New Mac Suggestions?

[remmet]

Thanks for the links, Rachel. It looks like the 2.66 quad core might make the most sense.

jdhogg wrote:

Well you could buy a slightly less specced mac and then buy logic.
You could then use the node technology to hook your old computer up via ethernet.
ie same money , more power plus logic and more flexible.
Might be worth checking out the exact details?
I am guessing that some upgrade options on a mac dont equate to great gains relative to the cash spent.
I reckon your old mac used maybe to farm out the altiverbs of this world would take a nice load off your new system.

Hey JD -- I'm not sure I understood exactly what you meant. Since I'm a long-time Digital Performer user, is there a reason I should buy Logic? Would they work together in some way?

And how would I use my old Mac to farm out altiverbs (or presumably other processor-intense plug-ins)? It sounds like a good idea possibly, but I'm not sure how that would work. Any clarification would be appreciated. Thanks!

Richard

[jdhogg]

Just making the point that there are ways to utilize the power of your old system.

The node tech (read the "how it works" on the right here http://www.apple.com/sg/logicpro/distributedaudio.html ) is only for logic I think.
So you would need to move over to logic. Not the best option maybe but like it or not logic and protools are the industry standard. There is a lot of content in logic now! Saying that you dont have to have either.

VSL have similar technolgy, so if you are doing orchestral work you could keep DP.

There are most probably other apps that allow you to use your spare computer as a extra cpu.
I have not checked lately to see if it is mac compatible but fxteleport was one that I got working on 2 pcs to farm out the processing of some cpu hungry reverbs.

[DesireeBowen]

I used Logic on my husbands Mac Book Pro, and it got pretty slow. We got the iMac for our home cpu because 1) our home cpu was really old and would need to be replaced soon anyway and 2) so I could work on Logic while he was gone during the day with the laptop. (Really the latter was the main reason). I have come to find that Logic runs a lot faster on the iMac. Been loving it!!

[mazz]

It's really not too difficult to press a second computer into service as a sample playback machine, at least in my experience. There's the option of using the networking apps such as Vienna Ensemble Pro, MIDI Over LAN, etc., or there's the hardware option using an audio interface and a MIDI interface if necessary and sending MIDI out to the computer and sending audio back that way as well.

The issue is licenses for the libraries. If you have Kontakt, you get two installs so that's pretty easy. For EW, you can get extra licenses for 99 bucks, I believe, and then factor in the cost of an iLok. I've done this and it works out well. I have two licenses for some of my EW stuff and have it on a two computers at a time so I can "share the love" and the load between the two machines. If you set up a template on your master machine that sends the MIDI over to the slave, and have the corresponding sounds loaded up on the slave, then the whole thing should be pretty seamless. Depending on how you have the second computer set up and how low you can set it, latency should be pretty minimal if you're using the live input monitoring in DP (you have MOTU interfaces, right?).

Altiverb is a lot more CPU efficient these days, so it wouldn't make much sense to farm it out, but having some extra juice to stream samples is very nice. I've pressed my G5 into service doing that and it's working out very nicely. You should be able to get several more years service out of it.

HTH,

Mazz

[remmet]

Thanks Mazz. As always, your advice is helpful and clearly expressed.

I have a Motu 1224 interface which I assume I'll switch over to the new Mac when I get it. Not sure if that means I'll need another interface for the old Mac. I already have a PC (with an Echo Layla interface) that slaves to the Mac. The PC houses all my EastWest libraries, Omnisphere, and a few other misc. libraries. It would be nice to split the Platinum library between the PC and either the new or old Mac. And I might like to install Omnisphere onto the new Mac so I could more easily take advantage of the arpeggio syncing capability (which isn't so easy when it's on a slave machine).

Richard

[mazz]

You'd need some way to get MIDI in and audio out of the G5 slave. I use an M-Audio FW 410 interface for audio and MIDI Over LAN for MIDI on the G5. The M-Audio Audiophile 2496 is a decent interface that is inexpensive and has digital and analog I/O as well as MIDI. It's only 16 MIDI channels but that might be enough depending on what you use it for.

Omnisphere will certainly run better on a new Mac!!

I'd split Platinum between the new mac and the PC and run Kontakt on the G5. Kontakt 3.5 or 4 has the memory server which is great for overcoming the 32 bit memory limit. If you use banks in Kontakt, you would only need 16 MIDI channels because banks can hold 128 programs each. It's a cool, underutilized feature in Kontakt.

Good luck!

Mazz

[jdhogg]

Altiverb is a lot more CPU efficient these days, so it wouldn't make much sense to farm it out, but having some extra juice to stream samples is very nice. I've pressed my G5 into service doing that and it's working out very nicely. You should be able to get several more years service out of it.

HTH,

Mazz

Maybe I should of expressed my thoughts more clearly.
I do not mean set up an extra machine for 1 instance of altiverb but for extra cpu processing ie multiple instances of power hungry fx.

It makes a lot of sense when mixing songs as the limitation is cpu and not memory/streaming related.

Of course its project dependant....with orchestral it is about distributing memory/streaming (as you suggest ) while traditional mixing is about distributing the cpu load.

And you can distribute the cpu load in logic with no extra hardware bar an ethernet cable.

I thought I would mention this for the benefit of any passing readers that are not focused on orchestral mockups.

[fusilierb]

This little thread has gotten really juicy! Can't wait to hear about your new computer and network Richard. Do tell!

[remmet]

I'm just waiting . . . . . patiently . . . . . for the new Macs to appear and for the price of the refurbs to go down. Hope it happens soon! I'll definitely report back when the blessed event has finally happened!

R

[tmack]

Great thread...

I am also looking to upgrade my Mac. I have a dual 1.8 GHZ G5 that I hate to get rid of but I won't be able to take advantage of the 64 bit processing apps coming along. I also use DP (a MOTU guy for 12+ years) and am considering Logic and maybe an Apogee Duet. These are exciting times and technology is taking a huge leap. I will be looking for ways to keep using my G5 with a new superMac when I get it. I will be watching the Mac market closely in the coming weeks.

Thanks to all that have participated in this thread - some very good info here. This is my first Taxi post and I must say you Taxi folks are great. This may become my new favorite forum!

t mack