Hello All (Question for PowerPc Musicians)

[LordeOurMother]

So I'm interested in buying a powermac g5 for a backup PC as the desktop I currently use in my studio is on its last leg (It doesn't run bad or anything but it is old and if the hard drive goes out I don't feel inclined to replace it.) So I wanted to get a Powermac G5, because it is powerful enough to run older programs with ease. My question for you guys, what DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) works best on one of these machines?

Keep in mind if I do get one I'll spend the money to get max ram, possibly an ssd, etc.

I heard Logic 9 works well, and I read somewhere Reaper still develops on the PowerPC architecture.

 

[gavinstubbs09]

I use Logic 9 on my G5 and it runs well. On any PowerBook G4 from my experience it lags and is horrible, so a G5 would be preferred!

 

[kalel77]

I can't tell you nothing on Reaper but Logic 8 works pretty good on G4 and G5, not as well for the version 9, some one got it on both machine but there are several issues..

 

[harrymatic]

I haven't tried Logic 9, but I run Logic 8 regularly on my G4 for mastering audio. From what I understand, only the very early versions of Logic 9 were released as universal binary though, so it may be quite hard to track down.

 

[Dronecatcher]

Don't forget Propellerhead Reason (stops at version 4 for PPC) - it's incredibly CPU efficient - I've run version 3 on a G3 iMac! It's loaded with synths, effects, samplers & drum machines and it's great for electronic music if you can live without VSTs. It absolutely flies on a G5!

Garageband is useful too if you want to get ideas down quick and get great guitar recordings without setting up endless effect combinations - it is CPU hungry though.

There's also Renoise, if you've used trackers in the past it's a quantum leap but retaining the same methods.

Check this review to see how the G5 was regarded as a digital audio colossus when it was introduced:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan04/articles/appleg5.htm

 

[LordeOurMother]

I have experience with adobe audition, fl studio, audacity, and pro tools. Compared to those systems, how much of a switch would Logic be? I am interested in learning logic and figured a g5 would be a cheap way to do so.

 

[harrymatic]

It's not actually that steep a learning curve - prior to using Logic I had only ever used Cakewalk Pro Audio 9. I was able to get the hang of Logic over a weekend. Since you have experience with other DAW software, I should imagine you would find the switch very easy.

 

[LordeOurMother]

It's not actually that steep a learning curve - prior to using Logic I had only ever used Cakewalk Pro Audio 9. I was able to get the hang of Logic over a weekend. Since you have experience with other DAW software, I should imagine you would find the switch very easy.

Awesome And logic 8 cds aren't expensive at all on ebay... thanks for the help.

 

[stewart1981]

Bit late to this but my single core 1.6 ghz G5 runs Logic 8 ok with 4gb RAM. Reaper runs as well though it is a bit unstable. On a G4 it can handle a fair amount of tracks but with minimal plug ins and will stutter, on G5 I get more working but it can crash or struggle with big scores. However for audio use I tend to use Reaper on my 8gb Windows i3 3ghz machine so I haven't done serious work on a PowerPC with it.

Now Logic 7 on the G5 iMacs at the school I used to teach in flew. If I was in a position to set up a Mac studio a dual G5 with air cooling, max RAM, SSD where possible and Logic 7 would be solid, reliable, cost effective and still do a lot of good work as much of the software is still up to pro use. I know of many studios in the UK that still function off PowerPC. A local theatre I work in periodically uses an MDD for the sound system and the sound guy is a freelancer who uses a G5 as his on location machine. For audio they are still very powerful machines.