i dont have much money. and to do simple recording/sequence (1trackat a time, maye 2 but i doubt it) tasks. i wont be needing a G-something, right? im a guitarman and i just want to make some songs with midi drummachine, work out structures etc...

theres a company here in belgium that recycles macs and they sell a full equipped 7300/200 for 200euros. i wana buy that thing it looks very interesting for the price(for the research i have done on macs)

the only problem left is SOFTWARE, how do i get older versions of whatever cubase, cakewalk...

another thing: yes i wanna do those things on a computer. i worked with cakewalk pro audio 9 before on this computer (which is a pc that runs on windows and isnt mine) and i like that better than working on the stupid drummachine (alesis) on which i tend to lose my patience all the time. keep in mind that i dont have my own computer yet so im gonna use it for some other minimalistic things

you think id be allright for 400-500 euros?

any suggestions Highly Appreciated

and im sorry if theres been someone else before with a similar question. i looked for a bit and it looks like the most have a g3 or more. so before i got crazy i made my own thread

well at least its being looked at

Just an hint… never post multiple question… it confuses everyone

Now a few answers:

You can use the 7300/200, but you won't do much more than your needs. With a small G3 you'd see the world some other way . Plugins for example. You'll be very hard pressed on the 7300. Even an Imac will do marvels (flee the 1st version without firewire though, you would be in e very tight place)

the price you gave for it seem ok, is there a screen with?

About softwares, have a look on classifieds, as it'll be the source (even if it's not legal, you won't be the owner of the licence) you'll can find old versions. Look on the sites of the editors, sometimes the oldies are there for free…

One thing you don't talk about are the midi interface (you can have the old serial ones for dirt cheap now, don't buy an Opcode save if you have the drivers with!) and what do you want to use for audio in. You can use the audio input of the mac but it's not an Apogee

Don't be too bad with G3s, mine is a reliable and powerfull beast even if it's not anymore up to date (BW 400)

to start with: thanks a whole lot for your time and especially the info.

its just the price that keeps me from buying a g3.

to be honest: i haven't thought too much about the audio and midi stuff yet, soundcard is kindof the next step of research before i buy the Thing.

so yes i saw that 7300/200 for 200 with a 14 inch screen
but then today i even saw one on the net for 150 euros with a 17"!

then the Imacs that are provided with firewire are in such a priceclass that you'd better go for the more recent Powermacs anyway it seems to me as i have been seeing it for a little bit

i do realise that i'm gonna be kindov narrow with a 7300/200, but its for now anyway. just see that i can surf a little, burn cd's, and make music on that thing ets all i need. the fact is i just started working and moving out of my house at the same time. i need a computer urgently (contact with family and close friends across the ocean etc) and have saved no money. im saying that because i can already FEEL the following question coming up: "why dont you just be just a little patient and save money so you have a little more room to move in budget as well in a more powerful computer"

so now you people know.

A few thing you must consider too : there will be no USB so you rely on serial/ADB keyboards/mouse/printer/midi interface/modem

You'll can find them dirt cheap (be carefull you have the eventual drivers needed!)

You'll have an audio in CD quality, it can be used, but something better will be a PCI card.

If you want to use the mic input if there is one (can't remember), the minijack socket is peculiar as it powers the Apple original mic.

On the computer, just buy the most powerfull you can afford! Check that it has a lot of RAM, it's important, and it can get costly if you have to complete with some more.

(yes now we know everything and we'll tell it to News of the World to put you to shame

"oh im so embarassed im not a geek", yeah right

now seriously, the ones i found Does have usb, what those guys do not actually recycle them but put computers together again, so they still do their job today, so USB is included, even Firewire is an option for 30 Euros, they even come with a year waranty. so i guess that stuff will be allright for now

This post has been edited by dr. schoft: Wed 5 Feb 2003, 09:43

btw the 7300/200 is featured with 3PCI slots

Cool if you have USB and Firewire
for audio I/O it'll help a LOT

You can't imagine how fast you fill your PCIs
(I have 2 SCSI cards and a 2408 so it's full)

well now. i would like to have a pretty simple USB Audio/MIDI device and i think ill probably stick with recording 1 track at a time.

What shoudl i be looking at?I guess that wouldnt leave me with real expensive stuff, would it?

'lo

I thought I'd drop in and share some thoughts on the subject...

According to what you want to do you should get away with the computer you're willing to buy. There are a few issues though you need to consider..(some mentioned above already..)

Audio In.. The standard Mac audio interface on those machines is pretty good.. It's not pro quallity but it will give you good results. I've been using mine for ages now. (I have a G3 233Mhz) Adding USB and a USB audio interface can be some pain in the ass on those old machines (see why later on..)

Midi in ... A Serial midi interface is dead cheap right now. I have an Opcode one I simply got for free (15in, 15outs). See that your MIDI interface supports OMS (2.3.8, can be downloaded from the opcode website). Oms (open music system) is from Opcode, and although it's not the best program in the world, it brings midi to the Mac, without any need for drivers whatsoever. I've used several interfaces through OMS (USB & Serial), all worked fine. It's old, but it's tested (and supported!!)

OS.. Take carefull consideration on the OS you install. OS9 might be nice but it eats about 30Megs more RAM then OS 8.6. If you are planning to use internet heavilly, then go for OS9. Otherwise use OS8.6, it will do basic internet OK, has carbonlib support and take up a lot less RAM. Ideally go for 8.1 to get the most juice out of the machine.. Good USB support will probablly require OS9, and therefore it's better not to rely on USB. At all costs avoid OS 8.0,8.5 and anything above 9.0.4 (all the rest are updates concerning mac OSX classic compatebillity)

The soft.. This will be the hardest part. Especially if you want to keep it legal. You might find version of cubase 3/4 somewhere, but buying second hand software is as illegal as copying it. (It's in fact not allowed to sell old versions of software.) Search for it, try to find someone selling it (I do see them advertised now and then..) otherwise contact some mac/music people somewhere to find some old versions (or spend some time tracking P2P (hotmine/KDX, etc...).. again here, go as old as you can and still preserve the functionallity you need.. The older the versions the more happt it will feel itself on your old system..

RAM.. try to get as much as you can as you buy it.. It's old and finding the right RAM to fit in it might be a tendious task.. it's better to have it installed when you buy...

Price.. as you already noticed.. you can find them cheaper as 200Euro. (Especially since it's only a 14" screen..) .. look around.(especially for a bigger screen.. 17" inch is a minimum for most audio apps)

CD-Writer .. Don't fit an internal one.. get a LACIE external instead (YAMAHA drives).. those drives are rock solid and every body is ditching them since there is no way to get them OSX compatible. They are SCSI, but so is your mac.

Ideally you should try to find an old DTP machine. They will have all you need (RAM, screen, DiskSpace). And look around for add-ons. those things come dead cheap at the moment since n,o on uses SCSI, Serial, ADB devices anymore..