finally...geez I am nervous

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bannerj
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finally...geez I am nervous

Post by bannerj » Mon Dec 05, 2005 10:13 am

why? I am going to take the plunge and just go for the G5 dual:

Dual-core 2GHz PowerPC G5 processor

1GHz frontside bus per processor
1MB L2 cache per core
512MB of 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-4200)
250GB Serial ATA hard drive
16x SuperDrive (double-layer)
Three open PCI-Express expansion slots
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE with 128MB GDDR SDRAM

you will hate me because I get the teacher's discount.

You might have read about my worries on this one on other posts because I have only been in this recording thing now for almost three years. I have enough good gear to make records already, but the thing is that I really want to start mixing at another level which means to me a UAD studio pak.

I had been planning to wait to buy the G5 until I had saved up enough to buy the UAD too--thinking that the G5 might have gone down in price by then, but after two sessions this week when my little g4 ibook crashed twice I decided that I just cannot handle the embarassment. In august I tracked some 40 tracks in DP 4 with the little ibook, but since it is also my personal computer there are so many files on it that it is getting bogged down.

So you can officially mark me down as another wide-eyed home recordist who is continuing to get himself (and spend himself--but with not debt!) way over his head.

I asked me wife if she wanted to go buy it with me at the new apple store and she said, hell yes...its like our first baby! (we just got married in July)

thanks to all of you who gave me your two cents!

I am going to finally put a link up to my myspace site so that you guys can get an idea of what we are doing...we are still in the process of deciding on a 'sound.'

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Post by chris harris » Mon Dec 05, 2005 11:29 am

beware of that apple store in the mall.. you'll want one (or two) of EVERYTHING!! ;)

congrats on your baby. maybe we'll send our kids to school together! ;)

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Post by bannerj » Mon Dec 05, 2005 11:51 am

yes, yes that is really why I am taking my wife--so that she can restrain me from speding any money that I don't have.

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Post by jeddypoo » Mon Dec 05, 2005 12:40 pm

everybody in nearly every profession pretends to know what they're doing until they DO know what they're doing. I accepted a job touring with a band as their personal live sound engineer earlier this year. I didn't think I was really qualified since I've not done much live sound but it turned out that I pulled it off completely successfully. So when you use "home recordist" like it lessens who you are as a craftsman, remember that everyone's an amateur at first. I don't know. I just get sensitive about it because I'm almost entirely self-taught at everything and I feel like a lot of time people think only pro studio counts for notches in the wall, you know?
I find adherence to fantasy troubling and unreasonable.

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Post by Professor » Mon Dec 05, 2005 12:58 pm

Not to burst your bubble - well not too much - but I have a couple suggestions...

First and foremost, contact Universal Audio and find out if their UAD-1 card will run in Apple's new PCI Express card slots. As is often the case with those nice folks in Cupertino, they are releasing all of their new products with thise new interface format and no legacy port in the system. From what I understand of it (which is by no means comprehensive) most, if not all, existing PCI cards will not run on their new format. Digidesign for example will need to redesign their very expensive Core & Process DSP cards if they are going to continue to support Mac. You can read about it here.

Also, and in a more laid-back tone, if you're going with native software as opposed to TDM, you may want to consider more than 512Megs of RAM, probably at least 1Gig if not more.

And it is always wise to place audio on a hard drive separate from your system drive because audio gets everywhere if you're not careful, and because access speeds and safety from disc crashes will be better.

But either way, good luck with the new baby.

-Jeremy

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Post by bannerj » Mon Dec 05, 2005 1:22 pm

yes, I plan to upgrade first to 1 gig of RAM and add accordingly.

And I also do save to an external drive of course. The trouble is that the DAW runs on my ibook which is rather cluttered. I know I can do the whole repair disk or even do a clean re-instal, but I need to avoid having this problem all together. The ibook is rather limited.

It was my understanding that it is only the new G5 quads that have the new pci slots but that the bottom end of their G5 line-up, the one I am looking to buys specifically, has the old school slot that will take the UAD. I will double check however. Thanks for the tip.

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Post by bannerj » Tue Dec 06, 2005 7:02 am

ack! the prof was right. Apple sold out of the model I thought I was buying everything new is PCI express now which is NOT the same thing as PCI-X (confusing I know). Actually they do still have the 2.7 ghz model which is only $900 over my budget.

so the baby will not be born and the drama continues. I just can't seem to figure out how to jump onto the incredibly rapidly moving train we call technology.

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Post by jeddypoo » Tue Dec 06, 2005 11:50 am

I bought a dual 1.42 Ghz 180 gig HD Mirrored Drive Door G4 for $950 not three weeks ago. It screams. I really think it's a better deal right now than any low-to-mid-end G5- which a dual 2ghz G5 is not, obviously, but do you really need that much juice?
I find adherence to fantasy troubling and unreasonable.

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Post by bannerj » Tue Dec 06, 2005 12:06 pm

where did you get it? I would much much rather go your direction. I almost just bought a 1.8 dual on ebay, but I chickened out. I am a bit nervous about buying a used computer on ebay.

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Post by jeddypoo » Tue Dec 06, 2005 12:13 pm

I'd do it in person via craigslist if you can. $950 is a terrific deal and the computer was fine. A dual 1.8? G4? I thought the dual 1.42s were the highest Apple went before going to the G5s.

I have a block against buying new computers. Because it's only top of the line for about half a week, you know? I mean my G4 is faster than some of the G5s anyway, for about half the price.
I find adherence to fantasy troubling and unreasonable.

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Post by bannerj » Tue Dec 06, 2005 12:31 pm

the 1.8 was a G5...yeah...craigslist. You have a bit of an advantage in Brooklyn over OKC. I'll try to remain patient. What do you mean about your G4 being faster than some of the G5s? Hows that possible?

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Post by jeddypoo » Tue Dec 06, 2005 12:41 pm

the dual 1.42 ghz G4s have clocked faster speeds than some of the single-processor G5s, according to many tests.

Yeah, it'll be tougher in OkCity, I guess, but you DO have much better Mexican food, as I recently found out.
I find adherence to fantasy troubling and unreasonable.

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Post by OneZero » Tue Dec 06, 2005 2:27 pm

Not to be a downer. But I'd wait on purchasing a new Apple computer. Their whole architecture is about to change ...Again ( *sigh).

As you may or may not know they are switching to Intel Proccessors and the new machines will most likely be released no later than May 06. Given my past experience with those guys in Cupertino, i would recommend waiting until these new (most likely Flash Memory, no hard drives) computers are out and the developers have a better understanding about the OS they're writting for. The whole industry will be on its ear. It's going to be a completely new world of computers. Todays Apple's will be obsolete in a single year.
If you have to have new machine for recording. I'd buy somehting used for the next year, and then pull the trigger.

By the way. At home I'm still on a first Gen. G4 and OS 9 and I love it!!!!!
I have some really horrible gear!!!

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Post by chris harris » Tue Dec 06, 2005 2:58 pm

today's (or yesterday's) apples will be the only apples that will work with your existing hard/software for the first year or so.

I appreciate apple's innovations... but, I prefer to stay well behind the bleeding edge where computers are concerned. we've certainly reached a point where even lower powered modern computers are powerful enough to not interfere with my work process. Affordability and stability are more important to me than raw power.

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Post by Ethan Holdtrue » Tue Dec 06, 2005 5:14 pm

Apples are for eating :P


Ok sorry I just had to say that cause I'm a turd. :]

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