Am I wasting my money?

[Len Grantham]

With two small children (ages 3&5) and a spouse that works a lot of hours I find it quite difficult to find time to go out to my studio just to noodle around. I do this mainly to increase my knowledge of PT and VIs which I am very new to VIs.
In my home I have a G5 single 1.8 w/512ram, 10.4.9 and multiple drives. This is a home computer with the normal things attached (2 printers, scanner, Palm dock & the occasional video cam, ipod & digital camera).

I am considering buying a Mbox mini, Axiom 49, some cheap speakers, usb hub & of more ram ( probably 2gig).


Would a single 1.8 be fast enough to run a couple of tracks with say: Strike, Trilogy, Xpand, and maybe a sampler (I am thinking of getting Structure)?

As I said this would only be to noodle around and If I come up with something that I really want to work on and need more power I can always take it to the studio with a dual 2.7.

Its just an idea and I thought I'd ask to get some opinions.

Thanks,
Len

[Rastamon]

I have a newborn and a 7 year old and sometimes find it hard to remember that I'm still a musician. Even with the portability factor of using an Mbox on a Powerbook, it is rare that I get everything out and set it up. I would think that if you're rolling in the green, go for it, but you could just as easily hook a good USB mic up and use Garage Band to record your home jams and import anything good you come up with into a PT session at the studio. There are also some decent multi-track recording apps for cheap on apple's download page that do'nt require additional hardware. As far as machine power, your G5 should be more than adeqate, I can run a handfull of tracks with plugins all over the place on my G4 1ghz Powerbook 768mb.
The most important thing is to have fun and keep the music alive.

[Len Grantham]

Rastamon,
Thanks for the input. I thought about doing the garage band thing but I wanted to stay with PT to increase my knowledge and workflow. That way if I have a paying customer in the studio and they want to work with VIs or a sampler I look like I know what I'm doing. As for the dough, I'm not made of it but have a little tax refund left. I can get the Mini, Axiom 49, & the monitors for about $650. Ram I think would be about $185.

Anyone else care to comment?

Thanks again,
Len

[Len Grantham]

Anyone else care to comment?
Thanks

[bassntreble]

sell the 1.8 and get an intel based iMac, macmini or macbook. They run circles around my dual 1.8 G5.

barring that, the 1.8 you have will be Ok for a couple of tracks. I would stick with Reason and Xpand! for efficiency though. Reason(even reason adapted) rewired to PT is a pretty powerful combo...

[Forum Member LE]

sell the 1.8 and get an intel based iMac, macmini or macbook. They run circles around my dual 1.8 G5.

barring that, the 1.8 you have will be Ok for a couple of tracks. I would stick with Reason and Xpand! for efficiency though. Reason(even reason adapted) rewired to PT is a pretty powerful combo...

Great advice, buy a faster computer to collect more dust.
In this particular case PT in any form is probably a bad move.
Take the direction of the earlier advice go with something cheaper or more cost effective.
If you available time aspect increases then upgrade.
Just doesn't make sense to invest if you won't be able to use it.
Maybe what you really need is a good synth workstation or laptop that you can put your hands on quickly to squeeze more time?
PT and VI's are only cool if you get to use them.
Just hard to say.