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Which Mac For Music?

R

RobMccormack

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 10, 2007
20
0
Near London
Yo People.

Hope Your All Good!

Right, Im 15 And Produce Music Using Reason And Cubase On My Laptop At The Mo (Acer Aspire 5102Wlmi)

The Thing Is, Ive Saved Like 800 For A Mac And Ive Decided On Either A IMac Or A Mac Mini. And I Dont Know Which To Get. Unless There Is Another Mac For That Money That Is Better?



Both Seem Good But If Anyone Could Help With Any Tips On Which Is Better For Music Production, Or Which Is More Compatible With Hardware, Or Generally Whats Best For My Money And Any Pros And Cons On Each One.



I Would Be Very Grateful As I Dont Want To Make The Wrong Decision.



Thanks








Edit: Ive Been Told On Another Forum The Imac Would Be Best For The Money. Anyones Oppinions?
 
they will both do the job. i'd say imac jsut because it has more processing power. wait for santa rosa. this way you have more options to expand your memory.
 
iMac without a doubt.
The mini is hobbled by its slower laptop sized hard drive - and you'd have to buy a screen, keyboard and mouse.

Whatever you buy, budget as soon as you can for 2 Gb RAM minimum and an external Firewire hard drive for putting your audio data on, keeping it separate from the boot hard drive.
 
iMac, definitely.

Don't go for the entry level one though, with the integrated GMA950 graphics. They're really not that good...
 
Thanks For The Advice So Far, Its Appreciated Alot.

Ive Worked Fingers To The Bone For This Money And I Dont Want To Make The Wrong Decision.
 
Hey, at least he does know capitalization, unlike others in here. ;)

If you can afford it, go for the iMac.
 
RobMccormack said:
Oh And Also...

Santa Rosa iMac? :confused:

Can Someone Enlighten Me.
Click to expand...

perhaps i should have said "brushed aluminum iMac". unually the iMac is a MacBook Pro spec'd machine put into a pretty desktop enclosure. Assuming that the next iteration of the iMac will have an updated chipset, it would most likely be the santa rosa chipset. hence: santa rosa imac. but no one is really calling it that. my bad. :)
 
2.5" HDDs (like the one in the MacMini) don't have the same read/write capabilities of 3.5" HDDs (like the one in the iMac), so if you're recording multiple tracks, you'll love the extra performace of the iMac's HDD.

I think its unanimous that an iMac would be best in your situation. As for buying advice, definitely wait at least until the next revision. :)
 
Yeah Thanks For The Help.

Im Looking To Hold Out For The New/Upgraded IMac, But Not Sure If It Will Be Released Here In The U.K The Same Time As The U.S...
 
To add my 2 cents - if you want to do any recording near that Mac - avoid the iMac. I recorded my podcast ( http://www.maccast.de ) for 2 years using a iMac and you can clearly hear the sound and noise from the always turning fans. If you use it just for mixing its great.
 
Don't jump the gun and spend your money too soon.

You want a complete working system with enough RAM and storage
to accomplish something.

I would save until you have enough for the latest mid level model, 2 GB RAM
minimum and the most satorage you can afford.

You'll also need an interface if you plan to record or produce analog sounds like vocals acoustic guitar or whatever.

So honestly, I would consider you to be about half way there on your savings
for a great system
 
imac, firewire

I also have recorded on my imac, it's always sounded pretty quiet to my ears. the thing that's got me crazy now is the OS upgrade vs. firewire audio interface (see seperate post...)
 
Killyp said:
With an external mic? You shouldn't get any fan noise at all, the iMac is near silent.
Click to expand...

Aha - no it isn't. Somehow depends on your mic but if you use a condensor mic with a large diaphragm (or small) you will clearly hear the noise on the recording. Now it depends if that is acceptable to you or not.

If you want to get an idea how loud the iMac is have a look at my podcast. The episode called Macmeeting - I think three episodes ago - has four guys talking. And one was using an iMac w/ external Mic via Firewire. I guess you should be able to clearly tell which one that was (his name is Simon).

Cheers
LaForge
 
CmdrLaForge said:
if you use a condensor mic with a large diaphragm (or small) you will clearly hear the noise on the recording. Now it depends if that is acceptable to you or not.
Click to expand...
i find that crap unacceptable.

in your situation, did you try playing with the placement of the mic, keeping the mac in one of the nulls? you can also use some baffling between the mic and the mac, or on reflective surfaces.

best bet, though, is to keep the two in different rooms.
 
zimv20 said:
i find that crap unacceptable.

in your situation, did you try playing with the placement of the mic, keeping the mac in one of the nulls? you can also use some baffling between the mic and the mac, or on reflective surfaces.

best bet, though, is to keep the two in different rooms.
Click to expand...

Sure - you can always try to keep the noise down. Recording in two different rooms like a soundstudio would be best. You might have to deal with some long cables but that should be possible to handle.

But it doesn't help the original poster because he will not use his Mac for recording. Then the iMac is perfect anyway.
 
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