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

[spotheball]

Ho Ron,
If you go to the Digidesign website, it has a list of compatable computers with M Box, oo2 ect. Take it from me -just try and get as much CPU and more importantly, RAM as you can. You will start off thinking you have enough, but will always crave more power as you discover more applications.
I must admit that I have never considered the emac, so I don't know if it will work with pro-tools/logic - but the spec sounds good. Just make sure that Digidesign ect say it's compatable!
I am saving for a 15" powerbook - more power = more possibilities in the future...

Hope this helps


Paul

[riverron]

thanks spotheball, any input helps at this point. a few people have told me that the emac will work just fine, but not great. I looked on the Digidesign site and there is no info about the emac. I'm still searching for someone that works on an emac with pro tools? I know the specs look good on the emac, but does it work? or anyone with an older IMAC could share some wisdom?

[xingu]

I guess by today's standards, my iMac is getting old now... but the emac you're looking at is better equipped. Of course, it's always going to be best to buy the most you can afford, max out your RAM, etc. Much of the specs part of it depends on your musical requirements, particularly in terms of how many tracks you will need. My iMac is 700mhz and I only have 384 RAM, which serves me perfectly well. Then again, most of the songs I write have 12 or fewer tracks. I run Logic Audio (now known as Express). I can't comment on ProTools, but I'm sure the mBox or 002 would work for you.

You'd probably be best not worrying about upgrading the size of your internal drive and spending extra cash on an external firewire drive (this separates the CPU duties for running the application from the read/write duties for playback and recording of audio files - highly recommended for this type of work).

Keeping budget in mind, it's also best not to just buy enough to scrape by for what you need now, but more so for what you might want in the future. If you think you'll eventually want to upgrade, just save up for a higher end system now. No sense in spending a couple thousand dollars on something you'll want to replace in another year. Fortunately, the capabilities of the lower end systems are always growing...

[Barb]

The eMac is a great product. It is cheaper than the other Macs because of the packaging. It's a all- in-one- unit concept like the old Macs. The screen is a CRT as opposed to a flat pannel. They do this because the eMac is aimed at Educators, get it E- Education. A CRT holds up better under poking little fingers! The processor speed and RAM is what to look for. 1.25 Ghz and 1 gig RAM will do just fine. See how many slots they put that 1 gig into. Get as much RAM on 1 dimm as possible and leave the second slot for upgrade. You want this machine to last you a few years so think ahead to more RAM. The future always holds needs for more RAM. The only thing you might get frustrated with down the road is the screen size so ask Apple if the eMac allows for adding a second screen if you want to in the future. make sure you go to a store and look at the machine so you will be comfortable with it.

If you are used to a 16 track, you might want the 002 instead of the MBox unless you just record single tracks and over dub.