Want to upgrade my Mac...advice?

[Jace Everett]

Currently I'm using:
MDD G4
DP 1.25
2G of RAM (my signature says 1 Gig, but I just upgraded)
PTLE 7.1
Kontakt (guitar Rig 2, Battery 2, Elektric Piano, Absynth, Intakt, etc.)
Gold Bundle

I'm eating up way too much CPU power and am thinking of using my G4 to run the soft synths as a stand alone unit. I do a lot of vocal work and use the soft synths for drums, keys, and the occasional guitar track (guitar rig 2 sounds a lot better than my VG-8)
Any thoughts on what Mac I shjould get; iMac-the 20-inch with 2 gigs of ram or the MacPro.

The built in monitor aspect of the iMac is appealing, but I'm concerned I won't alleviate my CPU issues.

Love to hear from anyone who really knows the scoop.

Jace

[Jace Everett]

ker bump

[dubaifox]

I am in the same boat.

I need to build a second studio where I'd like to have one Mac, two hard synths, an 002 and loads of plugs to crank out various types of music.

The main thing holding me back from IntelMac is my main axes from Spectrasonics aren't and wont be Intel ready for a while, but I hate to dump a lot of money into an older G5.

In your case, I would definitley get the MacPro, so you could have all of your hard drives in one place.

[kooz]

Wanna take some load off your G4 processors? check out a Waves APA unit to handle the processing of the plugs you use. (check out the used/demo page at sweetwater for deals.) It will free up some host power for yr VIs, and you'll be able to save some $ when you upgrade to a new mac.

[Forum Member LE]

I am in the same boat.

The main thing holding me back from IntelMac is my main axes from Spectrasonics aren't and wont be Intel ready for a while, but I hate to dump a lot of money into an older G5.

I definitely wouldn't let Spectrasonics hold me at a stagnant point if I needed more power.
I would just find another solution and move on until they catch up.

[Forum Member LE]

Wanna take some load off your G4 processors? check out a Waves APA unit to handle the processing of the plugs you use. (check out the used/demo page at sweetwater for deals.) It will free up some host power for yr VIs, and you'll be able to save some $ when you upgrade to a new mac.

The APA units are a waste in their current form because only a limited number of Waves plugs will currently run on it.
So it does add power but only for certain plugs not all the Waves plugs.

[Forum Member LE]

Currently I'm using:
MDD G4
DP 1.25
2G of RAM (my signature says 1 Gig, but I just upgraded)
PTLE 7.1
Kontakt (guitar Rig 2, Battery 2, Elektric Piano, Absynth, Intakt, etc.)
Gold Bundle

I'm eating up way too much CPU power and am thinking of using my G4 to run the soft synths as a stand alone unit. I do a lot of vocal work and use the soft synths for drums, keys, and the occasional guitar track (guitar rig 2 sounds a lot better than my VG-8)
Any thoughts on what Mac I shjould get; iMac-the 20-inch with 2 gigs of ram or the MacPro.

The built in monitor aspect of the iMac is appealing, but I'm concerned I won't alleviate my CPU issues.

Love to hear from anyone who really knows the scoop.

Jace

Any of the IntelMacs give a major bump in power so you will get much better performance by upgrading.
I would say check the plugs you need to see if they are available and if you will have to pay to upgrade them for the Intel.
You have a tower so it's probably best to go with a new tower unless the funding is a real issue.
One of the biggest reasons for the tower would be if you want to later try a UADe or Duende.
You would require a slot in the tower for the installation of the UADe or for a FW card for the Duende.

[Jace Everett]

Thanks for all the insights fellas.

I definitely won't be gettin the Waves stand alone unit. It might be a good work around for some, but my G4 already handles the Gold bundle with no problems at all. It's the Native Instruments stuff that is kicking it's butt. Guitar Rig and Electrik Piano work great stand alone, but give fairly consistent hiccups when actually tracking.

The tower argument is a good one, but then I also will need to buy an additional monitor. Thus making the tower cost about double the iMac. I will have to do an upgrade on the Gold Bundle, but the soft synths will continue to run on my G4 as a stand alone "synth" machine. The NI stuff all works standalone and doesn't seem to bog down the machine nearly as much when PT isn't running .

Still, maybe I should get rid of the G4 all together and put the money towards a monster Mac Pro and continue to use one machine for all.

Sorry to be so wishy washy, but I'm about to drop a lot of bread and want all the input I can get!

Thanks to all posters.

[Forum Member LE]

Still, maybe I should get rid of the G4 all together and put the money towards a monster Mac Pro and continue to use one machine for all.

That's what I feel would make the most sense.
The power of the new Macs is more than enough to merit not having to deal with trying to use 2 machines together.

[Jace Everett]

I'm leaning that way more and more. Thanks so much for your insights.

Any more from anyone is also apreciatted (i always spell that incorrectly).