Basic Setup - Recommendations? Options

[Horse Bodotes]

I have been asked to set up a basic midi/recording/editing system for my 13 yo daughter. She has a Yamaha S80 kb, and wants to go to the next step. Although we are a PC house, I am seriously thinking about getting her a used/refurb Power Mac G4 for music. She wants to make and record techno/jazz, and besides the kb she wants inputs for mics, guitar and who knows what else.

Questions: should I get her an mBox, or would I be better off getting a used Digi 001 on eBay. Or something else??? Is Pro Tools LE easy for a (reasonably computer-saavy) 13 yo to use, or will something else be easier.

Unfortunately, I am going to wind up being her IT support, so I want to keep this as simple as possible. But, I want to get her setup so she is happy with the results.
All suggestions/comments will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

HB

[boze]

i think the arguments for and againsts a control surface in daw-based mixing are more than you need to worry about necessarily. generally, when ppl track different instruments at once into different tracks in a seq app it makes the setting of levels and panpots more natural when you can touch them rather than mousing on each on. a mouse can't ever click on more than one control, but we have ten fingers- that sort of thing.

if you're curious about getting a mac, then go for it. i've been more frustrated by osx than most folks because MOTU is doing a shabby job supporting the $800 soundcard I bought a few years ago- so that sours my opinions of an already slow and growing os. it'll all turn out okay though.

the protools question is similarly too fine a point i think. when ppl say 'protools doesn't handle midi as well as logic' they're talking about more complicated midi functionality than recording a kbd part onto a track and having it play back a synth or samplebank.

i'm not a pro, but i honestly don't think there is a _best seq app. of the big four (cubase, dp, logic, and pt) all are in grown up versions, all have good support for plugins and instruments, all run well under xp or osx, and all are (generally speaking) way cooler than any of us home producers deserve. ppl make a living on these apps- feed and clothe their families and such. you're daughter will be set no matter which way you go.

i think if i were in your position i'd probably go with Logic (because it's always been classy and is now owned by Apple so it'll be supported well) or with ProTools (because pt is such a seriously entrenched leader in real production environments and familiarity with it is actually a marketable skill even though they all do the same thing). i love cubase, but it runs better on a pc i think; and i appreciate dp but it's always been playing second fiddle and is the least used and least talked about of the four just in terms of popularity and buzz. also, dp is made by MOTU (the jackasses who are tormenting me with horrid osx driver support with my soundcard).

don't know if the other companies offer something with hw/sw together like the mbox- maybe call audiomidi.com and see what kind of deals they can do you with pt's competition. their techs are really helpful and they'll cut you a deal if you're ordering more than one thing.