Yet another "Which iMac?": for a music guy

[pa2jonah]

Hello ladies and gents,

I am returning to the Apple family after 17 years lurking amongst the PCs. I thought I had my mind made up on which new iMac, but seeing as how the benefits of some of this technology is over my head, I must defer to more knowledgeble people.(that's y'all)

Anywho, I will be using my iMac for your usual e-mail, web-browsing, picture-editing(amateur), etc. I will, however; also be using it for home music recording and arranging. Are there any benefits to the quad-core for this application, or any possible future benefits. I tend to hang on to computers for 6-8 years before upgrading.

I thank you in advance for your responses.

Jason

 

[jczaja]

I just purchased a 27" iMac (base model) and am happy with the performance running Logic Pro using a Metric Halo 2882 +DSP audio interface. The Quad Core should allow you to run more AU plugins simultaneously. That being said, the base model allows me to run far more plugins than i will probably use. Make sure you have the proper connections for your audio gear. I needed to get a FW 400 --> 800 converter cable as the iMac's no longer have the FW400 input.

-jay

 

[lasuther]

You'll want the i5 base. The screen size, quadcore, and graphics card upgrades will be big over 6 to 8 years.

 

[Kronie]

If you can budget for it get the i7 quad. If for no other reason than it will last you longer. You might get another year or two out of it!

 

[choubaka]

I have the same question too.

Ill be runnin Pro Tools 8 LE, Reason 4 and Acid Pro and this new iMac. I was wondering if the i5 was good enough for me to run without any lag.

and will the graph card will be good for games like diablo 3 or star craft 2 coming out? I was thinking about that too!

 

[arcarsenal72]

I'd recommend getting the fastest processor possible if you plan on running plug-ins natively. I've been running a ProTools 003 setup on our drummer's C2D iMac with great results. So in short, if you can afford to get the best, I would, but you should be ok with a C2D. Ram is also very important. You have to consider the bottleneck effect.

 

[choubaka]

I'd recommend getting the fastest processor possible if you plan on running plug-ins natively. I've been running a ProTools 003 setup on our drummer's C2D iMac with great results. So in short, if you can afford to get the best, I would, but you should be ok with a C2D. Ram is also very important. You have to consider the bottleneck effect.

thanks for the info, now I should look for an i7 then..

what about the lil gaming question I already asked in the post above?

 

[mac-ho]

Gaming, Movies= QUAD.

 

[choubaka]

Gaming, Movies= QUAD.

ur talking bout the i7?