New Alu15" For Audio?

[alobonzo]

Hi,
I've been waiting for the new alubooks for a long time.
I sold my emac 'cause wanna go mobile recording with my motu 896 and a Lacie Fw 80 Gb.
Does anybody know if the new alu's are good machines for recording,mixing and mastering audio profesionally?
It's gonna be the only machine to work at the moment.
Any help appreciated.
Thanx a lot.

 

[logicat2001]

Hello,

I think we need much more info than that:
- how many tracks?
- what fidelity audio?
- what applications to record, mix and master?

FYI: I'm using a 12" 867MHz Powerbook G4 running:
- Logic 6 Platinum
- Ableton Live 2
- MetaSynth & MetaTrack

It's fine for my needs.

Also, I'm curious to hear about your experience with the MOTU 896. My studio mate and I have been considering it in place of a Digi002, and using it in tandem with Logic.

What has your experience been with the 896?

Best, Logicat

 

[alobonzo]

hi

Well,
I'm gonna record rehearsing sessions and live bands and mix stuff of the studio.
Maybe 18 tracks recording at the same time, mixing 30 or something like that, using plugins.....
I love the 896, the pre's are really good, conversion to digital is one of the best right now on the market.
I tested the digi 001 converters with the 896 and the digi ones really suck.
I use digital performer 4, I love it.
I think is a good invest if you need the pre's for recording, if you already have good pre's then get the 828 mkII.
We connect the 828 + 896 in tandem and they work perfectly.
You should get info about connecting the two machines, can you really use logic with the 002? I can't believe it!
Hope I helped you.
I'm gonna record 24 bits 44100 if this help you

 

[logicat2001]

Thanks very much. Yes, your answers are helpful. I look forward to the 896 very much.

As long as your audio files reside on the external drive, that PowerBook might be more robust than the eMac, but most definitely a match.

If you end up with a new 15" AluBook and really must have high track counts, upgrade your HD to a FW800 drive. I've read accounts that it's almost completely on par with an internal HD.

Have you ever read www.osxaudio.com or www.unicornation.com?

You should be able to find more actual user reports about the new 15". I've found OsXAudio to be very friendly, informative and upbeat.

Good luck!

Best regards,
Logicat

 

[cr2sh]

Recording 18 tracks at the same time at 44.1/24bit... ? You're over estimating the strength of a +1GHz g4, that much computing is just not going to happen on that single cpu powerbook.

I've got the 17" 1st gen alumi-book, with a racked motu 828, a class-a preamp, and one of the kidney bean POD 2.0... also the new version of AudioDesk 2 from MOTU for mixing and SPARK ME for editing (for now). I am also using REASON for midi.

I'm very happy with the setup... for what I have in it money wise, I'm also very happy with the sound I'm getting (though I do need to invest in some monitors). I travel so much and I'm find myself sitting in the hotel, mixing beats and throwing down some lyrics.. its very nice to be able to travel and still write... it really keeps me sane.

I think you'll be happy with it, I find the 17" is great being able to keep WORD open for lyrics, having Reason on the right side.. plenty of screen space. The 15" will be less, but I think you'll find it comfortable.. I can't imagine using a 12" though.. thats just too little. If you're going with a MOTU 896 or 828 keep in mind that you'll HAVE to buy a firewire 800 harddrive enclosure. The alumi-books only have one firewire 400 port.

For me, I need monitors, a firewire 800 enclosure, new headphones, a small synth (novation k-station?) to carry with me... and the most vital of all...

http://www.pelican.com/cases/cases.html

 

[advres]

hey - i do DVD projects for Austin Enterprise. Check out his setup in on the website. He is using a dual 800 but software has to be made to utilized dual processor machines which his audio apps arent, so he is basically running a 800mhz g4.
on a side note - I bought the 1.25 Ghz aluminum two days after it came out replacing my 1Ghz. i do heavy video editing and composting/special effects work and this machine rocks. I don't even use a desktop system anymore.
also if you need more drive space than go to OWC for their firewire drives. they are cheap and have great service. None of their drives have ever let me down.

 

[WinterMute]

If you are using the MOTU, you shouldn't have a problem with multiple input recordings, as the a/d conversion is done in the rack and firewire is carrying digital info, using an external FW800 drive will always help, although as far as I'm aware there are no native FW800 drives around yet, mearly 400's bridged into 800 enclosures.

I have a 7200 rpm lacie that works very well over 400, but as cr2sh notes, the AluBooks only have 1 FW port, so an 800 is probably the only bet.

I use the internal drive for collection on most occasions, but at 4200 its a bit slow for higher track counts (24+)

The PB is a very capable machine for audio production, inevitably it's not as powerful as a G4 DP or a G5, but have you tried carrying one of those oround on the Underground?

 

[alset]

I'm sure you'll be fine. I know lots of peope who have complex mixes on PBs. Then again, I like having the added power of a second processor for my mixes, as I push time based effects a lot more than most.

Dan

edit - I also use a lot of soft synths, and those can drag on the processor a lot.

 

[alobonzo]

Thanx for your replies
a few months ago I tried a first generation of alu12" with dp4 and the 896+a Lacie 7200 rpm conected to the only firewire port.
We tested recording and mixing a lot of tracks
We could record 18 tracks at the same time 24 bits 44100 without problems, I stoped recording on the minute 8, even I put 5 plugins, masterworks compressor, masterworks limiter and 3 reverbs on the master fader and the 12" didn't crash.
I suppose that with the new alu15" I will do the job.
My question is now getting the top model with superdrive or the combo model?
What do you think?


pd. sorry for my english

 

[WinterMute]

If you can afford it, get the superdrive, it makes backing up large audio projects to DVD a simple task, and allows you to keep your target drive clear at all times, one of the problems you'll encounter is slow-down of transfer speeds as the info on the disc becomes more fragmented, and the buffering has to work harder, if you erase the disc before every new session (if possible) you won't have problems.

It's unlikely that loading a mix with plug-ins will crash the computer, I've yet to lose ProTools under OSX, but you will run out of DSP power and not be able to use any more FX.

 

[logicat2001]

I also vote for the SuperDrive model, for exactly the same reason as WinterMute: backup/archiving.

The ability to archive large amounts of data without needing to lug an external drive around is tremendous.

Best,
Logicat

 

[JFreak]

Originally posted by cr2sh
Recording 18 tracks at the same time at 44.1/24bit... ? You're over estimating the strength of a +1GHz g4, that much computing is just not going to happen on that single cpu powerbook.

no, that's not an over-estimate. i really don't know about dp4, but in my protools environment (6LE, 18in/10out, max 32 tracks in mix) that is very easy. recording without plugins, that is. track count may be lower with heavy real-time plugin use during the session.

i often record bands live while providing foh-mix and monitors. usually 12-18 audio channels, one reverb and plenty of other plugins, so we're not talking stadium-size gigs here. (though it would be just as easy but would require a tdm-system). at heaviest, the cpu-meter has hit 75% so the system could be pushed even a little more. i haven't yet tested the absolute maximum, because i usually need to sustain recording for several hours after i hit record...

this can be done with my 667mhz powerbook.

(if you do the math, 18 tracks of 24bit 44.1khz audio translates into a little more than 2 MB/s. that's not too much for a powerbook if you only wish to record. playback through a million plugins is completely different story...)

 

[advres]

if saving money is the issue buy an external DVD-R firewire drive. they are faster write speads than the superdrive in powerbooks and they are portable to different workstations. I have the 1.25 ghz powerbook with superdrive but use my firewire burner because it is faster.

 

[uptick]

just might add that any processor intensive task will make the PB run very warm. so don't be mixing on your lap!