keybie

Portable Audio Recorder (minidisc Replacement)

I've been using a Sony MiniDisc recorder for several years now, recording environmental sounds (while travelling, lectures and whatever. It's worked fine for the most part, except for the following:

• A hassle to transfer to my Mac (realtime and analog audio transfers only due to copy-protection circuitry)
• No date/time stamp
• mechanical noise from the recorder effects recordings
• low battery life (it suddenly dies on me -come to think of it, it might be time for a battery replacement after all these years though I think my batteries never lasted long before needing a recharge).

What I do like about it however is:

• Small size (handy to bring along almost anywhere)
• Line inputs in addition to mic (allows flexibility -recording from other electronic devices)
• Unconspicous (looks like an audio playback device, especially when I have my headphones plugged in). Doesn't scare people off, or being told to "stop using that thing" by various people
• Allows me to name each recording
• Good sound quality
• Removable recording media (I'm not dependant on dumping recordings over to a computer when travelling, but can replace it with a new, blank MD disc instead)

I've been out of the audio scene for a while, but it seems flash recorders (using memory cards) are the thing nowadays. That would probably solve my digital transfer issue, and most likely the time/date stamping as well (I assume these recorders have built-in clocks), but depending on recording capacity/quality I prefer the ability to have removable recording media. Then again, that might be the way it's going with memory cards getting cheaper and storing more.

So, with the good and bad experiences with my MD recorder, what would be a good replacement for it (improving on the downsides, but keeping the features I like)?

Importing (atari Notator) Son Files

Does the current version of Logic Pro and Logic express have the ability to import SON files made by C-Lab/Emagic Notator SL on the Atari ST?

If yes, how well does the conversion process work?

Midi Routing/effects

I'm considering Logic Express and have played around with the 30 day demo. I've imported the Garageband demo songs so I can get to know it, and also MIDI files, but without a manual and no prior experience with DAW software I'm stuck and need some help:

1) It seems that you can only use 5 effects per track -is this true?
Someone told me that equalizing/tone controls also counts as effects, so 5 seems very limiting to me.

2) I currently don't have any MIDI interface with my Mac, but thought I'd be able to try out the MIDI capabilities of Logic by having it play Quicktime instruments and/or some sort of soft-synth like Garageband has, but I'm not getting any audio output at all. I assume I have to assign instruments/channels somewhere.
Where/how do I do this?

(I'm on a 1.67GHz PowerBook G4 with MacOS 10.4.9)

Editing/remixing Software

I'd like to get started "tape style" editing on my Mac, but so far haven't found much software for this kind of thing.
By editing I'm thinking about the same sort of thing people back in the days used to do with reel-to-reel recordings, splicing tape, repeating small bits and pieces etc. You'd often hear it in 80s "Freestyle" music.

Anyway, I've understood that what I need is software that allows you to divide the song file into sections, or a grid, so as to easier divide the sections you want to edit.
I've found one application which does this called Wave editor, but it costs US$ 250 and seems very advanced and complex, so I was wondering if there is other software available which will do the same sort of thing?

I'm also considering buying Logic express, for multi-track recording my own music, but I suppose it doesn't handle the above kind of editing as well, does it?

Sample Librarian Software/software Samplers

Having used hardware synths, samplers and older technology I'm just starting out with all this new stuff, though having no plans to get rid of the old equipment -just merge the old and the new.
Anyway, having had a 1.67GHz Powerbook G4 for about a year and seeing what it can do I can't help but see great possibilities for sample-organizing.

So far I've been using a Yamaha TX-16W sampler which is a nice piece of gear, but on the downside I spend lots of time loading it with samples. organizing stuff etc.
Using the (now free) Typhoon replacement operating system it works a lot better and even handles AIFF samples, so I've moved up a notch creating an audio sample CD containing all my sample CDs converted to AIFF. Now I can audit the samples on my Mac, then transfer the ones I need to use to a floppy disk and load into the sampler. It's a lot easier than before, but still a major hassle.
I guess the next step will be a software sampler. I really know too little about these things and need to start reading FAQs, get hold of demo software or whatever, but for now I thought I'd start with what I already have, then move up from there.

I have lots of AIFF samples (which I assume can be used, not only with my Yamaha TX-16W, but also with a software sampler), and seeing how powerful the iTunes/iPhoto method of organizing stuff into libraries is I can't help but wonder if I could dump my AIFF samples into such a library, then organize it in several ways so that I could easily find/audit any sample for any project. Perhaps it could even be used directly from a software sampler?
I've been playing around a bit with iTunes itself for this (using Libra I'm able to create several separate libraries) which seems to be a good idea, except the minor irritation of playing the next sample in the library. This means that if I have say a percussion library and double-click on the bass drum I will also have to hear the snare, hihat, toms etc. in quickj succession until I press "stop".

So, before I spend lots of time organizing my samples with iTunes, then perhaps havign to do it all again because there's a better solution; what do you guys suggest I do with my sample files, both for now (using it with the TX-16W) and for the future (using a software sampler)?