Anyone using an Imac?

EggyToast · Post by **EggyToast** » Wed May 12, 2010 5:58 am

Depends on how many tracks you like to record at a time. People have been recording multiple tracks to computers for quite a while, back when even internal hard drives had a throughput under 100mbps.

comfortstarr · Post by **comfortstarr** » Wed May 12, 2010 7:55 am

iMac 2.66 here, with Logic 8 (soon to be 9) and a couple of Metric Halo boxes. I'm recording to the internal drive (rarely doing more than 2-3 tracks). May move to an external drive if I see issues, but don't anticipate any.

Awesome computer though. I bought the 20" because frankly I found the 24" just too big and bright to sit 3 feet from for extended periods of time (I could hear the voice of my mother circa '77: "don't sit so close to the TV!").

Chaconne · Post by **Chaconne** » Thu May 13, 2010 4:57 pm

I am moving away from a long loved and upgraded G4...!

I'm pretty much set on an Imac.
In our local store today a 27" was on, with a mix of a Lilly Allen track (fluffy quirky brit pop) open in Logic. Dont know where the file came from, but it was really interesting to see a full commercial mix open in a high st. outlet!
There was about 60 tracks, apart from vocals all live logic instruments - and more than 100 plug ins open, a lot of tracks had about 4 /5 inserts open. It cruised along ( dual 3ghz) with the video, at about 60%.

What was amazing to me was the comfort at having the whole arrangement open at a useful scale, with space for a most of the mixer below. This lower window could be clicked on for the part - sample / midi / or back to the mixer view at a working scale with no need to rescale the arrange window.

Almost no scrolling and window management - it was so comfy. It reminded me of the old days of standing over a mixer and just reaching out for what you wanted. A revalation. I'm sure the 21" would be quite good as well.

Gorgeous!

Wagz · Post by **Wagz** » Fri May 14, 2010 7:02 am

The 27" have quad core now as well.
I'm thinking, unless I see myself going PTHD in the near future, of getting one of those once my compy starts going.. I'm hoping to get another couple years(at least) out of mine though.

tony moore · Post by **tony moore** » Sat May 22, 2010 1:10 pm

my old imac workhorse:

1.83 ghz intel core duo
2 gb ram
mac osx 10.6.3
mbox mini
pro tools le
logic

i've done alot of stuff on it for more than a few years and it just works. i'll buy another when it breaks.

tjcasey1 · Post by **tjcasey1** » Wed Jun 02, 2010 10:37 am

I switched to an iMac a few years ago and have never regretted it. I'm using DP6 with lots of virtual instruments and plug-ins. I can also track to any hard drive - firewire, internal, or USB without a problem. I have yet to max out my track count, which has been run up to 60 at 24 bits.

There's also a port for a second monitor - a must for tracking and mixing. The second monitor has the mixing board on it.

Well worth it for the stability and reliability alone.

Chaconne · Post by **Chaconne** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 9:54 am

Shame can't get 2 firewires on a sub ?2000 mac. Imagine Liquid mix and duende...or even sound and DSP on separate busses.
I know there are work arounds...but sometimes I do wonder if Apple are really my friend.

sad iron · Post by **sad iron** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 10:25 am

Chaconne wrote:Shame can't get 2 firewires on a sub ?2000 mac. Imagine Liquid mix and duende...or even sound and DSP on separate busses.
I know there are work arounds...but sometimes I do wonder if Apple are really my friend.

I use a LM16, 828MKII and 2 external HDs all on the same FW buss on my iMac. It's doable.

tjcasey1 · Post by **tjcasey1** » Fri Jun 04, 2010 7:35 am

Ditto. I use a firewire hub - three drives and a firewire mixing board. No problems.

gustavobill · Post by **gustavobill** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 5:15 pm

Ok, the thread is about the iMac, but i wonder if anyone has used a mac mini as the workstation. Are they reliable?

I use a PC that has actually a much better configuration than the new mac minis, but i`m just f*cking tired of how little they last (a couple of years, tops).

Also i`m kind of worried about the "downgrade" i`m gonna have to do. In Brazil Apple Products are terribly expensive (a $599 mac mini costs here around $1300) so i can`t really afford a top of line (problaby gonna have to settle with a entry level machine). I already run kindda hot with the tracks (normally 80-100 per project), and although REAPER is really light with cpu usage I`m worried that i`m not gonna be able to work as loose as I work now.

Opinions? Suggestions? comments?

calaverasgrandes · Post by **calaverasgrandes** » Sat Oct 16, 2010 10:26 am

I use a mac mini with Logic 8 and a motu 828MKII. My external drive is (horrors) USB.
Made the switch last year, I still hop back over to my Windows~Sonar rig all the time, it involves moving one firewire cable and one usb cable! Neat!
About the iMac, I have considered it but honestly, the iMac is literally a laptop without a keyboard. It is based on laptop hardware (the chipset and cpu are from intel/nvidias laptop lines) and the memory is laptop ram as well. This means you are limited in the data throughput compared to a comparable mac pro tower or PC tower.
The same of course goes for the mac mini, but the mini is a LOT cheaper than an iMac. However the iMac is a bit heftier in the cpu dept!
If i was in the market for a mac right now I would either save up for a mac pro ($2500) get a 17" macbook pro ($2300) or go for the mac mini server ($1000) as it comes with two 7200rm 500gb hard drives, and I am 99% sure you can run Logic off of OS X server. You may want to look into turning off some processes to maximaize performance headroom though. If not, Snow Leopard is what $30? Also, the new mini is super easy to work on compared to last years model. The bottom twists off and blammo! You are in.
With the scratch you save you can get a couple stupid huge monitors to run off of the display port and HDMI jacks. But alas it only has the one FW800 jack, so you will have to daisy chain and hope there arent any buss contention issues.

PS.Its a damn shame that apple doesnt offer the 15" Macbook Pro with the express card slot anymore. That means if you are using RME, Apogee or Universal Audio hardware with your mac you only have the one choice. And why? So they can offer a class leading battery life by taking up half the notebooks internals with just battery! You can still find the early unibody 15" macbook pros used/refurbed. But they demand a price premium because of the unique blend of features in that 2 year old slab of aluminum.

PPS I am secretly hoping the pre unibody 15 macbook pro I use at work will somehow become mine. It has expresscard, dual firewire and works just dandy.

tjcasey1 · Post by **tjcasey1** » Mon Nov 08, 2010 2:58 am

iMacs rock. As for the single Firewire port, I got a hub. I'm feeding two external drives. One is recording / playing the multitrack audio while the other is playing back the DV video signal while editing. No hiccups yet.

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