Low Budget Music Studio!!!, G4, G5, IBOOk, IMAC, EMAC??? Options

[riverron]

I've been recording on a digital 16 track station (Roland) for a while now and I'd like to make the leap to computer based recording, or maybe use the Mac for editing, mixing and mastering the cd. Since I'm starting out, I'd like to make this as painless as possible on my wallet. I wanted to get the latest EMAC with superdrive, or IMAC with superdrive. Honestly I'm leaning towards the EMAC with logic/pro tools.

Every person I talk to tells me to hold out longer and save my money for a G4 or G5, but none of these IDIOTS even work with music recording or editing.

I am buying a Mac this week, but I can't figure out which one to get for my needs. Every time I have tried to talk to someone about Macs and music...they always act like snobs and never really answer my questions. Then a friend of mine that owns a mac (but does not use it for music) told me about this site and asked me to post before giving up on people with Macs. So here it goes!

Has anyone ever used an EMAC with pro tools?
Does anyone out there currently use the latest EMAC with pro tools or logic and if so...how well does it work?

by the way the latest EMAC comes with a 1.25 GHz powerPC G4, 256 Ram(I'll upgrade to 1 GB of Ram), 80 GB Hard Drive and SuperDrive for around 1,200.00 dollars. And if I get the 160 GB Hard Drive 1,300 bucks. Not bad right? I've heard of people using pro tools in the past with Macs that were half as strong.

PLEASE HELP ME??? Sorry to sound so frustrated in this post but these last few weeks of asking around has been torture. I've done a search for EMAC info here in the forum and everyone seems nice and helpfull at this site. But no direct answer to my question. Any advice, suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Ron

[b-hamcomposer]

Ron, I'm no expert by any means but the new emacs look plenty powerful for audio, and the price is sure right. What you ought to be more concerned about is what audio interface you are going to use. If you would like to use protools software you must use digidesign hardware. It is really the best stuff for just audio, but its not the only option. If you don't plan on doing MIDI I would highly reccomend PT. Now, here you run into a problem.... the Emac has no PCI slot for adding in a mix card. How many tracks do you need at once? If just two, you can get an MBox for around $400 now which will be fine, especially if you just do your tracking on the roland and then load the files into PT for editing. If, however, you need more tracks you must go with either the DIGI002 or DIGI002 rack. If you want a sweet control surface and basic mixer, get the 002, but its bloody expensive. Otherwise the 002 rack is great. All of these are Protools LE based devices. That means you are limited to 32 tracks and are missing a few 'pro' features (the only one that really pisses me off is that you can't do video without a $700 plugin). It sounds just as good at Protools HD, though, except for the whole 192Khz thing. If you want to do really serious tracking directly into PT or really need the HD software, then you have to drop about $10,000 to get the powerPC and PT HD interface. Don't do it unless you are wanting to be a busy studio IMHO. You can get older PT stuff off e-Bay, like the 888, but it still needs a PCI.

Long story to say, get that Emac and an Mbox and be happy

Also, save the dough on the 160HD and get an external one instead. Better for many reasons...


nite

Chris