Another Darn Beginner...., Recent convert to Mac requests help! Options

[timski]

I bought a Mac last year and have just decided to get back into music recording. I used to use Cubasis with the E-Mu APS and Wavelab on my PC (going back a few years this is) but would like advice on the simplest, best value and least bulky set-up. I am not hoping to record very complex, amazing sounding tunes, just be able to put my ideas down as smoothly as possible. Roughly 6-10 channels of audio and 4-6 channels of MIDI.

I have a Powerbook G4 (40GB HD, 256MB RAM) which has the latest Firewire and 2xUSB2.0. Most of my recording will be audio - guitars and basses, vocals, analog keyboards (Rhodes Stage Piano, Wurli 200, Hammond B200), a variety of other real instruments (mandolin, violin, accordion, hand percussion) and possibly sampling some of my old vinyl but I will need MIDI to access other sounds, drum beats, etc. I also have a Studiologic SL-161 master keyboard (MIDI connections only).

My main questions are:
What's the best way to connect everything up? Can I easily connect the master keyboard into a USB port? If so, what's a good device to use?
Should I use a separate input for the audio interface or can I get away with using the audio-in port on my Powerbook?
I currently just have garageband (so cheap I couldn't resist!) Could I just use this or should I really get some 'proper' recording software?
Is it OK to run all of this alongside all the other apps I frequently use or do I really need to have a computer dedicated to music only? And how much HD space and RAM should I leave free?

It's been at least three years since I really did much recording and things seemed to have moved on a huge amount since then.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks

[Dave_W]

Hi timski

It really does depend on your budget!

I'm running a pwrbook with a Metric Halo ULN2 interface. I've just been working on a project that was recorded in Logic on my Pro Tools rig, and edited on the powerbook during a flight. The quality of the ULN2 is fantastic, I now use it to mixdown to in the studio, and master from it.

If can get away with 2 inputs I would recommend the ULN2, if not then they have other interfaces with 8 I/O.

Regarding software I can only recommend Logic Audio, the LE version should do what you need.

I would also recommend a USB to MIDI interface to handle that side of things, again it depends on how many ports you need.

My pwrbook is configured with practically every app under the sun, as it's essentially my office machine, and yet under OSX I don't have any of the nightmares I had under OS9 regarding app conflicts. The project I've just been editing was running approx 50 tracks of audio with loads of plugins, and I still had mail running in the background <g>.

I would recommend getting an external firewire drive to run the audio from, simply to save thrashing your internal drive. As for RAM 512mb would be better, but with 6-10 channels of audio 256mb should be more than enough.

I hope that helps !

Dave

[timski]

Thanks, Dave, for that good advice. Unfortunately I think I need to get a little more back-to-basics.
What's the difference between using Firewire and USB? Is it essential to have an outboard audio interface or can I just use the audio-in port? And what would I need S/PDIFs, analog outputs and digital I/Os for? Just for monitoring or am I missing something?
And can I plug my MIDI master keyboard straight into the computer (using a MIDI to USB cable) or do I need some sort of converter in between?
And what about a soundcard? Is this something I'd need separately too?

Blimey, now I realise how little I know!!!
Thanks again

[sethjacquay]

1. You don't need a sound card.

2. What's the difference between using Firewire and USB?
Firewire runs at 400 Mbps (high speed devices)
Firewire 800 runs at 800 Mbps (newer firewire only on newer Macs)
USB 1.1 runs at 12 Mbps (is more for low speed peripherals)
USB 2.0 runs at 480 Mbps (newer USB similar to firewire)

Firewire and USB are just different ways to connect external devices
to your computer. Keyboards, Mice, Scanners, Printers, Audio A/D,
external hard drives. Obiviously you would want you Audio devices
and external hard drives to operate at higher data transfer rates.
While having your keyboard and mice attached to
the lower transfer rate bus would make more sense as those
devices don't transfer that much data at a time to the computer.

3. Is it essential to have an outboard audio interface or can I just use the audio-in port?
No, but having an Analog to Digital Audio Converter, in theory, allows you
record at a higher sound quality and makes it easier to connect multiple
devices on different tracks and record at the same time.

4. And what would I need S/PDIFs, analog outputs and digital I/Os for?
S/PDIF and digital I/O, I believe, is more for use with a DAT or MiniDisc
recorders, another computer, or newer high end audio/video gear.
Analog Outputs would typically be used for connecting you system to a
set of active monitors or your stereo system.

5. And can I plug my MIDI master keyboard straight into the computer (using a MIDI to USB cable) or do I need some sort of converter in between?
The midi to usb cable usually has a little convertor in the middle that
does all the work. Typically, a cheap little midi to usb costs about
$40 to $60.

6. I would start playing around with Garageband just to get a feeling
of how most Digital Audio Workstations (DAW) are setup. Garageband
is by far the simplest, but lacks pro features. Based on everything
you have said, I suggest you TRY some of the DAWs first Cubase,
Logic, and Digital Performer are the most popular apps. Reason is
a great synth program to look at. Live is a fun sequencer and audio
recorder, but it doesn't really let you do any midi input without another
app like reason or dp.

You really should do some research on your own and see how these
programs work, because you might feel burnt if you spend $600 on
an audio app that you have know idea how to use. Not that you
couldn't learn, but the more advanced apps have a pretty steep
learning curve.

This post has been edited by sethjacquay: Mon 5 Apr 2004, 21:19