Please help me find the right MAC for my ProjectMix and ProTools
 

The M-Audio board is pretty slow. I've posted in the windows/pc forum a few times. But here's a quick rundown-
I've given up on my Dell Dimension 3000. Honestly, the money spent on the Dell(loaded w/PT 7.4, Adobe cs5, Sony Vegas, 20 plugins, etc) combined with getting a MAC off craigslist won't top what I dropped on the Project Mix. It's stubborn and stupid, I know. But trying to fix a PC, plus working with Windows XP has been the most draining and confusing process. The music isn't a great money-maker by any means,but I gotta get the studio running again asap to pay rent and keep up with grad school. Plus, I know PT so well and have a hard time using other software.

So my question to you all is-what MAC has worked flawlessly for you and your ProjectMix?

And

What tips(Firewire cards, little specs that'll make or break your workflow, etc) could u offer?

I know working with Firewire will never be as smooth as we'd like, but any opinions would be amazing. My Dell worked great for months, did some quality recordings. But(I'm guessing) it couldn't handle the strain and started popping, clicking, RTA overload, etc.

I'll be working with PT Mpowered 8. I'll probably network the Dell with the MAC(if possible) to run Reason 3.0 into Pro Tools.

For real, I really do appreciate the advice.

Re: Please help me find the right MAC for my ProjectMix and ProTools
 

It really depends on your budget, and how big your sessions are.

I mean, a Mac Pro is always ideal for audio, but it's not within everyone's budget.

If you're not working with huge sessions or tons of cpu chugging plugins, you could very easily get away with a Mac Mini.

iMac is pretty middle of the road, has lots of screen real estate, and with an i7 would be pretty screaming... but it's quite limited as far as add-ons and upgrades.

If you're looking for mobility, a Macbook Pro is easily the best laptop for running audio software, PC or otherwise.

Re: Please help me find the right MAC for my ProjectMix and ProTools
 

Thanks for the quick reply!

I don't use many plug-ins, I prefer outboard effects. But what worries me is that I can't go 10 seconds on my Dell without 9128 errors and ungodly amounts of pops and clicks. The only CPU draining plugin I'll be using is Reason. But after ReWire-ing into multiple tracks and recording(10 minutes tops), I usually ditch the plugs and run the all the midi tracks through rack gear, and back into PT.

With that in mind, how do you think this would work. I guess my budget is limited to 500-700. Here's an example of a super affordable option. I'm not sure how this would work for me. I wouldn't mind dropping 5/550 on a MAC, and a couple hundred on a second internal drive if I knew I wouldn't have the issues I'm having now.

* Apple Power Mac G5 2 CPUs each 2.5 GHz, Bus Speed 1.35ghz

* 4 GB DDR SDRAM Memory

* 1000GB SATA II hard drive (bay one)

* Dual-layer SuperDrive DVD/CD RW (factory installed)

* GigaEthernet

* Ports: One (1) FireWire 800, Two (2) FireWire 400, Three (3) USB 2.0

* Video Card: GeForce 5200FX

* Video: 1 DVI port, 1ADC port, supports two monitors simultaneously

* Audio: Digital optical in and out, headphone jack

* Three PCI-X Expansion slots (133mhz - 64bit, 2*100mhz - 64bit)
There are plenty of 4 or 5 year old desktop MAC's like this around. Same with G4/G5 models from 2006/07ish with 2 drives for a bit more. Hmm

Re: Please help me find the right MAC for my ProjectMix and ProTools
 

There's a reason why G4/G5s are so cheap right now... because they've hit the end of the line. No more new software from any company, and this includes Avid and Apple. Both have now officially dropped support for PPC. Many other companies have already followed suit. So if you expect any longevity from a G5 purchase these days, you won't get any.

I would buy a new Mac Mini over an old G5 tower. The computer you spec'd out is at least 5 years old by now. That is ANCIENT as far as computers go.

Re: Please help me find the right MAC for my ProjectMix and ProTools
 

I moved my PMIO interface from PC-to-MAC recently, and it was easy-breezy...

First 6 months after I got my interface and set it up, it was on a Dell Precision 380 w/ XP SP3, then Win7 x64 running PT 8.0.1 and later 8.0.3.
Both PC OS setups had their various and sundry random issues...mostly annoyances and I worked through them decently-enough (TI-based Firewire card, driver fights...etc etc etc).....but decided I wanted to go MAC.

I went with a 27" i5 iMac w/ 4GB and I have yet to see PT freeze, complain, or otherwise crash. Nothing's perfect and problems will inevitably happen, but so far over a month in and I have to say my Mac experience has been far and away less "troubleshoot-y". I've heard various complaints about the Mac's Bluetooth keyboard & mouse having some issues...but I have yet to see any on mine.
The PMIO seems to run as good or better on the Mac as well. No complaints so far. No pops, or glitches...no white noise (something I had a few times on Win7).

I'm loving PT on the Mac, everyone's mileage (and plug-in / interface combos etc) will vary...but it's been great so far.

Re: Please help me find the right MAC for my ProjectMix and ProTools
 

Got to agree with Dism. This is not the time to be buying a power mac. I just switched form a PC to a used IMac and don't let me be misleading as I am by no means a pro but my experience with the imac has been excellent with PT8. I have mine set up with an maudio fast track ultra. No more pops, clicks or the like.

I bought a used Imac with 2ghz duo processor and 3 gig of ram for $565 and added a terrabite external hard drive for another $100. I bumped up to Snow leopard from Tiger for $40 (youtube will teach you how). So in total I've got about $700 into the computer portion of my rig. If your budget is forcing you under $1k I expect you will be much happier f you go this route.

BTW you can save some cash by using your old monitor, keyboard and mouse and going the mac mini route. I just found a great deal on the IMac first.

Ray

Re: Please help me find the right MAC for my ProjectMix and ProTools
 

Damn, thanks everyone! It's funny how duc posters are more helpful than all the IT people i've talked to, as they don't know much about DAW.
I wish i knew using a DELL would give me so much grief BEFORE i bought it. oh well.

So ya'll are saying go for the mac mini or imac? I'm guessing youre totally right. I'll start researching and grab one within the week. So, i basically need an IMac with secondary drives/room for secondary drive, right? I'm a little paranoid in regards to using a firewire external HD because my ProjectMix would need a separate firewire card to plug into.

Dism-Mac Mini sounds awesome, but I would def have to get the mac mini dual drive, right? I got a few nice lcd monitors i could hook up. I wonder if the wireless mouse/keyboard combo would be an issue like it is on my Dell.

CC and Kaiser-What should i look for in a used imac? I know it sounds retarded, but my computer IQ is pretty low. I followed all the windows/PC requirements(specs exceed requirements) and did all the optimization stuff, but still got f'd. Are there certain specs that I should look out for?

Again, ya'll are awesome. I appreciate all the feedback, and hopefully can help someone else out day.

Re: Please help me find the right MAC for my ProjectMix and ProTools
 

I am using a new i7 iMac with only one FW800 port, 2 external FW400 drives and a projectMix I/O with absolutely no issues. System has been working like a breeze... and no -6101 errors as well...

Re: Please help me find the right MAC for my ProjectMix and ProTools
 

One FireWire port is all you need. FireWire can be daisychained. Meaning, plug the hard drive into the Mac, then ProjectMix into the hard drive.
So, if you need the optical drive in the Mini, you can leave it in there. The dual drive would probably give you a bit better performance, however. There are plenty of inexpensive external optical drives out there, too, if you need to do some disk burning, etc.