My G4/protools/m-audio Situation... Options

[parsifal]

Hi all...new to the forum & I'm kind of new to the whole world of computer recording too, coming from more of a tape & then digital 16 track DAW background...but pretty soon I'm going to have a s/h g4 Powermac ( 450 cpu, 512 ram) to play with.
I'm going to run ProTools Free on it ( can't afford full blown PT just yet) & I have a little audioBuddy pre. I'm also thinking about getting a better soundcard - something like the Audiophile 2496.

So...will this card be compatible with my set-up?

Oh...and my Mac has OS X & Panther installed, but ProTools Free only works on OS9 so I'm pretty sure I'll have to install that & remove OSX...unless it'll run in Classic mode.

Any tips, advice, etc will be gratefully received!!

Thanks..

[coldharbour]

ProTools free won't run under Classic, you have to install OS 9. Also note that PT Free has only 8 tracks. G4 450 MHz is quite a modest processor for audio work as well. Using that setup you will be able to run only quite small projects. M-Audio Audiophile 2496 is compatible with the above mentioned system.

I don't know what kind of projects you're working on, what are your needs and what is your budget, but I'd suggest getting a more powerful second-hand G4 (they don't cost an awful lot) and Digidesign MBox 2 (500 USD new, or the original MBox which is even cheaper), if you like working with ProTools. With that you also get ProTools LE software, and it runs on OS X which is way more sophisticated than OS 9.

[parsifal]

Thanks man...

I'm gonna be basically dedicating the whole Mac to PTFree...won't be installing hardly any other apps given the cpu limitations.
And I doubt very much that I'll be taxing 8 tracks a whole lot either, so that's no real drawback....got the use of a studio nearby that I can use to work up my songs further - once I've done basic stuff on my own gear.
I'm thinking mebbe 2 or 3 tracks of git/vox at the most.

I've got my eye on the digidesign hardware too...just slightly outta my range at the mo $$-wise.

All good for learning the ropes

[rickenbacker]

For your own sake, don't get stuck on the idea of Pro Tools - it really is not the only game in town. Lots of other interfaces are also available that may come with, for instance, Cubase LE. The Mbox 2 is arguably the worst/dumbest product release of the past three years - check the threads on here.

That said, what you've got already is perfectly adequate for knocking up some cool 8-track audio recordings - more if you bounce tracks and go easy on the FX. Remember Sgt Pepper was recorded on 8 tracks etc etc.

You can find your DAW feet this way, then explore more complicated options in the future. They all work the same way, really, so switching to something else - Logic, Cubase, Live, Nuendo, whatever - won't really phase you. It's no different from recording on a digital 16-track. Enjoy!

[coldharbour]

The Mbox 2 is arguably the worst/dumbest product release of the past three years - check the threads on here.

Which threads?

[parsifal]

Thanks. Unfortunately, ProTools is pretty much the standard in most studios these days, so I need to learn how to use it for better or worse.

[mortalengines]

PT Free isn't compatible with with OSX even in classic mode. That being said- maybe garage band comes bundled with your G4 which I understand is quite a cool little application- If it's not bundled, GB can be purchased for 99 bucks as part of the I-Life package (other cool stuff like I-Picture & I-DVD). I wouldn't recommend going backwards to OS 9 since the Mac World is hurtling ever further away from it. If you go to www.hitsquad.com there are some shareware/freeware apps that might keep you busy until you decide to buy an M Box or whatever.

[parsifal]

Cheers...yeah, I don't really wanna run OS9 but there's no other choice at the mo if I want to run PTFree as you say.

As soon as I get more $$ it's a better Mac & digi 002...but for now I have limited options.

[rickenbacker]

Coldharbour: Topic: Digidesign MBox 2 USB - Computer Hardware (in Forums, Comments). OK, it's only one thread, but it's a long one. General vibe: negative. With the obvious exception of celticdale.

I'm always curious to know why people consider that they need to learn Pro Tools because it's "the standard in most studios these days". To use a publishing analogy, QuarkXPress had been "the standard" for a long time, but having taken a rather cavalier approach to their user base in recent years (not unlike a certain DAW manufacturer), it now finds itself usurped by InDesign in many companies. Both are good products and both work in largely the same way, so it's not that confusing to switch from one to the other.

Now Quark is desparately trying to claw back all the old users who it rather took advantage of for too long. Those users looked around, found that alternatives to XPress existed that were better, cheaper and more flexible, so off they went - and they're not looking back wistfully at Quark, either. If I was starting out again in magazine editing, I'd learn InDesign in preference to Quark.

I'm just saying don't get tunnel vision about Pro Tools. So big studios use it. If you were actually recording in such a studio, someone else far more experienced than you would be engineering the board, anyway. If you wanted to work in such a studio, you probably wouldn't be allowed anywhere near the desk for a long, long time and you'd learn everything by looking over the hosue engineer's shoulder, so the fact that you'd picked up a few tricks using Pro Tools Free at home wouldn't exactly do you a lot of good either.

Forget about software - learn to engineer and record well and it doesn't matter what program you're using. If you can mic up drums, amps, guitars, pianos etc and produce a decent mix, that's the kind of skills people want. And if you were just talking about starting stuff at home and then transferring to a big studio to finish the project, again it doesn't matter what software you started with because AIFF files are the same the world over. You can import them to anything.

There's nothing wrong with Pro Tools, of course, but Digidesign have a horrible closed upgrade path that increasingly limits your choices the further you go with them. PT Free only exists to draw you into their world! Like vampires, only with music.

I'd second mortalengines comment about OS 9, too - hardly anything new is issued for it these days. Stick with OS X, hone your recording chops using GarageBand, save up for an Mbox 2 (if you must!) and you'll be in a much better position in the long run. Whatever you do, don't remove OS X - you might as well leave it on there.

[parsifal]

Hey, thanks for the informative & intelligent reply.

I agree with much of what you say, but the simple fact is that I have a job at the moment doing sound editing that requires me to get up to speed on PT. Not because it's the best prog out there...just because it's what the studio I'm working at uses.
And I'd say a good 90% of studios in my area also use it too.

And FWIW...from the work I've done with it lately, I'd have to say that I like it very much too...seems very intuitive & well designed.

Cheers for the heads up though.

This post has been edited by parsifal: Wed 14 Sep 2005, 21:32