How do macs handle recording?

[The-Warlord]

For my uni course i am required to own a mac powerbook. I am looking to buy a powerbook pro and upgrade its ram and processor to the max. After this, say if i bought one of those firewire interfaces to record stuff..how well could it record? Also, on a side note, how good is a ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 256MB GDDR3 memory? Gaming wise

Just trying to get a general idea...thanks all!

 

[stalefish]

Are you asking quality or quantity?

Recording resolution will depend on your soundcard.
Number of tracks at one time will depend on the speed of your HD and processor.

Read the 'What to look for 'http://www.sweetwater.com/shop/studio/multitrack-recorders/buying-guide.php part

 

[Cheez]

Number of tracks at one time will depend on the speed of your HD and processor.

Actually, the HD speed is even more important in this case. An external HD with fast seek/read and write time is recommended.

 

[The-Warlord]

What is considered "fast"?
Also, if the sound card is important, seeing as I cannot change the soundcard internally, is one of these external things going to help?

 

[stalefish]

is one of these external things going to help?

They'd do everything except clean your fingernails and tie your shoe laces :lol:

 

[gargamelesp]

of course an external soundcard would be much much better. I think you meant the macbookpro, not powerbook pro? go to www.tweakheadz.com to read all about souncards and interfaces.

From what i gathered, i too am doing laptop based recording, and getting an external usb or firewire (recommended) soundcard will sovle the problem of the not up to standard on board souncard.

 

[neuro182]

1 of my bandmate uses his iBook to record our band's demo & the quality . . . . . . . . . SWEET!!

its machiam studio recording, but of cuz other factors contribute too - his house acoustic, the placement of amps & volume/tone control etc.

 

[The-Warlord]

is one of these external things going to help?

They'd do everything except clean your fingernails and tie your shoe laces :lol:

Dammit! The TWO things I can't do..... 8)

Ok then..Cause I turn 18 in September and get the birthday fund thing from my grabdparents..so time to go blow 5k on a nice shiny laptop

 

[The-Warlord]

Been looking around, and can't seem to find a firewire interface that I could plug my mixer into...just a small 4 track mixer but I like the extra control...any idaes?

 

[fictionaire_gse]

...

What you need is a media interface device that you can just plug into a USB port. I've got a Steinberg MI4 that I bought with the Cubase SL3 programming software. I'm actually thinking of selling them - just not using them enough to justify having them. If you're interested in buying, let me know.

 

[The-Warlord]

Re: ...

Sorry, will be going for firewire..faster

 

[The-Warlord]

Hi folks..

So i have deceided on a 17" Macbook pro, and a MOTU Traveler, with a Maxtor OneTouch III 300GB haddrive. I have a few final questions..

1. Is the maxtor a good external hard drive? I have been told over and over to use a second hd when recordin audio, but does thjis work? Do i set hte sequencer to save stuff to my external one, and my built-in hd just runs the OS? so i can split the load? Or how does that work

2. I'ld likeqw to get an external midi controller, a keyboard, as small as possible...I can only find USB ones. First off, if i plug the traveler into my laptop by firewire, and my keyboard controller by USB, can it still be used ok? Cause the traveler does not have a usb input!

3. Can you guys reccomend some keyboard controllers? Size is main issue, thenprice is second - as low as possible. I was looking at the M-audio ones, but i can only find usb ones...the traveler has a firewire input so if i could find a cheap firewire midi controller i could plug it into the traveler and that would amke stuff easier.

Im very new to usb/firewire controllers, so im a little confused by it all! Cant wait to get the traveler and macbook pro though!

 

[teraslasch]

hi, pertaining your question to the midi controller, you just have to connect to your laptop and it work wonders through the USB. You can choose either to connect by usb or via a midi cable to your firewire interface, either way works .. m-audio midi controllers would definetely what you would be looking for now ..

 

[The-Warlord]

So If i connect the MIDI controller to the traveler by midi cables, it will work as well as if it went directly to the laptop? Also, If i plug the midi controller into the traveler, will i haave latecny issues? Id liek to record stuff with the midi controller in real time..i woudl expect the traveler to be able to handle it but cant find a mention of ASIO 2 anywhere on the traveler specs..
http://www.motu.com/products/motuaudio/traveler
http://www.motu.com/products/motuaudio/traveler/features.html

thanks )

 

[Lifehouse]

The X1600 should be good enough for most games.

 

[Cheez]

1. A 300GB external hard drive is an overkill. I will recommend the external
HD for recording, not for storage. After you record into your HD and after mix-down, store the file somewhere else. You don't have to buy branded external HD - too expensive. Just get a normal IDE HD (Seagate or Maxtor if you wish) and get a USB 2 casing. You save a lot of money. also know that HD with storage capacity greater than 120GB has pretty thin plates. If you use your HD for recording/streaming etc frequenly (ie it's spinning often), it will wear out fast. It's OK for storage. My suggestion is to get 120GB or smaller.

2. MOTU traveller supports ASIO - one their website. Shouldn't be a problem with latency if you plug your midi controller through it. But you may want to look for cheaper alternatives other than MOTU - ie unless you already own it.

 

[victorp]

I do not recommend getting a USB-based HD as it takes up more CPU cycles than FW-based HD. I suggest you visit SGL Marketing at 2nd floor of Sim Lim Square to acquire a HD enclosure as well as a HD to go with it - HD capacity is up to your budget. They have one enclosure that is Aluminium and it complements the PowerBook/MacBook Pro/Power Mac G5 nicely.

Mac OS X Tiger uses Apple CoreAudio and CoreMIDI technology. Several advantages of Core Audio are that it tries to bring latency as low as possible, multiple applications can access the audio hardware simultaneously, it supports Audio Units which are plug-ins for DSP and software instruments. There is also AuNetSend & AuNetReceive plug-ins where you can send a Stereo mix audio from one Mac to another Mac via their built-in Gigabit Ethernet network. As for CoreMIDI, it supports multiple-MIDI ports with patching as well as sending and receiving MIDI data from multiple Mac computers via its Gigabit Ethernet network.

When it comes to Audio/MIDI hardware, how many physical Audio Channels do you want to record simultaneously as well as play back? Do you really require Automation? Do you want portability? And a host of other questions.

In my opinion, you should get Logic Express or, if budget allows, Logic Pro (or upgrade later). You should be able to get the software at Educational Pricing but this pricing is only available through Apple Online Store. One downside is that if you get Logic Express now and want to upgrade to Logic Pro later, there is no Education Pricing for upgrades (like any other Apple software) so make your choice wisely. The Logic series is already Universal (v7.2 onwards), that is, the software runs natively in Intel-based and PowerPC Mac computers.

By the way, if I may ask, which University are you going to?

 

[Cheez]

Yes, FW HD will be best. Unfortunately, I believe his FW port is taken up by his MOTU traveller.

 

[victorp]

That is why I asked him his actual audio hardware requirements to see if USB Audio device would suit his requirements. Also, most of the time, you can daisy-chain a FW HD and FW audio device without problem.

 

[Cheez]

I've never daisy-chained audio before. Just out of curiousity, wouldn't daisy-chaining audio and HD affect the bandwidth (particularly if we are talking about multiple audio tracks and working at 24/96)?