Mac mini as a digital 4-track?

goldstar · Post by **goldstar** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 4:11 pm

Anyone got suggestions on how this might work? I've got no experience with computers for audio, so simplicity is paramount. Simple 2 and 4 track stuff, and a bit of editing of some radio work I do are what I hope to acheive. The I/O (and I'm guessing soundcard) capabilities of this little hummer are limited, so would the Firewire or USB ports let me get stuff in and out relatively painlessly? Opinions please.

Frank

earl parameter · Post by **earl parameter** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 6:48 am

"limited?"

yes but if you talking about doing a podcast or something via mp3. not that terrible.

"so would the Firewire or USB ports let me get stuff in and out relatively painlessly?"

id say firewire. usb is a bad idea. lots of problems. maybe some m-audio stuff.

these_go211 · Post by **these_go211** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 8:11 am

if you double the normal ram and go firewire i can't see why you'd have any problems. you can even use the included garageband software for tracking! depending on how many tracks you need you many even be able to get away with *not* needed more ram. though more is always better. i thought i heard recently that apple increased the amount of ram that comes standard in the mac-minis.

RECOVERY · Post by **RECOVERY** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 9:13 am

i've always been an advocate for getting away from the consumer-type digital multi-trackers and doing it up on a computer. i think once a person starting out with recording learns more and gets a little more advanced, a computer just offers so many more options and flexibility. plus, many of those little digital 4 tracks have their own compression codecs-- often not even recording as decent as 44.1khz.

my wife records demos with garageband and an imac g3-- i think 512mb ram? uses an older mbox inferface. my brother has been recording demos on a way ghetto imac and a some sort of input device-- using an older copy of digital performer. they've been coming up with great stuff. i can certainly be done with a mac mini....

look for a little firewire i/o for it-- now that digidesign has their new mboxes out, you should be able to find one of the original ones really cheap. maybe an m-audio one like crashsick said. with this and some more ram, there isn't a reason in the world why you can't be cookin' up superior 4-track hits in the comfort of your home!

space_ryerson · Post by **space_ryerson** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 10:01 am

The newest macmini's are coming with a 5400rpm hd, unlike the earlier models with the slower 4200 rpm hd. Make sure you get one with the 5400rpm drive, because that will add some read/write speed. You will probably end up using a firewire HD anyway in the long run, to get the full 7200 rpm speed, and daisy-chaining that with your audio intereface (1 firewire port on it). I think the macminis come with 512mb of RAM now, but you can also upgrade that to 1gb pc3200, but that isn't immediately necessary.

I say go for it. I used one at my day job while my G5 was out being fixed at apple, and it wasn't slow at all. I imagine you could do more than just 4 tracks on the thing. My gut reaction would be to see how well Logic Express runs on it, but that would throw simplicity out the window

Just don't try to open that thing up! Not a party. I had to perform RAM upgrades on 11 of them, and the only two words that come to mind are: putty knife.

earl parameter · Post by **earl parameter** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 10:52 am

"i've always been an advocate for getting away from the consumer-type digital multi-trackers and doing it up on a computer. i think once a person starting out with recording learns more and gets a little more advanced, a computer just offers so many more options and flexibility. plus, many of those little digital 4 tracks have their own compression codecs-- often not even recording as decent as 44.1khz. "

exactly !

and yes you should able to get way more then 4 tracks. at least i hope so.

Esmo · Post by **Esmo** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 10:57 am

ive been running 1-12 pt tracks with a bunch of waves plugings on mine without any trouble. Its one of the newer 5400rpm/1.5ghz ones too.

earl parameter · Post by **earl parameter** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 11:23 am

ive been really curious about track count on these. thanks. about how many plugins and whats the highest track count you can get away with before you have problems. also what app.

wedge · Post by **wedge** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 1:41 pm

Esmo wrote:ive been running 1-12 pt tracks with a bunch of waves plugings on mine without any trouble. Its one of the newer 5400rpm/1.5ghz ones too.

Yeah... What app?

goldstar · Post by **goldstar** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 3:08 pm

Thanks all for the feedback; I'm off to the Apple store soon. I'd heard to go for more RAM from a pal, and knowing about the faster HD is great info. Once I get the thing, I'm sure you'll hear more from me seeking advice.

Frank

eeldip · Post by **eeldip** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 4:08 pm

im on a mac mini right now.

it runs DAWs fine enough for simple stuff and it is near SILENT.

thats the best part. oh and its about the size of a book.

man, its a cool computer.

Esmo · Post by **Esmo** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 5:03 pm

I've been using pro tools le 6.9. Bunch of people of the digidesign board have got good results with the Dave C test.

d

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Mac mini as a digital 4-track?

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