What Mac To Buy?, I am wondering if a quad intel is necessary or whether a dual g5 can c Options

[JonRaven]

Hello there,

first time visiter, first time poster here...

I am currently using a powerbook 1.25 and I want to move into the ability to use some robust virtual instruments like toon track's "ezdrummer" and spek's "atmosphere", along with interested in the new east west quantum leap app called "gypsy" and the like.

My powerbook just wont cut it of course so I am thinking about getting a desktop mac.

Can anyone tell me from real world knowledge whether I could do everything I want with a used dual g5 or whether I really need to bite the bullet and get the new quad 2.66 intel?

I know ram is a big thing so I will upgrade either machine wiith atleast 4 gig ram.

I will be looking to do realistic backing tracks for my songs with virtual instruments and then adding say 16 tracks of audio tracks as well to the track.

Any ideas? Of course the music stores and the mac store are just out to sell the newest greatest of everything so you can't really get any honest opinions based on personal experience so I came here.

Can anyone discuss this with me?

Thanks and glad to be part of the group.

[mortalengines]

Go ahead and upgrade to Live 6. I did and I have the same Powerbook as you (with a little less RAM even) and 10.3.9 as an operating system. Live 6 allows you to do a fair amount of editing of frozen tracks which has TOTALLY improved my workflow. You will like some other things about 6 as well: Their instrument racks and Dynamic Tube plug rock.....You won't be disappointed. I bought my powerbook 3 years ago and don't plan on getting anything new for a while. BTW: if your loops aren't on a separate FW drive I would suggest you do that and get a drive with a Sony Oxford 900 chipset. www.pacificproaudio.com has some great deals on Firewire drives that fit almost any budget.

This post has been edited by mortalengines: Thu 27 Sep 2007, 04:56