on PAs or stereos. (like the smaller behringers, i'm usng a cheap vivanco mx510 which is a stereo mixer.
The third category is digital USB or Firewire mixers.
Apple sells a few like M-audio mobile preamp

Check also out the www.m-audio.com site. they also have many usb keyboards. Apple also sells m-audio usb keys, the costs from $99 (48 keys i think).

Thanks for the input. Sounds like I could just go for a keyboard for now to get him started along with a processor upgrade and more RAM. If he wants to start adding vocals or starts playing guitar (he doesn't yet) I'll need to check into preamps.