Help me with spending my hard earned on a Mac for audio

[marbles]

So , I have saved and saved and now it is time to buy the hardware 😀 .

Basically , I will be buying either a Macbook or MBP(Apple refurb) very soon along with some external storage, a MIDI controller and maybe a sound card too, probably just after WWDC , I would love to get some advice on on it all.
I've been looking at this http://www.g-technology.com/Products/G-SAFE.cfm & http://www.g-technology.com/Products/G-DRIVE.cfm for back up .
I'm thinking about getting a faster drive as scratch disk for every day use but to be honest I don't really know what to choose or if I would need it ,do I go in using the PCI slot on the MBP and FW800 drives or what 😕, I don't really know what to choose , I suppose it depends if I go MBP or not.

I like the look of the G Tech back up hardware at http://www.g-technology.com/
and think I will buy stuff from there it is kind of sexy looking and there stuff gets reasonably good reviews .

I'm also trying to decide if i need to buy a sound card and MIDI controller or not which, hope fully , is where you come in.


I mix vinyl on Technics at times & record to digital ( need to record in pristine audio) .
I make electronic music & remix's ( well try too) using software instruments in Logic Express 7 (soon to upgrade to LS) & GB ,I use no external 'real' instruments, I'm waiting on new purchase(s) to start on the learning curve that is Reason , I've dabbled for a while and would like to start to get more serious about quality of sound and production ....


Sorry about the long ,rambling & possibly incoherent post 😱

...I have been reading all over the forum for weeks now and suppose I'm really just looking to bounce some ideas around with some like minds and chat about buying options 🙂

I need some advice , I have about £1200(ish) UK £ as budget limit

Help me spend it

thanks

 

[firestarter]

So , I have saved and saved and now it is time to buy the hardware 😀 .

Basically , I will be buying either a Macbook or MBP(Apple refurb) very soon along with some external storage, a MIDI controller and maybe a sound card too, probably just after WWDC , I would love to get some advice on on it all.
I've been looking at this http://www.g-technology.com/Products/G-SAFE.cfm & http://www.g-technology.com/Products/G-DRIVE.cfm for back up .

Mirrored storage is not backup (even if they say it is on their web site)!

Mirroring protects against a single disk failure only. If you:
- Accidentally delete a file
- Drop the box / loose it in a fire / get it stolen
- Get file system corruption
etc. then you're hosed - and arguably these are more likely events than a disk crash.

If you're going to pay for two disks, it's better to have them in separate boxes, and rotate them offsite (leave one at work / parents house etc.)

I'm thinking about getting a faster drive as scratch disk for every day use but to be honest I don't really know what to choose or if I would need it ,do I go in using the PCI slot on the MBP and FW800 drives or what 😕, I don't really know what to choose , I suppose it depends if I go MBP or not.

I like the look of the G Tech back up hardware at http://www.g-technology.com/
and think I will buy stuff from there it is kind of sexy looking and there stuff gets reasonably good reviews .

I like the MacBook - especially since you can really easily swap the internal hard drive (without voiding your warranty). The most cost effective option for a bigger fast hard drive may be to get a low end MacBook, and swap the internal drive over to a fast 7200rpm drive.

I'm also trying to decide if i need to buy a sound card and MIDI controller or not which, hope fully is where you come in.


I mix vinyl on Technics at times & record to digital ( need to record in pristine audio) .
I make electronic music & remix's ( well try too) using software instruments in Logic Express 7 (soon to upgrade to LS) & GB ,I use no external 'real' instruments, I'm waiting on new purchase(s) to start on the learning curve that is Reason , I've dabbled for a while and would like to start to get more serious about quality of sound and production ....


Sorry about the long ,rambling & possibly incoherent post 😱

...I have been reading all over the forum for weeks now and suppose I'm really just looking to bounce some ideas around with some like minds and chat about buying options 🙂

I need some advice , I have about £1200(ish) UK £ as budget limit

Help me spend it

thanks

I have the Motu Ultralight which is awesome:
http://www.motu.com/products/motuaudio/ultralite/

It's a bit more expensive than the ususal entry level interface - but it's on firewire (low latency) and has everything you need - Midi, audio etc.

For better value, there are some really good combination keyboards / midi / audio interfaces around (if you haven'[t already got a keyboard for reason).

The Novation X station looks awesome:
http://www.novationmusic.com/products/midi_control/xstation/

 

[marbles]

Hello , sorry about the long time no post ,I had a bit of crazy few days here , then WWDC ....

Mirrored storage is not backup (even if they say it is on their web site)!

Mirroring protects against a single disk failure only. If you:
- Accidentally delete a file
- Drop the box / loose it in a fire / get it stolen
- Get file system corruption
etc. then you're hosed - and arguably these are more likely events than a disk crash.

If you're going to pay for two disks, it's better to have them in separate boxes, and rotate them offsite (leave one at work / parents house etc.)

I thought it would be a good idea to go for a mirrored drive because it would protect against a 1 disk fail scenario but I hear what you say about keeping the back up in separate boxes & to use a different site to store one at , so thats sorta what I think I'm going to do 😕 .

I'll get a mirrored drive for back up at my home & every day use ( good idea or not ?) then , a 500Gb or 1TB drive off site , probably this : http://www.g-technology.com/Products/G-MINI.cfm

I like the MacBook - especially since you can really easily swap the internal hard drive (without voiding your warranty). The most cost effective option for a bigger fast hard drive may be to get a low end MacBook, and swap the internal drive over to a fast 7200rpm drive.

Sounds like a plan to me 🙂 , this way I'll save having to buy that mini drive , shame , I really fancied having that too I think it was its looks that where making me want it .
Your right , don't need it ...just upgrade the HD in the MB.

I have the Motu Ultralight which is awesome:
http://www.motu.com/products/motuaudio/ultralite/

It's a bit more expensive than the ususal entry level interface - but it's on firewire (low latency) and has everything you need - Midi, audio etc.

For better value, there are some really good combination keyboards / midi / audio interfaces around (if you haven'[t already got a keyboard for reason).

The Novation X station looks awesome:
http://www.novationmusic.com/products/midi_control/xstation/

This is where I start to get confused . I don't really know if I'm going to need any external devices (tbh,why I need them) , I make music using only software instruments ...I also record dj mixes & would like to edit them .
( do I need the MBP & 4Gb ram ?)

Do I need to get an external soundcard and controller for what I want to do ? what are the benefits if I go ahead and get ?

or maybe ....would a high end dj mixer with MIDI control be a good solution ?

I'm stuck 😱

 

[marbles]

I'm sure some more folk on MacRumors vcould help me spend my hard earned