Leaving Amiga - Need PC emulation / music recording advice.

[Wilse]

bloodline wrote:

 But only contribution to this thread would be to suggest a Mac with Logic Pro... That is a complete music workstation...

I'd second that.
That's exactly what I use now and you can run windows(assuming it's intel) and UAE on a Mac too.

[Wilse]

Wolfeman wrote:

My advice is to stay away from any audio or hd peripherals that only support USB as Firewire on the Mac is much faster and stable and USB on the Mac, even 2.0 is like 50% slower on a Mac than it is on a PC.

I can't say I completely agree with this advice.
My main inteface is a Yamaha 01x, which connects to my Macbook via Firewire and is a lovely piece of kit but when I'm over at my girlfriends house I use an M-Audio Ozone which connects to my iBook via USB. This is a perfectly usable piece of equipment and much, much, MUCH cheaper than the 01x, or any other FW audio/midi i/f.
Sure, if you have limitless cash, don't go USB but if you're on a budget there is absolutely bugger all wrong with it.

M-Audio makes some very inexpensive but nicely made peripherals. I have a USB MIDI controller

See? ;-)

by M-Audio and a Tascam 8ch firewire for audio in and out and I paid less than $300 total for both on my G5. I have an older G4 with a MOTU 2408 that I got very cheaply and that works very nicely.

good luck with it, whatever you decide.

Indeed.

And you are absolutely right about Gargeband. I'd forgotten all about that programme. I used it for a few months before upgrading to Logic and got some very good results.

[Wilse]

Hi Matt:

The PPC Macs simply don't have the horsepower for serious Music making. Logic Pro was horrible on my G4...

Hmmm.... again, I beg to differ (my, aren't I the contrary one today? :-D)

My main machine just now is my Macbook but I still do work on my iBook G4 and it's perfectly fine as long as you don't go plugin-mental.

-EDIT-
I'd also point out that the iBook is much better built than the rather flimsy Macbook.

[Wilse]

Wolfeman wrote:

 right now I'm trying to find an inexpensive Tascam DAW controller for cheap on ebay. I've been seeing the US-2400 for as low as $600... hmmmm

I can heartily recommend the Yamaha 01x DAW controller:
SOS review
Got mine for £300 on eBay.
Firewire DAW controller and also works as an audio and MIDI i/f if you want it to. Possibly the best thing I've ever bought.

@Wilse: The usb on a mac for some reason is bloody slow.

That's as may be but it's still plenty fast enough for audio and MIDI work, as long as you don't go daft.

ever try to hook up a usb hard drive

Funnily enough, I've had to switch my external HD off of FW and onto USB as it was causing problems having it and the 01x on the same chain. Since it's been on USB everything has been much smoother.

The strange thing is, I heard all these horror stories about USB and duly bought FW kit but then had to use some USB stuff and my experience has been completely at odds with conventional opinion. (A lot of which I've now come to the conclusion is a load of snobby, old horsefeathers and to be taken with a pinch of salt.)

Anyway, I think these things depend on what individual set up you have and are also rather subjective but I've been pleasantly surprised by USB since being forced to use it and now realise that you don't have to go FW for a decent audio/MIDI setup.

For MIDI it's fine and even some audio interfaces .

Which is exactly what this thread is about so no need to shy away from USB for audio purposes.

[Wilse]

Wolfeman wrote:
@wilse: it's not horsefeathers at all, but it seems you're not experiencing the problems most of us have or you're not noticing them.

Which is exactly my point; this is mostly subjective and I'm not experiencing it so to me it *is* horsefeathers.
(Then again, perhaps it's me. I ate olives for years because my peers insisted they are delicious. One day I realised the things are absolutely bogging. Never touched them since, though everyone else I know still loves them.)

Are you saying you're using your external HD for your audio workspace?

Sometimes, yes. And when I do, it works just fine. However, I usually try to bring whichever project I'm working on over to the internal drive, again, only because of conventional hearsay, not due to any personal experience.

how many tracks do you record and playback at once?

Depends. usually between 10-20.

Have you not noticed how slow copying files to and from any usb drive is when compared to firewire or pc usb?

Nope.

I simply can't believe you wouldn't notice the slowness.

Well, if you don't believe me there isn't really a great deal I can do about that, other than invite you round to see for yourself. ;-)

 What mac do you have again? is it PPC or Intel?  perhaps that is the answer?

Nah, sorry - I have both: iBook G4, 1.33GHz and Macbook core duo 2GHz.

[Wilse]

spihunter wrote:

I have an external USB and Firewire hardrive hooked to my MacBook and I dont see these 50% slower USB speeds that you speak of.

Not just me then. :pint:

[Wilse]

Wolfeman wrote:
man, there are a lot of opinionated mo-fos in this thread [on this forum?]

Aye, opinions are like erseholes, eh? Everybody's got one.

:roll:

@wilse
Mac USB is slower, you can google various benchmark tests, that's just a fact. argue it all you want.

You are arguing with yourself, I'm afraid.
At no point did I state USB wasn't slower.

You told the original poster to "stay away" from any audio or HD USB peripherals.

What I said was there is no need to avoid USB *if* you are on a budget.
I stand by this and, for my purposes,  the differences between it and firewire are negligible.
You have then decided to turn this into a completely irrelevant argument about which is faster in a benchmark test.
To this I say again, horsefeathers! ;-)

I'm extremely happy for you if it doesn't haunt you or bother you, seriously, but PLEASE spare me the down-the-nose "addytude" regarding your belief of the phenomenon.

What on earth are you talking about?
It is *You* who is trying to tell *me* that I should only use FW because it is "faster".
My experience says I can happily get by with USB yet *you* persist. (Despite admitting to using USB yourself.)
If anyone has a "down-the-nose addytude," it is you, sir.

 if you run a 24+ track system like I do where I am recording entire bands live and 16+ tracks recording in at once is the norm.

As I already explained, most of my projects are between 10-20 tracks and I rarely record more than two at a time. FW may indeed be the *only* way to go for you but that does not neccessarily apply to the rest of us.

To recap:
I had an exclusively FW audio/MIDI/HD set up on my Macbook.
It started freaking out and I had to use USB for some of it.
The USB works fine for my purposes.
It *may or may not* also work fine for the original poster.
If money is a consideration, the above may be helpful to him.

Whether it is slower on benchmark tests is irrelevant in this context.

Labouring the point in spite of this gives an impression of snobbiness.

case closed

If you say so, m'lud!

:pint: