Hey Mac gurus...i need some Mac help please!

[CanadaMusic]

Quote :

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You cant do 32 tracks with 5 plugins each using PT7??? i can do it pretty well with plugins like auto tune and NI guitar rig in the mix! you sure you havent configured your settings right to maximize both CPU's?
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Hello, I am very impressed that you can run a session that uses 160 plug-ins including DSP consuming plugins such as Guitar Rig. I am running a G5 Powermac Dual 1.8ghz with 1.5gb of RAM with an 002R and it is set to 2 processors @ 90% and I cannot say that I could efficiently run a session with that load. My plugins are optimized (or at the very least compatible) and I have noticed a vast improvement but I don't really see how I could get to 160. Guitar Rig alone can consume up to 5% of the CPU depending on the configuration. Run that 20 times and your done. .

[CanadaMusic]

To Rail :

I definitely agree with your approach to recording for the most part. When recording a live band, I follow the concept of the transparent engineer, in that I am there to capture the bands sound at it's pinnacle. Setting up a soundstage via panning and reverb and getting the sounds via mic placement, compression and eq when necessary. Over processing can definitely ruin a track . The idea of throwing 160 plugins on a rock act or a singer songwriter is an assurance that they will not be able to reproduce that sound live. Of course there are a lot of bands that get signed on image and have no sound to capture so a producer may have to invent one unfortunately.

I studied under Jack Richardson ( The Guess Who, Alice Kooper , Peter Gabriel etc...) and Kevin Doyle (Alanah Myles, Andrea Bocelli, Glen Gould etc..) and I am so glad I did because they taught me the approach to getting great sounds and elements of a good mix.

In the instance of certain genres such as ambient, industrial and techno however I may disagree with you. These types of music can benefit from complex processing chains.

[Rail Jon Rogut]

I know his son Garth.

I didn't say you can't use 5 inserts.. I said using 5 inserts on every track is excessive (and IMNSHO a bad practice, no matter the genre). I recently sat in on a BT session -- they did something I -- as a trained engineer would never have done -- doesn't mean they can't do it though. If I were doing music which required sound design - I would create the loop and process it so it sounded the way I'd want it.. not run real time plug-ins to achieve it.

Rail

[len branville]

Hello,

Maybe I'm feeling a little punchy after spending part of yesterday with some relatives -and I don't need to run to anyone's defense but...

I think Rail's engineering abilities/credits speak for themselves. His technical expertise is also unmatched.

You probably already know this and just disagree (which is fine, were all entitled to our opinions last time I checked LOL!) but he does know what he's talking about. He's been doing recording and Pro Tools since way back when.

lb

[archtop]

Yeah that Rail what a hack huh ?

He'd probably have some cockamammie reason why I shouldn't
use a speaker level signal to drive a mic input.

or try to tell me having my speaker in phase is a "GOOD" idea.

and totally blow the vibe.

[tclash]

If you want to be able to use dual displays then the Mac Mini is not for you. I believe it only has the ablility to drive one. You might want to look into a refurbished G5 - I think they often have the single processor 1.8 model for around $1000 on the Apple online store "Special Deals" page. That would do what you need.

[oneson2k]

Alright gang....I need to hi-jack my own thread back...

Please...enough with the moral and technical implications of running multiple plug-ins on multiple tracks.

I'M ONLY ASKING TO RESEARCH HOW POWERFUL OF A MAC I NEED TO BUY AND NOT SPEND MORE THAN I HAVE TO.

Ok, shouting over

So far, from those who've actually responded to the question I originally asked, it sounds like a G5 iMac should handle my needs and that I don't necessarily need to jump to a dual processor G5 tower.

Anyone else want to chime in on HARDWARE?

Thanks!

[CME]

Yeah I'll reiterate, the Davec test consists of seeing how many track you can record with 5 stock plug-ins for one minute Reason is not one of them. My mini handled 24, but was sluggish. I'd say 20 would be fairly easily. Live drums would be less taxing than Reason. I just don't have the ability to record live drums. So I think you would be happiest with an G5 iMac or Power Mac. I just do demo arranging for my band and it does all I need. Although I'm alreading getting GAS for a Quad Core Mac and 002. But I'm just going to have to wait and see what the pinnacle is in a couple of years. Heck when I started checking out PT the 001 was the hot ticket for home recording and I just now got my Mbox.

[oneson2k]

Yeah I'll reiterate, the Davec test consists of seeing how many track you can record with 5 stock plug-ins for one minute Reason is not one of them. My mini handled 24, but was sluggish. I'd say 20 would be fairly easily. Live drums would be less taxing than Reason. I just don't have the ability to record live drums. So I think you would be happiest with an G5 iMac or Power Mac. I just do demo arranging for my band and it does all I need. Although I'm alreading getting GAS for a Quad Core Mac and 002. But I'm just going to have to wait and see what the pinnacle is in a couple of years. Heck when I started checking out PT the 001 was the hot ticket for home recording and I just now got my Mbox.

I'd say that 20 tracks with 5 plug-ins per track is pretty darn good...especially for a $500-ish box! I dig the portability of the Mac Mini; just grab it and go! Might be something worth looking into everytime I don't want to haul around my dual core home PC to do tracking.

Ideally, I'd just track on the Mac Mini and then transfer my sessions to the PC for mixing/mastering. Even better would be a cheap iMac G5! gonna have to start watching eBay