Help choosing Mac to purchase

[brandin]

I'm currently running a Windows PC with my digi002 Rack.
It's a P4 2.8Ghz, 2GB RAM.

I'm able to get around 16 tracks with around 10 plugins before it peaks out.

I'm interested in purchasing a Dual G5, 2 Ghz Mac, with 1.5GB RAM.

My question is "will I get the same track count, or can I push it to 32 tracks with a good amount of plugins? I just need more stability.

The Mac is an investment, so, I just want to make sure it will do I want it to do.
Or, should I just consider a Mix or HD system?

Thanks for your advice!

[wedgewedge]

i have a dual 1 Ghz G4 w/ 2G ram. os 10.3.9, and i dont usaully get shut off until im out of tracks... usually. there are always some kind of weird glitches you will run into with computers though... it probably will also depend on how cpu heavy your plug-ins are too. but yeah, i would personally go for it (keep in mind that tiger and PT have some issues right now with each other, which is why i havent upgraded from 10.3.9), and chuck that PC into the fire place! i guess you could probably sell it too?

[brandin]

When you say "shut off," is that at the maximum 32 tracks?
Are you running a digi002 Rack?

How many plugins are you able to run at before "shut off?"

I'm just wondering how much better a mac will run with proTools?
It's a slower processor, but they're two, will proTool LE really
utilize them both.

Thanks for your help.

[Naagzh]

Brandin-

I've got the dual 2.0 G5, and it's got enough horsepower for me to mix a whole song without having to print submixes or audiosuite tracks so much that it becomes a pain. I'm not completely sure on this, but having a dual processor allows PT to completely use one processor and ignores the other, unlike single processor macs, of which PT can only use 85% (the other 15% is reserved for the OS and other apps).

I usually don't make it to 32 tracks, but here's my typical setup:

- 10 tracks drums, 2 or 3 stereo auxes for different submixes (plus 2 more tracks for percussion)
- 8 tracks guitars (I'm in the habit of double micing cabs)
- 3 tracks bass (one direct, one amp, one freaked out in some way)
- 2 tracks keys
- 3 tracks lead vox, 3 tracks backup vox, all routed to vocal reverbs, delays, etc.

I usually run an EQ and comp or filter on most tracks (Focusrite D2, D3, sometimes sansamp, VintageWarmer, MoogerFooger Delay, Vinyl, Nitro, etc.) I usually have two stereo reverbs and one stereo delay. In this state I'm close to maxing out the processor. If a vocal effect gets real freaky, I'll print it to save power.

If you're making records for major labels, with clients willing to spend lots of time and money, then go HD by all means. I can't justify the expense when I'm being paid by people who are typically close to broke.

I'd go for the dual 2.5 G5, if you can afford it. The more horsepower, the better. Just make sure to check the compatibility before you buy. And, you can get darn close to HD quality if you upgrade your AD converter with an Apogee or Lucid or something.

PT won't "run" any better on a Mac, according to Digi, because PT is now cross-platform. That wasn't the case not long ago. Now it's just a question of Mac OS versus Windows.

[brandin]

Thanks for the info.

It's challenging when tracking with an LE system.

If I were to go to a Mix or HD system, would I have a much greater track count.
For example, if I had a dual G4 1Ghz Mac and was running Mix24, would I have no problem
running 32 tracks of audio with a ton of plugins, or is there still a need for a large processor(s)?

I'm just trying to dertermine the best investment and make it.

I would love to run 50 tracks, with plugins and have no problems tracking/mixing at all.

Thanks for the input!