IMac :: Which Model Suits For Recording (Music) Purpose
Mar 4, 2009
I've been looking at buying a Mac for some time now and recently decided the iMac was the way to go. Now I'm not sure whether the new model suits my needs better than the old, so I was wondering if somebody could give me some advice on this.
What I'm going to do with it:
- record audio with an external audio interface
- use Cubase or Logic
- use an external full-hd monitor (dvi and hdmi inputs)
- use an external FW800 harddisk
- playing or editing hd-video (editing is not important, but it would be nice)
Does DDR3 and higher memory bandwidth give me any advantage? I think recording audio isn't that hard on the memory, besides using samples (which I won't besides some drum-sampling instrument like ezdrummer or addictive drums). Does the shared video memory affect overall performance? Or is it just like having less RAM? I know the old model has an FW400 and a FW800 port, but are they on the same bus? I heard someone say something like that, which would mean that my external harddisk would run on 400 when I connect a FW400 interface to the 400 port. I tried my best to read as much as I could about Macs and specs over the past few months, but I feel like I know too little about above mentioned issues to decide on the new versus the old iMac.
Should I bite the retail bullet and shell 2k plus for a new pro. All I want is a stable, smooth, low latency, 15" mac book pro (7200RPM). Where is the cheapest net source to buy? or Should I get a used one with a year plus apple care left for around $1,300?
With the ability to keep movies/tv shows in the folder where all the iTunes media is stored, what's the purpose of the individual music and movies folders in OS X? I'm trying to organize my media and would like to find out what the best way to do this is (right now I just have all my files in my iTunes media directory).
So i have been using macbooks and macbook pros for a long time but i am looking at getting a 27" imac for the desk so i can use my macbook pro for mobile tasks. At the moment macbook pro stays plugged in and i take my macbook everywhere...... Another side task being i wouldn't mind getting back into a bit of gaming CSS and Guildwars (run though crossover) as i have heard good reviews about it working well, i do miss GW..... anyway i have been looking at the refurb store and i am rather tempted but i can't seem to work out what would be a better trade off, only 512 of gfx ram with a i7 or 1Gb with a i5 now obviously for the gaming side the i5 is the better option but i kinda want the i7 can anyone advise what they picked for playing games ?
I'm buying a MacBook Pro this week, and I can't decide whether to get the 2.53 ghz model or the 2.8 ghz model. I don't play games, but I will be recording a lot of music. I'll be using some sort of audio recording program, producing songs with as many as 20 tracks each with lots of effects like reverb, compression, etc. I also want this to be the only computer I use (for internet, photos, word processing, maybe some video) for at least the next six years. So what do you think? Is it worth the extra dough to upgrade to the 2.8 ghz model, or is the 2.53 ghz model a better value?
With Airport Extreme you run your DSL to modem then LAN to Airport Extreme, is this correct?If so then is a standard wireless router a better option? what's the purpose of Airport Extreme?
I am about to purchase a new Macbook, and the main use of the computer will be to record and produce music. I have a limited budget so would it be better for me to get the 2.0 GHz with 4 GB of memory or the 2.4 GHz with only 2GB of memory?
i have written a pretty cool song..and a friend of mine has a mic, which i can plug into my macbook. My question is , whats the bets software for recording it. and also editing it?
I am an Architect and i am planning to buy an iMac soon. Unfirtunately not all architecture software works on Mac OS.Is it sensible enough to install windows 7 on iMac and use for aechitecture purpose ?
Does anyone know of a program that can take an audio sample of piano and turn it into sheet music? I don't know if this will help, but here's the peice I'm interested in turning into sheet music: Dave Matthews Band's #41 mp3. This is for myself only, and I don't plan on sharing this. I understand this is the artist's work, and he should own the rights to it.
wich OS will work best on my different Macs?For example I have a 450MHz Cube, didn't use it for quite a while, but want to use it now. Should I install Panther, Tiger or Leopard on it? (No, I don't want to run it an OS 9, a Classic environment might be enough to play Duke Nukem from time to time...; if ever)Then there are two ibooks (1,2 and 1,3GHz) and an Intel iMac (yeah, that one is probably worth trying the snow leopard, though working very stable with Tiger and don't we say "never change a winning team"?).
I am trying to decide which of these two 27 inch imacs I should buy:
27 inch 3.06 core 2 duo model
27 inch 3.2 I3 model
Is the 27 inch 3.2 ghz I3 model a better value in terms of increased computer and graphics performance and is it better to get the 2nd generation model because of prior issues (i.e. yellow tinge)?
I am running leopard on an iMac 24" and am having trouble getting my iSight camera to record audio on 2 channels. I have changed my audio input to line in (inbuilt input) in order to record using a better microphone than the inbuilt one in my iMac, and am running a Shure microphone into the input in the back of my iMac via XLR to 1/4" stereo jack cable and then through a 1/4" to 1/8" stereo jack adapter. However when recording video in Photo Booth, iMovie etc. the audio only plays back out of the left speaker. It is not a problem with the output because all of my other sounds (music from itunes for example) play fine out of both left and right speakers. I believe I have run everything into the computer just fine and I can get 2 channels when recording like this in Garageband and Logic.
Do you know of any simple audio recording app (ie: not a monster audio suite) which takes low CPU usage, and lets you choose the internal bit depth using for audio sampling (ie: sample at PCM16, at PCM24,...) ?
Now, in case you need it, the long version of the question:
I'm digitizing my huge collection of audio tapes, with my G5 iMac (OSX 10.4). The quality of the recordings is somewhat low, so I don't need a high-end audio card, and I believe the builtin audio card of this G5 is more than adequate for this task (Burr Brown PCM3052 with support for PCM16, PCM24, and AC3 16).
I've done my first tests with the just-released new version of Audacity (2.0.0), which is compatible with 10.4 and higher, so I'm very happy to be able to install a brand-new application in 10.4.
Audacity works fine, but has a couple of issues:
First, you can choose the audio track bit depth, but not the internal bit depth at which you're sampling. In other words, I'd expect to use some selector to choose from PCM16 or PCM24 recording, which is what this iMac seems to support. However, I can only choose the storage bit depth, not the sampling bit depth. I suppose Audacity is recording at PCM24, but I've no way to test this.
Second, it takes about 40% CPU usage while recording (yes, I disabled the realtime graphics update of Audacity... if I don't disable it, usage becomes 60% or higher).
I tried Audio Hijack Pro (well, the last version supporting 10.4), and it won't let me choose the sampling depth either.
I am trying to decide whether to get the 2010 model or the cheaper 2009 model. These are the differences that I've found so far for the base model. For arguments sake, let's say they both have 4gb ram (most people selling them have upgraded to 4gb)
Having a slightly slower cpu, less battery life (about 7 hours rather than 9) and a slightly weaker gpu don't bother me so much, as I will be mostly using the macbook pro for internet surfing and writing word documents
My question is, are there any other differences? (that would make me go for the 2010 rather than the 2009 model) - maybe differences in the display? shape? something else?
i am contemplating buying a late 2008 mbp air i found for $800 on CL. it has the 1.86 ghz 2gig ram and an 128 gb ssd. would that be comparable to the new 2010 version? i know the new one will edge it out, but by how much? i do a lot of art using flash, illustrator, and ps but just want to use this machine occasionally when i travel, ill have another machine for the heavy lifting if needed be. is that a good deal? or should i just wait and get the 2010 version which is double that?
is the model MB321LLA for Airport Express the newest model which is current selling at Apple?
because I saw some sellers selling this model and I wanna get it but when I check Apple.com, I don't see the the newest model number they are currently selling
Of the above only the battery life is of any relevance to me (unless the display quality is really that different?). The SD card would be marginally more useful than the Express card.
I want to record video and audio of what I am doing on my Screen Via IMAC. Can anyone recommend a good Application to achieve just that. Would prefer freeware but if it needs to be a paid application so be it.
I've been contemplating recently (as most mac users do) about switching my 2 year old MBP (2.2 ghz, 2gb ram, 8600m) to the new MBP (15" 2.8, newer gfx, touchpad and a few minor details).
I've been eying the ebay prices for some time and my particular model (with charger, snow leopard, original accessories but w/o box) is valued at about 700gbp. Perhaps people might disagree with me here - how much is it really worth ?
My main point / question is really at what point should I ditch the existing MBP in favor of the new mbp - does it really offer me that much of a benefit at this time to upgrade? I'd sure like the new graphics card in there (is it really that much better?) but I'm not sure there's a significant enough difference there.
On the other hand if I wait much longer the MBP will become pretty devalued and not get me much back for the new and improved MBP - maybe apple's going to improve them soon anyway?
We have an iMac we purchased in 2008. My son would like us to increase the RAM for him to play online games? Is it easy to upgrade it myself? Where should I purchase the ne memory?
A while back I saw a link on macrumors that listed which specific core2duo chip was placed in various macs (example-core2duo E8400, etc.)
I was wondering if anyone knew where I can find this information again? I specifically was looking for my model (2008 24" imac) but would a site where I could find others as well.
And if you are going to post "search google" or the like dont bother as I ALREADY have searched google and cannot find this information easily.
with this talk of new imacs and mac mini's I thought it would be fun to speculate on what gfx card they may choose to include in the high end model. After a little searching around on what mobile cards are around my bet is on the Geforce GTS 160m. They seem to be going almost exclusively with Nvidia with the exception of the 4850.
I'm looking at placing an order on Amazon (or somewhere similar if anyone has reccos) for the latest base iMac, but their search brings back a ton of results.
I'm an engineering student. I really want my OS to run off a SSD, and all my most used applications.
Therefore I will have a faster machine, no trouble there. What is a trouble though, is Apple's stubborn way of purchasing a SSD for your iMac. You can only do this through them without voiding your warranty, and with all the problems out there, the last thing I want to do is void my warranty.
I found this: [URL]
Could you give me any reviews or thoughts on this set up.
Of course, if I got this external SSD. I would run my OS off this, and keep 1 TB hard drive for not as important files, designs, and drawings.
First, I have a mid-2008 Aluminum iMac, Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.4 Ghz, 2GB Ram, running OS X 10.5.6. So two days ago, it started hanging on me. Prior to this I have never had any problems with it. I had mail open, a browser window and a chat window. Started getting the spinning beach ball of death. It finally totally locked up on me and I have to force it to shut down.
However, upon reboot, it would not get past the white screen with the apple logo and the spinning gray gear icon. I'm talking like 10-15 minutes. I forced it to shut down (probably not a good idea) and this time on reboot I got the folder icon with the question mark as if firmware could not locate the booter file. I loaded the install DVD that came with the mac and ran Disk Utilities.................
I got my new 24 iMac today. It's the new released model. After working with it some time now today i found a stuck pixel on the screen. I think it is stuck because it is bright red and not black. Is there anyway to fix this? I have tried jScreenFix without any luck. Is there anything apple will do with this? Spending this amount of money on a new computer it should not come with a stuck pixel...